Bismuth

Bismuth entered the arena on shaky legs, fighting wasn't something that he could really handle, and even more something that he was good at. The only solace he took was the fact that everything in this competition was designed to be non lethal in every way, with safety as the main concern, the weapons were wood and completely incapable of doing actual damage. In his slightly less, but still, shaky hands Bismuth held a long wooden dagger, it was slightly curved, but nothing like the curved swords that could be find in Aincrad. Bismuth opened his mouth slightly as if he was about to say so

Bismuth didn't know where either Koga or NIGHT were at this point, but he didn't mind, the quest was simple enough, and he didn't really need protection all that bad. Now he was just looking for a distraction from everything that just happened. Which for him was a lot, Koga, he hadn't seen that coming even slightly, with the man's aversion to all of his flirting, but now? He didn't even know what to think, honestly glad that Koga wasn't around right now. Keeping himself focused on the quest Bismuth ventured closer to where Nari stood, crouching down in order to pull a third root out of t

Bismuth considered freyd's offer, he had heard about Firm Anima, to an extent, you had to have heard about it really if you were in the business of trading materials, but anything other than a name, was hard to come by with how secretive the guild could be. The invitation was appreciated, although joining a guild always came with requirements, and obligations. That would, odds are, get in the way of his research, which was the only way that Bismuth was going to be of any help to anyone, though not even much at that point. Bismuth watched Freyd as he hopped off the rock, a silent vigil aga

Bismuth just stood there letting Freyd talk as he looked over the bushes surrounding him, not looking very hard as he just listened, it was hard to describe, the amount of comfort that Bismuth took in the man's words. Someone being there for him wasn't really something he had ever had, and whether he knew the person he was here with or not, the idea of that alone was enough to send the man into a breaking point, something he had already surpassed. "Thankyou." Bismuth looked at Freyd, the sorrow didn't seem as sharp, still clearly there, but much softer and round at this point, it seemed

Bismuth just gave a thumbs up from the ground as Koga asked if he was okay, content to just lay there until the earth ate him up. This was not really how he expected today to go at all, this was supposed to be a simple outing for the beginner quest, and boy had it now dissolved into a mess. Bismuth just kept laying there until he heard the rustle of both Koga and NIGHT leaving into the surrounding area before he picked himself up off of the ground. "Well, that was a mess." Bismuth commented to no one in particular, mostly himself, he wasn't good at consoling people, and figured any attempt he

Bismuth watched quizzically at Koga as he walked up to him, he understood why the man would be mad at Nari, but all he had done was compliment him, albeit only in response to Nari's accidental insult. Soon after he found his answer, as Koga had suddenly pushed his lips against Bismuth's own forcing his tongue into his mouth. Bismuth's eyes went wide as he just, let the kiss happen, he wasn't expecting it, but it definitely was not a bad one in any way. All too soon though, Koga had taken his lips away from Bismuth's with nothing but a grazing of his teeth. Leaving Bismuth to hang from his tree

Bismuth turned just in time to watch Night stumble down the edge of the hill after having flawlessly failed to explain herself in a meaningful way, at least bismuth was right this time. Koga soon followed after her to make sure she was okay, and Nari beside him was just flailing in her own words. Bismuth chuckled to himself softly, including himself this group was an odd pairing, but he was still enjoying himself so that was a good thing. He made it the tree he was aiming for, and climbed it with a very practiced hand, making it to one of the thicker branches and sitting with his back to the t

Bismuth didn't even know what to think, in this moment, he could just feel his mask crumbling around him, Maybe it was the way Freyd was talking, or maybe it was just getting too hard to keep up the act anymore. Bismuth couldn't see any glowing bushes as he looked up at Freyd, a broken face of sorrow replacing what was there before, it was like Bismuth had shrunk and deflated, all of the confidence gone, replaced by fear, So intense it seemed to be radiating off of him in waves. Not trusting his words Bismuth just nodded at Freyd before turning back to his task, still deflated, still bro

It wasn't long before Bismuth was back at his camp, it wasn't all that far away from the oasis, even with him having to be stealthy to make sure that no lions got the drop on him. Luck always did seem to be on Bismuth's side when it came to avoiding his enemies though, and there were no signs of them as he made his way to his impromptu home. Bismuth decided that now would be a good time for breakfast, and with that thought stoked his campfire until it was a decent sized fire, more than enough to make a decent stew. Bismuth hadn't yet started his career as a cook, so he wasn't very good at it,

"I mean it has been what near seven years since this game began? Maybe there is something there, either way It doesn't matter much to me, if they are something that's good for them though" Bismuth was still searching around where he had found his last root, they usually came in pairs, so there should be another root really close to the last one, finding it he pulled it out and tossed it into his inventory, standing up just as Koga asked if they needed help. "Oh, not at all, Just talking about you guys, Nari here thinks you guys are something more than friends, I disagree, doesn't really matter

Thread Summary Bismuth: 2066 EXP: 300 Quest, 1766 Thread Contents 3 Materials: 3 gathering 1 Demonic Shard: 1 quest Forager Profession Astreya: 5298 EXP: 5298 Thread Contents 936 Col: 936 Hunting Familiar 3 Fail, 2 Succeed, 2 Critical Foraging: (3*3) + (2*5) + (2*8) = 35 Foraging XP T3 Rare trinket: Hunting Familiar 10 Materials: 4 Hunting Familiar, 6 Gathering

Bismuth chuckled at her last statement "This is better than any candy I have ever been given." He smiled at Astreya as they walked to the NPC that gave the foraging profession quest, blushing slightly at being called cute. this was the mot real he had been with another person in a long time and it felt refreshing. "Hopefully this helps with my books." Bismuth remarked idly almost vibrating from excitement as they got closer and closer to the quest giver. It didn't take long. Bismuth approached the druid presenting his demonic scale and the compass to her "So you've found a Demonic Shard!

"If Frosty is going to be there than I have to show up, I can't say no to such a pretty bird." Bismuth smiled from the tree as he called down. The shard was now in his possession and he could go turn the quest in and officially become a gatherer. Which would hopefully help with his research. He didn't really know any of the way that the profession actually work, but with a name like forager, it had to help with his ability to gather, at least hopefully. "I don't know I would have to do more research at the very least, I don't fully know how it works, in all of my research I have never s

The Gypsy and her caravan were still there When Bismuth finally made his way to the oasis that she had set up at, but didn't seem to make any movement out of her caravan as bismuth took his journal off of his hip and dove into the water at the oasis, it wasn't that deep, but it was deep enough for him to dive into, it was about 7 feet deep, and had barely any gradual slope before bottoming out. The crisp cold water woke Bismuth up right away, and seemed to push back any of the thoughts that were permeating his mind. Spending ten minutes just swimming through the cold helped get him started, it

Bismuth hadn't been paying much mind to anyone else at this point, the task at hand, one he enjoyed very much, had taken over the entirety of his mind. That was until the shy woman known as Nari had shuffled herself closer to him and whispered some questions towards him. Thinking for a moment Bismuth used his bright red dagger to pry a root out of the ground, placing it into his inventory. "Nah, I don't really think there's anything going on, all the frontliners are close, it comes with risking your life with someone every day." Bismuth turned to look at Nari, there was a glint of excitement i

Bismuth didn't look towards Freyd, he just laughed dryly "Burnt? More like beaten." Bismuth voice was barely above a whisper as he remarked that to himself. "I don't mind people getting close, I don't know if you've noticed, but I like people real close to me." Bismuth looked back up at Freyd winking before going back to his bushes, picking more berries as he scrounged through them like a raccoon. Bismuth was trying his best to keep himself focused and to not let his mind wander as he went through the bushes checking the same bush multiple times due to his distraction. Bismuth doesn't respond

"I'll be there." Bismuth smiled right back at Astreya making a promise to himself that if he found a familiar, Astreya would be the first person he went to for it. "I would love to get to be your very first customer, I will be waiting." Bismuth smiled back at Astreya as they talked about this. "I like more obscure pop to be honest. most people haven't heard of most of them. And is my music taste really that old?" Bismuth remarked laughing a bit, he was only in his early twenties by now, but he had always liked the style of older genres. Bismuth smiled at Astreya as she agreed to go all

Bismuth chuckled a bit, he didn't understand how anyone could not like foraging, the exploration the excitement that comes when you do find something, and if that's something that you had never found before that excitement only grows. "Fishing is so boring though, just standing there with a pole, foraging is so much more fun, there is exploration and wonder." Bismuth wasn't really the type of person who could sit in one place for very long and be content, unless he was painting or drawing that is, you have to be willing to sit there for hours on end if you want to get all the details just righ

"I can definitely feel that, I spend most of my time in a cramped room littered with papers and charts, so being able to get out like this is always nice, especially when I have such good company." Bismuth didn't look over at Astreya as he spoke content to just listen to her talk as he looked through the grass placing a flower into his inventory as he did. "I would love to do that, I will definitely make sure to go by your shop before I go out and find the gypsy." This time Bismuth did look up giving Astreya a charming smile as he said that "I am sure that you would be able to make something t

Bismuth sighed as the sun finally dipped fully and completely behind the horizon, it was a fun day, but not a very eventful one, and yet Bismuth was still tired. Yawning and stretching his entire body Bismuth walked over to the tent that he had set up, he hadn't yet put a bedroll or anything down, figuring that he would just be able to do that when he went to bed for the night. Now was that time, Bismuth reached into his inventory and pulled out what was equivalently just a more padded sleeping bag and placed it on the bottom of his two person tent before crawling inside of it to sleep for the

With the dagger that Bismuth had ordered from Vigilon, and the pair of trinkets that he had picked up from Freyd when he had went down to his shop, there was only one item that he still needed to pick up before he felt ready to truly start heading out of the beginner village, for anything more than basic quests like the gathering quest, and that was some easy to move in cloth armor. While asking around town Bismuth had heard of a decently good tailor, or really the only tailor he could find anything about, with a prickly personality named Setsuna, he wasn't one to judge someone based on

"I merely meant that you don't seem to like gathering very much, no reason to keep you helping me with something you don't enjoy, whether you don't mind helping or not, even if just to gain a contact." Bismuth looked back towards Freyd as his demeanor seemed to shift. Bismuth wasn't sure what he was going to say next. but judging on his expression, it was probably nothing good. Bismuth was right, to an extent, Freyd's question wasn't necessarily a bad one, but it was one that he wasn't expecting. Though bismuth simply smiled at him and winked "We all have to have a few secrets don't we, t

Bismuth made a very quick sketch of the shadow mongoose that Freyd called his familiar before it turned into a shadow once more. "It definitely seems like it would be incredible to have a shadow around." Bismuth remarked, definitely something that would make an amazing scout, but he had heard that the gypsy was hard to track down, so he wasn't really going to decide on any specific creature to have as a familiar, rather just see what happens if he ever does run into the gypsy. Bismuth caught the treat as it was tossed to him giving it a glance to see what it was before consuming it, it w

One hour, that was all of the time Bismuth had left for his little challenge if he had intended on achieving it, he was pretty sure that that was completely possible, and he was going to make sure he did. Bismuth crouched down the side of the hill careful that he didn't give up any of his stealth just for speed, His own personal goal wasn't really worth dying for, and there wasn't even a small chance that he would be able to fight against even the weakest monster on this floor. Knowing where to avoid and where he would be able to be safe was a big upside, and because of that he was completely

Bismuth graciously accepted the bars from NIGHT before consuming it in order to get the bonus to LD. "These here are actually the entire reason I have become a cook, it should be able to help my research quite a bit, and I need all the help I can get most of the time." Bismuth smiled at NIGHT "Thankyou for your help." Bismuth really wished that he had his glasses right now, they were also a boost to his luck, but he wasn't planning on going on any expeditions today, so he had left them on his desk surrounded by his papers. Though the immediate surroundings of the beginner village was ple