[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/v45jtPZ.jpg?1[/img][/center]

[hider=Day 6]After securing basic clothing, the group continued toward the central market.  They perused weapon shops as they passed.  They spent quite some time learning actions and spells--mostly due to Alisea struggling to contain herself to only the most important.  The trio even ventured into the shadier back streets, the shops where the more rare and more expensive goods could be found.

As noon drew near, they made their way to Town Hall.  Dirk had arrived ahead of them; everything was prepared by the time they appeared.  A funeral for Kajin wasn’t what Alisea had expected in the slightest.  She kept glancing at Reylan during the service.  Occasionally her gaze drifted to Dirk, but she averted her eyes quickly; she couldn’t smile at him, and she could barely suppress a glare.  Maybe this meant something important to him, but he was forcing Reylan to face a fallen comrade.  He was ruining what should have been a happy day.

Yet he was the guild’s paladin--their best shield.  She would bear it in silence.  At least she didn’t have to fake any sorrow; her somber expression fit the funeral’s mood splendidly.

As soon as it was over she pulled Reylan aside to speak.  [color=ec008c]“Reylan.  Your face is too serious right now.”[/color]

Genuine grief beset Reylan’s silver features, the muscles in his face tight and unflinching as the service concluded. That was the truth wasn’t it? Kaijin was gone...dead. And now so was Paralyze presumably.  He did not look at Alisea at first when she spoke, but shifted his head to look at her when he was ready to respond. [color=violet]“I saw the message Paralyze left...”[/color]

Another blow to their vacation.  Immediately her thoughts had an answer.  [color=ec888c][i] ‘Really.  We should be relieved; that man was going to murder one of us sooner or later--probably sooner.’[/i][/color]  But those were thoughts not to be openly expressed.  [color=ec008c]“If that is what he meant, can you even blame yourself for that?  Paralyze was going to li- go at his own pace no matter what you or I might say or do.”[/color]

[color=violet]“There must have been something I could have done. I can’t..accept..that this was simply inevitable.”[/color] The message hinted very heavily that Paralyze was ending his life, whether through his own hands or in battle against unwinnable odds. Reylan was the leader of the guild, in his mind he had to take responsibility [color=violet]“I need to become a stronger leader, that’s all I can do now. Even though he might have been dangerous, he was a part of this guild and it’s first loss.”[/color] He stated with a new intensity filling his eyes.

For several moments Alisea had no response.  Finally, rather than speak, she reached up and ran one hand through Reylan’s silvery hair.

A light rosy blush colored the archer’s cheeks, his body locking up as Alisea did this. His mouth laid slightly open trying to think of a response but the surprise of the action left him speechless. [color=violet][i]’Why was she doing this?’[/i][/color] he wondered. That wasn’t something friends did, so why? Nevermind the secret fact it actually felt kinda nice [color=violet]“Alisea?”[/color] he simply asked, not knowing how to properly respond to this.

[color=ec008c]“I love your hair, bright as the moon.  I could play with it for hours.”[/color]  Her hand dropped to her side, but Alisea locked eyes with the archer, holding him fast.  [color=ec008c]“I wanted to touch it, so I touched it.  This is a game, right?  So I will do what I want to do.  So did Paralyze.  So does Aster.  We believe living like that is more important.  You will grow strong, Reylan, but remember why.  Why we all came here.”[/color]

To escape. To live in a world where you could do so much more.. To experience fantastic things with people you’ve just met. To be your honest, true self. Alisea was right, these reasons couldn’t be forgotten. He couldn’t tear his eyes from her powerful gaze, like a powerful spell locking him in place. [color=violet]“I think I understand.”[/color] This was always her way, tease him out of nowhere then say something completely serious to throw him off. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she said earlier [color=violet]“You sure like doing whatever you want with me,”[/color] he said.

[color=ec008c]“Because I like you,”[/color] she answered easily.  After giving his blush time to deepen a shade, she added, [color=ec008c]“Almost as much as your hair.”[/color]

Their fun day was over, but at least it looked like Reylan wouldn’t be brooding intensely about this.  Even so, he was more motivated to be “the Guildmaster” than before, so he put himself to work on exactly that.  For her part, Alisea had a host of new spells to practice and a disappointingly free afternoon in which to do so.  [color=ec008c][i]‘I need a storage space for my extra gear first; then… I promised to stay safe, so I can start with those boars.’[/i][/color]

[hr]
Item Sold:
Metal Staff (+360 renn)

Items Purchased:
Sturdy Clothes x2
Fancy Clothes
Leather Boots
Shoes
Cutthroat’s Gloves
Ancient Mage’s Talisman
(-700 renn)

Spells Purchased:
Darken Vision (4)
Shadow Raze (5)
Attuned to the Night (6)
Shadow Bind (7)

Strengthen (1)
Healing Beam (2)
Attuned to One’s Body (3)

Emit Cold Air (5)
Cold Skin (6)
(-1125 renn)

Other expenses:
Baths: 2 renn
Meals: 25 renn
Storage Room (5x5, rent for 2 weeks): 100 renn
Inn Room (double, 1 week): 100 renn
(-227 renn)
(total: -1692)

Time spent practicing magic against boars:  1.5 hours
Boars slain: 67
Time spent searching for simple herbs in the forest shallows: 2 hours
Time spent at the local library trying to learn the written language:  4 hours[/hider]

Day 7

[color=ec008c] “The Prince… Charmed… no, Charming.  Prince Charming… Was that grabbed?  Raised?  Lifted, maybe?  ‘Prince Charming lifted Princess onto… lifted the Princess onto her a… Onto [i]his[/i]... steed.’  Wasn’t this the word they used for the peasant’s donkey, though?  Ugh…”[/color]

Alisea dropped her head into her palms and groaned.  She had discovered the city’s library yesterday after picking leaves had grown too tedious.  Thinking that she could find something enjoyable to fill an evening--for surely the GM would have added some popular literature to the game, if only to fill space--Alisea had gone in to borrow a book.

Difficulty had greeted her at the door.  First she was asked to fill out a library card.  The small slip she was handed was covered in unintelligible swirls and slashes, with a few portions empty.  After some explanation from the librarian, Alisea learned that this was in fact the traditional writing system.  With the librarian’s guidance, she squiggled her signature into the mess.  She did her best to make it illegible; it almost fit in that way.

Lightly scanning the shelves, Alisea confirmed her fears:  nothing was written in the English alphabet.  She had resorted to the small section of picture books in the back corner of the library in the hopes she might make sense of the new symbols.

That brought her to today.  Maybe she could have given it up as a waste of time; but the game had laid down its challenge, and she would not back away.  Even if that meant borrowing small children as they passed through to ask them to read simple books to her.  With that much assistance, the magess-turned-kindergartner had discovered a heavy truth:  the writing wasn’t in an alphabet.  It wasn’t as complex as Chinese characters, but the system was definitely lacking in phonetic pronunciations.  The markings for possessives alone were nightmarish.

A tiny, barely audible ‘ping’ provided a welcome distraction.  Alisea opened her menu and read the message with glee.

[color=violet][i]Hey, Where are you at right now? I got something I gotta give you.[/i][/color]

She was certainly ready for a break; she had been at this all morning.  Her hands deftly flew over the [i]English[/i] keyboard, tapping out each word with precision.

[color=ec008c][i]You can find me in the library--the large building with pillars one block east of Town Hall.[/i][/color]

Looking over the piles of fairy tales and children’s rhymes she had amassed, Alisea had to chuckle at herself.  She doubted she had spent this much time reading these things even when she was in kindergarten.  Now she had gone over some of them enough she could quote them from memory.