Aoife's Story

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Clack-clack. Clack-clack. Clackity-clack-clack.

The metallic sound of her faulds brushing against the pavement filled her ears, distinct from the hard footfalls of the leather-booted crowd of novices rushing about to and fro before her. She glanced upward, watching as a small white bird circled overhead far in the distance, barely visible against the clouds that gently crept across the sky. Shading her eyes against the unanticipated brilliance of the sun's simulated rays, a lone figure took a few cautious steps out of the small alley in which she'd found herself standing upon coming to her senses. Her movements were uncertain - clumsy, even - like the stumbling of a sleepwalker. Her senses felt ever-so-slightly dulled, as though realty had been naught but an unpleasant dream, and she was still in the process of awakening from it. She rubbed her eyes, blinking several times as she accustomed herself to the daylight. The young woman hopped in place once, then twice. The cobblestones beneath her feet felt hard and firm. The weight of the armor strapped firmly to her upper body seemed real as well. That was the point of Virtual Reality, she supposed, but still, she couldn't help but be astonished by how detailed the fake world around her was. Everything she felt in this virtual body felt exactly as one would expect it to. This was more than just a game. This seemed more like she'd just taken the disorient express straight from Earth to Ait Naofa.

I couldn't have asked for a better world than this, the girl thought, a smile brighter than the blinding sunlight breaking out across her face. Rushing out into the busy street, she joined the throng of players wandering to and fro through the enormous city.

Glancing down at her character menu, the young woman in blue gave a smile at the name that appeared there - "Aoife." It sounded similar enough to the name she was used to going by, so it probably wouldn't be difficult to adjust to. And, since she felt reasonably confident in her ability to move around in her new body - it helped that even if she was a bit more well-proportioned in this form, her height and build were roughly the same as what she was used to - all that remained was to figure out how to interact with the strange new world around her. The most obvious skill she'd need to learn was combat, but for the time being, she decided to forgo a blind rush into the wilderness in favor of exploring the starting city. Ideally, she'd want to learn the rough locations of all major NPCs like storekeepers, class trainers, and main story questgivers, as well as memorize the general layout of the area. However, she doubted she'd have enough time to dally like that. After all, time was of the essence. She wanted to get as far as she could, as quickly as possible. Somewhere beyond the streets of the town in which she wandered aimlessly, there were untold wild lands filled with bosses to fight, loot to claim, and quests to complete! She wanted to go to those places before anybody else, to blaze a trail and make a name for herself. And, if she was going to do that, she certainly couldn't afford to waste time strolling around aimlessly.

She had a basic idea of what the city's layout was. So far, she hadn't seen any obvious signs of quest giving NPCs, which meant that they were probably either in the town square or at the gates. She was on the wrong side of town to head into the beginner area, anyway, so she decided she'd check the former location first. Turning off the busy shopping streets, she headed straight for the heart of town. Moving quickly, she cut through the crowds of players milling about, and soon found herself at the very center of the area. The vast expanse of the town square, like the heart of some sort of coliseum, unfolded before her. But just as she set foot within its boundaries, something happened.

BGM: DISASTER

The instant Aoife's foot touched the pavement of the town square, it felt as though an electrical shock had rushed through her body. The air seemed to flicker and tilt, causing her to stumble as the world seemed to somehow shift by 1 degree on its axis. She was standing stock still, upright, but her stomach began to turn with nausea as though the once-solid ground beneath her feet was slipping away. She gasped in surprise, yet the air that filled her simulated lungs felt stale, as though she was drowning in dust. Her eyes went wide in confusion, one hand clutching her throat as her gaze darted back and forth across the plaza, looking to the crowd around her for help. Yet, the throngs of people around her didn't seem to even notice her presence, every single one of them frozen as though petrified. It was as though time itself had stopped.

A blur like TV static tore a gash across the sky, and the sun, for a single instant, forgot to shine. The once vibrant world was now lifeless and dark. Aoife struggled to move, but found that her body wouldn't respond. She tried to scream, beg someone, anyone to answer her, but all that came out of her mouth was a barely-audible, choking rasp.

The static began to pour down from on high like rain. The sky disappeared beneath a curtain of surging, writing black and grey. Buildings vanished beneath it as it oozed over everything. Soon, all that was left was the streets, and the countless people frozen motionless all around her.

Then, the static crept over them, too. Aoife watched in horror as, one by one, the people around her disappeared beneath it, their shapes vanishing completely from view. In one moment, she was surrounded by fifty motionless figures. In the next, thirty. Whether it was a few seconds or an eternity, she couldn't have said for sure, but soon enough, she was alone amidst a collapsing world. She struggled, desperately trying to move as the distortion came closer, ever closer to her, but her body felt numb. She could only watch, helpless, as the static finally surrounded her, covering everything. She didn't know what was happening, or why, but in that moment, she had forgotten that the crumbling fantasy around her was just a game. Aoife was, in her bewilderment and terror, certain of exactly one thing: she was about to die. She tried to shut her eyes against the encroaching darkness, but whether or not it worked, she couldn't have said. As the twisted blackness consumed her, she could see and feel nothing.

And then, just as she was certain that her end was at hand, something appeared: a tiny, transparent screen, the blood-red glow of which was the only light she could see. As she recognized the announcement for what it was, her overwhelming terror began to dissipate. In an instant, she remembered where she was, and realized what must have been happening. She must have lost connection to the server, right? Without any data being transmitted to her brain, it made sense that the virtual reality around her would vanish. It had been scary, sure, but she was about to wake up, right?

But the screen didn't say that. Aoife squinted her eyes, trying to make out the words on the screen before her as the characters blurred and twisted beyond recognition.

-乇Џ乇刀ｲ ﾑ刀刀ԾЦ刀ζ乇ᄊ乇刀ｲ-
-ﾘԾЦ Щﾉﾚﾚ 乃乇 ｲ尺ﾑ刀ㄎｱԾ尺ｲ乇Ð ｲԾ ｲん乇 ん乇ﾑ尺ｲ Ծｷ ｷﾑζﾚﾑ尺乇乃ﾑﾚ ﾉ刀 15 ㄎ乇ζԾ刀Ðㄎ-

A single bar of static tore its way across the screen, scrambling the letters momentarily before they reformed, coming into focus at last, and revealing...

－ＥＶＥＮＴ ＡＮＮＯＵＮＣＥＭＥＮＴ－
-Yᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴛʀᴀɴsᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ Fᴀᴄʟᴀʀᴇʙᴀʟ ɪɴ ₁₅ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅs-

E... Event...? What? What was happening? Before Aoife could fully comprehend what she was seeing, the clock reached zero, and the window disappeared. Suddenly, in a flash of light and motion, the static surged back into the sky, concentrating at a single point that erupted in vibrancy and color as the sun glared down from above and time began to flow again. She released her throat, coughing hoarsely as the air flooded back into her lungs. Looking around, she heard a wave of confused murmurs of consternation beginning to spread through the once-again crowded square. For a moment, she felt relief beginning to set in, before she realized something that sent a chill running down her spine.

None of the people around her were the same as the ones who'd been in the area before the momentary connection disruption had set in. Every single one of the people she'd seen disappearing into the static were nowhere to be found.

Her eyes darted around her as she frantically tried to catch a glimpse of any of the carefree players who had been romping aimlessly about a moment before, to no avail. Her vision was blocked by the new arrivals, scattered haphazardly around the gigantic courtyard, as though simply dropped there at random from on high. Everybody else seemed as confused as she was, people calling out for their friends, or asking what was happening.

The second question, at least, was soon answered, as the ball of static above the area coalesced into a roughly human shape. Is that... a hologram? Aoife wondered, staring as the being overhead blurred into focus, revealing a mature-looking woman with bright emerald green hair, into which was woven a wreath of gold. Aoife recognized her instantly as Nantos, the game world's nature goddess. The young knight gazed on in consternation, wanting to believe that this was all just some elaborate setup for the official start of the game's story. Yet, if that was the case, then where were all of the people who had disappeared just then? Moreover... why was the avatar of Nantos that now addressed those who remained crying?

"Children of Ait Naofa," She began, her voice resounding across the plaza and drowning out the murmurs of the crowd. "My dears, I hate to call upon you. However, we are in need. Ait Naofa has been attacked, and the mother to you all has been taken from us. Those of us left in Ait Naofa are struggling to hold back the evil," She continued, giving a hurried explanation of what the Paladin, at least, knew from reading the story materials posted on the game's forums. The "mother" to whom she referred was probably Airnmid, the Goddess whose wish had given life to Daertalmos, while the "evil" that had attacked and taken her must have been Vyrlo, Dark Lord of the Netherworld, and ostensibly the main villain of the MMO's story. So far, nothing that had been said surprised Aoife. That is, until the goddess began addressing her as a player rather than as an avatar, saying things that no NPC should have known.

"It is time for you to put aside differences and help us. You chosen few have been bound to this system." What did she mean by few? Could it be that the scattered crowd assembled in the courtyard were the only people logged into the server? But how can that be? There were enough players online to fill this entire city, let alone the town square, before they... before they disappeared... Aoife's eyes went wide in horror as she realized that during what she had thought was merely a connection issue on her end, at least 50,000 players must have been dropped from the game. And yet, Nantos said the remaining players had been bound to the game's system. There was only one way Aoife could interpret that. Frantically opening her player menu as everyone else in the crowd gaped, she found her paranoid suspicions confirmed as she saw that the bottom of the player menu was missing a button that had prominently been displayed there the last time she'd opened it.

The "log out" key was completely gone.

"If you die here, you will be brought back and sent to a safe location. You will feel the pain of this death, but will not die," Nantos continued, to cries of protest, confusion, outrage, and disbelief from the crowd. Aoife merely stared at the menu before her. Did this mean that the game would transfer feelings of pain over to the player, just like it would replicate other sensations? Then, supposing she was stabbed, or slashed, or lit on fire... She would feel that as though it had actually happened in real life? Could that even be called a "game?"

Still, she told herself, trying to stay calm. They could have disabled more important features. At least, if Nantos was to be believed, the respawn mechanic was still working. Death would hurt, but it wouldn't be permanent... Right?

No such luck.

"I have activated the headgear so that even if removed, your consciousness will stay here. The only exception to this is those of you who face Vyrlo and his monsters. Somehow, he has modified the system and can kill you, along with your real body." Really? Was this some kind of joke? This had ceased seeming like an ingame event, or even a glitch. Now, it was more like some sort of elaborate prank. While she supposed that hardware with direct access to the user's brain, like the virtual reality headset the game ran on, could theoretically kill its users through some form of brain damage or another, there was no way that a game-NPC-turned-rampant-intelligence could manipulate that at will, let alone cause it to happen in conjunction with the player's ingame death. That wasn't even plausible in the realm of science fiction. The only way that could happen was if Daertalmos Online had ceased being virtual and had somehow become some kind of parallel reality, complete with gods and magic that could influence the real world. As much as Aoife's player would have liked to be able to just hop into a new world with the same ease as logging into a game, that simply wasn't possible.

No. Wait, Aoife realized. There was one other explanation for all this. Even if it didn't seem feasible, it certainly made more sense than what Nantos had claimed. Namely... that trapping its players as hostages and threatening them with death if they failed had been the entire point of the game all along. If that was the case, then it certainly could have been possible that the headsets used to play the game would kill their wearers if they died under certain circumstances. But even so, there were still glaring holes in that logic. For example, why would the company that produced the game choose to do such a thing? Aoife supposed they might be making demands in the real world, that they wouldn't release the players they had trapped in Daertalmos Online unless their terms were met... But even then, what would they demand? Money? They'd already become one of the richest companies on the face of the planet through the sheer amount of revenue generated by their VR franchise. Their own personal country, maybe? That seemed like something only a cartoon supervillain would ask for, though. That question aside, even assuming they did have a reason to hold their players for ransom, why would they drop so many from the game before doing so? That just gave them less to bargain with. Moreover, Nantos had also said that even if their headsets were removed, their minds would stay within the game. Since the headset was what controlled the transfer of data to their brains, there was no way that was possible. She supposed it made sense to tell them a lie like that as a bluff to keep the players under the impression that they were trapped, but people on the outside would try removing the headgear sooner or later, wouldn't they? When that happened, the people who'd been wearing it would logically have to wake up. Once people realized that, everybody in the outside world would unplug those still trapped in the game, and the company, or whoever was behind this, would lose all their hostages.

Now that she thought about it, what reason would they have to lie to the players anyway? Why try to keep with the theme of the story when they could just say, "All of your lives belong to us, and if you do anything out of line, we'll kill you." By telling them the rules and explaining what they had to do, they'd only make players feel like they had a chance of escaping. They would either succeed at doing... whatever it was Nantos wanted them to do... or die trying, which would only lose whoever was keeping them here even more hostages! No matter how she looked at it, Aoife couldn't find anything in what she was being told that made any sense. And yet, regardless of that fact, she was still stuck here, with no sure way out.

The goddess in the projection seemed to hesitate, casting a frightened glance over her shoulder, and seeming to see something there that terrified her. She turned back to the utterly baffled crowd of players assembled beneath her before giving one final, desperate-sounding plea. "My time is running out and I must leave you. Others from Ait Naofa will try to help those who are willing to assist us... We are under attack! Children of Ait Naofa, please help us!" With these words, the image vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared, and the once-again crowded square was left alone in silence.

Reactions to the goddess and her message were mixed. Some people remained calm, assuring those around them that everything they'd just heard was some sort of prank. They must not have realized that the login button was gone, or seen what Aoife herself had upon entering the plaza, when she had nearly disconnected from the server. Others flew into a panic, screaming for the goddess to come back and explain what she had meant by her cryptic words. Yet more came to the conclusion Aoife had, and began cursing the game's administrators for tricking them and leaving them trapped here. Others simply wandered about, calling for friends and family members who had either disappeared or been displaced when the lagspike had hit.

BGM: Last Stardust (Orchestral)

But it didn't matter. There wasn't any point in doing any of those things. Although she still couldn't rule out that this whole thing was just a practical joke taken too far, there was something about the bizarre static she'd seen that still disturbed her. The way everybody else had disappeared... it seemed foolish to assume, but somehow, Aoife couldn't shake the feeling that there was something unnatural at work. She'd been given a set of rules on how she could avoid both permanently dying and suffering the pain of an illusory death. So, without any better option presenting itself, she'd follow them. Regardless, the announcement clearly wasn't coming back, which meant that this was all the information she'd be getting. She could neither prove nor disprove that the company was to blame for this bizarre twist of events, and even if she did manage to find out the truth, she could do nothing about the situation while her mind was still trapped within this virtual gilded cage. She had nobody to look for, nobody to count on. That meant that first and foremost, her priorities should be preparing herself for a long stay within the not-so-fictional world of Daertalmos.

To most people, this realization might have brought with it feelings of despair and powerlessness. In her shoes, another girl might have mourned that the things she loved in the world outside were lost to her, or wept for the knowledge that she was alone in a dangerous world she couldn't even begin to comprehend. Yet, as the full gravity of the situation dawned upon her, Aoife felt... nothing. So what? She had come to this world to escape from reality in the first place. Nothing had changed for her - not even her reason to fight.

That's right. This world can't be called a game anymore - but a game isn't what I came here looking for, She thought, gazing down at her hands as she opened a tab off the player menu idling in front of her, viewing her inventory and equipment. The name at the top of the transparent screen caught her eye, and a shaky smile began to return to her lips. What I wanted... the reason I created this body, this name... it was all because I wanted to really, truly live! She dragged the glaive sitting idly in her inventory into its appropriate slot, causing the weapon to appear within her outstretched hand, manifesting in a shower of azure pixels that sent the crowd around her scattering in surprise. Her smirk broadened as she slung the weapon over her shoulder, lowering herself to the ground like a beast about to pounce. "Then that's all there is to it," She murmured, nodding to herself, satisfied with her answer. "I'll live." These words vanished amidst the crowd, as did the shape of one Dame Aoife, Paladin of Light, as she continued walking the path she had first set out upon. Parting the masses before her with the mere sight of her drawn weapon, she advanced purposefully through their midst even as they stared in disbelief, never once looking back on what she was leaving behind. She simply continued walking at a brisk pace, down the main avenue and towards the gates that lead to the Bale Forest.

Truth be told, she still wasn't sure about her actions. Even if basic enemies couldn't permanently kill her, they could still hurt her, and there were few things she dreaded more than pain. Yet, something compelled her to keep walking, never questioning the assumption that it was too late for her to give up on the dreams that had brought her to where she now stood, trapped within an inconsequential and fantastic world. It would have been easy to just stop, step into the first inn she saw, and rent a room for a few nights to wait and see if anybody outside would pull off her headset and free her. If nobody did, she could always look into other options. As of yet, there really wasn't any reason to risk herself in the wilds... but even so, she still wanted to go. Not because she wasn't scared, for in her heart, she was well and truly terrified of what the future might hold. Rather, she wanted to go because it seemed somehow wrong not to. She was trapped within the world of Daertalmos, but not within the walls of Faclarebal. In a sense, at least, she could thus still expand her horizons, freeing herself and the others who were trapped here in some small way. If, by facing danger herself, she could make everybody else safer, then wasn't that the right thing to do? And a Paladin, or a hero, or whatever it was that Aoife was supposed to be... it was their job to always do the right thing. That was why people respected and looked up to them as heroes.

Somewhere, perhaps, deep in the back of her mind, she was aware that her reasoning didn't make sense, that this wasn't at all what she'd wanted. But even so, it was a chance to do something, to be something. That chance was an opportunity she'd only get this once, and so even if it meant facing dangers the likes of which she couldn't even begin to imagine, she'd take it without a second thought. So, she kept walking, even as the cobblestones of the city streets gave way to a dusty dirt road that stretched out to the distant horizon, and beyond, into the unknown reaches of a dream that had become all too real...

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The perks to being a beta tester for this game were quite plentiful, Licht had noticed, though there could be some discrepancy between people as to which benefit was the most obvious. For him, it was the fact that he was 14 levels higher than most everybody else in the game at the current moment, and he also knew exactly where to go to get started. Others may point out their flashy armor and abundance of restorative items. To each their own in this regard. But Licht planned on making use of this advantage and no sooner than he had spawned, adjusted to the odd feeling of being in a different body, did he head off to the city to find quests. After all, with him being 7 levels above the monsters in the forest, it wasn't optimal to try to farm them for experience unless he wanted that to be the entirety of his day (although nobody could say farming in this game wasn't significantly more entertaining than others).

Walking whilst also perusing through his "Completed Quests" tab in his menu was actually a difficult endeavor. In the very first 3 minutes of his life in this new virtual world, Licht could swear he could identify at least 20 different people by the physical imprint of their shoulder into his and that was a bit frustrating given his attempts to browse the list of quests the game had auto-completed for his own convenience. It would be quite redundant for a level 15 doing level 3 quests, after all. But with all of these players scurrying about as if they were critters in a forest (and some might be, given the right race selection and destination), the task was neigh impossible to achieve. Eventually he had grown smart and had realized that he would not be accomplishing his personal mission anytime soon. With a sigh and a shrug, he closed the menu and picked up his pace.

"Wow."

Licht's mouth hung wide open as he entered the city. The sheer amount of people and the cacophonous noise of a multitude of different conversations, footsteps, and general actions all simultaneously gave the city a life that one could swear was entirely real. It really was. These were all different players who were perhaps purchasing, chattering, or otherwise interacting with other players so it technically was real. Real as anything else in the world in most ways, and that simple fact had astonished Licht. The size of the beta testing pool was nowhere near this big, so this was his first time experiencing a true city in this game, this world.

Of course it would be another butting of shoulders that snapped him back to his virtual sense. He gave a raised eyebrow when, before he could actually open his mouth to say something to the guy, he was glared at and called "rude", despite it being entirely that man's fault for running into him. Well, whatever. He was not going to be hung up over something small like that. There was too much to do, too many places to see, and so many monsters to slaughter.

It was likely he would find a decent quest at the heart of the city, given what he knew about the beta. There was an upside to this but also a downside. On one hand you did not have to worry about going to different areas of the city to retrieve or complete your quests. The bad thing, however, was the center of the city also took the longest amount of time to reach overall, no matter where you entered from, though teleporting put you right at the center. Licht figured that at least when he gained enough experience to reach level 18, he would be able to farm monsters in the jungle. Or maybe the game would encourage him to go seek out a different area around that time? It was obvious that he could not stay in this place forever, as it was simply meant as a means for new players to get adjusted to how the game worked and to level them up appropriately. Needing none of that, he had little reason to stay for an extended duration of time, nor did he very much desire to. At most there were some graphical improvements. Nothing about the city was different besides the overabundance of people inside of it.

Well, he should hurry up and continue onward. It had already been about thir----

Breach

"..."

There was no time for him to prepare himself for the overwhelming sensation that passed through his body in an instant, rendering him frozen on the spot. He felt a strong pressure, as if being crushed by a giant's hand, all around his avatar, and each and every single one of his nerves felt like they had overloaded and burnt out The pressure made it hard to breathe and his ears range violently. Soon, his vision slowly followed suit and began to blur while the area around him seemed to almost distort and ripple, making the attempt resist nausea a valiant but vain one. And it only seemed to continue. The pain, the sick feeling in his gut, and the blurring of his vision slowly increased in intensity, to the point where he could no longer properly stand. A leg gave out and he soon found himself on one knee, the sheer magnitude of pain unlike anything he could comprehend at that given moment. Soon, he had lost the ability to see too far ahead of him, which was probably for the best.

What is this?

The one thought that he could formulate was a simple, but respectable question given his situation. This sudden assault on his senses was a unfamiliar and unwelcome one. Never before in the beta had something caused him this much pain. Though at first it was merely a physical sensation, the brief possibility that this could continue for much longer eventually caused it to evolve to a mental pain as well.

Despair.

What if this never ended? Licht was a gamer, not a fighter. He could tolerate pain perhaps a bit better than some, but this was unrealistic. Comparable to being set ablaze and then pouring salt and lemon juice on the wounds. Nothing in his life had compared to this exact moment, and it was more than enough to send even his lively self into a mental fit.

He did not want to be in pain forever.

No.

Please.

Don't.

Stop.

Stop.

STOP.

And so it had.

Everything simply stood still for a moment, including the pain that had nearly crushed him. It ceased as though it were listening to his commands. Licht regained himself and slowed his heavy breathing before he attempt to stand up again, but the sight he was met with nearly caused him to fall on his bottom in confusion.

Where was everybody?

Once filled to the brim with various races, classes, and all sorts of people who had just come to enjoy the new game they had purchased, the city center was now desolate, void of any life besides Licht and a few small groups around him, who were equally confused as he was.

Yo get rekt scrub
~ Event Annoucement ~
You will now be transported to the Heart of Faclarebal in 15 seconds.

"W...what?"

An event? Why?

Mere moments after he had asked himself yet another question, Licht felt his body become weightless just as though he were flying, before a bright light stole his vision temporarily. When it returned, he was now about five feet from where he was just standing, but there were a considerable number more people here than just a second ago, all of whom shared his confusion as to these events that had just transpired. That was good in that he at least did not feel like he was simply going insane. But there was still the question of what was going on, and he would not doubt that every single individual in this area right now was asking the same exact thing.

As if on cue, a small orb appeared and though its path was arced and considerably less time efficient than it could have been, it managed to arrive in the center of the center of the city, its mere presence shutting most people up. When it turned into a fairly attractive, older-looking woman with green hair, well, everybody stopped talking and simply stared it down expectingly.

It started off normal enough. At first, Licht began to assume that maybe the servers overloaded from the amount of players signed in and that this event was just a normal introduction they had decided to add after the beta was finished. And, that would have probably been preferred, but alas this was not the case. If one were to quote the exact moment when Licht accidentally let out a verbal "wat", it would have been around here:

"You chosen few have been bound to this system. If you die here, you will be brought back and sent to a safe location. You will feel the pain of this death, but will not die. I have activated the headgear so that even if removed, your conscious will stay here. The only exception to this is those of you who face Vyrlo and his monsters. Somehow, he has modified the system and can kill you, along with your real body."

Being "bound to this system" set off an alarm in Licht's head as soon as it was followed with an NPC mentioning the headgear. That was a no-no. Immediately, he opened his menu and, like a show he had publicly criticized for its unengaging plot, found his log-out button had decided to depart from his presence while he was unaware. How rude.

"Well, shit."

Being as genre savvy as he was, he should have figured something like this was going to happen. Actually he had expected it to happen in the beta, but since it did not he decided to be realistic about this. But look where that got him. Now he was stuck here in this weird, virtual reality where there was nothing to do.

Except kill monsters and stuff.

Well there was not much to do about this besides go beat the Big Bad, right? Using his detective-like deductive reasoning, he figured that if they went through all this trouble, then it was probably not a false statement.

Curse that very attractive NPC. God or not, that doesn't give her the right to make him play games for an extended duration of time. He had things to do, places to be, people to see---

Oh wait. He actually did not. He made sure he had enough time to play this game for about a week straight with very little chance of interruption. He mentioned he would be taking a break from uploading videos, and he had no job to go to, so that was more or less that. Maybe being that prepared to go on a binge and play games for a really long time was not the brightest idea.

"Well, shit."

Repeating himself but giving not a care in the world as a great deal many other players started shouting their heads off, screaming at the woman who disappeared, or otherwise panicking, Licht decided he ought to go away from all this. No reason to get caught up in the rioting that probably would follow, although since this was a game was it even possible to loot buildings and stuff? Probably not, and he was not going to wait around to figure out. This was a great time to go into the forest and kill some monsters that could not really do much to him at this point. He would go find a quest when things died down a bit, and it would not hurt to get accustomed to killing things, even if they wouldn't really provide much of a challenge.

"Hey...." suddenly spotting something else that really confused him, he slowly spoke out. "....I could swear I made fun of that set of armor before. Yeah, I'm sure! Hey! You! Does the phrase 'Not Enough Cat-ears/10' ring any bells?" He called out to someone wearing a very familiar set of armor. Normally he wouldn't do such, but considering this armor should not really exist as far as he remembered, it did pique his interest.

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The shouts and cries of the now-damned amongst Daertalmos Online's unfortunate playerbase faded into the distance as the soldier in blue exited the city's west gate. The by-now-familiar clinking of her plated faulds as she marched briskly into the wild was the only sound that now met her ears. It was strange, seeing the road so empty when just half an hour previously you couldn't have taken a step without tripping over some new player emerging from the shadows. It suited Aoife just fine, though. Even if there had been somebody to talk to, she wouldn't have known what to say to comfort them. Besides, she herself was worried enough as it was. The last thing she needed was somebody reminding her of all she now stood to lose. Leaving the city while everyone else was still getting their bearings was thus in her best interests.

That aside, there were also more practical reasons for her departure. For one thing, it probably wouldn't take long for tensions to rise in the city. Players, afraid of monsters, would band into guilds. Taking strength in numbers as their maxim, they would make quick grabs for power and authority. There was no telling how far and how fast things would escalate, but regardless, on her own, it would quickly become difficult to secure lodgings in an inn, monsters to kill to level up, items to use to protect herself, or maybe even food to eat. The only way to get those things would be to get them first, which meant time was of the essence. Therefore, she couldn't afford to tarry, even for a second. Her first priority would be to find some monsters to kill so as to get a feel for combat. After that, though, she'd need to find quests so that she could rapidly level up and-

"Excuse me!" Called out a voice from a short distance behind her. Turning around, she saw a man dressed in full platemail approaching her. For a moment, she thought it was another player, but upon closer inspection, realized that the individual speaking to her didn't have a nameplate displayed over his head. An NPC? He appeared to be some unnamed city guard. He must have been keeping watch over the gate. Was he programmed to seek out players leaving Faclarebal? Aoife stopped, allowing the man to catch up to her. "Sorry to trouble you, traveler. It's just that the road has been dangerous of late. My captain has instructed me to give anyone who attempts to enter the forest fair warning." Aoife opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated for a moment. It was an odd bit of sentimentality, but she couldn't help but wonder... How would Aoife, the noble paladin of her creation, upon whom she'd based her new image, respond to being addressed in such a manner? After all, if she was now bound to this world, she was little different from one of its inhabitants. It couldn't hurt to act like one.

"Do not be concerned. You are not troubling me in the least," She said politely, shaking her head. "Although, I assure you, I am aware of the forest and its dangers. They will not pose a threat to me," She added, lowering her spear from her shoulder and planting its haft firmly in the dirt for emphasis. The guardsman gave a nod, seeming relieved by her response. Yet, he also seemed somehow nervous, as though he had something more to say. Aoife cocked her head slightly to the side, prompting him to continue.

"Indeed, you certainly seem like you can handle yourself," He said, giving a slight, uneasy laugh. "But other wanderers like yourself may not be so well-equipped. There have been quite a few monsters sighted in the woods as of late. We've mounted operations to drive them back, but as of yet, have had little success... That being said, if you're going into the forest anyway, maybe you could help us?" Aoife gave a single, firm nod, accepting what was clearly a quest without a second thought.

"If it makes both your job and the road safer, I will do whatever I can. What is it that you require?" She said eloquently, falling into her newfound role with gusto.

"Well... recently, our supply caravans have been plagued by slimes. It's been a nightmare trying to get through to our outpost in the woods. If you could kill a few on your way to the forest and recover any items they've stolen, then report in to Captain Aken there, I'm sure he could arrange to requisition you some equipment as compensation."

"I understand," She said, placing a fist over her heart in a sort of salute. "Rest assured that your slime problem will be dealt with."

"Whew. That's a load off my shoulders. Thank you. You're a real lifesaver, miss. I wish you the best of luck."

"Don't mention it," Aoife replied, glancing back over her shoulder as she turned to go. "I'm more than happy to do whatever I can." With that, she once again shouldered her glaive, and continued walking down the road, giving a slight wave to the NPC as she went. Opening her character window again, she examined the quest that had now appeared there. It seemed she had to kill a total of 10 slimes, and recover 5 boxes of lost supplies. That didn't sound like it would be too difficult. Checking her map, she surveyed the area. The forest was right up ahead, so she supposed she'd probably be encountering her first monsters soon. But, before any such creatures could appear, she was accosted by an enemy of a different sort.

Once again, somebody called out to her from behind. This time, though, the speaker's words made it more than obvious that he was another player. "Hey! You!" Shouted a young man, prompting Aoife to once again turn about to see who was calling to her. This time, it was a fairly tall young man with golden-blonde hair sticking out from beneath a pointed green cap. Equally pointed were his ears, which, coupled with his fair hair and complexion and bright blue eyes, suggested an Elven heritage. His face didn't really match up with the usual appearance one would expect from an Elf, though, no matter how much his forest-green clothing screamed "Keebler." His facial features seemed a little too rounded and well formed, given how sharply defined most Elves' countenances were. Regardless, given the nameplate over his head, displaying the username "Licht," he was clearly another player.

Like she needed any more evidence of that after the next thing that came out of his mouth.

"Does the phrase 'Not Enough Cat-ears/10' ring any bells?" He asked, giving a cheeky grin. Aoife raised an eyebrow. Saying the odd phrase was familiar to her would be an understatement, as she still remembered all too well that particularly unfounded and baseless criticism of her armor design. She had addressed that particular "argument" - if it could be called one - already, and saw no point in discussing it further.

"Cat ear accessories are aesthetically inappropriate to my armor's design," She said dismissively, giving a slight, supercilious wave in the man's general direction. "Even were that not the case, such things would be utterly superfluous when you could just have cat ears to begin-" Just then, Aoife did a double-take, stopping mid-sentence to give a confused stare at her unwanted conversational partner. Why would anybody accost her about her armor's lack of cat ears, of all things, right after the announcement that the game they were stuck in could and would kill them? Didn't this person have better things to do? Come to think of it, why had that topic ever even come up in context, let alone here and now?

"...Hey, wait a minute, who even..." She began, but once again trailed off, too confused to think straight. Would an ordinary player really even remember that specific comment that just one online reviewer turned honorary contest judge had made about her gear? No, that matter aside, who would even think that it was even a legitimate criticism? "How did you...?!" She asked, her disbelief mounting as all evidence pointed to one conceivable answer.

"You!" She exclaimed bluntly, her eyes widening in surprise as she raised an accusatory finger at the unexpected individual standing before her. "You... you... you're that incredibly rude cat-ear-person...! How is it that you are in a place like this?! And... and how did you find me? Were you following me?" Now that she thought about it, those weren't even the strangest things about this situation. No, that honor would have to go to her last and most pressing question.

"And why are you so insistent upon my wearing cat ears? Are you ill? Surely, you are not a well person!"

---

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Ah, the wonderful feeling a person gets when they are recognized by someone who has decided they earned enough respect to idolize them was one of Licht's favorite feelings in the world. Though he was not one to pretend he was any greater than his fellow man (except when he literally did just that), he definitely appreciated the recognition fame sometimes earned him with a warm smile and an even warming feeling in the deepest part of his heart.

But that particularly welcomed sensation was nowhere to be found at the moment.

Instead, he found himself plagued with a deep feeling of confusion towards this woman's odd actions. Whatever she was saying made little sense to the Blademaster, who tried his best to decipher the alien language she was speaking as if he were an ambassador to the first contact with an unidentified lifeform, and his abilities could either end the world or provide it with a new ally. Naturally, this meant that he begun to feel very uncomfortable and nervous when negotiations had broke down before they even begun, and this creature threw sounds and noises at him that he could only interpret as words of war at him. But he tried his very best to ride it out and see if he could seize any opportunities to restore relations before war had actually broke out.

"So I am not just crazy, then? Ahaha! That's very good, very good indeed! I was worried that perhaps maybe I was more affected by this weird situation than I had originally thought, so it's good to know I'm not hallucinating!" Licht excitedly spoke with a bright smile before sighing in relief and also managing to seem completely ignorant to Aoife's aggravated tone. "You still seem to not understand the importance of cat ears, though, which is very unfortunate. But lets see here...." Licht's face became completely straight as he begun to inspect the girl, or rather, her armor.

He slowly circled her to ensure he could see and properly admire every inch of the armor before nodding his head approvingly and then speaking up. "Yes, yes. I do really enjoy the overall design. You sure made effective use of absolute territory, so I give you some extra points for that, and overall the armor, to me, manages to be very appealing to the eye without being revealing. I assume it's specifically a light armor?" he shook his head. "Well, that doesn't matter but the avatar you chose seems to wear it perfectly. Seeing it in-game makes me wish I rated it higher." done with his spontaneous review of her equipment, he raised an eyebrow and commented on something else he noticed. "You're missing a few pieces from what I remember..... uh...." Licht quickly glanced upwards, realizing he hadn't even looked at her username.

"Paladin of Light?" Licht took a moment to chuckle to himself upon seeing her title. How ironic, considering she probably did not like him one bit. "Well, A-oaf, the reason I am here at the moment is because unlike myself, most people are having rational responses to being told they've just been rused into being stuck inside a game they have just purchased and I figure things are only going to get even uglier within a very short amount of time. So I figured I would go kill some forest monsters and some time for a bit while things died down, and you just happened to be headed in the same direction.

So no, I am not following you. And also calling people 'not well' is rude. Probably. I am actually unsure what that means specifically but judging by the frown you have that is unfortunately not upsidedown, I will have to assume it was meant as some form of insult."

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xxxxx|| State of Mind ✧ Baffled |||| State of Mind ✧ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ||xxxxx
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Aoife stared at the man in green, the road momentarily silent as she pointed at him, and he gazed casually back, not seeming to take much note of her obvious indignation. She stared. He stared back.

Then, he grinned, breaking out in laughter and saying something about how he wasn't crazy. Had he not been listening? She had just told him he was crazy. Why did he take that as evidence he wasn't? That was something only a crazy person would do. But, since he was crazy, she supposed that made sense. She sighed piteously, shaking her head in consternation. This one might be past helping, but it was her duty as a Paladin, nevertheless, to try.

Oh, right, he also mentioned something about cat ears. He was still going on about that nonsense? She was about to chastise him for continuing to pursue such a futile obsession, but, to her surprise, he began moving without delay, walking right up to her...

...And then right past her, circling about several times and giving her a very intense stare, like someone appreciating a fine artwork. The paladin couldn't help but be a little put off by this, as she was ill used to being gawked at in such a manner. It was a bit creepy, honestly, but when he announced his conclusion, she supposed she could let the matter slide. At least he achknowledged the shortcomings of his prior verdict.

"Yes, yes. I do really enjoy the overall design. You sure made effective use of absolute territory, so I give you some extra points for that, and overall the armor, to me, manages to be very appealing to the eye without being revealing. I assume it's specifically a light armor?" The Paladin, pleased at having her work so highly praised, gave a single emphatic nod.

"The inner layer, gloves, and headpiece are all meant as light armor, with the other pieces of the set covering the most important spots with medium platemail," She explained. "Although the 'dress' is somewhat inaccurately named, since a skirt would have offered less protection and gotten in the way in battle, not even to mention the difficulties of maintaining personal modesty in such attire, it still doesn't sacrifice either practicality or the overall aesthetic due to the appeal of thigh-high boots. With braids in place of ponytails, that makes my absolute territory a natural grade S!" Aoife declared proudly, raising a single finger in a matter-of-fact manner, only to realize a moment later exactly what it was she'd just said. Her cheeks colored rapidly, and she quickly averted her gaze and looked away, clearing her throat rather loudly.

"Er, right... all that aside," She stammered, quickly trying to change the subject. "You still haven't said why you're here," She pointed out.

To his credit, he did answer her question without further delay. That should have alleviated some of the awkwardness she felt at having her assumed character inadvertently shattered. However, considering his answer began by utterly butchering her name and ended with him somehow finding it proper to chastise her for being rude, she found her mood little improved for her effort.

"EE-FAH," She said firmly. "You pronounce it ee-fah," She repeated, crossing her arms in frustration. "And I will have you know that I do not 'insult' people. I merely state facts as I see them. For example, you have a very silly hat. That is not an insult. That is merely me stating that the pointy green object currently sitting atop your head is laughable regardless of whether it is viewed either as a fashion statement or a means of protection." She nodded sagely, before clapping a fist into her opened palm and giving a sly grin, looking as though she had just unraveled one of the great mysteries of the universe. "Hmm, I think I may have an idea how you might be able to improve it, though. Maybe..." Her smirk broadened to the point that one could practically see the little lightbulb flicking on over her head. "You could try putting cat ears on it!"

About three things Licht was absolutely positive. First, Aoife was a nerd. Second, there was a part of her-and he didn't know how potent said part might be-that thirsted for appreciation for her costume. And third, he was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with how easy it would be to mess with her.

While his earlier assessment or her personal armor was not a falsified one, it certainly was not expected to flatter or otherwise make her feel as though he would vote for her rather than the cat-ening. It was simply said as a restatement that if it weren't for that particular set of armor, then she would have won Licht's vote for sure. Irregardless, she brightened up like a star and then chose that moment to lapse into a self-assessment of the armor and why, for whichever reasons, it could be considered S-rank in the absolute territory department. That was unfortunate and perhaps maybe fortunate at the same time, as Licht was secretly a hard-M rank.

"I see." the young man nodded with closed eyes, probably mimicking a number of characters in a majority of different shows at once. "You certainly do deserve praise in that regard. But it is regretful that I must mention that I have a preference to cat-ears, as you have already guessed by now. Absolute territory falls just below that. At least you tried, however. Some of the other competitors I was forced to look at tried to make due with the least amount of clothing possible. They did not understand the importance of how each piece works with each other to collaborate as one piece of artwork." Licht slowly opened his eyes once he finished his small rant (and it certainly was small compared to what he would have liked to say on the matter), sighing. "Again, you deserved at least second place."

Sadly, his attempt at finally stating what needed to be said was met with the worst kind of insult he had ever heard in recent history, that had nothing to do with cat-ears. She had decided, in her infinite cruelty, to bring up the subject of that one piece of his well-deserved beta testing gear, which he had earned for HELPING THE GAME BE BETTER (actually mostly screwing around and laughing at some of the bugs). She had more or less declared war by insulting his precious cap.

"You dare mock my fine piece of Haberdashery! Do you even realize how much time and effort went into designing this masterpiece? The elven people would be proud to see such a piece of headwear being displayed for all to see. IT IS THE VERY PRIDE OF THEIR RACE THAT I WEAR ATOP MY HEAD, GIVEN PHYSICAL FORM!" taking a deep, long breath in, he exhaled and apparently seemed to calm down.

"Really?" The Paladin asked skeptically, cocking her head inquisitively to the side. "That seems like a stereotype, if you ask me..."

"Elves don't even own stereos, so your point is invalid," He replied with a smug look on his face.

"You can't prove a blanket statement like that," Aoife protested earnestly, seeming to ponder the question intently before presenting her counterargument. "I mean, can you really say with certainty that what you just said applies to all Elves? It sounds to me like you're just being racist."

"...."

Had he been out-memed? Was this it? What is life, even? Many questions like these circled Licht's head as he tried to come up with a proper response towards this allegations. There was a noticeable pause before he had managed to finally decide on what he wished to say.

"....Yes. I can confidently say that elves do not own stereos. That is not racist, it's a 'fact'. And you said that you enjoyed stating 'facts' just earlier, did you not?"

Checkmate.

Aoife seemed taken aback, thinking about this statement for a moment. She placed a single finger to her chin, emitting a low "hmm" sound, like a computer processor being pushed to its limits. At last, her gaze returned to Licht, and she gave her reply.

"My most sincere apologies," She said, giving a humble bow. "I did not mean to sound discriminatory towards men in pointy green hats. As a matter of fact, I was unaware of the existence of such a subculture. I will do my best to keep it in mind from now on."

It was a genuine response that Licht gave to Aoife. One that involved a raised eyebrow and a clear look of confusion to follow. Normally one would take this particular action as some form of sarcasm, but Aoife seemed to get oddly serious about this and it did managed to confuse the not-elf. "Err, okay, you can stop that. It's weird. I'm sure nobody could really bother to care about a cap like that..."

He was being out-memed for sure. This was odd, very much so. Licht did not take well to people who took things literally, it would seem. But nevertheless, he would endeavor to become the Meme Master, a person worthy of the meme gods. Or something.

"So..." he kinda just stared at the girl until she raised her head again. "I think I should go or something.... I need to kill things for, uh, reasons? Though I guess I won't get past the rumored boss until I form a party, so I'll be waiting for a while, huh?" shaking his head as he realized he was beginning to mumble to himself, he sighed.

"Well, I can perhaps help you level if you want. I doubt they did much about powerleveling since the beta. Or I can just watch and wait. Listen. And see a young apprentice grow into a slightly bigger apprentice of the meme."

"Actually, I don't think increasing one's combat ability affects your physical size, either..." Aoife chimed in sheepishly, seeming almost sad at having to correct him so frequently. "Still, I have been told the woods ahead are dangerous, and given the number of enemies I must no doubt face to traverse the road ahead, any and all help I might be able to get would be most appreciated. If you are willing to assist me, then I shall accept your offer with gratitude." She gave another sincere bow, as though she were a knight entrusting her life to a liege.

She was doing this on purpose, wasn't she? I make one, no, two jokes about elves and stereos and now I am punished for it.

Narrowing his eyes, Licht opted not to respond to that comment. Instead he began once more walking to Bale Forest as he waved an arm as her cue to follow him, walking past the bowed 'knight' with seemingly little interest of the gesture. "We best be off, then. No telling how many people are steailng all the EXP," he said. He took a few more steps before suddenly remembering something important. "Oh, yeah. Parties. Those are a thing. If you would like to benefit at all from my slaughtering things, then we need to be in one."

Licht took this moment to open his menu, scroll down to 'Parties' and tap that particular button. When he was in that tab, he scrolled over to the 'Start Party' button and selected that, followed by the 'Invite' button. Since Aoife was right here, all he had to do was to highlight her and select her, which would then send a message containing her invite.

Alternatively, he could have simply highlighted her and scrolled to an "Invite to Party" button and pressed that, but he was too lazy to do the least amount of effort in this case.

Giving another of her very serious nods, Aoife opened her own player menu with a casual swipe of her hand, searching for the window she expected to see popping up at any moment. It didn't take long to highlight the transparent screen that had appeared in front of her reading "Join Licht's party?" and to hit "Accept." Appearing beside the red and green HP and SP bars visible only to herself in the corner of her vision materialized a second set of bars, with the other player's username displayed prominently over them. To her surprise, though, unlike her own name, which was quickly followed with "Level 1 Longarms," he was instead listed as a level 15 Blademaster. She raised an eyebrow. How had he gotten to such a level within half an hour of the start of the game? He'd mentioned the beta earlier... Huh. Maybe she'd lucked out in meeting this person who she'd only initially thought of as an annoyance. Regardless, his help would make things infinitely easier. Opening her own quest menu, she selected the only one that was listed there, pushing a button labeled "Share Objective" so that Licht could see her goals and her progress at completing them. After that, she turned about, nodding to the blonde swordsman and then turning her gaze to the forest beyond.

"Now that that matter is settled, I am prepared to depart with all haste," She said firmly, knocking her right hand to her breastplate in a sort of salute. "I look forward to fighting alongside you!" She declared, shouldering her spear and continuing her march towards the forest, with her new teammate in tow.

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xxxxx|| State of Mind ✧ Eager |||| State of Mind ✧ "Eager" ||xxxxx
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BGM: Let the Battles Begin!

"Take this!"

A rather loud squelching sound rang out immediately following this triumphant yell, and the speaker, one knight in blue, found herself staring confusedly down the now quite sticky haft of her glaive at the equally confused slime in which it had embedded itself rather harmlessly.

"Err... methinks you're supposed to be dead," She said nervously, giving a slight tug on the spear. The slime didn't budge, giving her a glare that suggested it was rather unamused by the sudden attack. "Look, the very least you can do is give me back my spear so we can do this properl- Wah?!" She got no further, for in another instant, several long tendrils of green goop began to sprout from the top of the amorphous creature. Not wanting to be close to it now that it seemed to be attacking, Aoife gave a violent tug on her weapon, trying to wrench it free and hastily backpedal beyond the clumsy creature's reach. Fortunately, the decreased mass holding down her glaive meant that this was surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, since she'd overestimated how much force to apply to recover her polearm, the end result was her staggering rather comically backward and falling flat on her rear, bonking herself over the head with the flat side of her own weapon's blade. She winced, rubbing her forehead and blinking several times, wondering what exactly had just happened, only to be jarred from her confusion by a sudden, surprisingly forceful impact square to her chest, knocking her fully onto her back and sending her rolling head over heels.

Stumbling to her feet, she glanced up at her health bar, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw that it hadn't depleted from the hit. Turning her gaze downward to her armor, she found her relief turning to unimaginable frustration when she realized that her once-pristine breastplate, which had taken the E Rank attack without difficulty, was now covered in sickly green ooze.

"Why you cheeky-!" She cried angrily, only to be once again interrupted by her formless opponent. Three more tendrils of slime swept downward like whips, one right after the other. But, this time, she assured herself, she was ready. Taking a step back with her right foot, she planted herself firmly, lowering her spear with her dominant left hand forward. Gauging the distance between her and her enemy, she waited until the moment the tendrils were within reach before twisting her right hand and lunging forward with her left, flicking the razor-sharp edge of the glaive upward to intercept the oncoming attack. It was a simple movement, but effective, carving clean through the first tendril and chipping away another quarter or so of the slime's hitpoints. Then, she reversed the gesture, bringing her blade back down like a guillotine, splattering the second tendril in the same precise motion. So long as she stuck to the basics, it seemed, she could fight easily.

It was around this time she realized that she probably should have just dodged, given that in the time it had taken her to deflect the first two tentacles, the third had managed to reach her, snaking its way around the haft of her weapon, and then around her hands as she raised them instinctively to block. With strength that was astonishing for the functional equivalent of a pile of animate jello, the slime drew back its arm, lifting her clear off the ground and into the air above it. Aoife held on tight to her glaive, not wanting to be disarmed, yet swiftly regretted this blind determination when she found herself being swung violently downward on the opposite side of the slime like some sort of human flail, slamming her head first into the ground. She groaned, the impact sending shocks through her whole body as she rolled over onto her back, shakily standing yet again, looking incredulously at the comparatively tiny blob that had just picked her up and thrown her with all the ease of swinging a stick. The slime drew back its remaining tentacle and reformed, beginning to lurch slowly towards her. Aoife gaped.

"Did... Did that tiny slime just suplex me?" She wondered aloud. It was hard to tell, given her adversary's lack of arms, yet she couldn't help but feel incredibly foolish for allowing herself to be so easily downed a second time. The humiliating manner of her injury was merely the final straw. Lowering herself into a crouch like an animal ready to pounce, she glared daggers at the hateful blob as it began slowly forming its matter into several long tendrils to continue its attack. However, regardless of its intent, it had less than a quarter of its hitpoints left now. She could finish it in one hit. Bounding forward, she closed the distance in an instant, ducking beneath an upraised tendril and snapped her left arm forward, driving the head of her spear clean through her enemy, splattering it as though it'd been struck by a cannonball. As the little bits of ooze that remained of her enemy began to dissolve into nothingness, Aoife found herself breathing a sigh of relief. She'd have hated to have to wash the sticky residue off her hands and armor manually.

...So of course, out of all the bits of slime that had been left over, those were the only ones that didn't vanish. Aoife stared down at her hands, giving an unusually transparent expression of disgust at the irritating glue-like substance that covered them, as though trying to melt this residue with the sheer force of her frustration.

Throughout the entirety of his life, Licht had never been one to enjoy pointless battles that did not fit a story or plot. He could appreciate unwinnable battles, though. Yet, this one served little purpose in his opinion. A level 15 player against a level 1 slime was not a battle at all, nor did he feel as though it ever was one even when he was a lower level (though to be fair, he had practice even before the beta). It was... well, quite boring to be honest. On Licht's end of the fight he was 'enjoying' himself with a pair of slimes, whom he had honestly paid very little attention to from the beginning. His superior stats meant that their attacks almost seemed to slow to a stop, and a person who was moving as fast as he was comparitively a god. Yes, how great he was. Such godspeed should make someone like Aoife envious, for sur---

*SLAP*

"Ow, rude!"

It was then that Licht realized he catered towards a heavy defense, not agility. In fact, he was about as agile as an elephant compared to people in similar level. So of course when he tried to dodge the slime-whips, it did not really go as planned. He felt a sharp pain on his cheek, where it had hit him, and if anything he was a bit irritated that this little monsters had the audacity to strike at him when it was simply a blob of nothing. So, with about as much effort as he put into anything that didn't involve video games, he stabbed a slime and it more or less detonated like a stick of TNT.

Well that was still rather anticlimactic. I guess we can go see what Aoife is doi----

*SLAP*

"Okay man, what is with these slimes? Don't they into fear?" Despite him being nigh impossible to murder unless he simply sat there for a bit, these slimes didn't necessarily feel the need to hold back with their slaps, and it was not nice at all, Licht thought.

*SLAP*

This time, it was Licht who slapped the slime with his sword. Well, it was actually a swing, but it had about as much effort put into it as a slap would. The slime, just like its brethren, mimicked a hand grenade upon being struck, minus completely obliterating Licht himself. Perhaps frustrated at how much pain his cheek had endured in a battle with the weakest monster in the game, Licht decided it would probably fun to see how Aoife was doing, and if she could even hold her own in a battle.

............
.......
...
.

The answer to the last question was a pretty solid 'not really'. Even though he was getting slapped, if he were actually serious about fighting these slimes, they wouldn't amount to much of a fight at all. They didn't really provide the greatest challenge even in the beta, although to her credit they were apparently buffed in the final game. He didn't remember them being so skilled with their tentacle things. And, although he had seen more than enough hentai to know where this battle could have gone, he at least smiled at the fact that, despite seeing her fall on her ass twice in a battle with just one of these things, she somehow managed to slay it. Truly, this battle had inspired him to tease her to lengths he never thought possible, as she made it seem like it had been some impossibly hard boss fight, or her first time playing a Dark Souls game.

"You got one!" he couldn't help but put emphasis on the 'one' to let her know just how entertaining that was. That she beat but a single slime, and it was impossible for her to not know how silly it was. "That's like, your first kill, right? Congrats! I mean it'll certainly get tougher from here on out, but with that kind of skill you can probably maybe beat a goblin or kobold or whatever they had in this game!"

Aoife turned, noticing that although she'd only taken out one enemy, her quest had progressed by three. That must have meant that the hat-loving man had taken on two more slimes elsewhere. Truly, an impressive feat to face them and come out of it clean, aside for a small fleck of ooze on his cheek. She envied him that, compared to her own predicament.

Still, he seemed rather content with how things had turned out, hailing her victory with some very enthusiastic words. Aoife seemed to contemplate what he had said for a moment, shouldering her spear as she nodded to hersefl, evidently coming to a conclusion on how to respond.

...Yet again, she gave a formal bow, lowering her head respectfully. "Your words are wise. Although the road ahead may be difficult, the fact that one such as myself could defeat one enemy means that I may well be able to defeat another. I will keep this in mind," She said with the utmost seriousness, like a disciple learning from the words of an experienced master. "Thank you, both for your kind words, and for the assistance you have so generously provided in accompanying me."

There was not a proper word for the expression Licht made, hearing Aoife's sincere gratitude towards his blatant sarcasm. But if one had to try to describe it, it could be said to be the mixture of disgust and realization that she was probably not screwing with him. "...Well, no problem....? Keep it.... up?" he was not too sure how to reply since she was immune to his, well, character. It was as if she denied his very existence, and since nobody had ever done that before, he had no real way to cope.

Licht sighed. Somehow he would have to carry on, despite her obliviousness. "That should be three down out of ten, correct?" he QUESTioned. He did not think it the quest tracker was lying to him, and he doubted that Aoife had managed to secretly beat another slime while he was 'fighting' his own.

"Well? Venture forth, young one. It would be best if you learned how to fight for yourself. I am simply backup." Except, of course, for those other slimes that had aggro'd on him. Screw them.

"Indeed," Aoife said, nodding. "It was wrong of me to allow myself to be overcome by frustration," Declared the young Paladin heroically, turning her eyes to the horizon - although whether she was trying to look dramatic or was just searching for more slimes to fight, who could have said for sure? "This is a battle I must fight by myself," She said, nodding to herself, before turning back to her doubtless rather befuddled companion. "After all, if I cannot best foes such as these, there's no telling how poorly I'd fare in a truly... sticky... situation."

Learning from his past interactions with the girl, Licht opted out of asking whether or not the pun was intentional. It was safer this way. "Improving yourself in both mind and spirit through engaging and defeating foes is the fastest way to strengthen yourself, and to take your own power to the next level." he stated. He hadn't expected her to pick up the fact he made a reference to leveling up in there, but he couldn't not do it, that would be completely against his own personal character.

"Indeed!" She declared with the utmost seriousness, giving an emphatic nod before abruptly rouding on the woods, leveling her glaive and pointing dramatically down the path that lay ahead. "And I shall have many such foes to confront, for an enemy of justice is an enemy of myself. Let us go, Sancho Licht! At least seven more of our slippery adversaries must fall before our work here is done."

"Yes... let us resume our quest with haste, you eager paladin, you." Licht seemed to have earned himself a new nickname, and one he probably did not care very much for. However, since he was occasionally calling her Pally in his head, he figured she deserved that much. Pally the Paladin could be allowed to give him a single nickname. "Also you'd better not take forever. Girls fighting slimes with tentacles is not a healthy thing for a young man to watch for extended periods of time."

At least he was nice enough to warn her.

---

Aoife slumped back against the trunk of a sturdy tree, stopping to catch her breath as the last slime vanished into light. Her HP bar hadn't dropped by much, as she'd managed to angle most of the attacks she couldn't dodge into the armored areas of her person, but the impacts alone were enough to leave her joints sore, without even bringing into question the irritation of the sticky rainbow-colored ooze dribbling slowly down her torso. At this point, she looked like she'd been assaulted by the entire paint department of a hardware store.

Having taken Licht's advice to heart, she had managed to dispatch most of her foes with haste. That didn't mean she'd done it in a terribly efficient manner. In her hurry, she'd left several openings, and had, consequently, taken more than a bit of a beating. Her arms were still aching from a particular slime that had caught hold of both her glaive and her hands and tried to crush them inside its body. She sighed. I suppose it could have been worse, she thought. At least none of the slime got inside my clothing. That would have been more than just embarrassing.

Opening her inventory, Aoife glanced at what gear she had equipped. As she thought, the slime wasn't listed as a permanent status effect on her armor. In that case, it was probably just applied as a terrain effect to her gear that would be removed when she either left the area or unequipped her items. In that case, now that she was done fighting, it seemed like a reasonable enough idea to get rid of the noisome slime. There was just one problem.

Aoife glanced back up to the man in the Elf costume as he came strolling into the clearing. She raised a single hand, gesturing for him to stop. "Turn around and don't look this way," She ordered out of the blue.

Licht had offered minimal help during the rest of the quest, having decided it best if the woman learned how to fight herself. Of course, if she seemed incapable of surviving an encounter, he was ready to step in, but that had proved to be unnecessary. So most of his time was spent watching. Watching and waiting for her to finish up the encounters. He had to admit she did dispatch the slimes in a quicker manner than before, although her victories were always sloppy. That much was to expected from a noob, however.

He was relieved when they were finished. Now they (he) did not have to sit around, watching a hentai in the making. Although he was probably the one most eager to escape the area, he took a brief moment to look back upon the place and admire just how beautiful it really was. People put a great deal of time and effort into this place, and he was feeling sentimental. For about three seconds, then he decided to hurry up and follow his little companion. Strangely, however, he found himself being spontaneously ordered to face the opposite way as he approached the slime-covered girl. Weird. Why would he do that? Had she decided that it would be fun to play hide-and-seek? Perhaps there was a foe behind him? Or maybe....

No, it couldn't be.

He had a very strange thought pass through his mind. He thought that for some weird reason maybe the girl wanted to do something odd like take off her equipment. But he knew that was silly. He was probably just having an overactive imagination or something, because there is absolutely no viable reason for a person to just take off their stuff like that --- it was crazy.

And then he remembered where they were, what kind of situation they had found themselves in.

"O-okay... ?" he did not try to argue with the girl. Instead, he did as she instructed and once again faced the area they had just been. What was it about these trees that inspired such awe from the elf-clad human? Was it the way they gently swayed in the breeze? Was it their brilliant green? Perhaps, maybe, he was a tree in a prior life? If one believed such a theory, that is. Licht wasn't sure, but then again, he never was. He just kinda did things whenever without being sure of them and that was his core nature. These trees that lived, day in and day out, could also be said to be unsure. They were a computer program. Numbers. They existed not yet they did anyway.

What am I even pondering?

Aoife, for her part, watched the Swordsman carefully, waiting for him to either turn around or refuse to do so, for whatever reason. Fortunately, he didn't seem to question her orders, and did as he was told, facing away from her and staring off into space, completely motionless. Clad head to toe in all green, barely moving save for the wind rustling his clothing, he almost looked like some sort of tree.

But, that was a stupid thing to compare a person to, and Aoife didn't really care what he was doing so long as he wasn't looking her way, so, satisfied that he wasn't staring at her, swiftly dragged and dropped all her equipment from her gear slots back into her inventory, then hit apply. Her armor vanished in a flash of light, dissipating into pixels with an audible whine. She stretched, glad to be relieved of the weight of the platemail on her already sore body and arms. Still, relaxing though it might have been, she wasn't particularly keen on the idea of standing around in the middle of the forest in her simulated underwear. After all, even if this wasn't her actual body, it felt real enough to her. So, going back to her inventory, she set about re-equipping each piece of her gear in turn.

As one might deduce from his inner monologue, Licht had begun questioning his own being and what it meant to be himself. Was he a tree? No. Was he ever a tree? No. He was a person. A person with a very active mind and he also happened to have a very short attention span. Patience wasn't something he was great with, so like glass, his concentration shattered.

"Is there a reason I---"

Licht couldn't complete his sentence when his eyes were graced with the sight of digital skin. He couldn't help but notice that, aside from her boots, the girl was as bare as an avatar could get. Truly, the thing he feared most was revealed to have been true: the girl was crazy.

Not that he minded much.

"....nice boots?"

Aoife raised an eyebrow, glancing up at the sound of the hat-loving man's voice. She stared blankly at him. He gazed distractedly back. Aoife sighed and equipped her dress, relieved that, at least, it wasn't soaked in dead bits of slime anymore. Her cuirass followed shortly after as, with a single deft motion, she shut the player menu and turned back to the dumbstruck Swordsman. "It is very impolite to stare," She said pointedly, sounding less embarrassed and more... disappointed. Her expression hardly changed either, presenting an oddly understated reaction to what most women would have considered a grave offense. It might have even seemed like she didn't even mind, were it not for the faintest tinge of red entering her cheeks despite her best attempts to maintain her perpetual poker face. But, mastering herself, she did not make any comment other than this. Turning away without another word, she followed her quest marker towards the edge of the clearing, heading for the guard camp in the woods to turn in her quest. Unlike before, this time, she didn't wait to make sure Licht was following her.

As much as any other man would like to pretend he was 'used' to seeing the female form, Licht did not do so. That is not to say he was like your stereotypical shounen manga protagonist who bumbled around and became the incarnation of a beet just by seeing a girl's hand, but he could admit that although she was an avatar, he did think she was a fairly good-looking one at that. However, he showed as much reaction from Aoife's form as she did. He probably had a small tint of red to his cheeks, but what really showed was that he was more confused by her actions, being unaware of her reasons for doing what she had done. So he voiced such.

"Yeah, well, it's rude to strip randomly too." he replied to her as he followed behind, though she apparently didn't feel like saying much more on the matter. Oh well, so be it. If she wanted to strip at random intervals during this adventure of theirs, then he would not stop her.

He just wished she had been wearing the costume that won the competition.