Goldenblade asks for some advice

Goldenblade is in her academy area, which is only just completed. The paint's dry, but only just, and there's not a lot of activity going on. She, herself, is in the middle of the training yard, well, training. She seems to be working on a move, but hasn't figured it out yet. There are some training mannikins set up, and they've taken a bit of a beating, but they're pretty solid, made mostly of actual armor pieces and solid wood, so it'd take a concerted effort with an axe to do much permanent harm. What she seems to be attempting is like the Firebrand attack, but she seems to be unhappy with that level of effect, pushing herself again and again.

Kirito had heard of the recently established Crescent Academy and had elected to break away from his repeated mission runs to investigate. He carries his twin swords on his back, and his cloak of midnight trails behind him as he walks. Though black eyes find Goldenblade as she seems to be attempting a firebrand-like attack.

"You're trying too hard." Kirito comments on her training, before he approaches. "Focus the skill into your blade, and let your will do the talking. Remember its additional effect is damage over time, so you're not going to see its most valuable effect on a wooden dummy."

Goldenblade looks up at the voice, pauses in her attack. She wears a pair of swords at either hip, when she's not using them, and she keeps then pointed groundward as she looks over to Kirito and thinks about the advice. "Trying too hard?" she asks with a laugh. "None of this game business is ever easy, so I'm not sure how hard is too hard." But she nods about focusing the skill in the blade.

"What do you mean exactly, let my will do the talking?" She's not clear on what that means. She does nod about the additional damane not affecting the wooden dummy, she's just trying to get the technique down.

"Many will say that you can't try too hard, but its possible still to over exert yourself and leave yourself in a bind." Kirito approaches her. "But its true - nothing in this game is ever easy...its just like real life in some ways, if real life was a video game." he tells her with a smirk, though he looks upon her.

"Its not so much about physical channeling as much as wanting the effect to happen as long as you have the skill. Think about it this way -- you could swing at a tree your entire time here and you may still not be a second closer to getting the result you want. Sometimes, you need a different approach. Focus on the effect, harness it, then unleash it -before- you swing to have maximum impact. Its a fire effect, so even the dummy should feel it when it gets hit."

Goldenblade chuckles about never trying too hard. She's one of the people that says that sort of thing. But she nods about overexerting. "You can't tell, like in real life, when you're pushing too hard. But I've never pulled a muscle or anything, here. I push as hard as I can, but it seems to be one of the things missing in the game. Or maybe I just can't push hard enough to hurt myself. "That's the problem with getting old," she says with a dry chuckle. "I feel like I'm twenty-five again, but there's a few things different now, than then."

That's entirely apart from being a woman this time around. She nods about channeling and wanting the effect to happen, but that seems to be easier said than done. "I'm Goldenblade, by the way," she introduces herself. She doesn't use her full name, which spills out of the little frame if you inspect her. "Part of it, I think, is that I've got too many irons in the fire. Though I like to keep busy, and ... well, that comes at the expense of being able to really focus."

Kirito nods. "You can never tell. In real life, your body just gives out on you or feels like its attempting to kill you for pushing it too far." He smirks just a little bit, before he shakes his head ever so softly. "Of course, even the method I've told you takes practice." He hears her name: Goldenblade.

"Kirito." He introduces himself with a little nod, his hands still in his pocket. "It can be detrimental to be focusing on too many things, you're minding too much. Focus on one thing, and you'll be far more efficient."

Goldenblade smirks about a body in real life giving out on you. "Mine had just about done that years before I ever came to this game," she admits. "The feel of things actually working like they hadn't in years is a bit addictive. I'm having a bit of fun, here. It's a bit like cowboys and indians, like I played when I was seven. Running around, fighting make-beleive enemies."

She nods slowly about focusing on one thing. "It's nice to meet you, Kirito. I'll try to do that," she agrees. "I think I've heard of you, you're a bit famous here in these games, yes?"

Kirito chuckles a little bit as Goldenblade mentions how muc hfun she's having. "Me too, to be honest. I like this world more than the real one. Here? All you need is a sword." He smirks a little bit to her, before he looks at the dummy. "Likewise, Goldenblade. I played on Sword Art Online while it was still in Beta, and a few other places at that." he chuckles a little bit.

"But there is something fantastic about this world...despite the grave situation we're in."

"Nothing wrong with making the best of a bad situation," Goldenblade observes. "But it's good you're enjoying your time here. I met a woman some time ago who was so miserable she'd allowed herself to die of starvation. I'm not sure what to think of that." She can only shrug. She nods about Kirito having played on Sword Art Online, and says, "I wonder, then, about your gameplay advice. I find myself stumbling along and making do, but I think some actual knowledge of the way of things would be invaluable. That's what this place," she gestures to the academy, such as it is, "is intended for."

As to it being fantastic, she admits, "I find it hard, sometimes, to know what to expect. I build a house like I would in real life. But an injury is a red mark that fades, and real life first aid does nothing. Most things work as they do in real life, but then magic happens, and fire comes from one's sword. I hadly know what to do. If you have any words of strategy, I would hear them."

"Well, you're half-right at least." Kirito suggests. "But...well, our goal here is to get everyone out of this game and back to their lives. After all, who knows what's happened to their bodies. We could be dead, and not even know it as the worst case scenario, with only the game preserving our minds."

Dark.

"Ahem, sorry. Just lost in my own thoughts sometimes. If you have any questions, I'd love to answer them." he tells her with a smile. "Well...I was thinking of getting a house, but I don't really need one right now."

Goldenblade nods at getting everyone home. "I agree, getting out of here needs to be the first thing. It's not right holding people here. I don't expect we're dead, because if we are, then ... I dunno if any computer can simulate a human mind? Not to any degree of fidelity." She shrugs.

She smirks at lost in one's own thoughts, and nods about a home also. "A home would be nice. But I wouldn't know what to do, and I wouldn't spend much time there in any event." As to her actual questions, she says, "So how do you suggest I go about fighting? Style-wise. I wind up spinning around and cutting people, but that's sort of a side-effect of the skills I have."

Kirito nods ever so softly, but he interjects. "It may indeed be possible to convert the human mind into artificial intelligence. But I don't have a degree in Psychology or advanced computer science, so take what I say with a grain of salt." He shrugs.

As for his own thoughts, he ponders. "Same, really. Grass is apparently just as comfortable and I have a sleeping bag in my inventory in case I'm out somewhere cold or uncomfortable." Then he's being asked the billion-dollar question: how should she go about fighting?

"Well, that depends heavily on your style and your class. You imply subtly that you're a blade dancer, so its somewhat wise to include acrobatics into your style so you can dodge and attack at the same time, but you shouldn't over extend yourself or overkill your acrobatics and keep a healthy focus on the actual fighting."

Goldenblade looks skeptical about converting the human mind to AI. "But a human mind is billions and billions of neurons, all connected weirdly. To simulate that would take huge resources, even for modern computers, wouldn't it?" Or is her information old? "But I'm a bricklayer by trade, I just read a bit. I don't study this." She shrugs.

She ohs, nods about being a blade dancer. He'd have seen if he inspected her, of course, and she knew about the famous Kirito. She's out of touch, but not that far out, and anyhow, she's here, so she tries to be knowledgeable. "Yes, I am," she says, and hrms about overextending herself. "It's hard to know when I'm overextended. There's no sure things in a fight, no matter how you stack it. But I'm trying to develop moves that suit my fighting style and ... well," she demonstrates an evasive maneuver, dodging left, right, back, and around, moving so fast that flames spring up in her wake. She may or may not have been going 88 mph.

Kirito watches with a critical eye. "Well, you have speed down. If you're faster than your opponent, then you already hold a significant advantage over them." Kirito advises a little bit, but speaks no more on hte topic of transfering the human mind into a computer system, regardless of how advanced or underpowered that system is.

Kirito was also a blade dancer, so he had a bit of sense to what he was talking about. "Though, have you considered dual wielding your swords? Twice the damage output, though you suffer a little bit in defense with lack of a shield." He offers to her.

"But moves that strike hard and fast will probably be your best bet. Save your stronger moves for when or if you have allies with you to cover the time needed to prepare the attack."

Goldenblade nods about having the speed down. That was her intent with that move. "For offense, I usually just use one of the normal strong attacks, but I'm working on a more powerful version. That's what I was working on when you came up. I don't have it down, yet, obviously." She nods about dual weilding, she does have a blade on either hip, so she draws them both to demonstrate. "Dual weilding is how I normally fight," she agrees. "I hadn't realized it was the stealth/sneak build. But a warrior has a 2-handed blade, or a sword and a shield. But if you don't want to appear to be one of those types, you can't carry a big sword, or a shield. That marks you as a front-line fighter. But two blades is a doesn't-want-to-look-like-a-fighter type."

"It's a deceptive style, definitely." He says with a light smile. "That's part of its charm and why I've done dual wielding classes in the past. Well, then you pretty much have this down. damage and speed go very well together, but put a focus on evasion rather than blocking." he tells her then.

"Otherwise, you seem to know exactly what you need to in order to survive in this world."

Goldenblade is doing it right? That's a bit of surprise. "Oh. Thanks," she says. "I was thinking you'd have a lot of advice for me," she explains. "Though I guess I'm mostly doing okay in the quests I go on." She hrms. "I'm trying to get this place to work out as a sort of training center, but so far, I haven't gotten much interest. I'm not sure I can teach well, but if you like, I can try and teach you my special move? That's what this place is for, after all. If you're interested. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to learn it, if you're a Blade Dancer like me."

"Yep, doing it completely right. Have a bit more faith in yourself, it'll be necessary." He smiles a bit to himself before he ponders. "Hit up those quests regularly so you can get more XP. More Xp equals more skills and higher level gear. I wouldn't mind learning your special move if you feel like teaching it."

Should be easy for him to learn. Operative word being should.

Goldenblade smirks about having faith in herself. "If this were the real world, sure. But this is a game, made up by people, and who knows what sort of nonsense people have gotten up to?" She nods, though, and takes a position side-by-side with Kirito. "So, it's like this. You use all your speed to shift to the side, and the fire is like ... like a lube, sort of, it surrounds you, and eases your passage through the world, is how I imagine it." And she darts to the side, leaving a trail of flames.

Kirito smirks before he watches her perform the move. He tilts his head a moment before he takes a deep breath and tries it a few times. He darts to the side with speed, but he doesn't leave a trail of flames. "THis is a tricky one, isn't it?"

Goldenblade nods slowly. "And I'm working on an even more potent version, since this one works so well. But I haven't figured it out quite yet." She says, "I think the flame part is what really makes it unique, and what gives it the speed. If you want to keep practicing, I'll try and teach it? I'm no teacher, not by trade, but we've all got ourselves in a bind, stuck here, and we've got to help each other to get out."

Kirito isn't sure what he did right to receive this kind of kindness, but he nods to her. "Your technique is very effective, and if you feel like sharing your skill with me, I'll return the favor."

It's probably just good luck? Goldenblade is pretty old school, as far as that goes, and so has a less modern view of gaming. That shapes her perspective uniquely. Anyhow, someone's got to go first for benefits to go around, and if she can make it happen, then good. "Thank you," she says as he praises her technique. "Sharing skills is definitely my goal. I'd be interested in anything you have to share, of course. I think this Academy can really help players out, in that regard.