Rayde

"Oi, what the hell are you doing?"

- Rayde, making an entrance for herself in The MMO

Rayde is one of the main protagonists of. Formerly known by the username, RinFire, taken from her real name, Rin Akagawa (赤川凛, Akagawa Rin), she reverted her level from 19 to 10 and changed her username after she was forced into the MMORPG,.

Of the Knight class, her primary weapon of choice is her sword, Restless Edge along with her scabbard, Blood Scabbard. She is currently level 16.

Appearance
A lightly tan-skinned girl with a strong build in her late teens, the first impression many have of Rayde is that she would be a capable and powerful if slightly cocky, fighter. Ironically, however, she is the shortest out of all of her friends. Compared with other female characters, she has sharper facial features that give her a more aggressive appearance. These features contributed to her becoming famous for a certain expression she makes when she is angry or dissatisfied, titled the "Famous Rayde Death Stare".

Rayde has wavy red hair that is past her shoulders. On her left upper arm is a black tattoo of a simple rendition of her blade. She also has a snaking black dragon's tattoo around her right arm, extending up her wrist and forearm, but it is unknown to most of her friends. For example, in Deprivation, when she removed her right gauntlet which had been smeared with the blood of a Beast, Shadow was shocked to see that she had a tattoo on her hand; however, her following explanation of it suggests that she does not mean to keep it a secret but that she has no reason to show it off or discuss it. She does not wear any jewelry, but she has mentioned that she has a few scars on her arms, taken from her real life appearance.

From Add Them to the List on, Rayde most often wears her customized casual set of armor, white and accented with her signature red markings. It consists of a light collared breastplate, layered shoulder guards and elbow-length gauntlets. Under it, she wears dark brown leather pants, an armored white skirt with red bordering, and armored boots. She also wears a dark gray armor piece on her upper right arm.

Casual Clothing
When she is relaxing in the town or in the inn, Rayde wears a set of fantasy styled clothing, consisting of a tan short-sleeved tunic, secured by a leather belt on her hip. Her hands and forearms are protected by leather gloves. Below, she wears dark brown leather boots and pants. Hanging from her neck is a silver necklace with a small sword pendant.

Background
It is revealed that Rayde's parents often fought during her childhood. Although it seemed that she had mostly gotten accustomed to it, the increasing degree of the fights' seriousness led her to retreat further into video games, specifically ZAW.

She and GlassChroma are the only players out of the four who knew one another personally in the game before the events of the light novels took place. The two, along with Lily, met during the Alpha and were temporarily on the same team with several others. For unknown reasons, their team was disbanded and the members split.

From then on, she mostly played alone as a solo player, which may have been an effect her dysfunctional family had on her.

Personality
The most aggressive out of the main protagonists, Rayde often strikes back toward both players and NPCs. She does not seem to care about the well-being of NPCs, as seen in Journey to Momo's, where she injures a shopkeeper with a chair, nor does she seem to care about the opinion other players hold of her. At times, she can come off as very rude, impulsive, prideful, and brash, and she is the most prone of the eight to cursing. She also has a preference of calling others by nicknames rather than their real or player names, like "Li" for Lily, "Zeo" for GlassChroma, etc..

Rayde is also rather smart and observant. Her knowledge of the game is quite extensive, evident of her gameplay and experience. Cunning and mischievous, she sometimes uses it to her advantage in unconventional ways to outsmart other players, such as when she rips a hole in Shadow's Maiyakami balloon in We, the Deceivers. Of the four, she is arguably the most playful and childish, seen many a time pranking other players, notably Shadow, and joking around. When in the face of an unknown adversary, especially when alone, she has been shown to act mature and reserved. As she has repeated many times, Rayde is very strong in her belief that unknown opponents should not be underestimated, and this leads to her careful analyzing of the enemy's traits and moves. Being that she is attentive and mindful of changes, she was able to, for example, detect that Shadow was ill at ease after the Second Annual Clash of the Shops in CotS: The Epilogue.

As this suggests, she observes self-constraint when the situation calls for it. Although it may be masked by her aggressive demeanor and frequent pranks, Rayde is strongly driven by her sense of justice and her care of her friends. She has been shown to act protective over other, less skilled players, as seen in The MMO when she stands up for the beginner in the opening scene, and is one of two reasons (the other being the color scheme of her outfit) why she was given her first epithet, White Knight. It is clear that she genuinely cares for her friends, as evidenced in CotS: The Epilogue when she strongly presses Shadow to tell her about what had transpired during the event, later comforting and reassuring her. Although she is very concerned with the well-being of her friends, there are times when she denies that items trouble her and instead changes her attitude and makes a joke. As seen in Blind, however, Rayde is actually very sensitive to subjects involving death and loss, so heavily affected that she has shown signs of something close to breaking down and crying when she is alone.

This and other circumstances also reveal that she keeps many things to herself, like her encounter with DarkWind during the Second Annual Clash of the Shops or her dark thoughts about player deaths. Although she mentioned "issues with my family" on her own, it is likely that she would not have detailed the seriousness of the fights in her household unless Shadow pressed her.

Armor
Being of the Knight class, her wardrobe is mostly composed of various suits of armor, each equipped with a unique special resistance.
 * Casual Set: This is the only exception to the above statement: it was designed to encompass a broad and balanced ratio of attack and defense, and is equal in its resistance to each element, defaulting it as the armor she uses in most situations. The one she is seen most in, it is a light custom-made suit of white armor that is stylized with, what are described as, red 'scar-shaped' markings. On her torso, she wears a collared breastplate, crossed with a tilted leather belt below her waist. Her shoulders are protected by layered two-piece pauldrons. The top piece sits atop her shoulders, while the lower guards protect her upper arm. Over a black sleeve that begins at her bicep, she wears elbow-length steel gauntlets and plated elbow guards to protect the bottom half of her arms and her elbows, respectively. Below, she wears dark brown leather pants under a white skirt with red bordering. For footwear, she wears plated steel boots that end below her knees. Being that there is no armor on her legs, save for her boots, her running and movement are not as restricted as other characters criticize. Most of this outfit, like her hair and weapon, is asymmetric in design: only her right shoulder guard has a neck guard, she wears her belt slanted on her waist, and the shape of her collar is asymmetric in its design.
 * Armored Angel: This is the armor she equipped for a short period of time in New Player via her special before Winglancer drained her bar. No fight statistics or details about the look have been released, but it is assumed that it would have had a high resistance to dark magic attacks and PvP-effective abilities, considering DarkAngel's attack style.
 * Darkheld Armor: This is the only armor set Rayde has worn that is heavy enough to dramatically affect her combat performance, notably her swordplay. Her torso is protected by a solid dark gray breastplate over bronze chainmail. The shoulder guards are comprised of three layered thick plate pauldrons and she wears a thick leather belt at her hip. Her thighs are protected by wide plates that also act as a waist guard. From the middle of her bicep down, she wears a sturdy leather sleeve over the chainmail; it is covered on the forearms, where her elbow-length gauntlets extend. Additionally, latched to her right forearm is a small dark gray shield. Due to its heavy build, Rayde's Darkheld armor offers the highest seen defense rating of armor she has equipped thus far. However, because of this, it drastically decreases her reaction time and her speed. Her knowledge of this instead leads her to morph her combat method to absorb or redirect most hits with her shield and deal damage with her sword two-handedly, in which she takes advantage of the leverage and uses it to dramatically increase the strength of her attacks.
 * Zhàndòujī: In this Asian-inspired fighting outfit, Rayde sports a wide sedge hat that covers most of her face. On her torso, she wears a sleeveless but sturdy top secured by three Chinese frog buttons that are reminiscent of a Chinese Tang-Zhuang. Below, she wears loose black pants; from the knee down, as well as on the lower halves of her arms, she wears bound white cloth that is secured by tied crisscrossed ribbons. Around her waist is a wide cloth that is secured by a belt over it, although the ends of the cloth hang loosely at her left side. Her footwear is unknown. One of the few outfits that contain no pieces of armor, Rayde has never been seen in this in the released light novels. However, a few pieces of information from the publishers have been released, emphasizing that, without closer inspection, she may be seen as dressed in a simple, Asian-inspired farmer's outfit. It is speculated that she will use this on a quest that requires a disguise, although this has not been confirmed.

Weapons
Rayde makes use of three fantasy-styled weapons, each one of them equipped with their special attributes and each with their unique pros and cons.
 * Restless Edge: This sword is Rayde's main weapon, crafted herself when she became level three. It has a white grip with a stark black diamond residing at the pommel. At the center, where the rain guard is, there located is a white four-sided diamond. At the top of the hilt, the red cross guard is asymmetrical itself, longer on one side and curved slightly outward to protect against sliding blades along the sword’s length. On the other side, the guard is indented with a dark gray curved section to match the dark gray steel blade of the sword. The blade is also not symmetric, edged to a sharp and deadly point on the blade’s right side.
 * Blood Scabbard: The scabbard to Restless Edge, it is a hard and sturdy metal case, white and stylized with her red scar markings. It attaches to her belt at the waist using a strong clip. When fighting, she holds it at the top in the reverse grip and uses it as a weapon alongside her sword. Mostly defensive, it acts as her shield to deflect attacks, but she may use it to stun and follow up attacks with her sword.
 * Winged Thorn: Her dagger, she uses it when she is in need of faster combos, dual wielding it in her left hand with her sword in her right. It is similar to Restless Edge in look, save for the size and the small white metal blade. When she activates her special ability, she uses it as a powerful projectile. Although she has stated that she does not like to throw it far out of fear of losing it, she has resorted to this when the situation calls for it, as seen in Clash of the Shops Part V II, when she threw it at the Shadow's Maiyakami to delay her progress in the race.

Abilities
Like other players, she makes the use five abilities: a melee, dash, attack, defend, and special. While observing her type, Fantasy, it also observes a theme of light and dark.
 * Melee - Void Breaker: A powerful melee combo, consisting of a left elbow to the opponent, followed by a right-handed uppercut. In the novels, it is described that her arms glow a "dark purple" color after she activates the ability.
 * Dash - Dark Rift: A rapid shift to a point nearby, in which a before-image is left in the previous position for a limited amount of time. A certain level must be achieved by the opponent before the image is revealed to be just that.
 * Attack - Arcane Blade: An ability that, when used, enables the user to increase his/her damage of the equipped weapon(s) for a limited time, along with a strong light emanating from the weapons, stunning nearby opponents who face the user. In the light novels, the light from her sword or dagger is of a bright white-yellow color.
 * Defend - Light’s Armor: A defensive ability which achieves an energy-like barrier, barring a certain amount of damage to the user when his/her weapon is in a selected position. After a certain amount of damage is dealt upon the barrier, the barrier will break. When she makes use of this in the novels, the barrier is a deep red color.
 * Special - Reaper’s Counter: A special ability which allows the user to instantly equip into a matching set of armor that would better benefit the user at the occasion. The amount of damage inflicted by the user in the hundred hits required to fill his/her special meter is transferred onto his/her secondary weapon and can be used as a projectile.

Volume 1: Welcome to Zenith
She, known at the time as RinFire, was first introduced after she overheard an argument between two players in The MMO, challenging the female player, DarkAngel, to a duel. When she logs off to plan her strategy, she encounters a notification about a virus that has affected the game but continues to log back in. When she attempts to, however, she somehow blacks out and wakes to a blank void where she is prompted to select a new avatar with the same attributes and items, but with a new username, which leads her to adopt the name, Rayde. She is also required to revert her level, reluctantly forfeiting her level 19 for level 10. Blacking out once more, she wakes up to find herself on Mount Zenith, within the game itself.

After acquainting herself with the world and the controls, she engages DarkAngel in their scheduled duel.

Shadow
Rayde shares a close friendship with Shadow. After their strange meeting on Mount Zenith after both of their entrances into the game, the two became friends after Shadow began following her. They built their trust during their cafe quest together and eventually teamed up in a party. After teaming up, while Rayde continued to teach her the basics of the game, the two went through a series of quests, their combat smooth and complementary to one another.

Akin to her playfulness, Rayde usually chooses Shadow for her pranks and occasionally makes fun of her for trivial things. She also uses a certain degree of violence against her, mostly to accomplish simple tasks such as her kicking Shadow awake in The Reason in Silence. However, considering this, they both seem to genuinely enjoy the other's company. Additionally, the two share a sense of care over the other. When they are in times of stress or tension, if one notices that the other is troubled, she will attempt to comfort her to the best of her ability. However, while they may care for each other, this leads to a secrecy between them on Rayde's part, clear in We, The Deceivers.

Lily
Rayde and Lily have a very close relationship with one another. Knowing each other from the alpha run of the game where they were temporarily on the same team, they encounter each other once again in Deprivation and share in an intimate conversation until Shadow arrives. They later meet the night before the Second Annual COTS before Rayde bids her good night to rest for the event. While Lily is known to close off from others, Rayde has often broken this shield down, trying to mend her relationship with her.

She only allows Rayde to call her by the nickname "Li". Rayde only refers to her with this nickname.

Draken
Rayde and Draken are good friends. They first met in Add Them to the List, where Rayde accidentally knocks him down along with a few other townspeople.

GlassChroma
Although the way they first met is not specific, Rayde and GlassChroma first encountered one another in the alpha run of ZAW. Along with Lily and a few unnamed others, she and Glass partnered on the same team for a time. After a while, their team was disbanded and the members split. While it is currently unknown why this happened, after, she kept in some amount of contact with him, as he was the only person from her adventures before the events of Zenith: Across Worlds to be on her Friend's List.

After the Second Annual Clash of the Shops, they are finally reunited and since, have remained close friends after forming a guild together with their friends. They often joke with one another, both in safe-zones and on potentially deadly battlefields, as well as care for the other's well-being.

While Glass has consented to call her by her current username, Rayde, she only refers to him as "Zeo", a reference to his old username, ZeoTamer.

Quotes

 * "Oi, what the hell are you doing?" (to DarkAngel)
 * "Shadow... I can see you, you know?" (to Shadow).
 * "Off to another adventure. Life is never boring around here, huh?" (to Shadow)
 * "Li, how are you doing? It's... it's been a while." (to Lily).

Trivia

 * In real life, her given name in kanji (凛, Rin) means "severe", or "cold". Her surname (赤川, Akagawa) means "red river".
 * Contrary to what many characters see her as, Rayde actually stands at an average height for her age. Those closest to her in height, such as Shadow, only stand from one to three centimeters taller than her. However, although this disparage may be small, it not only declares her as the shortest out of the main and side four but in fact all the characters that "we care about", as said in a short manga panel.
 * On the inside of the end cover for the Welcome to Zenith Arc, there was an info page that listed her preferences and traits which included:
 * Her blood type is AB and she is right-handed.
 * She stands at a height of 159 cm (5' 3").
 * Her favorite fruits to eat are cherries, but she prefers mango or pineapple flavoring for ice cream and candy.
 * She is sensitive to sour candies and fruits and always tries to wash off the sour coatings of candies before eating them.
 * Her favorite color is red.
 * Her favorite past time is walking outside in the rain.
 * The downside of being a Knight is that she spends much of her carrying capacity on different suits of armor.
 * She uniquely holds her scabbard defensively in the reverse grip.
 * Her worst fear is of spiders. It is so strong a phobia that she cannot look at pictures of the creatures.
 * She hates hugs.
 * Her first epithet, White Knight, is a common title that is associated with a "rescuing hero".
 * The fan-made ship names that involve her include:
 * between her and Shadow: "Aokawa" (combines kanji from Akagawa (赤川) and Aomine (青峰)) OR "Shayde" (combining their usernames together)
 * In the original draft of ZAW, in order to depict correctly how Rayde's armor would look, Sakurai-san illustrated the first draft of Rayde's casual set and then passed it on to Ogami Kenichi so he could include a description of it in a chapter. Because it was not clear, he instead outfitted Rayde in a white collared leather shirt. Notified of the error but too late to revise, Ogami-san altered the plot. Therefore, Rayde, wore the leather shirt until she attained her default breastplate (which was silver) after her fight with Winglancer. However, because Ogami-san had outfitted her in a silver rather than a white and red armor piece, he had to then add to the plot (as seen in Add Them to the List) Rayde's customization of her armor. The armor from then forth was correct, and the quick add-in for her customization created later inspiration for Sakurai-san's Journey to Momo's.
 * She has made it clear on multiple occasions that she does not like to hug other people, going so far as to ignore or punch away outstretched arms. The reason for this dislike is unknown.
 * Evidence of her fight with DarkWind can be found subtlety in Flower, when Shadow arrives to transitional cave before the beast caverns. She sees "deep blade scars" along the walls, "burn marks" traced along the floor, and footsteps.
 * Although we only see a good-natured relationship between Rayde, Glass, and Lily, the reason for breaking up of their alpha team is still unknown, as well as why Rayde had only Glass, and not Lily, as a friend.