[SP-F1-NK] <<The First Few Lessons are Free>> Sleight of Hand

[Kooh 0]

Another day, another unproductive stroll through the marketplace in the Town of Beginnings. Kooh had her hands resting in her pockets, black and white hood pulled up to rest atop her loose blonde hair. The girl strolled lazily without a goal in mind, as per usual. Despite her new 'roommate' trying to motivate her now and then, Kooh found little desire to get away from the first floor, but day-to-day life in the same town, albeit a huge one, grew boring as time when on.

"Excuse me, could you spare a moment?"

Perhaps she would message Itzal and get some information from him. Maybe it wouldn't kill her to pick up another skill or two.

"Hello! Adventurer!"

Rousing her consciousness back to reality, Kooh looked over to the source of a rather persistent voice. As she continued walking, her eyes met an elderly, though able-bodied looking NPC as he stared right back at her. Just as she was deciding whether to question or ignore him, her body came to an abrupt stop as it collided with that of another player. Snapping her attention back to her previous walking path, she regained her balance with a quick step backwards and gave a quick "Sorry, my bad." to Sly. Just as she was about to hurry on her way, the voice rang out, much closer this time. "You! Both of you, would you be so kind as to assist me with brewing this potion?"

'Ah, crap.' Kooh turned her head back to where the old man had been standing, only to find him approaching them both. 'Good going, Luna.' The blonde quickly scolded herself before looking back to the player she'd bumped into to gauge his reaction. Based on his temper, she'd either be rolling with things or issuing a string of apologies.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

The first floor was still full of players to Sly's surprise, he looked around the market seeing how cheap the items can be, however Sly was extremely low on col to even by anything, and he hadn't fully done anything in this world as of the late, he was thinking about taking some of the many quests that were here, out of a moments notice a female had collided with Sly forcing him to hit the ground for a moment. "What the hell?!" he said out as he looked over to see that a female figure had collided with him with a quick apology. Sly grinned and stood himself back up brushing off the dust from his pants, taking a sigh "It's aight, just make sure that you look out for other people next time." then looked over to see an old man asking if they both could help out with a potion, Sly shrugged and looked back to the female and said "Unless you want to head out and run into other people, I'd like to actually partner up if you have the time. I am still lone level 1 after all, I would appreciate the help." he said to her with a smirk.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

She hadn't expected to knock the man completely over at her pace, but once he stood back upright Kooh noticed that she held an inch or two over him. When he replied, his more-or-less friendly jab at her resulted in an apologetic grin back. To her pleasant surprise, Sly seemed pretty easy-going. It took a moment for his last comment to stick, and the girl looked back to the NPC with a small tilt of her head. 'Someone who's a lower level than me?' They did exist, much to her surprise. Despite her proactive streak recently getting her a couple more levels under her belt, she wasn't far off from proclaiming herself the most unmotivated player in Aincrad. Though, she supposed there were many reasons a player wouldn't be soaring up the leveling ladder like a certain raven-haired scout that came to her mind.

"Oh, uh," Kooh had nearly forgotten the situation she was in. Was this some sort of event or something? The NPC didn't give them many details, simply waving them back towards what looked to be a very basic alchemy shop. She glanced back to Sly and returned his shrug. "Sure, why not? Guess it'll keep me outta trouble for a bit." She mimicked his teasing a bit.

Once the two players had entered the alchemists shop, the NPC introduced himself as Zackariah and quickly explained his purpose to help new players in the way of foraging and crafting. Once the old man had finished his spiel he held up a hand and stated they each needed to first fetch five crafting materials from outside the city. At the same time, a quest prompt appeared in front of Kooh and Sly both, giving them the option to accept or deny. Before sliding her hands back into her pockets, Kooh would tap on the small circle to 'Accept' and the window would disappear.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly had continued his smirk as she had thought over things for just a second, he was kind of ashamed to be this low of a level, but he wanted to make sure he was safe... for a while at least. Sly had giggled at her response, it was a very teasing comment but he liked the humor that she had been displaying. "Alrighty then." he said as they walked inside the store to find out about this potion, he grinned when he was told that they had to find five materials each... that was going to be a task and a half, at least for sly... he wasn't too sure about his new found partner. The quest menu had opened up in front of him, and with a smirk he had clicked the accept button as he looked back to the female figure, he gave her a warm smile and extended a hand as he placed the other one in his pocket "The name's Sly by the way, its nice to speak to someone to be honest, its been days and weeks on end since I have talked to an actual person, other than NPC's... their stories becomes less and less interesting at times." he said that his smile turned to a grin that he didn't like what he had done to make sure he was "safe" for a while.

@Kooh

Edited January 17, 2017 by Sly

[Kooh 0]

When they had both accepted the quest Zackariah appeared to go back to whatever NPC programming he had--milling about his shop, mixing potions, flagging down more new players and the like. Just then, the brunette would introduce himself. Although she didn't show it, Kooh was surprised when he joked about not speaking to other players. 'Odd. He doesn't look the anti-social type.' Then again, this game probably messed with people's heads more than she had personal experience with. She wasn't going to leave him hanging, though, and replied with a simple, "Kooh. Charmed." as she took his hand with a half-smirk in return.

With pleasantries exchanged, the girl brought her hand up to lazily twirl a lock of hair around her finger. "So, materials? Shouldn't be too hard." She said casually, leading the way out of the small shop and towards the eastern gate. After all the time she spent in it, she knew the Town of Beginnings pretty well despite the fact that she'd never been too good with directions.

@Sly

Edited January 29, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly had buried his hands in his pockets as he continued to move on forward with Kooh, now he was stuck being level 1... and he was such an idiot not taking one of the weapon skills right of the bat like any other player honestly would, but he didn't want to settle for the average that many players were going after... he wanted something special, he wanted to be unique in his own way... if that had made any sense. "I guess Materials shouldn't be too hard to get, I had tried to find some before hand, but this game is brutal for me trying to find those F*****s." he had chuckled as he continued to move forward with Kooh throughout the town of beginnings, "By the way... what does Charmed even mean? I am sorry if thats an american thing, I didn't grow up there." he said with a grin hoping that he didn't offend her or anything, Sly tends to be that guy that would accidentally do that sort of thing.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh snickered lightly. "Yeah, I guess there are skills and such that make it easier, but otherwise it just feels completely random." She gave a bit of a huff, but then cocked an eyebrow at his question. "Oh, uh." She frowned and tilted her head slightly, facing forward again as they approached the city's edge. "I feel like it's more something from old movies. Usually when someone says it they make it sound really snooty, but I guess it all depends on the tone." She chuckled lightly. "Anyway, I guess it's basically like 'pleasure to meet you', or something." She shrugged at her lackluster definition.

The pair quickly reached the city's gates, and as Kooh stepped outside of the safe zone she scanned the ground nearby. It took a few moments, but she soon spotted an odd-looking plant growing up against the stone wall. She walked over and plucked the herb from the ground. It quickly dissolved as it placed itself in her inventory. Turning back to Sly, she offered him a small grin. "Hey, not so hard after all."

@Sly

Material Gathering:

Spoiler

• ID#: 75825
  • LD: 12 - Success!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 1
  • Sly: 0

 

Edited January 29, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly shook his head and chuckled, he didn't really know what snooty meant either, he just assumed that it was bad thing, eh who knows. Sly knew he could be an troll at times and drive people crazy at times, but he just brushed it off then said to Kooh with a smile "O-oh... I guess I'll keep that knowledge inside my head in case someone uses that term again then." he had followed behind Kooh looking around for the materials needed to help her and him complete this quest, he had looked around while she had also looked for some materials while they were at it, after a little bit of time, Sly had eventually had found one! He had looked back to Kooh with a almost concerned look "U-uh... typically I don't find Materials this quick, something must be wrong here. The worlds gonna end at this rate." he said jokingly.

-----

ID: 75826 - LD: 12

+1 T1 Material

[Kooh 0]

Once she'd collected the first material, Kooh slipped her hands back into her pockets and scanned the ground again. Nothing out of the ordinary. 'Ugh, how long will it take to find five each?' She thought with slight annoyance. Keeping her expression neutral, the blonde glanced back over to Sly, who seemed to have grabbed one of his own as well. She cocked an eyebrow at the way he spoke, but offered him a grin in return. "Hey, it gets pretty easy. Even if it's all luck, just improve your odds and you'll find them everywhere." She was surprised to be giving a pep-talk, but it seemed like the only natural way to respond. He didn't come off as shy at first, so she wondered if he just wasn't used to being outside of the city. 'But he mentioned getting materials before... No, that's not it.' Kooh's brain worked to come to the best conclusion while she started wandering out into the grassy fields.

Material Gathering:

  Hide contents

• ID#: 75968
  • LD: 3 - Fail!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 1
  • Sly: 1

Edited January 30, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly nodded his head that eventually led to shaking his head, he genuinely really like to rely on luck just to get some materials, heck he was even surprised that he had managed to find one material in all honesty. "Luck's pretty BS if you ask me, even if we are trapped in a game relying on RNG seems pretty bad, at least to me." he shrugged then continued to look around for another material for the quest that was at hand, and with a little bit of searching and a little bit of patience, sly had found another material. He picked up the material and placed it in the palm of his hand inspecting it making sure that it was a good one, and was he had given himself confirmation he had gave a smirk and placed it into his inventory. He looked back over to Kooh and said out "How're you doing over there?"

@Kooh

-----

ID: 75826 - LD: 12

Loot: 2 T1 Materials

+1 T1 Material

Edited February 1, 2017 by Sly

[Kooh 0]

Kooh gave the ground a small kick, brushing the sole of her boot against the grassy earth. After her first find she hadn't found anything worthwhile, and she didn't care to be roaming around in the fields all day. At least if she was going to do that she could go hang out in the forest without any quest objectives to worry about. 'I swear, what's so important about getting experience and leveling up?' She left her complaints to her thoughts.

The girl twisted her body to face Sly as he called to her, offering her a sarcastic grin in response. "Ehh, pretty crappy over here." She answered. She wondered for a moment exactly what kind of materials they should be gathering, or if it didn't matter. She wasn't quite curious enough to actually pull up her quest log and check, so she mentally shrugged it off. Guess it didn't matter whether she was putting sage or apples into that potion.

Material Gathering:

  Hide contents

• ID#: 76339
  • LD: 6 - Fail!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 1
  • Sly: 2

Edited February 2, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly had looked over and listened to Kooh's words, he then grinned... "That's sucks." he said as he looked back forward to look for some materials that was needed for the quest, he had thought to himself in his head... did they both need to find 5 materials? Or could they have gotten 10 materials collectively? That thought rushed into Sly's head then looked back to Kooh "Hey, do you know if we both have to find 5 materials, as in solely us or does it have to collectively be 10? Because it might just be easier if we could work together to get the 10." he said with a grin as he then looked for a material that was around, and with a little bit of luck once more he had found yet another material... it was looking like his luck was shining upon him today it had seemed. He placed the material into his inventory and kept moving forward.

@Kooh

-----

ID: 76340 - LD: 15

Loot: 3 T1 Materials

+1 T1 Material

Edited February 2, 2017 by Sly

[Kooh 0]

Alright, so maybe not apples. Kooh gave a small hop as she reached up to grab a pear hanging from a nearby tree. She managed to pluck the fruit down, and as she stared at it a handful of stats appeared in a dialogue window, claiming the item to be a material, or ingredient. With a small motion the item vanished and would place itself in her inventory. Once again, she turned her attention back to the brunette. "Err," She had no clue what the answer to his question was, and hadn't really thought about it herself. Giving the boy a small shrug in response, she spoke up again, "Dunno, I guess if they're tradeable then it's fair game?" The girl frowned for a moment, but then used another quick motion to pull up her menus and inventory. The pear materialized in her hand and she faced Sly, bringing her arm back slightly. "Catch!" She called before giving the fruit an underhanded toss.

Material Gathering:

  Hide contents

• ID#: 76341
  • LD: 16 - Success!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 2
  • Sly: 3

Edited February 2, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly was surprised that she had thrown a pear from her inventory to have him catch it, Sly had last minute tried to catch it, once had failed then managed to grab it before it hit the ground. "Geez, give me a warning next time!" he said with a little bit of anger, but he really couldn't be too upset about it, heck she didn't know any better, he grinned and said "Thanks though, I appreciate it homie." he took a deep breath and went back to his material hunting shenanigans, and yet again he managed to find some more materials, "what the f---? why are materials just so suddenly easy to find now? this makes no sense at all." he said in disbelief, but hey anything is possible... he guessed, he simply sighed and placed the material into his inventory. He looked over his shoulder and back to Kooh... making sure she wasn't trying to throw more fruit at him.

@Kooh

-----

ID: 76342 - LD: 12

Loot: 4 T1 Materials

+1 T1 Material

Edited February 2, 2017 by Sly

[Kooh 0]

Kooh suppressed a chuckle as Sly barely managed to catch the fruit before it hit the ground. She idly wondered if it would've destroyed the item, but gave a small shrug in response to her thoughts. The blonde tilted her head at his exclamation, but returned his grin when he seemed to calm down. She still wasn't sure how to act around him, but so far a casual playfulness seemed to be doing well enough so she'd keep it up for now.

Sly seemed to be beating her at the material hunting game, much to his own surprise. "What, I guess you haven't had a great time finding them in the past, then?" She asked as the brunette seemed to be in disbelief. Kooh herself hadn't found anything else since that pear, and she gave the ground another light scrape with the sole of her boot, kicking up some grass.

@Sly

Material Gathering:

  Hide contents

• ID#: 76346
  • LD: 4 - Fail!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 2
  • Sly: 4

Edited February 5, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly had looked back to Kooh which had asked if he had some troubles finding them in the past, Sly had chuckled and said to her "Yeah, I had a bit of difficulty trying to find them a while back. They're a b---h to find sometimes, and I hate how hard they can be to find a certain times." he said as he then went back to searching for the one last material that he had needed, and without much time and effort at all he had eventually ran across the last material that he had needed. Sly with a smile had let out a small "yes" in his success in finding the last material that he had needed for the quest that was at hand, he placed the final material that he had needed into his inventory and looked back to Kooh with a smile "all done on my end."

@Kooh

-----

ID: 76960 - LD: 11

Loot: 5 T1 Materials

+1 T1 Material

Edited February 9, 2017 by Sly

[Kooh 0]

Kooh frowned. They had traveled a bit farther into the fields, steering clear of any aggressive mobs that were scattered about. Still, Kooh wasn't finding much and it was starting to agitate the girl. She had hoped for a quick low-level quest, but they were beginning to spend more time wandering around outside of the city than she would prefer. "Damn, guess it's my turn to have sh--ty luck." The blonde chuckled. Her hands slipped back into her pockets as she grew more and more unenthusiastic about completing the tedious task. As much as she didn't care for idle chatter, Kooh wanted a distraction. Letting out a small huff of air under her breath, she spoke up again. "So, what do you do for fun?" She asked simply, continuing to gradually scan the area around her for stray items. Sly was a low level, but she wasn't too far ahead of him. Perhaps she was just curious to know if other players had been wasting their time here as much as she had, and if they were enjoying it just the same.

@Sly

Material Gathering:

Spoiler

• ID#: 77016
  • LD: 5 - Fail!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 2
  • Sly: 5

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

Sly took a moment to look back to the quest that they were on, they both needed to find 5 materials a piece... buuuuuut, she was down 2 so far at the moment, he had only assumed that she had needed to find them. And sly didn't really have a need for any materials at the given moment, so he thought that this would be a good time to just chillax, and get to know this "Kooh" figure out a little more, he only figured that it was a nice thing to do at least. Sly had leaned up against a tree and placed his hands within his suit pockets and looked at her with a smile "So, Kooh. Whatcha been up to, or well... what did you do as a profession outside this game? If you don't mind me askin' a bit about you." he smiled, he had a thought in his head... he had a lot to do while he was in this world... first things first he needed to grow in levels in which there was a lot of quests in order to get up there and he needed a fair bit of things... he had taken a deep breath... things were only going to get better from here at least.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

A few moments of silence passed and Kooh's words hung in the air. The blonde looked over to Sly to see him browsing through his menus. A frown quickly pulled at the corners of her mouth--had he just not heard her, or was he ignoring or avoiding the question? Forcing herself to shrug it off, Kooh turned back to the fields and kicked around until the system alerted her of a material beside her feet. Plucking a bundle of herbs from the ground, the item dissipated as it was added to her inventory. 'Finally caught a break.' The blonde slipped her hands in her pockets as she straightened back up.

When Sly's voice cut through the silence, Kooh resisted a sour expression from taking over her features. Instead, she gave her head a small tilt to the side with a thoughtful look. "Profession?" She questioned before speaking up again. "College student. Does that count? Undecided major, though." The girl stopped there, lightly kicking the sole of her boot against the grass. She glanced back over to the brunette before returning to her material hunt. "And you?"

@Sly

Material Gathering:

  Hide contents

• ID#:79619
  • LD: 16 - Success!
• Total:
  • Kooh: 3
  • Sly: 5

Edited March 16, 2017 by Kooh

[Guest Sly]

"Still in college huh?" he thought to himself as she had responded back, he was unsure on how he even managed to be saved and placed into a hospital at this point, but... he could only imagine that police did searches or something to that effect. Sly had chuckled when Kooh had responded he had looked back to her with a smile plastered onto his face "Just makin' sure I stay alive. I'm sure ya know the feeling. Takin' any job I could, savin' up money, and d***ing around in my spare time playing video games, had nothing else better to do in my opinion." he thought about that for a moment, he didn't really go to college because he didn't really think it would be his "thing" when it came down to it, he rather have just taken his high school diploma and taken it to a job where he could start making cash money on the spot. He sighed and looked back waiting for Kooh to get all the materials she needs to finish the quest.

@Kooh