[F1-SP] <The first lesson> Another gathering quest

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin had been unsuccessfully trying to find a partner to work with and complete the beginning quests.  So, he decided to try tackling it by himself.  There didn't sound like there was any combat, so he should be fine.  Besides, he already finished up one quest, so this one should be kind of a cinch. 

And so, Ben found himself walking down the path to find the house of a NPC named Zackariah, who would send his one his first real quest.  Story quest?  He wasn't really sure how the quests were classified quite yet.  The NPC resided in an old wooden alchemy shop near the edge of the Town of Beginnings.  The place was modeled as your classic swords and sorcery place, lots of glass vials in the windows, random things that you could see boiling through the windows, and the markings of the wear of time along the sides of the walls.

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben arrived at the front door of the quest giver's abode, pushing it open and taking a look inside.  The decor was similar to the outside and crowded with the many crafts set out along multiple tables.  The NPC he was looking for appeared to be the only other person in the house, and was busy mixing a few vials together when Ben walked in. 

"Hello?  Ah, you're the guy I'm looking for- Zackariah right?  I hard that you were looking for help with some crafting, and I'm here to help." Ben said, getting the NPC's attention.

Zackariah looked up from his work with a worn smile. "Ah, come in.  Come in.  Yes, I am looking for some help, and looking to help you as well.  You see, those of you new to the dangers of this world seem to need a bit of a hand to get started, and I'm here to give it to you.  I just ask that you assist me in some of my crafting while we do.  Does that sound good?"

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

"Yep.  That sounds like a plan.  So, I guess I just gather something for you, and that's it right?  Or is there going to be something more?"

The NPC chuckled, giving off the attitude of someone who was busy teaching an unruly student.  Even though Ben had his own shop and didn't actually need to learn most of this, he still needed to get the quest done and reap the rewards. 

"Have patience young one." Zackariah said "I do need you to get me a few herbs outside, but after that I will have plenty of time to teach you the basics of potion making.  I don't have any other students at this time, so I'll be able to give you my full and undivided attention.  Just let me get the list of what I'm seeking, and you can use the forest out back to look.  There aren't any monsters out there, so you'll be safe while you search."

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Zackariah then shuffled over to grab a recipe book off the shelf.  It looked exactly like the one that Benjamin had seen in the job quest that he completed previously, probably because all the alchemy books in the game are basically the same.  Maybe this quest would be a little less repetitive if he didn't have alchemy as the job he took as well, but he would have to just deal with it now. 

Zackariah pulled the book down on the table, pointing at the page he needed.  "Here! I just need 5 of these herbs, and I'll have what I need for the potions.  After that, you can come back here and I'll show you the basics of crafting."

Ben took note of what kinds of herbs that he needed, and looked out at where the forest was down the road.  AT least this would be a lot shorter of a quest than the last one. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben headed out the door and down the road to the forest.  At least it was a quiet day to do the quest on, though all the days down here were basically like this.  Ben never though he would miss rainy days, but was was starting to.  Still, he pressed on.

The forested area that he got too was... nice.  It was a lot brighter than most of the areas in the floor, and very clear.  At least this would be short work.  Ben quickly headed over to the first crop of trees, starting his search for what he needed.  Hopefully he would find everything on the first try and be done with this quest.

Spoiler

Search roll for materials - ID 93597

Loot die 2, failure

Unfortunately, he didn't find anything in the first minute or two.  Still, in the interest of getting this done quickly Ben ran off to the next set of trees, determined to keep going. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The one thing that Ben was wondering was why it was always herbs that they were looking for in these quests.  It could be mushrooms or leaves or even sap, but all the quests seemed to be about getting herbs.  Maybe because they were easy to see with the naked eye?  Or maybe because they were so familiar to see?  Once he actually got out of this crazy game he'd have to look it up. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll 2 - ID 93598

Loot roll 3 - failure

Unfortunately for him, his progress seemed to be blocked by his current inability to ever find any materials.  He would swear that whatever system that spawned these was working against him.  Well, maybe it ws because he was in a rush.  That was probably it.  So, he took a deep breath, relaxed a bit, and moved on.  He would check the next few trees a bit more carefully to be sure he didn't miss anything.

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

This time, Ben looked a lot longer and slower around the patch he was searching.  He had no luck so far, but that was going to change soon.  It had to -  he had already gotten some friend to fight alongside, and was working on setting up his alchemy shop and getting stock.  The longer he stayed here trying to earn SP, the less time he would have for finding ways to help everyone beat the game. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 93599

Loot die 3 - failure

It's just that he seemed to repeatedly fail at these tasks.  Ben sighed, at least it wasn't combat that he was having this kind of luck in.  That would end his quest in a pretty permanent way.  He took another look around, trying to figure out what he was doing wrong.  Maybe if he headed a bit deeper into the forest or something?  It couldn't hurt.  And it might make up for some of the time he had wasted already here. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben wandered deeper into the forest as he looked for some materials further on.  He wasn't sure if he would have better luck here, but at least it felt like he was doing something.  The forest was really starting to tick him off, and so was this quest.  Who needs 5 materials for a single potion?  He could find one, and finish the darn quest really fast.  He didn't need to repeatedly find more things to learn how to do it!  He... just didn't like failing over and over like this.  Especially for some stupid quest that was basically exactly what he did before. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 93606

Loot die 19 - Success

As he was stomping around, Ben caught sight of something on the edge of his HUD.  It was some material, finally!  He grabbed it and put it into his inventory, seeing his quest update as he did.

Material found 1/5

OK, one down, four to go. 

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben decided to double check the treeline he just looked at again.  When he had been gathering up before, he found these materials sometimes dropped in groups.  Maybe he could get lucky with a second drop.  Or maybe he would get really lucky and have all that he needed right here. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 93607

Loot die 3 - fail

He kept up his search for a few minutes, until he decided he had to move on.  Maybe a bit of walking and looking would work better.  Or maybe it was just completely random and he was finding ways to spend time until he finished. 

Still, it was good to be out again.  He was starting to get used to being outside the safe zones, and not cowering in fear over every sound.  He had even leveled up a couple of times since the last quest!  All he had to do was keep going.

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben stopped by the next crop of trees, and took another look around for what he needed.  He had been at this search for a while, and wasn't having much luck today. 

Gathering result:

Spoiler

Roll ID - 93656

Loot die - 8, failure

With a sigh, Ben decided to take a quick break to sit back and relax.  He was still not very far into the quest, and it was taking a lot longer than he hoped.  So, he leaned back against one of the trees, breathed in and out slowly and tried to relax a bit.  Idly opening up his HUD, popped the quest menu open once again, and he scrolled through the quest description again, hoping to find a shortcut he could use, but with no luck.  He would have to deal with looking and looking until he got four more of those materials. *sigh* why couldn't he just get lucky with these quests? 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

He couldn't just sit around all day, unfortunately.  This quest had to get done somehow.  So, Ben got up and stretched himself out, ready to once again scan the treeline.  It would be a long day of searching, but he would be able to get through.  The first thing he did was re-check the bushes that he had just looked at for anything he missed

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 93658

Loot die 12 - Success

And, just like that, he found another herb right near where he lied down. 

Material found 2/5

Finally he was making some headway on the quest.  He wondered about who else he would be able to do the next steps of this quest line with- he had heard there was a lot more combat in the next two quests, so he would feel a lot more comfortable with a partner to watch his back and soak up some hits.  Plus his weapon skills were pretty minimal, so without help he would take forever to take down anything. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben wandered off to the next place to gather materials from, hoping that his luck would hold.  These kinds of quests always wore on him over time, with long amounts of time walking and waiting between each patch of trees.  Hopefully over time he would be able to get skills to back up his searches for materials.  Because at this point it would take him forever to get anywhere near enough materials for crafting. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID
Loot die 6 - fail

And once again nothing showed up.  Still, that was how things just happened sometimes.  Actually, it would be a lot quicker if he could use the materials he already collected to do this quest.  He actually opened up his HUD to check before realizing that just meant he would have to gather more materials later, and probably from places that had much lower chances of materials showing up as well.  He would just have to keep looking.  Er, looking even more. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The forest had lots of calming sounds around him, the leaves rustling in the wind, the gentle steps as he walked through the leaves, and overall a gentle calmness.  It... was boring.  Ben was used to growing up in the city, with noise and music all around.  He had no idea if any of the music crafters could actually make him a song list to listen to while out here, but he should look into it when he got back to town.  At least it would keep his mind busy. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll - ID 93671

Loot die 19 - success

Material found 3/5

He finally came across another bit of material, the third one so far.  At least he only needed two more after this. 

More noises of critters skittering through the woods.  *Sigh*  He really needed to find some music to listen to.  Or at least something to drown out this boring noise out here while he worked. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben looked around the forest a bit more, moving his way to the next crop of trees.  He wondered if, once he got a familiar, he could talk to it to pass the time.  Or at least talk at.  Although that might mean he would start to become the weird kid that talks to bugs if he did that too much.  Maybe just having a cute little caterpillar familiar would work, but he didn't get his hopes up.  Gathering by yourself was always going to be boring, and that was the end of it. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 93680

Loot Die 19 - Success

Material found 4/5

Huh, maybe he was finally catching on to this plan.  That was two herbs in as many minutes -  at this rate he would be done and back in town really soon.  He just hoped that the rest of the beginner quests were as quick and easy to finish up as this one was looking to be. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben was still on a roll with this quest, so he couldn't stop now.  Just one more material left... though he still had to be careful not to wander off to far with his enthusiasm.  He had done that in other games, and couldn't afford that in this one.  He just needed to look all over one more time. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll - ID

Loot Die - 14 - Success

Material found 5/5

And just like that, his search was over!  He got them!  Ben actually did a bit of a victory dance when he saw the message flash up on his HUD "Yes, yes, YES!"

Of course afterwards he made sure to check around that nobody actually saw him doing that.  It would be a bit embarrassing.  But all that was around him was trees and bushes and more pixels.  Maybe he was talking to himself just a bit more than he should be.  *sigh*

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben started heading back to Zackariah's home, making a brisk pace to try and finish up quickly.  He was so far behind the other Players in the game that it would take him a while to catch up enough to be useful, and he wanted to help out.  Unfortunately these quests were big - not only in how much he had to do, but how far he had to walk in order to get anywhere. 

"At least I finally got lucky in finding all of the materials that I was after.  I hope there aren't too many other quests with so much walking around like this... though if there's too much combat that would be trouble too." he said to himself as he walked along, finally getting within sight of the house.  He did a quick check of his items, making sure that he had everything he needed before going inside. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben pushed open the door to Zackariah's place and was greeted with the alchemist hunched over another batch of liquids.  Ben cleared his throat to get his attention, and the NPC looked up with a smile.  "Ah, good, you've returned safe and sound.  Now let's see- that's everything we need.  Now, it's time for us to begin our mixture.  Do you know how to start brewing?" he said as he walked over.

"Um, yes, actually, I already learned how to before.  I don't suppose that you could just skip to me actually doing things?" Ben asked, hopeful that this NPC would actually be programmed to not just follow a linear path. 

"Hah, of course young one!  I'm not quite that old and forgetful yet.  So, let's just set up first, and you can give it a try." Zackariah said as he began to pull out the tools he needed to start. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben helped Zackariah out as they set up the equipment, quickly getting the first flask of liquid on it's burner and filled with water. 

"Now, I believe you have some herbs for me?" he asked Benjamin, who flipped open his HUD's item menu and used it to pull out the herbs and hand them over to Zackariah.  "Good.  Next, we just have to mix the potion up.  I assume someone who knows what they're doing is familiar with a simple healing potion recipe?" Ben nodded in response.  "Well then, let's see what you can do."

Ben started to mix up the herbs he had, using the past few days of practice to help out.  With all the ingredients set up and the help he got from Zackariah, it went even smoother than ever.  In the end, it came out nearly perfectly!  Ben smiled as it came off the burner, ready to go!

Crafting roll

Spoiler

Roll ID - 93754
Craft die 9 - Rare quality

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

"Good job, a most useful creation." Zackariah complimented.  "This will do nicely."

"Now then, I believe I have a few things to give you to help you on your way." he said as he pulled a few vials off his shelf. "These should help you on your way, and keep you safe in your travels.  Since you know how hard it is to make these, I believe you will make sure they are put to good use in the future."

Ben added the potions to his inventory, happy with a job well done.  These would be useful in the rest of the quests he had to do.  Or at least they would probably be needed for them. 

"Ah, and one more thing... I have a delivery that needs to get to my friend's place.  Since you've been so helpful so far I was wondering if you could do me just one more favor?"

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben nodded in agreement.  His quest log showed he wasn't quite done with this quest, so he had to agree to finish things up.  Ben took the package into his hand, and checked his map on where he needed to go.

"Yes, it's a special order for my friend Lyle Tealeaf, just down the road to the north.  There shouldn't be too much trouble on the way.  He may even have another task you could do when you get there."

Well, at least it wouldn't be any mystery where he had to go for the next part of the quest.  Ben put the box into his inventory, nice and secure, before heading out down the road.  He'd made a pretty good haul today, and the walk wasn't too terrible or especially dangerous.  Especially since he didn't have to take the time off to go searching for materials at every stop.