[F1-PP] Earning a Living [Completed]

[Beat 0]

Spoiler

<<Earning a Living>>

This quest takes place on Floor 1
This quest is repeatable
This RP will not count in the benchmark

Description: Every player, to survive in this death game, must make some form of Col. For some, they just hunt mobs. For others, they may earn a living and take up a profession. may meet During your search for a profession you meet a friendly NPC who will train you with your profession. You will have to material hunt and craft your item, or receive a free basic item from the NPC (such as an instrument or fishing rod for performers or fishermen.) Profession options and guides can be found here. Each profession's enhancements guide can be found here.

 

Requirements:

-At least two [2] Pages (21 or more posts)

-RP can be PP or SP

-You may have assistance, however only one player may gain their profession and the materials rolled for at the end by a Moderator

-Repeatable for Materials only


Rewards:

1. A title relating to your profession
2. The ability to open up a shop in the 'Merchants and Shops' section.
3. 1 extra Skill Point
4. Extra materials (rolled by Moderator whether GM or PST with Loot Die upon topic completion)

 

Recommended Level: 2

 

Okay...worst case scenario...she says no. 

Beat took a deep breath and approached the attractive chef who had just returned from the grill to ring someone else up. He blushed as he worked up his nerve, unsure why this made him nervous. She looked at him and smiled cheerfully.

"Hi! Can I get you anything else?" 

Beat scratched the back of his head as he considered his answer. 

"Yes! Well, I was hoping you could train me. I want to be able to cook."

The woman cocked an eyebrow for a moment before realizing how serious he was. She stared at him as she reached under the counter to produce a tattered cooking knife. Her expression was serious as she slid the knife to Beat as, his menu popped up asking him to accept a quest called "Earning a Living Wage" which he hastily accepted. The chef cracked a small smile as she  

"If you're serious about this, then take this and go to this location. There is a rare ingredient there. If you find it and bring it to me, I'll teach you everything you need to know to get started on the path to being a chef." 

Beat took the knife and stashed it away, giving her a thumbs up.

"No problem, I'll be back before you know it." 

She turned back to him and shook her head, her serious expression returning. 

"The journey there is long and the path is not safe. You will need to be strong as well as committed to succeed."

Beat gave her a nod and quickly turned to leave, pulling up his menu and opening a message window to Shield. He wrote his partner the following message:

"Hey, are you free? I need some help with a quest. There's free food in it for you. ;)"
 

Edited January 24, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Business was slow today, which was to be expected for anyone starting out in SAO. If you haven't made a name for yourself, at best, you're going to be working for yourself and maybe a couple of friends. Although he was most certainly enjoying watching the crowd pass by his stand, taking note of the players in front of him, it was still a relief when he received the message. He smirked to himself a little, wondering whether Beat's perception of payoff would be as great as he promised or if his sense of adventure was inflating his estimations.

He took down the sign over his shop and lowered the lean-to that covered it, stashing the sundry items that decorated the stand in his stock inventory before hurrying off to meet his partner in crime. Before he started walking, he realized that he had no idea where it was Beat was planning to meet him.

[What's this about free food?] Shield messaged back, before adding in at the bottom. [What do you need and where are we meeting?]

Edited January 21, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

Beat had kept his menu open, awaiting a reply from his once long time rival and his face brightened up as Shield's reply came in. Shield would receive a reply saying [Meet me at the East city gate. I need a sturdy tank, of course!] Beat made his way through the streets, noting a particularly busy looking food stand, wondering how long the player working behind the counter had trained before achieving success. The sky was a bright blue and it was early in the day, so Beat hoped that boded well for their journey, given how long it was. Opening his menu, Beat began to look through his provisions, making sure that he had enough to survive the long trip, saddened that he couldn't craft anything on his own that would give benefits other than satisfying the hunger mechanic of the game.  

It'll be worth it. You can't beat some of those temporary buffs food can offer.

Once Beat had reached the city gate, he would continue looking through his items while he waited, making sure everything was in order. 

[Shield 0]

Shield's shop put him more towards the center of The Town of Beginnings, so that meant a little bit of a hike for him. He didn't mind the walking. It would have been nice if it gave the same benefits as in real life and kept you more in shape, but with the lessons of appreciating the little things newly tucked into his belt, he made the most of his walk. Strolling by parks and monuments, he watched the people as they watched the scenery, appreciating their ability to still find wonder around them.

By the time he had arrived at the gate, he had all but forgotten about ho slow business had been. He held up his hand in greeting.

"What's this quest we're embarking on and what all will it entail?" Shield asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

He was unsure of how much walking time would be involved just yet, but for the moment, he took some time to enjoy the feeling of being at rest, not running off in any particular direction. With Beat steering the party, he was sure that would be a feeling he would see very little of for the foreseeable future.

[Beat 0]

Beat looked up from his menu and smiled as he saw Shield's icon approaching on his map. He had seen a little less of his friend lately due to the time Shield had been spending running his new merchant shop. Beat felt a little bad for him since low level shops typically saw much less business since the goods and services provided by that shop would less inherently less useful. Closing his menu, he greeted his friend with a wave in return and gestured for the heavily armored man to follow him outside of the safety zone. 

"Take a look at this."

Beat quickly pulled his menu up and shared the quest with Shield. Beat figured the low ranking merchant had already done a similar quest, but he knew that it was required for both parties to accept the quest to assist each other. He gave Shield a moment to glance at the information before speaking. 

"All I know is that we go to the place on the map and find a rare ingredient. The NPC said it was a long trip and was not free of danger. I figure we could get some exp, loot and I can finally start cooking for our party."

 

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

74975 results: Loot: 5 + 2 = 7 - No materials

"Sounds like a plan. About time you started pulling your weight around here," he said, closing out of the box with the details on the quest.

Although the quest made sense, the details differed slightly from how he came by his own occupation. Then again, he had found his due to a bit of an anomaly. As they made their way, Shield kept careful watch along the path, eager to find anything that he could use for appraisals. For the time being, he was not finding anything out of the ordinary.

"Originally you had planned on going tailor. Was your change of heart personal or strategic?" he asked, his eyes flicking briefly in Beat's direction as they walked.

He didn't have any complaints about the change. By the numbers, it made perfect sense. Still, it was a little unexpected. Usually when Beat makes up his mind, changing it takes quite a bit of time and effort. If success is even possible in that situation, that is.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75018 results: LD: 16 (13 +3)= 1 T1 Material Found (1 Total)

Beat snickered at the comment about pulling his weight, giving the tank a hardy jab with his elbow as they walked. Despite their differences, Beat had begun to grow fond of the old man. Perhaps it was just the fact that Shield was something familiar or the fact that, without shield, survival would not be as assured as it was. Beat was never one to become offended easily and took most things in stride, so his gesture would seem perfectly normal, despite the small change of heart. He pursed his lips as he considered his answer.

"Well, the only true advantage Tailoring gives me is the ability to make my own armor, something I can pay other players to do just like I do my other items."

Beat raised his new, metal gauntlets that shimmered in the sunlight. They were incredibly light and yet they added so much to his attacks that it was hard to believe it was anything more than magic, ignoring game mechanics of course. He continued as his eye caught sight of a bright red mushroom growing on the side of the road. He bent down as snatched it up, talking as he did so. 

"Cooking bonuses stack with static bonuses and eating delicious food sounds better than knitting uniforms and armor anyways."

In truth, Beat had done it for the numbers. When it came to game advantage, he didn't play around, even if that meant doing a few calculations of his own, as long as it was worth it in game terms. 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

75020 results: Loot: 18 + 2 = 20 - 1 Material (Total found: 1)

"Careful with those elbows," Shield said in mock-warning. "You know, if you're trained in martial arts, they're legally considered weapons, and you can be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

His eyes followed Beat's to the new set of gauntlets, nodding his shaggy head in appreciation of the decisions his counterpart had been making. While he had been excited to manage to find an enhancements on Beat's old wraps, Bleed was only situationally useful. The key to success over time is consistency, so to choose the bonuses that are most consistently useful was pragmatic, to say the least.

His dark eyes moved away from the new unarmed weapons, returning to their search for appraisal fodder. No sooner had his dark eyes begun scanning the ground, they snagged on a chunk of stone partially hidden behind a tuft of brown grass at the side of the road. The stone bore the familiar rust red coloration of ore, which was a good sign. He recovered and pocketed the material before returning to the middle of the road. 

"A couple of times now, you've talked about finding a rare item. Do you know anything else about it?"

Edited January 22, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75039 results: LD: 22 (19+3) = 1 T1 Mat Found (2 total)

Beat laughed, assuming Shield had been joking about the legality of hitting someone when you were trained with martial arts. The idea of hitting someone being illegal made sense, but Beat simply had no idea how being trained to hit someone made hitting someone worse. He shrugged after thinking about it for a moment and directed his attention to Shield's question as he bent down to retrieve a wild onion growing among a thick tuft of grass.

"I really don't know that much. This really seems like one of those "go and see for yourself" quests. All I know is that it is a rare ingredient. Probably a mushroom tucked deep in some cave."

Quests like this were extremely common in the world of MMO games. Usually, the benefit was at least partially proportional to the difficulty of the quest. In this case, unlocking an entire system of the game to level through and benefit from was likely considered a fairly large benefit, so Beat could expect the challenge to not be a simple one. 

She did say it was dangerous....

Edited January 22, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75040 results: Loot: 15 + 2 trinket = 17 - +1 Material (2 total)

"Mushrooms, huh?" Shield responded. "If you weren't on a mission to become the new Iron Chef, I'd say you were playing too much Mario."

As much as Shield recognized the importance of both of them being able to specialize in their necessary crafts, wandering along dirt roads was hardly going to be as satisfying as his training in appraisal had been. Even now, he could feel himself itching to get back to his little stand to try to discover hidden properties on lesser items and turn them into something worthwhile.

Even as this he recognized this need, however, he knew that having materials on hand was going to prove essential for when he appraised his own items, or when he needed to strike a deal with a customer who didn't have materials on hand. Despite how it felt, this mission was still furthering his own goals as a tradesman.

Speaking of furthering my goals...

His eyes were focused on a chunk of stone on the side of the road that bore a striking similarity to the last that he had rescued. Taking his next few steps closer to the right side of the path, he snagged the stone and stashed it with his others.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75042 results: LD: 23 (20+3)= 1 T1 Mat found (3 total)

Beat's ever present smile widened slightly as he reminisced about the old school video games that actually required a controller. They hadn't been completely phased out and in fact there were many arcades that specialized in them. The appeal was still relevant, but as the video games got closer and closer to VR, the appeal faded off until you actually got the real VR. Beat could understand why it had to be that way though. There was no way to test the products or market effectively without putting out prototypes and first attempts. He remembered reading about the first VR headgear systems causing serious side effects to the brain and body. He wondered if those side effects were still prevalent with long enough usage of the Nervgear. 

"Those old school games were great! Not sure if I could ever enjoy them the same now though." 

Paydirt...

Beat's eyes wandered to a piece of rusted, metallic rock protruding from the ground in the middle of the road and quickly retrieved it. He turned it around in his hands before it disappeared into his inventory. 

"Its kind of odd that all materials are the same, despite how different they are when you find them. I guess it keeps the system simple, but it would certainly feel more realistic to have to mine ore for armor, find vegetables and butcher meat for cooking, etcetera."

Edited January 22, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75043 results: Loot: 6 + 2 = No Materials (2 total)

"They walk a hard line," Shield replied, turning the thought over in his mind as he had done on many similar occasions while hunting for materials in the past. "If they branch out and have different types of materials, they're just adding more steps to the process. For certain games, there is an amount of success to be had there, but SAO prioritizes on keeping grind more focused and less centered on the peripheral tasks. You have an occupation, but most occupations follows similar patterns as far as what they do."

His eyes continued scanning the path as they walked, excited so far that he had found most of a day's worth of materials so far. For the moment, however, his luck seemed to have waned. The rocks and vegetation he saw was mundane, not standing out in any particular fashion.

"In any case, making tradespeople have to hunt relentlessly for separate types of materials would add another layer of grind on top of the existing structure of occupation mechanics. It's superfluous."

Lifting his eyes from the road, Shield attempted to spot any landmarks on the horizon.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75045 results: LD: 9 (6+3) = no mats (3 total)

"I suppose so..." Beat's eyes looked to the sky as he Shield's analyses. He had never been one to really "feel the grind" so his perspective was little skewed. "I don't think it would add that much though. Like, just make vegetables all one material and ore all one material. That way, it only really changes how you have to acquire the materials, not how many. I don't really mind grind as long as it is worth it in the end." Living in Japan gave Beat first hand access to all of the finely crafted JRPG games that often never left the boarders of the country and he enjoyed most of them, despite the trademark of a JRPG being the "grind." 

"I-What is that?" 

After a moment both Shield and Beat heard what they quickly identified as screaming, it was far away, but they could both tell it was from down the road ahead of them. 

"That doesn't sound good! Probably a low level player biting off more than he can chew!" 

Beat immediately took off, hoping he would make it in time. 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75046 results: Loot: 3 + 2 = 5 - No Materials

"Well, you have to realize that specializing isn't going to appeal to everyone," Shield replied, a little bit of an exasperated edge behind his voice. "Some of us in the real world had jo-"

His idle eyes, which had been absentmindedly scanning for materials that didn't seem to exist along this stretch of road, immediately snapped ahead at the sound. He was off as well, shoulder-to-shoulder with Beat as he raced through his menus. With two little flashes, his spear and shield were on their respective arms, and he held the latter in front of them, crowding a little towards Beat to indicate that he should lead the charge.

"No need to have you drop down into the yellow again," he shouted over their pounding feet. "Any monsters will still be there to punch after I draw their attention."

Having spent so much time on the other end of Beat's attacks, he knew how eager the younger man was to jump in full tilt, but Shield didn't want him to start writing blank checks for his fists to have to cash.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

- Combat -

Spoiler

Note: See roller record for reasons for the rolls. There was an issue of a missing roll and then a double roll, but the reasons I put in should clear any confusion. 

ID #75059: BD: 1 MD: 3

ID#75055: MD: 1

ID#75060: MD: 10

Rabid Wolf 1 [110/110]: miss

Rabid Wolf 2 [110/110]: miss

Rabid Wolf 3 [110/110]: Total crit on Shield- dmg: 0 after MIT and regen

Beat [200/200] [18/20]: basic attack: miss -2 EP. 

As they ran, they would eventually see a player running towards them, terror on his face and health bar extremely low. He caught sight of the two of them and seemed to quicken his pace. A few moments later, a group of three wolves could be seen chasing the poor player, clearly intending to make the young man their next meal. 

"HELP ME!! PLEASE!!"

Beat, seeing the dire situation, decided to target to wolf who was closest to the player, only somewhat ignoring Shield's advice in favor of saving the near victim. He launched himself towards his target, but as soon as he went to throw his first punch, the player wrapped his arms around Beat, forcing the martial artist to struggle to maintain his balance. 

"Hey! We're trying to help you! Let go!" 

The wold closest to the player lunged as its target came to a halt. Beat quickly jumped out of the way, managing to keep his balance, landing with the player still attached to him. By this time, Shield was in the thick of it and the other two wolves leaped at the tank, one managing to sink its teeth into his leg while the other missed completely. 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Shield:

Spoiler

Basic Stats
	Lv	11	HP		220	Tier	1
	DMG	1		LD	2	SP	26
	ACC	0				Spent	23
	EVA	0				Remaining	3
	MIT	16
	NRG	22
		Stealth			Healing
			10		Energy/Turn	1
					HP/Turn	+18 when hit

 

Spoiler

Action: Howl

Surrounded by the wolves, Shield didn't even flinch when one sunk its teeth into his leg. He merely shoved the point of his shield down his leg and used it to knock his attackers mouth off of him like he was peeling a potato. Rallying for another attack, the wolves fell back a few paces, the one that succeeded on its attack throwing its head back in a howl. The others took up the call, sending their ghostly voices echoing across the open landscape.

"You call that a howl?"

Now unconcerned with his opponent's paltry offense, he filled his lungs, threw back his arms, and with a push from his abdomen, he mirrored their sounds, his voice rising over theirs. The others silenced their call, their eyes trained onto the newcomer. They lowered themselves down, crouching on their front paws as they snarled up at Shield. Their fur bristled, and their ears lay back flat against the napes of their necks.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

- Combat -

Spoiler

ID#75064: BD: 10 (7+3) MD: 3

ID#75065: MD: 4

ID#75066: MD: 10

Beat [200/200] [7/20]:  Tornado Kick - 1x6 - AoE: 9 x 6 = 54 dmg to all enemies| -12 EP +1 EP

Rabid Wolf 1 [56/110]: miss

Rabid Wolf 2 [56/110]: miss

Rabid Wolf 3 [56/110]: Total crit on Shield- dmg: 0 after MIT and regen

 

Beat struggled to free himself from the panicked player as Shield directed the wolfs' attention towards himself.

"Get. Off. ME!!"

Finally becoming fed up with the player climbing all over him, Beat used a little force and tossed the player away from him and to the ground. The young man stayed down for a moment before scrambling to his feet and searching for Beat, but the martial artist was no where to be found. Beat had leaped through the air and in the middle of all three wolves as they attacked the party's tank, only one actually landing a blow. Before he landed, his right leg would glow before he made a single rotation as breakneck speed, striking each of the rabid animals and knocking them back. He smiled as he watched all of their health bars drop to just over half, pleased with the results of his new Sword Art. 

"Now that's some power! Come on furballs!"

Edited January 23, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Battle Rolls:

Spoiler

ID# 75068 results: Battle: 9 - Crit! - 2dmg -1NRG

Rabid Wolf 1: [54/110]

With a little more room to breathe, Shield pushed forward, bashing his shield-arm against the wolf directly in front of him and driving forward with the point of his spear as the fanged attacker stumbled and fell onto its side. His attack pierced into the hind leg of the creature, pinning it to the ground. The others made attempts to strike at him, but in the confusion of their pack mate being knocked down, the most they managed was to nip ineffectively at Shield's heels.

Turning around, the tank pulled his spear from the ground and brandished it in a wide circle, forcing the wolves back and continuing to draw their focus. He checked his HUD, glancing quickly at the party stats, and then doing a double-take.

"Beat! We need a new strategy! Even if you can save up energy for another one of those, it still won't finish them off without a crit!"

At first, he did not have a solution for the problem. He racked his brain, trying to think quickly.

He's going to run out completely at this rate, and we'll be stuck on basic attacks, which is going to take far too long. We either need to use less costly techniques or increase our damage outpu- ...damage...

At the thought of the word, a flash of memory came back. It was a reward from a previous quest.

"Your tier one damage potion! Drink it! We might be able to finish them in one go!"

Edited January 23, 2017 by Shield

[Beat 0]

Spoiler

ID#75069: MD: 2

ID#75070: MD: 6

ID#75072: MD: 7

Beat [200/200] [8/20] +1 EP +1 dmg for the rest of the thread. [T1 Damage Potion] consumed.

Rabid Wolf 1 [54/110]: miss

Rabid Wolf 2 [56/110]: HIt on Shield: 0 dmg after MIT and Regen

Rabid Wolf 3 [56/110]: HIt on Shield: 0 dmg after MIT and Regen

Disengaging from combat next round

Beat looked at his energy bar and growled under his breath. The amount of energy his strongest Sword Arts consumed was just too much for a sustained fight against multiple enemies. The arts designed to deal with one target were more reasonable, but they were still costly. Beat resolved himself to figure out a way around this limitation, but it would have to wait.

"Right! I'll need a little bit."

Taking Shield's advice, Beat disengaged for the heat of battle and opened his menu up, quickly pulling out the Damage potion they had received from one of the beginner quests they had recently completed. He uncorked the bottle and downed the contents. The fluid was relatively flavorless with a hint of a metallic taste similar to the flavor of a penny. He would continue to watch the fight, briefly keeping his eye out for the player whom they had saved. The young man had resolved himself to sit in the tall grass, somewhat hiding from the battle, but mostly just sobbing and trying to find his nerve again. 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 75077 results: Battle: 1 = Miss

With the DPS out of the way, and the wolves too weak to deal damage, Shield could focus completely on the battle. Unfortunately, the wolves had other ideas. They regrouped, forming together in a single pack and barreling down on the object of their hatred. Their bodies wove back and forth, their braided paths merging on Shield.

They slipped past his spear and his defenses, two of them leaping up and latching onto his left arm that held the shield which they apparently perceived to be the real threat. They shook their heads, trying to dislodge the menacing surface from its corresponding limb. Shield regained himself, lifting his arm and picking them off of the ground. With a swift swipe of the limb, he shook them loose, sending them skipping along the ground.

"Getting desperate, are you? Well, you're going to have to do better than that!" 

He swiped at the remaining wolf, driving it back with its companions so that he could properly place his shield between himself and the little wolf pack.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Shield