Autumn Fire

What a world... It really was amazing the sheer level of detail Kayaba had managed to incorporate. Not only from visuals, but the sounds had such an acute blend, from the soft crunch of grass underfoot and the shuffling of virtual fabric to the sharp squealing grunts and vicious snorts of the boars attacking. Oh... yeah, that was probably important. Ahrina opened her eyes with a wry grin, already dancing away from the beast's charge. She let it rage, marveling at the expression and sensation of the fight as she toyed with the boar with her blade, shifting its charges subtly rather than striking back with any force. The practice sword beginners were given felt coarse in her hand and was hardly strong enough to make much of an impact on its own, even against such a low level monster. Even so... Ahrina flipped the blade in her hand and avoided another head on charge, letting the sword take on a light glow as it reached a proper strike position. She allowed the unfamiliar sensation to take over, striking forward across its back with a Horizontal strike.

The boar let out an angered squeal of protest as the bar above its head shrunk to red. Another charge proved as fruitless as the first and another strike was the last as the boar shattered into a thousand particles, ever shifting blue dust effervescently fading before anything could reach it. Absolutely beautiful. Ahrina absentmindedly acknowledged a notification for another tusk added to her inventory and reaching level 2 with the same enthusiasm, still occupied with the scene before her.

Faint clashes of iron and hide reached her ears from nearby battles, others embracing the first taste of combat this world would offer. Rolling hills gently surrounded the town, covered in a sounder of boars, each spread out just enough to allow some singularity of combat, but close enough to allow for accidents or group charges and to prevent any easy way out without combat. A handful of other players joined her there, each fighting with enthusiasm and vigor. There certainly was a thrill in it, she supposed. So much energy had to have gone into this creation, and in turn so much energy would be given back. Heh... Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe they knew something she didn't that led to such natural passion for the world rather than an affected confidence covering nonchalance. Such joy, such sorrow... getting so worked up over every little thing... People always spent so much energy on the world with useless reactions that didn't change anything, but maybe the reaction itself was the point. Even if it wasn't productive, maybe the reaction was worth it. Well, it did make things interesting. And if anything deserved such implicit admiration, it was the intricacy the programmers had worked into this game. Even from the beginning the painstaking effort toward realism built into the mechanics and effort made for replication and innovation were obvious.

Ahrina headed back to town, ready to turn in proof of her conquest. A few cor were well worth the trouble, and selling the vendor trash goods provided a decent bundle for the first upgrades. Finding a nearby blacksmith she tried out every weapon in the store for her level, narrowing down a selection from broadswords and dagger until she found a reasonably priced mid length Cutlass. It was nothing remarkable stat wise, but a fair sight better than the starter sword and would serve until she chose an actual style to go after, the curved blade already being a preference. Armor could wait until later, she had plenty of time to decide what she wanted. A walk around town seemed more useful at the moment, as getting familiar with the territory usually was. There was an inn, a church, tailor, blacksmith, restaurant, main square, castle... There were even sewers with actual rats. All in all it seemed larger than she'd expected, perhaps because of the wide roads, and she found different NPCs actually competing with each other subtly by selling similar goods at slightly different prices. There was a guard at the castle yard willing to give a tutorial on various sword skills with the right dialogue options and the apothecary had what appeared to be a repeatable quest, trading various herbs she'd never heard of for low level health potions. As the church had been a dead end as far as healing, resurrection, detoxing, and decursing had been concerned (not entirely surprising due to the lack of magic in the game but still a disappointment) that quest became a top priority. This was in part because she was a cheapskate and those crystals at the general store were incredibly expensive. Okay, mostly because of that. It was interesting to note that the general store actually had higher prices than the specialty stores. Not significantly so, but while it had more types of items, it had a smaller selection of each all at slightly higher than they would have cost while bought separately. It was quite a business model, actually, relying on laziness and convenience.

Strangely, though, as soon as she tried to head out of town again to search for the herbs there was an odd bell chime and she was surrounded by a blue light before appearing in the middle of the gigantic square. Ahrina wasn't the only one. The central area did not feel large for long as it was filled with thousands and thousands of other players, likely all 10,000 that had begun the game that day. That was... a lot of people. A hell of a lot of people. Strangers and strangers and- none of them looked very happy, actually. She overheard a few frustrated conversations mumbling about not being able to log out or grumbling about stupid bugs and refunds for inconvenience. Others seemed to be laughing it off or pissed off that their time was being wasted, while a few oddballs seemed bubbly and looking forward to whatever opening ceremony was planned. Mostly, though, the crowd was confused, and no one seemed to have any answers.

The answers weren't ones they wanted to hear, anyway. Kayaba appeared as an avatar of darkness, a bloody lord of cloaked mysteries overlooking the players like they were mere dolls or playthings to his godly form. He corrected patiently that being unable to log out was not a bug, merely a fact of life. They were trapped. It was a simple design feature, like that wasn't a loaded term in itself. To be stuck inside a virtual world forever with only one life... honestly, that didn't sound too bad. Well, it would certainly be bad/sad/whatever if people died, but, really, that's an issue with /death/ being a negative thing, not the mechanic itself. As long as nothing was actively hunting people down and trying to kill them off, it seemed like an extra incentive to take a look at immersive functions within the game itself and take threats seriously.

The nerve gear manipulation, though... now that was interesting. She had been following his notes on the structure for manipulation of perceptual awareness and the device shouldn't be capable of such a thing. While it had the power to create the charge necessary to fry the associative neurons binding consciousness with the battery strength alone, there were supposedly safeties built into every step of immersion created by different companies, some of which Kayaba would have no involvement with. It was a stipulation of the virtual reality machines ever getting public approval, after all. Absentmindedly she noted cries of disbelief go up all around her as people seemed determined to call Kayaba out for trolling them.

The real troubling part of his speech, though... Their bodies were off in the outside world unprotected, and if someone got them killed before they ever got the chance to live here, that would be the real tragedy. Absolute loss of control. Other than that, it seemed a fair deal to Ahrina. Trade one life of an unemployed new graduate for that of an adventurer. Isn't that what they all wanted anyway? Why else would someone play one of these games if not to find a new path to follow, if only for a little while? Ahrina allowed a small smile to cross her lips before being jolted out of her thoughts by an outraged shout.

"Stop fucking around! What kind of sick joke is this? We're all going to die? Yeah, right!"

"D-don't... Don't do this to us! I have a family! A job!"

Ah, right. Family. Friends. Those were also important. Apparently this speech was bad news. Okay. As Kayaba assured them he was telling the truth, Ahrina's mind went into overdrive. If this was the current state of things, the first few moments would be vital, particularly if people were reacting so poorly. Crowds were full of people, and people were stupid. And if they weren't going to take things seriously even if they didn't believe him, they'd likely all get themselves killed unless they acknowledged this world as the current reality and didn't randomly decide to throw away all laws and common sense. Yeah... she had no faith in that. So much for her plans to take it easy as a reckless solo casual. The stakes were a bit too high for that sort of fun. Time to resurrect a very different persona. Her stance shifted to one of unwavering confidence as Kayaba announced a gift being placed in their inventories. To her annoyance, hair changed from blood red to a golden brown with the mirror's effects, what was unmistakably her own face staring back at her from within the glass. Ah, well. Surely there'd be in game customization to fix that back later at some virtual barber. In any case, now that Kayaba was finished, the crowd was starting to panic. Well, more than they were already. Time to put on a show.

A large man beside her was staring at his hands and shaking, a good first target. Ahrina slapped a hand on his shoulder suddenly and forced him to meet her eyes. "I'm Ahrina, the chronicler and data junkie, and I care if you live or die. Add me?" Exuding straight forward confidence, he moved to accept the friend request almost without thought, automatically following the order as he mumbled a simple "W-what...?" after she'd already moved on. Mordecai, check.

A small woman with mousey brown hair. "I'm Ahrina, the chronicler and data junkie, and I care if you live or die. Add me." Vilonette, check.

A teenage boy with a bad dye job. Speedemon, check. A nervous man with a mustache. Finesse, check. A teenage girl who wouldn't stop screaming even as she accepted the request. Melodycalls, check. A twitchy guy about her age. Nostalgia, check. Each accepted without real acknowledgment, still caught up in themselves and their own thoughts. It was not enough. Some people were starting to leave at this point, either at a run or slinking off. Escalate.

Looking around quickly she spied a crate against the wall as the highest convenient vantage point. Climbing on it quickly she whistled as loudly as the system would allow, reaching an obnoxiously attention grabbing pitch as it was amplified through the ears of those inside the stadium. Clearing her throat as a good portion of the crowd clutched their ears and turned toward her, she began.

"Excuse me, if I can have your attention please! I am Ahrina, a chronicler and data junkie, and I care whether you live or die. There will be a basic combat introduction an hour from now in the castle courtyard followed by a talk on strategy games, basic tips, and random things I've found out thus far. Now! More importantly, I want to know you. I want to know who you are, what you can do. I want to watch your path and tell your tale. I want to know who is doing what, when, where, and how well. I want to keep track of you and, more importantly to you I'm sure, I want to be able to connect you to other people as well if you need it. Need a blacksmith? I want to help you out. Need someone on the 5th floor to group with? I want to know who else is looking so I can tell you! Clear a dungeon and escape a particularly perilous trap? Let me know and I'll spread the word, telling your exploits around Aincrad and warning other people where to watch out. The worst thing you can do right now is think you are alone in this. Look around! Everyone here is in the same boat, so take a minute and make some contacts. Talk to someone, add a friend, and find something in the present to latch on to instead of going off and despairing in your own head. I'll be here and I want to know you."

Ahrina let out a sigh of relief at the end of her impromptu speech as she looked around and saw that quite a few were still a captive audience. A dozen or so requests popped up in her vision which she accepted with an easy grin. This hadn't exactly been her plan, but it would certainly do. Knowledge was power, and when it comes to life and death, power was everything. Plenty of people would be going off to gain experience this early on, particularly if they were smart or had been a part of the beta. If she could organize people here first into a more productive form, that would help everyone out by having fewer depressing wastes of players hanging around and more actually trying to win this game or flesh out reality with the spice of liveliness. God forbid she get stuck in a world where everyone acted like a panicking downer after the first little hiccup. It was bad enough she'd have to give up her usual reckless release of energy, dying in games in the name of fun, in order to play it smart and keep track of everything within the game without her graphs and charts for her usual data sets. Software and websites made her hobby much easier, but it looks like she'd be doing most of this mentally along with whatever note taking functions the system allowed. That... should probably be her next step for research. Research! Wait, no, that should wait.

Hopping off the crate, she greeted the group nearest her and held out her hand to shake. "Ahrina. And you are?" "Fallen." "Rachel." "Navi." "I'm Yoko!" "Great! Glad to see some enthusiasm here." Sending out contact requests, she could definitely see that not everyone was looking as optimistic about their future here, but they all looked considerably calmer than a moment before, if a bit... angry.

"Hey! Why the hell should any of us listen to you? You're stuck here too, right? Or are you some kind of fucking Kayaba plant?"

"Oh, nothing like that. And you can feel free to leave at any time. You don't have to listen to anyone if you don't want to, technically, so feel free to waste away inside a little antisocial aggressive bubble if you'd like. The only advantage I have that makes me worth listening to at all yet is force of personality and obsessive experience with game data categorization. So why not let me help you? Got any pressing plans, places to be, hot date?"

The last question got a morbid snicker from someone behind her, likely because of how in bad taste it was to joke about the cause of his ire. Oh well. At least someone thought it was funny.

Turning to greet them, Ahrina was caught off guard by a sudden hug. "Well aren't you just going to make my job easier, Ahrini! I want a list of your friends list later, it'll be good to keep track of who is around. We'll talk." Done squeezing the life from her, the smaller girl waltzed off without a word, leaving a friend request behind her with a single word, "Argo". Good to see someone appreciated it. Maybe this would work out after all. About 50 people had stuck around at this point, a miniscule fraction compared to the thousands in the game, but a much more manageable fraction. Moving to the more skittish looking ones first and those around the edges, she collected name after name, expanding her contacts rapidly.

"Okay! I'm heading over to the castle yard now and I encourage all of you to join me. Let's get some basics of combat down and not stab ourselves in the feet!" Which she certainly had never done, particularly the first time someone had handed her a blade without seeing if she was paying attention. Not looking back to see if anyone bothered following, she made her way to the castle yard, stopping twice along the way to introduce herself with her new catch phrase and drag along some dead eyed soul.

It was a relief to find a few people there already, a half dozen or so she vaguely remembered seeing around the square who stood proving that someone was paying attention to her, even if she hadn't talked to them individually yet. Ahrina gave the usual introduction to the small group and a shortened spiel about her goals while waiting for more to arrive. Specter. Ramses. Mockingbird. Everafter. Khaoticone. Jesuit. Six more people to keep track of.

When the group reached around 20, she got everyone's attention and motioned to the guard of the yard. "Okay! First thing I've found out is that normal attacks do very little in this game, chump change for damage. If you want to hurt any of the mobs you'll need to use the sword arts this game is named for. I'll leave it to the expert to explain further."

Hypocritically, Ahrina tuned out the NPC as it gave the generic introduction to sword skills and basic attacks she had found earlier, choosing instead to survey the small crowd. Determined faces stared at him, taking in the demonstration of attacks as if it were a life line. Perhaps it was. These were people who were told they could be killed at any time and were then offered a way to protect themselves from it. More than that, they chose to be here. They chose to make the effort despite any hesitation they might have had. These were people who were willing to work and fight to save themselves even if they didn't know how. She could work with this. There was no point trying to help anyone if there weren't those willing to take the first step.

As the guard finished his explanation Ahrina took her place in front again. "Any questions before we continue? There are training dummies to your right and the sword skills will activate nearly automatically when you get in the right position, though you might do more damage and have some control of your attack if you go through with the motion on your end as well without relying on the system entirely. Make sure you have the [One handed swords] skill equipped before you start."

"What if we don't want to hit anything? I don't want to hurt anyone here, I just want to go home." EverAfter protested.

"Well, that's an option too and there are lots of ways you could go about being productive without combat. However, fact of the matter is that there will likely come a time where you need to defend yourself and these skills will save your life someday soon. And please keep in mind that the animals and monsters you are facing are particles and bits of data, not actual living beings."

This startled the woman, who had perhaps been thinking of killing things in game as being as bad as she herself being killed. (Though when all were made of bits and data, relative morality was probably not the best topic to debate at the moment.)

"But more importantly, I think you bring up a good point! Defense is as important as offense here, right?" She continued after seeing a nod. "Well, in combat I can think of four different types of defense, really. The first three are dodging, parrying, and blocking. Dodging is ideal because if you don't take hits you won't take any damage, but there are times you won't be able to do that no matter how much you practice. If you parry a blow, you deflect it by hitting it with your own weapon and changing the trajectory for where it hits. For blocking, you'll take the hit but with your weapon or shield instead of your body and take less damage than otherwise. All three of these are active forms of defense you'll need to be paying attention to for and working to improve. I'm guessing stat wise you would want to get higher strength for parrying and blocking, higher health and durability for blocking, and higher speed and agility for dodging and parrying. But how about we try it out and get used to all of the movement? A monster won't wait for you to attack first."

Going to the nearest person, a lanky man by the moniker Golden, she opened up a duel request. "We're in the safe zone, so we won't die even if we lose our health, but just in case I am setting the limits of the duel to stop the moment either of us hits yellow or gets a good hit in. I want us to practice dodging and evading strikes without being hit. Is this okay with you?" He nodded and I called out to the others during the countdown. "Find your own partners but remember the safeties and watch where other people are fighting. Be aware of your environment!"

There was a moment of awkward hesitation while Ahrina gestured for Golden to attack, followed quickly by a series of powerful but overextended strikes. He struck from above, she danced to the right. He swung high, she ducked low. He slashed left, she danced back and then lunged forward, striking his chest front on with a pat of her hand as he tried to right his balance.

"You're planted. Move around a little or you'll end up just a standing target." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and readied himself again. By this time other pairs had stopped gawking and started matches of their own.

Golden lunged forward, trying for a piercing strike only to be sidestepped again by Ahrina. She struck out in turn, tapping his knuckles with the flat of her blade, causing him to drop his sword by reflex. "Did that hurt?" "Of course it- huh. No, not really." He held up his hand warily, then reclaimed his short sword. They clashed again with the same lack luster result as he left himself open to any counterattack. "Try jumping." Golden looked at her oddly. "I'm serious. Try jumping. You know..." Ahrina hopped in place a few times and he reluctantly followed suit when it looked like she wasn't going to let him off the hook by making a halfhearted spring.

"Yeah, this is a problem. Okay! Attention everyone! Stop your duels for a second. Now, why is it important we keep moving while we fight?"

A blonde girl raised her hand hesitantly- Starlett. "So... we don't get hit?"

"Correct! So. Why are so many of you standing in place after you attack? Even when your opponent is on the defensive, they can always lash out with a counter attack, and if your feet are planted you'll be less able to deal with that. So jump. All of you. Right now, with me. Jump and keep jumping. Yes, I am serious." With that she started jumping, alternating sporadically between normal hops, jumping jacks, tapping her toes, and hugging her knees.

At first only a few of the younger and more enthusiastic were willing to join, but even the more stoic found themselves willing to give it a shot when she started jumping directly in front of them, staring with a raised eyebrow and no nonsense expression. That is, except one person. "Got something against jumping?"

"Yeah, it looks stupid and this is pointless." The dissenter was a teenage boy with messy brown hair, Excel he called himself.

"Really? hm..." Ahrina stopped for a moment as if weighing his words. There was an awkward silence broken as the air left Excel's lungs. His back crashed against the flag stone courtyard as his legs were swept out from underneath him in a practiced motion. She offered a hand up without further words. He took it with a sigh.

"Point. Crazy bitch..."

"Is that a challenge? Okay! New game. Experiment time. Who here can't do a handstand in the normal world? No shame, come on, hands up." A few hands rose slowly, mostly from older players and men, more joining over time. "And who can?" Hands rose faster this time though there were fewer of them. "Try it." Nodding at Starlett, she gestured for the volunteer to move who flipped onto her hands with ease. "Great! Now you try." Ahrina then nodded to Mordecai, one of the larger men who had admitted to inability.

He looked at her in disbelief. "Are you kidding? I haven't tried that since grade school."

"Humor me. I'll do it with you." Ahrina went beside him and pushed his shoulder gently until he acquiesced. She went through the same motion slowly as he did, correcting his hand position once along the way. She held her breath as they kicked off and up. Nothing was more nerve wracking than live experiments, and the chance the system had accounted for this was only about 50/50. Thankfully for both of them her hunch held true. They both stood upside down like that for a moment before balancing back on their feet again. "We're not going by real world logic anymore. We're both at basic level agility, right? No points in it yet?" At his nod she continued. "Yet we can both do that, even if we couldn't before at home. Try it yourself."

Surprisingly Excel was the first to follow her lead. He practically jumped into it and then laughed until he fell over at his own success. "Lame... so lame..."

"Yeah, yeah, enjoy it. Face it, people, there are no excuses anymore. I don't care if you are a mountain or a twig. If you want to be the fastest dagger around, go for it. If you want to tank in full plate mail with a broadsword, no one is stopping you. Don't hold yourself back before you start. Try something different and surprise people. Surprise yourself! This is a new chance, it doesn't have to be serious. Just whatever you choose as a style, remember to watch your back."

"I could really try the big sword...?" Yoko looked thoughtful.

"You're full of shit." Finesse was less than impressed.

"That does sound like more fun..." Nostalgic smirked, clearly thinking of some possibility.

"Oh, hey, Ahri-whatsit. What was that about a forth defense?" One of the youngest players there, Speedemon, seemed to have the best memory.

"Ahri's fine. And the forth type of defense is the most effective of them all."

Jesuit shouted at her angrily. "Then why the hell didn't you start with that one?!"

"Huh~? Really? What is it?" Rachel bobbed up and down on her heels eagerly.

Vilonette called out with a laugh, "Don't hold out on us now!"

"The forth type of defense... is never being in the fight in the first place." Ahrina answered proudly.

"That... is so lame..." Excel hung his head in disappointment.

"H-how the hell is that a technique?!" Jesuit was less than satisfied.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock..." Specter just looked back as if she were an idiot.

"No, wait, hear me out! This is bigger than it sounds. Even in our world preparation is everything. Here, if you pick a fight you might not win, you really will end up dead. So don't go fighting things above your level, don't go off alone without backup, and don't forget to bring plenty of health potions. Choose your battles wisely. If you don't want to fight something, you don't have to. There is no shame in going back to town for a day, resting up, getting a group, and leveling to get stronger before you try to fight something or go to a new area. Watch out for yourself first and don't be too proud to admit something is too dangerous."

Gloom settled over the group again, but not the oppressive cloud from before.

"It really might be our last, huh...?" Navi whispered with a sad smile.

Excel grumbled agreement. "Maybe its not so stupid..."

"Tch. Still sounds like coward's talk, but maybe you have a point." Jesuit was going to be a fun one to get along with, she could tell.

"But... what else is there? This is a stupid fighting game, what else even is there to do?!" EverAfter, the pacifist from earlier, repeated her underlying fear.

"A lot, actually. I mean, I was just looking around a bit earlier but it seems like you can order up a bunch of crafting skills, from blacksmithing and tailoring to cooking. Or you could be a merchant for other people's goods, give people an option other than the NPC vendors. Or, what about writing books? You think people here won't miss reading novels or short stories a month from now? What about singing? The system didn't take away your voice, did it? Find a niche and fill it. There are tons of non combat quests within the city, just talk to the NPCs and you can keep leveling just the same. Start a newspaper, put on a play and charge admission, set up carnival games, you'll make a killing as a distraction. Do whatever you want! Fight or don't, just come up with something and try it."

"I could... I could actually do that..." Everafter mumbled, sounding strangely determined.

"Pfft- who the hell would want to be a clown when they could kill monsters?" Khaoticone scoffed.

"Maybe we're not all aggressive little brats!" She bit out sharply.

Nostalgic raised his hand slowly. "I want to stab things and I'm not a brat."

Ignoring him, Khaoticone stuck out his tongue. "Takes a brat to know one, nyaaaa~"

"Oh, yeah, real mature. Maybe I /should/ run a circus and have a height requirement saying no shrimps allowed." Maybe Everafter didn't like kids...?

"Oh yeah? Well, who could go to your crummy old circus anyway? I'll be off slicing bosses in no time." Not that he was really a kid, he looked about middle school age.

"Um, guys...?" Melodycalls raised her hands feebly between them before dropping her own protest in the face of their antagonism.

"Slicing their feet, maybe."

With a nervous laugh Ahrina clapped Everafter and Khaoticone on the shoulder, holding them apart as Khaoticone lunged beneath her grip. "How about we use some of this... healthy aggression and break some practice dummies with sword skills! Good for slaughter AND chopping wood."

"Fine..." "Yes ma'am..."

She gestured wildly to the targets and most wandered to take a position at one target or another, calling out Horizontal as they struck. Wandering over to one who had stayed behind, Ahrina let herself relax. "Have I infected you with optimism yet?"

The stoic looking girl snorted before replying in a lazy monotone. "Nearly. But it seems like it's this or screaming, and acting the fool actually seems to be getting us somewhere."

"I'm touched."

"Unlikely. I'm sort of impressed though, to be honest. Are you a teacher or something?"

"I have taught many a lost and lonely soul."

"So that's a no then. I've played a lot of games myself, but this makes all of the random button mashing actually seem to translate into something practical." She scratched her nose as if covering embarrassment.

"That's the goal. 90% of the stuff I've covered is either common sense from media alone or just logic from taking a minute to think things through, but everyone was freaking out back there. Sometimes having people tell you things you already know can help snap yourself out of a negative mindset. That's all I'm doing."

"Don't sell yourself short. But thanks. I think this was what I needed, maybe. A reminder."

Ahrina gave a short, formal bow with one hand in a fist against her heart. "Then thank you, for making any of this worth it. There is kind of no point in reaching out if no one takes your hand, you know?"

The other girl chuckled to herself for a moment before extending a hand to Ahrina she gladly shook. "Ramses. I don't remember if I ever said before, but I suppose I'm in your care and all that."

"I'm Ahrina, the Chronicler and-"

"Data junkie and you care if we live or die. Yeah, I think we got the message a few dozen times ago."

Giving a self satisfied smirk, Ahrina drawled out her success. "Infection complete. If you got the message, I'd call that a win. Try it yourself some time. Hell, I'd be glad if you all did. Share a little optimism and let people you see know that someone out there gives a damn." The ever chipping away at the practice dummies was a nice background noise. Even Everafter was getting into it after the non violent uses for violence were pointed out. They sat in relative silence, listening only to the enthusiastic chopping in front of her. Every once in a while they remembered their sword skills, and she watched to make sure they each completed one at least twice successfully. Mostly, though, it looked therapeutic to just hack away without a care.

A while later she called them to a halt, still half surprised they bothered listening to her. "Thank you guys for hearing me out today. I think this was important for all of us. If you haven't already, I suggest you add everyone else here to your friends list. You never know when you'll need someone else, even if it is only to talk." After allowing a few minutes for the remaining requests to be sent, (surprisingly even the bitter pair sent one to each other, though it had gone with a taunt and rude gesture...), she continued. "I'll be around too, of course. If you hadn't caught it earlier, I care about what you guys are going to be up to. Shoot me a message when you think of who you want to be here, let me know if you find some cool area. Heck, if you want to tell me how much you miss watching your favorite TV show, I'm sure you won't be the only one. Just find something you love in this world too. And if you can, reach out to other people. Tell them not to tear their hair out too much over things they can't change, or tell them to do a handstand. Gives the world a bit of a change in perspective, 180 degrees, you know? I'm going to go out and level a bit, or learn how to bake a cake. Or maybe I'll look for the herbs the apothecary is asking for. But I'll be doing something. Let me know if you ever want to tag along and do something too, but I think this has been a long day for all of us. Take a break, you deserve it."

Ahrina gave a satisfied smile at the group and started to walk away before stopping suddenly. "Oh yeah." A few swipes of her menu brought up her messages. Leaving the flashing alert for later, she swiftly sent a cor to everyone standing there. "The inn is up the road not too far that way, and the general store is a ripoff unless you are in a hurry. Try other stores first for supplies, or other players if you can."

A murmured thanks reached her along with a surprised yelp. That was the rest of her gold from the day, and not even very much per person. It was still worth it though, just a bit of luck for each of them.

"Hey! Let me know when you make your guild!" Ramses called out suddenly.

"Why would I make a guild?" Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea...

"Do it anyway, or I will and you'll have to be in charge without getting to choose the name." A dire threat indeed.

"You /want/ to be called the Obnoxious Sparkly Rainbows?"

The look she gave her was priceless. "...maybe I'll choose the name anyway..."

"Seriously, that's awful..." Finesse looked disgusted at the thought.

"Talk about bad taste..." Aw, even Golden was against her?

"Wait- what's obnoxious about sparkles?" Naturally there had to be one in the crowd who didn't get the joke. Oh, Yoko.

With a laugh, Ahrina left them arguing behind her. Out of sight, she checked her messages again, this time reading the new one from Argo. "Meet me in the empty store by the tailor by the north gate when you are finished there." Quite the timing, that. She headed off toward the outskirts, ignoring players slumped like vagrants in odd corners, mumbling to themselves about disbelief and wringing their hands. Empty stores seemed strangely common in this town- perhaps to allow for player growth within Starting City? Ahrina mused to herself, sidestepping a man crying on his hands and knees. She slipped inside the door carefully, searching the apparently bare walls and floor for her mysterious admirer.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..."

"I'm the RAT, not cat," an annoyed voice corrected behind her, from the other side of the door frame. Argo stood there unmoving, clearly sizing her up, so Ahrina took a moment to do the same. She was young, maybe 14, with a boyish haircut and new armor clearly upgraded from the starting set of plain shirts and pants. "I don't remember you. There's a chance you could be Sunset or Nora, but the speech patterns don't match and Nora'd never waste time on n00bs like that. So spill it. Who's the old name to match the new face?"

"All new, actually. So you're a beta tester? Successful, at that. I bet you know a lot about this world, more if you expect to know the other thousand off hand."

A significant look passed between them, two people who knew and appreciated exactly how valuable that was. "I'm Ahrina. Chronicler and data junkie. And we are going to be good friends."

Argo smirked. "No caring if I live or die?"

"Not doubting your ability to avoid the situation in the first place."

"Even trades?"

"That's the game. I don't charge, just info for info."

"I want your friends list." Argo stared at her blankly.

"I want to know where to get Sparroweed and Mellowflax." Ahrina retorted, already copying down the list and marking which had come to combat training.

"Merl Forest to the west, near the river for sparrow and by the trees for flax." Nodding at the addition of the smaller group of names being marked off, she added, "Monsters get buffed at sunset apparently. No increase in drops or exp, just a higher difficulty encouraging curfew, so watch for wolves."

Ahrina whistled, that was a valuable one. "I want to see others succeed in this world because unproductive depressing sheep piss me off."

"That's... that's your reason?!"

"I also have no settled plans yet for how else I'm going to play this, or what I'll be working towards."

"Not an info broker?"

"I don't need the gold. I can send you copies of my data if you want, but I'll be building everything from scratch. Hell, I didn't even research the beta at all before this. I just have what I know from other games and common sense."

Argo rubbed her temples absently as if calculating her usefulness. "You're willing to keep track of everyone, right? Check in with them, particularly those you didn't talk to at your little group. If anyone has anything interesting to say, I want to hear it. And if you give out info for free, let me know whenever you learn something important from someone first. I'll pay for rights to hear about interesting events before anyone else and the trouble to keep hearing it first."

Ahrina nodded, that was a deal she'd certainly accept, particularly since it seemed like they had the same goal of seeing everyone live through this. Or, at the very least, to not have to listen to tales of stupid deaths or suicides, but that was less socially acceptable to say out loud. "I want maps as soon as you get them and to hear about anyone making strides politically." At her raised eyebrow, Ahrina continued. "It's bound to happen sooner or later, I might even make a play myself if I get bored. I'd just rather nip any incompetents in the bud early by sending them off on different pursuits. I don't care if someone is helping, I care if some jerk off is going to get people killed stupidly or for their own agenda."

Understanding passed between them and Argo held out her hand. "Chronicler." "Rat." Ah, respect. Comes with a worthy trade.

"I'm going to try to find those herbs tonight."

"Test the difficulty increase on the boars first, wolves are stronger."

Ahrina gave her a bow of respect and headed toward the town gate. Under duress, she might admit that the sensation of crossing through the border of the safe zone outward was chilling. Logically nothing had changed from earlier (except a combat difficulty leap without balanced rewards to make up for it... why was she doing this again?) but a shiver ran up her spine all the same as she walked out onto the hills under the cool night air. Everything always did look different in the dark as the eyes switched from cones to rods for focus, but the leeching of color as saturation was drained away from the scenery, leaving bare traces of what it once appeared under the sun... that was eerie. Remarkably done, of course, and a grand imitation, but the accompanying programming instilling a sense of unease- No. That wasn't programming. Ahrina was scared.

She gazed out at the... herd... sounder... group... of boar before her, acutely aware of just how alone she was. There were no clashes of combat from adjacent fights or anyone within earshot to give assistance. These hills would be swarming with farmers in the morning as people tried to grind in relative safety, but for now they were most empty. Just... her and the boar. Peacefully grazing boar not hurting anyone who probably were looking forward to a nice relaxing evening of not being forced to shatter any stupid wandering human into polygons of data. She breathed a deep sigh and unsheathed her cutlass. The boar's night would just have to be disturbed after all.

Closing her eyes, she thought it out. She would play this smart. She hadn't been hit yet since she started and increased base stats didn't translate into better AI. Theoretically the attack patterns would be the same. Ahrina wasn't going to wait for one of them to make the first move. She approached one furthest from the others from behind and let off a Reaver to lead the attack, grateful for the shock delay as the system held her in place a moment. The moment it released her she darted back, kiting the boar's charge toward the town and safe zone little by little as she dodged, swiping away at its hide every time. The first strike had only taken a 5th of its health, a significant difference from the 40% or so earlier in the day. About twice the difficulty for health, then, certainly.

The boar's attack patterns were straightforward but subtle to get the trick of. Aside from normal flailing and attacks, It appeared to have two variations of charge, one which it would follow through on and turn around swiftly to try again while the other was an overextended charge that left it shaking its head for a few moments afterward in recovery. The first was more common, while the second would allow time enough for a sword skill with no chance of retaliation back. The trouble was telling which would be which as each began with a shake of the head. She watched it carefully through the next few charges before finding the tell.

Tch. It was mirrored. The head toss began to the right for the return charge and left for the delayed. How were players meant to even find that? Swiftly laying another Reaver against it, she supposed it didn't actually matter. With two people these would be child's play anyway, and even chance guessing if someone thought there might be a pattern would clear these on normal difficulty without much trouble. If you didn't care if you were hit a time or two, you could attack on either charge. But that wasn't something she was willing to chance.

One boar burst into polygons, then a second, and a third. A rhythm of mayhem clashed on the hills, strike dodge strike dodge skill dodge strike. She fought her fears away, straying further and further from the gate. The experience was terrible, as she'd been warned, but it was better than nothing at all and added up slowly over time. After clearing the hills once and starting at respawns, she sent a quick note to Argo on their attacks patterns, as much as a thank you for the warning as anything else.

Making her way through the forest, she recalled the directions. "By the River" and "Around Trees" were both incredibly vague, but perhaps that was all that was necessary. She traveled slowly, flinching with every crunch of leaf underfoot. It seemed quite fortunate when she found Mellowflax near a solid oak without so much as a wolf in sight. Her fortune did not last long and a muffled snarl was the only warning she had of an attack as she bagged the last of the herbs in the area. The force of the beast thrust her backward, knocking the air from her lungs as her back hit the three. She eyed her health warily. Nearly 30% gone from a single body slam. It circled again and lunged at her throat only to hit bark as she dodged, slicing with a Slant as it slammed into the tree. She took away 1/6 of its health with the strike: not good, but not as bad as she had feared. The wolf snarled as it refocused on her, barring its teeth viciously. Absently, Ahrina noted the lack of damage to the tree and the translucent purple shield that surrounded it during the strike. How to use that...

The wolf charged, swiping at her thing with its claws as she dodged to the side and sunk her blade into the flesh of its shoulder, pushing it forward away from her. It twisted under her sword and wrenched back toward her, jaws gnashing with astonishing frequency and audible clacks. Taking a chance she jumped over it, watching it sail past with rage. She nailed it with another Reaver, barely recovering in time to block the next few swiped of its claws. She backed against the tree again, letting it take the charge as she struck. This was manageable. Hard. Damn hard. But manageable.

She mistimed the next sword skill, letting a sharpened claw sink into her side with a grimace. Her health was down to yellow in an instant. That... was not a good sign. She tried to ram it against the tree again only for the wolf to back off instead of falling for the same trick. She'd fought this one for too long. Taking a chance, she parried the next claw swipes, knocking it aside as she struck at the unprotected under belly with a Slant. The shattering sound had never been so welcome.

Ahrina fell to her knees, taking a moment to relax before she heard something that made her blood run cold. A single wolf's howl was met by a chorus of others and they didn't sound very far away. Bloody hell... Looking around, she took her chance on a tree branch, using it as the first foothold as she climbed higher into the foliage. There didn't appear to be anything around her, no birds or bugs she could see at least. And there was one tree with branches close enough to be considered overlapping, so that was one possibility. But some things were more important than that. She glared at her health bar, the 31% shining back at her as barely an improvement from when she was last struck. Time to do something about this... She hadn't distributed any stats from her first level up or even equipped her second sword skill after [One handed curved blades]. A bit foolish, but no harm no foul. Scrolling through the list of possibilities, she debated abilities before settling on the inconvenience at hand. [Battle Healing] would do her well. Equipping the skill she felt a rush of energy and watched the improvement in speed of recovery even at the base level.

A message from Argo took her attention away from the ever thrilling tick of life force. It was a map of the forest identifying the river's location and shortest distances out. Comparing it to her own half filled map, she found it wasn't very far but in a different direction than she had been traveling. Thank you, Argo. As a trade, she sent back a shorthand missive on the wolf she'd fought. "Wolves adjust to attack patterns eventually. Claw, bite, lunge. Lunge at tree triggers Immortal Object and stuns." She likely knew this already, but having the current state of monsters confirmed couldn't hurt. Another note came back quickly with a portion of the forest circled on the map and the words "Don't fight that one". Right. Sound advice. Not going there. Definitely, most certainly not going there. Until morning. Yes, that one could wait until morning when she had a minion or two and her long awaited batch of health potions. Speaking of which... She checked her health, now up to 76%, and decided that was fair enough to start moving out.

Still hearing the wolves in the distance, she checked the map. Yep, that way of course. After a moment of debate she chose the high road. That is, she chose to continue crawling along the branches of the dense oaks, completely unafraid of the slavering hordes potentially below her at any moment. That was definitely not an issue for her and did not influence her decision in the slightest.

Her progress was slow, and perhaps a foolish precaution, but she found the small brook without further issue, lowering herself to the edge of its bank, careful not to make a sound. Luckily for her, the Sparroweed was nearby in abundance and she grabbed every sprig in sight. From here the edge of the forest wasn't very far, assuming she didn't mind walking around the edge to get back to town. It was close enough to take her chances on foot.

It was a great relief to stop hearing the incessant howling. It was less of a relief when one of the dreaded beasts made itself known with a snap of its teeth where her head had been. The end practically in sight, Ahrina let out an annoyed huff and readied her cutlass. Now knowing two attacks that would go unretaliated, she threw them against the wolf semi randomly, dodging and slashing normally instead on occasion to keep from falling into a pattern. This barrage worked much more effectively. The finishing blow came in the form of a new sword skill, the Deep Forest Wolf falling to an Uppercut, unlocked by the prolonged combat. Heading back to town at a more comfortable stride, she cleared her path of boars with what were now long practiced motions.

The safe zone was a breath of fresh air, the lack of hostility a comforting blanket until the constant sobbing stole away what small joy she'd found in the town's aura. It was mildly surprising to find the apothecary open this late, but the old man had a night time animation of poring over a few test tubes and muttering about needing more moonlight. He accepted the herbs with a soft smile and his thanks, setting them in a drawer. And then again. And again. It was honestly disconcerting, the repeated mechanics of sincerity that appeared so real at first glance. Perhaps this quest was not meant to be repeatable so early on? In any case, that was 15 health potions she didn't have before, and a third level was reached the second time she turned it in. Checking the clock briefly (04:38), she decided to send off messages and call it a night. Only two were needed, but those were used over an over. As the last was sent off she wandered back to the empty store she had met Argo in and crashed behind the counter.

[[To: Mordecai, Ramses, Starlett, Khaoticone, Golden, EverAfter, Vilonette, Speedemon, Finesse, Excel, Melodycalls, Fallen, Nostalgic, Rachel, Navi, Specter, Yoko, Mockingbird, Jesuit]

"Thanks for coming to combat training today, it meant a lot to see you there willing to fight and work to make something of your life here. Remember the future is what we make it into. Do something tomorrow to make yours a tale worth telling, find a cause. -Chronicler Ahri

P.S. Which is more appealing to you: speed, raw strength, or dexterity?"]

[[To: All others, 34 strangers]

"Today will be better than yesterday because we will make it so. Not that it could really get worse at this point, right? Only up from here. In case you don't remember me, I'm Ahrina the Chronicler and I care if you live or die. So tell me your story. Who are you? What can you do? Is your specialty tying string into knotted dolls or training your dog to wait before meals? Would you rather swim across a river or climb a tree? Would you rather learn something constructive like taking up a new craft or destructive and help the rest of us get out of here? Let me know.

-Data Junkie Ahrina"]