[F1] Grasping Potions <<The First Few Lessons>>

[Vale 1]

Vale wiped the tears from her eyes again, her hand jerked away from her face as the soreness built up, "I just can't believe she'd do that..." She muttered to herself. The long purple haired girl still in disblief that the love of her life had abandoned all hope before every truly giving this world a shot. It was too much for Vale to choke down, she had never truly sat and cried her eyes out before. She wasn't even aware of how many days she had couped herself in some random building, watching as the others waltz around in the main plaza. Vale wasn't sure if she was actually content the confines of the game, but the girl was sure at some point she would need to get off her rump and get to work.

Vale gritted her teeth and stood up tall, "I'm not just gonna sit here and sulk Yukino! I can't just cry and hope you'll fix this atrocity you've caused. I don't even know if you're actually gone!" She screamed at herself, causing some to turn to look inside the building. She patted her face then looked up, "I won't sit here. I'm gonna break free of this game... I hope you're there." Her temper temper quickly fading as she renewed herself to the original purpose of this venture. Thus she reached her first foot out and began strolling toward the job board that most happened to frequent, "I guess this is where I would go to look for quests." She questioned as she stared blankly at the board and all it's lightly flowing paper.

[Vale 1]

After awhile of peering at the jobs Vale noticed one of the sections was noted for 'Newer Players'  without hesitation she grabbed the one labeled 'The First Few Lessons are Free'. Vale walked over to the nearby bench to take some time to read this paper over. She was pretty surprised that there was a quest to help immediately begin learning the world and it's nuiances, "Well since my original plan of learning this world alongside Yukino. I guess the best I can do is learn the world by using the system itself?" She sounded confused by her own statement, "Man I'm not good with this technology stuff..." She muttered.

After awhile of staring at the same paper she sighed, "I guess there is no better time than the present to get to it... I wouldn't have learned how to fight in the real world if it weren't for that attitude." She stated. Vale lazily pulled herself up from off the bench and began walking around. The dark skinned girl hadn't exactly spent the time learning the pathways of the town or anything of the sort, instead she decided to self wallow in her misery and let it get the best of her, "I'll live this world Yukino. I promise." He whispered to herself.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

It took Vale awhile to get the hang of the idea of Sword Art Online. Ontop of that, the first town was so massive in scale she kept finding herself getting lost. Her attire far too revealing for her own comfort at this current moment, a feeling rather unusual to herself. She managed to find some tattered cloth that she managed to use as a cloak for some kind of cover, and continued to walk about slightly aimlessly. After some time she managed to start recognizing paths, she looked down at the paper and began following street signs that led her to what felt like her first true step in this world.

She slowly sauntered in, pushing the door in a slightly shy like manner which was another unusal feeling to her, "Hello? Is anyone here?' She asked aloud. After a moment a man with long white hair came out from behind a wall in his alchemist shop. Quickly Vale glanced at the paper and was able to descern from the description that this was the man she was looking for.

"Hello, my name is Zakariah. I see you're here to learn a bit about potion crafting, if I do say so myself." His gentle voice was soothing to her ears. And based on the description of the quest, she knew he was an NPC so there had to be level of modesty that the man possessed. She pulled the cloak covering her off.

Afterwards she bowed to the elderly man, "Yes sir, can you please teach me how to craft potions." She asked kindly.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

"Well, not too many adventurers come in here with a kind attitude like that. Well I can most certainly teach you the basic's of creating potions. But first I'm going to need some herbs from outside of town."  His gentle voice again etching into her ears. It was a rather endearing feeling for Vale, she wasn't sure how the idea of NPC's worked. All she knew was in the other world, this man did not exist, and the fact he has a personality and a specific voice. It practically dazzeled her, she had no idea this kind of thing was even possible.

'I see why Yokino now had such an interest into video games. The fact that this man is completely unique itself is a marvel.' She thought to herself. Vale slowly pulled herself up and placed her hands on her hips, "I've never actually ventured out side of town." She admitted, but there happened to be no shred of guilt or second thought about it, "But at some point I feel like I will absolutely need to venture out. So I'll go ahead and collect these herbs you're asking of." Vale followed up quickly with an inkling of determination filling her.

Zakariah smile, "Now that would be lovely. If you could fetch five different herbs we can get started." He informed the long haired purple girl, then turned around to get back to his work with his own material and items.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

The slightly dark skinned girl quickly found herself having a different pep in her step. She was no longer feeling conscious over her choice of cloth appearance. Vale happened to be very proud of her bodily look, and her change in mentality had much in regard to the sudden changes in her life. Yet, she knew deep down her insecurities wouldn't hold her down. Vale didn't even realize the quickness she had, she wasn't exactly walking slow infact her stride was noticed by others attempting to try and stand out of her way.

Not much time had elapsed before the long purple haired girl found the destination that she desired. The giant doors that lead her outside into the wildeness. She had admitted that she hadn't ventured out, but a small smile was residing on her face. She didn't want to be held back by the feeling of despair, Vale was determined to make the best of her situation. She wasn't sure how long she would be trapped in this world, or if she would ever happen to see Yukino again.

Vale took this moment to look at her finger where her engagement ring would sit. The game couldn't process the ring she had put on just before placing the headset on her head. Staring at her hand she slowly grasped it and clenched it tight, "I'll succeed, no matter what." He turned her gaze back up and strolled out of the doors without a second thought.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77503 | LD: 5 (No Material Found)

Vale quickly found herself amazed by the hyper detail of the wilderness. It was almost as if she stepped into a completely different universe from the Town she was just in. The Town was completely conglomerated with tall buildings, shops, people, a multitude of things. The outskirts were completely hill and plain, a lush green, it was simply astounding to the dark skinned girl. She shook her head and patted her face, she was beginning to lose focus in what she was originally out here to do.

After patting her face, she began looking around and realizing how little amount of flowers she saw in her surrounding area. Vale took some time peering into the limited amount of bushes in the area. Whenever she'd come across a flower, she would attempt to pick it but it would immediately dissipate into data fragments, "Well... I thought this would be easy. But this is a little more frustrating than originally anticipated." He then stood back up and dusted off her knee's then continued forward looking for the herbs she was after to appease the aspect of the quest.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

.ID: 77504 | LD: 17 (Material Found) | 1/5 Materials Found.

It didn't take too long before Vale noticed a pattern in what she could grab and what she couldn't. She plucked a couple taller stemmed flowers and they didn't dissipate into data fragments. Infact a message appeared infront of her indicating that she had collected a material, and a quest tracker immediately appeared on her visual HUD. she blinked and began looking around her view, it was the first time she noticed that she had a time tracker in the upper right, it was becoming a lot in a single moment.

After a moment the dark skinned girl blinked and sat upon her rump on the ground, "Man this world is a bit intense. I thought fighting someone for tournaments was a thrilling experience. But learning the nuances of this world is almost as exhiliarting." She blinked as she watch the herb turn into data patricles, but instead of evaporating it followed a specific path disappearing into her hand. Confused she moved her hand in the specific direction to open the menu. She moved her hand around until she found the inventory and there she saw her material count was increased by one, "Intruiging. Well now I know where to look if I want to know how many materials I've collected." She chuckled to herself with a sullen smile.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77505 | LD: 4 (No Material Found) | 1/5 Materials Found.

The task she was sent on to do wasn't too overly difficult, and in not much time spent she happened to already locate a material, "I swear this game doesn't have many materials lying around... That or it runs on some specific kind of system or something." She muttered after having gotten up from her very slight break to continue the search. It didn't really seem like it mattered where she looked, it was as if the floor had already been reaped of all the rewards it could have possibly offered. Nevertheless it didn't deter her in the slightest.

Without thinking too much into it, she decided to change location. She wasn't sure if it was due to her distance from the entrance of the town or not, but was beginning to think that the closest area to the town was still being cleaned out. There were still a vast number of other players that could be seen trying to fight boars and the likes. She had a feeling of excitement when it came to the thought of fighting, but ultimately she was content with taking things slow for the moment and learning the ropes before diving neck deep into this world.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77506 | LD 8 (No Material Found) | 1/5 Materials Found.

Even though Vale found herself getting further away from town, the results weren't exactly changing much. She noticed many of the same type of flowers sitting about, none of which when she tried to pick earlier were of any use. Maybe she was lacking something in the system to increase her odds of finding certain material, or if those flowers required a particular skill level in order to increase her chances of getting a material from said flowers. Neither of the thoughts were helpful at this current moment.

Instead of getting discouraged, she continued forth with her search for materials. She wasn't going to let some pesky system stop her from achieving her goal. She opened her menu and sifted over to the skills screen, immediately she began planning her skills so she would effectively make the most of every situation she would get herself in within the near future. She didn't like being surprised or being unprepared for any situation.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77526 | LD 15 (Material Found) | 2/5 Materials Found.

After awhile of looking through her skills menu, she felt she had a sufficient enough of an idea to know what she wanted to do with her places. She looked around and realized she was beginning to procrastinate due to lack of finding materials. She took a deep breath and stretched as much as she could to the point she was standing on her tippy toes. Finishing her stretch, Vale looks off in the distance to see an herb growing out of the ground at rapid rates.

She stared in confusion at first, but after a moment it flashed a bright blue, "This world just recreated an herb in a matter of seconds." Her eyes flicked over to a man who noticed the material reform then begin strolling over to it. She realized that with the scarce amount of materials that exist in this floor, she couldn't hesitate. She had to beat this man to the punch, quickly she darted forward at intense speeds. She felt as though she was moving far swifter in this world than she did in the real world. By the time the man reached the herb, Vale slid and snatched it out away just before his hand could touch it.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77529 | LD 8 (No Material Found) | 2/5 Materials Found.

Vale allowed the material to materialize itself into her inventory. The guy immediately began to shout and yell at her in anger. She simply put her pinky in her ear acting as though she was trying to clean it out with the eye on the same side closed, "All I hear was I wasn't fast enough and that I want to complain." She retorted to his words. Then turned around and walked away without giving a single care as to what else he was saying.

Vale had her guard up just incase the man attempted to start anything with her, but she could hear him storm off screaming obscenities in frustration. She tried her best to contain her laughter until she got far enough away. While trying to look for more herbs she had a hard time focusing while she let out the laugh she was withholding, "What a coward. He wouldn't even fight for what he wants. He probably didn't need the material that bad then." She convinced herself. After finding no materials near by, she sauntered forward trying to keep her mind mostly on target.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID; 77530 | LD: 11 (Material Found) [Quest LD] | 3/5 Materials Found.

Just as she was about to leave the area she was in, she noticed a blue glow not too far infront of her. There another herb almost instantly grew in front of her eyes. The entire herb glowed a mere second later, blooming as to show it was ready to be harvested. squating down to the point her knees were practically level with her chest, she plucked the herb from the ground without any effort really put forth into it. Almost instantly the material dissipated and the fragments flew into her left hand. 

Satisfied with the fact the material practically fell into her lap in a figurative manner, she turned and left the area. She had come to realize each area down here near the first town had one material per some odd number of square feet that she hadn't exactly pinpointed. She just went far enough that felt like was an acceptable distance to being searching around the limited foliage of the plains. She had a slight hop in her step as she became more content with the idea of how this world happened to work.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77531 | LD: 13 (Material Found) [Quest LD] | 4/5 Materials Found.

Vale continued forward, being mindful of her surroundings at all times. Everytime she came up near wolves and boars she slowed her pace to a halt a decent distance back. Paying attention to their moving patterns. She watched as other players who ventured too close regardless of the creatures looking in their direction would have the creatures turn directly toward them and attack as if commanded to, 'Hm, so it seems the creatures attack based on zoning and not actual line of sight. I should probably pay attention to their moving patterns.'  She would think as she continued to move.

Vale would approach another ground of monsters that were standing around an herb, a group of players decided to charge at the creatures collecting all their attentions. Vale nodded using this as ample time to rush for the material. After reaching it, she noticed that none of the players seemed to care about the material sitting there. They were more interested in fighting the boars and wolves than collecting flowers, "Well that's pretty helpful." She said under her breath and continued forward in pursuit of the next material.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77537 | LD: 10 (No Material Found) | 4/5 Materials Found.

The harder Vale seemed to search for materials since she only needed one more, the more difficult it seemed to be coming across them. She wasn't even sure just how long she was out in the wilderness. She dropped her hand to see what time it was, her eyes stared blankly as the realization of a few hours having elapsed for her to find five pesky materials. She sighed as she planted her fists on her hips, "Well this is certainly a buzz kill if I do say so myself." She commented, with her obvious distaste of how the system was treating this.

Vale continued to look through the small amount of bushes, atop the tree's and various other places. She could feel the sweat run down her body from the amount of moving she had been doing on a consistent basis, but she didn't feel the fatigue she was used to when doing extrenuous work like that. She was slightly adapting to this world without exactly realizing it, but she was aware of just how different the flow and feel this game had on her body than the real world did.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77537 | LD: 6 (No Material Found) | 4/5 Materials Found.

The dark skinned girl never gave way in her determination to find that final material she needed to appease portions of the quest. She continuously and relentlessly looking through every single bush, tree, nook, cranny she came across. But still, Vale was finding that the last thing needed always seemed like it was the hardest to obtain. Slightly frazzled over the lack of materials found over the past hour, she huffed. Vale dropped her right hand to summon the system menu, quickly she withdrew a water from her inventory. Appearing in a cup in her hand ready to be drank from.

Vale chose a nice hill to sit down upon her knees and sip on the water. The bright blue sky was beginning to take on the orangish hue signifying that the day was slowly coming to a close, "I don't care if it gets dark. I'm going to find this last material. I can worry about sleep at a later time." She didn't want to admit outloud that the chemistry was one of her favorite classes in school, and the idea of mixing herbal ingredients to create potions was honestly an exciting idea to her. Once she finished her water, she placed the cup forward and watched as it dematerialized and entered her inventory as the materials had done before.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77537 | LD: 19 (Material Found) | 5/5 Materials Found.

Vale stood up brushing off her knee's to get the grass off of the black latex skin tight leggings. She peered out over the hill, and she saw exactly what she wanted. There was a Material where she had found her first one, Vale distinctly remembered checking the tree that was within a few moments walk away from the town being the first she found. Quickly she darted forward happy and excited all at the same time. It was a small run but she skid to a halt standing infront of the last herb she would require for the quest details.

She knelt down and carefully picked the herb up, watching it dematerialize and the particles flowing their way into her inventory. A wide smile was concocted on her face as the quest tracker on the right of the HUD flashed green and the message changed to "Return to Zakariah". The dark skinned girl hopped up, "Huzzah! I can finally start the next part of the quest!" She exclaimed in sheer excitement. Vale was extremely exstatic over the fact she had only completed a portion of the first quest she had ever taken, "Man I never would have thought small achievements like this would be so exhiliarting." Vale realized as she turned back toward the Town and made her way forward.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

Vale didn't take long to rush over to the shop that was in the description, by this point the sun was cascading over the horizon. The lights on the street were beginning to activate to keep the illumination up so people were able to traverse through the town regardless of what time of day it was. After following the winding path she took to reach the front gate of town she made it back to Zakariah's shop. She pushed on the door and it slowly opened, "H-Hello! It's me again, I've collected the materials you asked for!" She shouted out hoping not to be a bother to the man.

"Well, you accomplished that faster than almost everyone else who has waltzed into my shop." Zakariah stated as he came out from behind the same wall as before when she first entered.

Vale smiled widely and completely entered the building letting the door shut behind her, "Thank you! I was determined, the idea of making potions was always a fascinating one to me. So I was pretty eager to learn from you Sir." She complimented him and displayed her excitement for achieving the first portion of the quest.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

ID: 77574 | CD: 7 (Quest Craft: Rare) | Potions Created 1/1

Zakariah made a motion to her indicating that the old man wanted her to follow him. Without hesitation the pep in her step took over and she was next to him faster than he could literally turn around, "Whoa! You're a fast one. You young whippersnappers are able to move so quickly, reminds me of when I was young." He chuckled, she smiled at him sweetly. Once the two of them reached the alchemy table, he demonstrated loosely what she would be doing, "You see you mash it up here in this, once it reaches a pasty substance look, you move it into the boiling water." He took the paste he had already pre-made and dumped it in, "And this blue liquid that you will almost always have on hand is a reaction agent, you can make this by letting bluebloom flower petals and tree moss boil and dissolve in a vial. Then two drops and it should trigger a reaction in whatever it is you're working on." He explained thoroughly.

She kept mental notes of the process entirely. When he moved away from the table showing his red potion, her focus and determination took the front seat. She carefully set up the vial to create the reaction agent while she used her superior physique to mash together the five herbs that he wanted her to get ahold of to the point that it was the same pasty looking substance that Zakariah had made. Once the reaction agent was at the perfect point, and the second vial was boiling. She moved the paste in, waited just a second to put her two drops of the reaction agent in. Poof, a cloud a smoke dissipated and the red liquid in the vial was shining beautifully, "D-did I do good?" She asked worried.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

Zakariah took the vial and brought it close to his eye for a thorough investigation of the vial. He took a couple sniffs of it then let a single drop of it plop upon his tongue. He turned to look at her with a wide and genuine smile, "This is exquisite! That is arguably the fastest I've ever gone through this process, and I've seen I can't even count the number people enter here trying to get a hang of Alchemy. You've got a natural talent for it lass, I suggest you look into it." He praised her, she couldn't help but close her eyes and smile wide a bright, "But before you go ahead and choose what you'd like to do, take the time to meet with my good friend Lyle Tealeaf, he is a blacksmith. Maybe your talents aren't just suited to Alchemy, give it a chance." He lightly pleaded with her.

Vale nodded happily, "I think I will go meet this Lyle Tealeaf that you speak of. I've never seen a blacksmith in person. So I am honestly kind of excited." She admitted to him, her happiness was eeking out of every pore in her body. The sheer genuine aspect that Vale exuded was bring the biggest smile to Zakariah's mouth and heart, "Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. Zakariah?" She asked inquisitively, she wanted to be of as much help as she could possibly be.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale

[Vale 1]

"One moment lass." He stated to her. He hobbled over to his front counter, getting behind it, "Now where did I put that bloody thing." He searched through the clutter that was his back table, "Ah here it is!" He exclaimed as he showed Vale an envelope, "If you could take this to Mr. Tealeaf, that would be much appreciated." He stated to her. She quickly nodded and grabbed the envelope, "And before you leave lass take those at the end of the counter." He ushered her.

Vale looked at the end of the counter and there sat 7 potions, "I can't possibly take them from you sir!" She exclaimed.

"Don't you worry, I made those specifically for you. I am sure Mr. Tealeaf is going to ask you to do some hard labor, and those will allow me to sleep better at night." Zakariah did his best to reassure the Dark Skinned woman, "Now please go, get some sleep tonight and see him bright and early in the morning." He smiled sweetly right back at her.

Vale nodded and took the potions as requested moving everything into her inventory, "Thank you so much for everything Mr. Zakariah, I hope to see you sometime soon!" She exclaimed, waved, and promptly left the building excited for the day to come for her.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Vale