It'd been a while since she'd been back in Brisshal, lurking one of the small villages that hid itself in the great greens of the spawning area. She'd been working hard training in the local vicinity, practicing her swordsmanship each day she logged in just a little bit more. During that day's training, she had gotten to fifty practice strikes when she almost found herself accidentally scraping a young child running past her. She apologized to them, watching them leave with a sad smile. Perhaps in town wasn't always the best approach to training, she was beginning to realize. But then again, the kids seemed used to seeing her lately. Some even waved hello as they passed by. Sheathing her sword, the tall swordsman began to wander a bit. Looking around this small village near the edge of the woods was becoming a hobby or a ritual, and she wasn't sure which- or whether that was good or bad. What was a definitive bad habit, however, was that she hadn't looked both ways when she reached a small intersection of sorts in the village- and, in her haste, found herself bumping into a somewhat small, human girl. "Ah, sorry. Are you alright?" Holding a hand up to her head, she scratched behind one of her long ears, a nervous laugh on her lips. "Ah, I haven't seen you around before. And I don't mean because I wasn't looking or anything when I say that. Do you visit this village a lot too?" @Eldhi
@Solaria Merely a few (in-game) hours had passed since the white-haired girl first left the gray dimension of Character Creation and into the Virtual World of Terrasphere and sufficed to say, she still had little clue on what she should be doing in the vast digital world. "Er..." Eldhi scratched the back of her head, somehow finding herself in the middle of the marketplace of a small village. She should still be in... Brisshal if she remembered correctly, the region where all new players started, obvious enough by the many players with plain-looking armor and weapons. Speaking about them, she realized she made a mistake of choosing her starting equipment, evident by the lack of weapon on her armored form. "Haaa..." The tanned avatar - a stark contrast to the albino girl playing her - sighed heavily, how could she be a Knight of Justice without a sword? What if Sir Lancelot see her now? Would he be utterly ashamed of her? She must rectify this situation immediately! Fortunately, she was already in a bazaar. Browsing the items around her, Eldhi spotted a nearby blacksmith stall and with red eyes brimming with enthusiasm, she marched there. Her focus was so intense, she lost track of her surroundings as she unceremoniously bumped into someone else, a woman who was a good couple inch taller than her, "Ooof!" Eldhi's forehead made direct contact with her chest, forcing her to retreat a few steps. "Unh... ah, apologies, I didn't see you there." An awkward giggle followed, yeah right, who would believe that? The woman was significantly taller than her. Looking up, Eldhi finally discerned her features, long pointy ears... "Yule... Yal... Yelly.... Yladian!" Yep, got it. "I'm fine, no worries," The pain she endured really felt as if she bumped into someone in real life, this game was so life-like, she could get lost in it, "Ah, it's my first time actually, I'm a new player..." Eldhi glanced around her surroundings for a moment then back at Solaria, staring as if she was looking for a cue, people often gave her weird looks if she mentioned that, she just didn't get why but maybe this woman was different. "I'm Eldhi Arc, Knight of Justice!" She huffed proudly, sticking out her chest, "What's your name?" Feeling self-conscious, she blushed, scratching her cheek with one finger, "Uh... I might not look like a knight right now but no worries, I'll get myself a sword soon!"
The girl was alright? Thank goodness! The game really was lifelike though, with her chest feeling rather awkward from the way they'd bumped. A slight rose hue took her cheeks as she was greeted promptly by the young girl who was now known to the woman as a new player. It was always good to make a new friend, so a part of her was thankful she'd missed the poor young lady in her sight! As the young girl introduced herself as a knight of justice, Solaria couldn't hold back a small giggle. That was surely a neat way to introduce oneself, wasn't it? "Eldhi is a lovely name. I'm Solaria. I don't know if I could call myself a knight, but I do study swordsmanship and love to help people." Her hand let itself extend from the side of her body she kept her sword sheathed, long fingers offering to grasp the human hand before her with the girl's delicate smile. Eldhi had made it clear she was a little uneasy about lacking a weapon, but had great pride in her perceived role of being a knight. It was cute, in a way- and it made it hard for Solaria not to jump at the chance to hug her. "I see, so you're seeking a sword! Do you know the kind you'd like to use? I chose a katana because I've always loved them, but there are all sorts of weapons out there. Knowing what kind you'd feel most at ease using is an important part of being a warrior of any kind."
"Hehe, it sounds cool, right?" Eldhi huffed, visibly proud of the name she picked, it sounded quite chivalric without directly ripping off one of the Round Table Knights. "Solaria, I see, nice to meet you!" The older woman's name sounded quite similar to that one character in an old video game, she couldn't quite remember it at the top of her head but she remembered something along the line of praising the Sun. Oh, she knew Solar was synonymous with Sun so it'd make sense, "Can you do light stuff then? Me too! I picked that skill, it's called I-... Il... hmm... Illumancy!" The white-haired girl stared with slight envy as her eyes went over to Solaria's sword strapped to her waist, aww... she wanted one too! "Yep, I was heading to that blacksmith store over there before I..." She looked away, awkwardly rubbing one arm with her other hand, "...bumped into you. Ahem!" She cleared her throat, moving on! "Yep! A cool sword like... Excalibur or Arondight!" She humphed, nodding enthusiastically, "I think they are called Longswords! So yes, I want a longsword, a proper knight can't go without one!" She didn't know about the 'katana' though, other than the movies she watched about those Eastern feudal warriors, it was curved instead of straight and quite thin. Was it really over one thousand times during its smithing process? "Where did you get your Katana? Do they have longswords? I wanna get one."
Ah, a lover of the historic literature was this girl! Solaria smiled a bit, ruffling her hair. "Well, you may not find the great excalibur, but I'm sure you'll find something just as wonderful the longer you look! Only they who search find the lands of evergreen, or so they say." She watched the girl keep a look at the katana at her side, hand resting on the hilt. "This is my uchigatana. I got it before a recent patch from a good smithy player. Unfortunately, the way it works now is different, so he can't custom make things anymore." The woman had gotten really lucky with her timing, hadn't she? "All swords have their strengths. Long swords are great for keeping distance between you and the enemy, but a shorter sword is quicker to draw. Though, I think my Uchi fits both of those needs." With a giggle, she looked around to the smithies within the village cheerfully. "I have illumancy as well. You can use it with your sword to pierce evil's heart with light! Isn't it lovely?"
"U-... uchi..." Eldhi didn't want to admit it, but by the gods, the name was incredibly foreign to her tongue. At least she knew it sounded Japanese-esque, as much as her limited knowledge of East Asian culture lay, she really needed to watch more Samurai movies, huh? All of them curved thin swords looked like Katanas to her. "Ah, I see..." She didn't have much to comment since she wasn't even a player before the patch Solaria referenced, heck, she didn't even know how smithing works in this game... yet. All Eldhi had in mind when creating her character was being a cool badass knight who vanquished evil, the process of forging said knight's armor and weapons never came to her. Still, it was good knowledge at least. "Mhm... I see," The white-haired girl nodded at the experienced player, "Yes! Longsword is what I want!" Solaria's hard-to-pronounce sword could do both, huh? Was it a better weapon? Made sense considering it was custom-made, Eldhi imagined a high-quality longsword would have its own perks but she wasn't at that level. Right now, any common longsword would do. "Hey, I wanna go to that stall there, can you help me?" The newbie pointed to the previous stall she headed to earlier before their literal bump, "You can pick a good one for me, not too expensive tho, I don't have much gold on me." Eldhi pondered as her boots thumped against the ground, carrying her to the stall. --- The blacksmith, a gruff man with an impressive dark beard, wiped his forehead, taking a break just as the two women arrived. A human and... a Yladian, huh? Well, if their money was good, he wouldn't refuse a business. "Hello there, lasses!" He went to the counter, placing his toned hands on them, "What are ye looking for today? I'm Brom, 3rd Generation Blacksmith. Everything you see here is forged by yours truly. I personally guarantee their quality."
As the girl was struggling to say the name of her sword, Solaria tried desperately not to laugh as she corrected. "Yup. Uchigatana. It's a type of sword from medieval Japan. It's a very special kind of sword, and mine in particular is very special to me." Her words left her smiling, memories of her early attempts at using different katana keeping her silent for a moment. She shook her head rapidly, green locks flopping into her face as she did so, waking her from her daydreams. As she did so, she found the girl was asking her for help in looking through a vendor's things. As she agreed and joined the girl in her look through the NPC's wares, Solaria felt her smile dampen ever so slightly- he'd paused as he saw her, and she knew it. Well, it was her own fault for choosing to play something not human! "We're looking for an easy to wield long sword for this young lady. Good for slicing but also easy on a beginner." The NPC seemed to work hard to show them his wares- starting with the most expensive, a usual tactic, followed by simpler ones, many of which seemed a bit rough for a beginner to the elf. Some seemed easier, but all in all, she wasn't sure just what level would work best for Eldhi. "It's probably best you feel them in your hands first. Let yourself see which feels right to hold. The right sword will call to you."
"Aaah, I see..." Grom rubbed his bearded chin as he went over the white-haired girl standing by the green-haired Yladian, she already looked the part with the basic armor but true to what the long-ear said, she didn't have any weapons with her, "Well now, a proper adventurer needs a weapon and you've come to the right place!" Grom nodded then began showing off his wares, both expensive and cheap, "All of my longswords are guaranteed genuine, no shoddy craftsmanship here, lass!" "Ooooh...!" Eldhi's red eyes widened in awe at all the selections, that one with the dragon-shaped end on its pommel caught her eye, however, she remembered her (lack of) funds and in the blink of an eye, her viable options were reduced to a handful of basic swords. Well, not like she should expect more anyway, a newbie like her shouldn't expect a Legendary equipment out of the blue. "Alright, Solar," She nodded at her new acquaintance before turning back at the merchant, "Can I test them first?" "Go ahead, lass!" "Okay! Then, hmmm..." One by one, Eldhi grabbed the various blades put on display, gave them a few test swings, stumbling with them but fortunately not accidentally slashing herself or anyone else, before she decided on a basic one, cheap but acceptable. "I'll go with this one please." Eldhi placed the sword on the counter then made her purchase. She really ought to train to use it so she could take on jobs, acquire gold, and get better equipment. "Thank you for the patronage, good luck in your adventures!" Brom waved the girls farewell as they left his stall then returned to his anvil, continuing his work. --- "Alright, Solar, I think I can go ahead and practice now, thank you for all the help~" Eldhi gave an enthusiastic grin at the taller girl, "One day, I'll be as good as you! Mhm!" She was about to turn when the girl perked up, "Oh! Let's exchange contacts so we can find each other again, yes?" She winked, opening up her palm menu, ready to add Solar into her friends list and vice versa.
Waving to the craftsman after he bid them farewell, his quick return to the anvil somehow left Solaria far from surprised. She followed the younger girl diligently as they walked, keeping to her pace with a smile. As Eldhi soon sent a request to be friends so they could keep in touch, the elf quickly replied with agreement. She was oddly quiet, at least for a moment, then finally let out a soft giggle, smiling. "You may think I'm good, but skill and experience come hand in hand. I'm actually not as good as you think. I still have a long way to go!" Hands on her hips, she felt her head fall slightly against one shoulder. "You should have bigger goals than to reach my level. Reach for going past it! I look forward to seeing your swordsmanship soar." With a quick stretch, the girl took one step and stopped. They were talking about separation, but she'd just realized just how far she had to go. "Speaking of soaring...I'm gonna have to get offline to study real soon, or my test tomorrow will surely make my grades plummet. Make sure you don't let soaring here make your life plans fall through, okay Eldhi? Keep an eye on your life and your health both here and there." She waved to the girl, but waited not for an answer as she logged out to study, thankful in a way that the girl had silently reminded her of her own ambitions once more.
