week zero: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Zero
32 in Competition

On Monday morning, the sun rises on the sleepy village, and when the first ray of light touches the gates at each corner of the village, the previously tightly sealed doors open.

The barriers around the village fall, and leave it entirely open. Each cardinal direction will have a path exiting the village, taking the curious explorers who follow it on an adventure to new territories to be explored. They’ll find that each location that they arrive in appears to be associated with one of the elements. As the Signs had explained the day before, each of the participants in the game possesses an elemental assignment, whether they are aware of it or not.

When they approach the elemental areas, they’ll find themselves more in tune with their new powerset, as if the location invites them to take them out for a spin. The new areas appear to be perfect for training and learning how to use the new skills, or maybe if you’re curious you can discover which of those listed powers you’ve been granted.

Just try not to hurt yourself while you’re out there.

In addition, it seems now that more pieces of the core are being revealed, the river that runs through the village will begin to be dotted with small lanterns floating on the water. Some of them seem to be holding small notes. Try as you might to grab one, they’ll always just barely float out of reach.

Perhaps try sending one yourself and see what results you might get?

Occasionally in the village, you might hear the sound of drums and flutes - is that festival music? - though no matter how you search, you can’t find the source… yet.



Welcome to your tutorial week mingle log! Please see all the links within the log to check out the new updates. In addition, your status page has been updated. In case you missed it, please report all item theft to this top-level where all comments are screened. Private conversations are also open and should be reported under the Week 0 top-level.

A mini-event will also be posted on Wednesday, June 5th, so please keep an eye out for that!

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Comments

[nonbelligerent]

[...

that makes this a bit more complicated than with miki. but, he supposes this doesn't go against kinnara's justice.

so after a pause—]

Then I ask that you not misuse that skill.

[daibanana]

[.. An interesting reply. Nana's head tilts]

Misuse it? You mean... don't use it against others?

[nonbelligerent]

If you don't have to.

[there's a reason "settling things peacefully" is on his scroll.]

[daibanana]

You needn't worry about that, Shess-san.

I don't like using force against other people.

[So if nothing else, they're on the same page there.]

[nonbelligerent]

Then I'm glad to hear that.

[daibanana]

I'm glad you're glad~

[And now waltzing over to find a dagger, or just... anything with a sharp edge. And Nana's grip isn't completely novice. She meant what she said -- the stage requires you to be familiar with weapons, or at least how to hold them]

Mmm... what should I do first, then?

[nonbelligerent]

[hm.]

Try to attack me. I want to see what you can do.

[daibanana]

[-- oh.

Her smile drops at that. Somehow, despite all this build-up, she had not thought Shess would demand such a thing.]

... I don't know if I can.

[nonbelligerent]

[this complicates things a little.]

Would it be easier for you if you picked out a wooden weapon instead? Or came unarmed?

Or is it the idea of trying to attack anyone at all?

[daibanana]

Well...

[She doesn't answer that question in the end, glancing down at the weapon in her hand. Eventually, her gaze looks for a wooden weapon, as suggested]

Maybe if I used a stick first.

[nonbelligerent]

Anything's fine as long as you can hold it roughly like how you'd hold your intended weapon.

[daibanana]

[A long stick it is, then -- much longer than the dagger she'd been holding. More reminiscent of a sword.

She holds it in both hands and then nods in Shess's direction. ]

Okay, I'm ready.

[And will strike in a downward motion... fairly slowly. Her heart is not into this at all]

[nonbelligerent]

[well. he'll just casually sidestep the attack, then.]

If the darkness they spoke of is any real threat, you're going to have to attack with more enthusiasm than that.

[though his expression is gentle. it's not necessarily a bad thing that she's so reluctant.]

[daibanana]

[he's not wrong.

Alright, then she'll try again, this time trying to drive the stick into Shess's side -- not exactly enthusiastic, even now, but there is force and effort being put forth.

She's at least listening to his instruction]

[nonbelligerent]

[again, he dodges, stepping to the side—before he moves to knock the sword out of her hands. he's just using his arm for this, apparently? it's fine.]

[daibanana]

[WHELP

GAME OVER]

Haha... that didn't go very well.

[nonbelligerent]

Don't worry. It takes time.

[hm.]

Since you want to protect people, I think you'd fare better if something was actually attacking you or someone else. We can't replicate that perfectly, but would it be easier if I attacked you and you tried to block? Rather than focus on offence.

I won't seriously try to harm you, of course.

[daibanana]

Of course.

[Picking back up her sword -- Shess straight-up knocked it out of her hands asljdfkajslf -- Nana will wait at the ready, with her weapon of choice held in a straight in the air]

I'm ready.

[She doesn't seem too nervous, at least]

[nonbelligerent]

[to be on the safe side, he's going to get a training dagger first... ideally, he'd just go unarmed, but he doesn't want her to feel like she has to hold back in fear of hurting him.

so, first. he goes with a slash towards her chest—it's actually not meant to reach her, but there's enough force behind it that if she tries to block and doesn't have a firm grip on her weapon, he'll knock it out of her hands again.]

[daibanana]

[There's a marked improvement in her performance. Where Nana was not comfortable with the idea of striking him, she seems far more at ease when the goal is to protect herself.

She blocks, and this time the wooden sword doesn't go spinning out of control. It barely budges. The girl has a little bit of muscle to her, apparently]

[nonbelligerent]

[he smiles.

then, he goes for a stab towards her chest. quick, but not with much force behind it (again, does not actually want to harm her).]

[daibanana]

[It's a good thing Shess isn't coming at her hard since even with her calm, Nana still ain't great at this. The change in trajectory of Shess's weapon catches the girl off-guard and while she tries to defend herself, it ends up getting her in the chest.

Completely unharmed! But yikes, another loss for her.]

It's a good thing I came to you. I really need the practice. [Lowering her weapon again]

It's different when I'm not memorizing moves for a stage play.

[nonbelligerent]

[after a pause to make sure she's unharmed, and as he shifts his grip so that he can write on his tablet:]

To an extent, a real fight isn't completely unlike following a set of moves. With enough experience, you can learn to predict what your opponent will do.

[daibanana]

Really...

Then you must have practiced many times to be this good.

[nonbelligerent]

[...]

I've had a lot of experience.