[SP-F5] A walk in the sands

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben had been doing well lately, finding some friends that had helped him out with some of the early quests, and starting to gain some idea of what he was doing.  And as much fun it was to hang out with friends, sometimes it was nice to just go on a search for materials and things on his own pace.  He looked at his HUD to make sure he was in the right path as he pulled his bag up on his shoulder.  The desert winds of the fifth floor blew around the sands he stood in.  It was a higher and more dangerous floor than he had normally traveled in, but he knew that if he was searching for sub-dungeon locations to scout, he needed to be this high at least. 

And so, he was just outside Fortaleza, the main settlement of the floor.  He planned out a long circular route to travel in today and refill his supply of crafting materials while looking.  The sun blazed down as he started down the first leg of the journey, his supplies full and hopes high.

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The fifth floor was mostly made of desert.  Hot, stiffing, and dry was what it felt like to him, even though it was only false sensations through his nerve gear.  The wind that blew the sand in his face and the glare of the sun weren't really there.... but they felt like it.  And he would have to endure it if he wanted to get stronger.  He needed to prove he could work hard enough to help others survive. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 93921
Loot die - 1, found nothing

And so he walked along through the winding trail that went through the sands.  He hadn't found any leads yet, but he was still close to the commonly traveled trails so that was expected.  After another few sand dunes passed by, he caught sight of a clear blue river ahead.  According to what he saw from the maps of the area, he would stick close to the river for about two thirds of his travels before taking a shorter, straighter path back to the town.  Nothing special, just a circular path that he could use. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As Ben moved down the river, he spied a few swaths of reeds in the shallows of the water.  With not much else to search, he began checking them for materials. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll ID 93963
Loot die 1 (again??)

Unfortunately, that just left his boots soggy and wrinkly and full of mud.  *Sigh*  It wasn't turning out to be a good trip so far, but at least there were some places to search for materials around here.  That, and the sun and heat that was everywhere on the floor would try him off real quick.  All he had to do was to keep moving down the river line for a while, and to keep an eye out for good places to harvest from.  He would try again once he dried off.  He tried to stay down in the river area, in the lower elevation, so that the winds wouldn't blow as much sand in his direction as he walked on. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The river didn't have many bends or twists in this area, it was just a flat run down a sunken part of the sands.  Actually, he thought it would make a great place to raft downstream instead of walking.  It would certainly be easier, unless there were monsters lurking in the deeper parts of the water.  Which there certainly were, and Ben didn't want to aggro them at all while he was by himself.  Maybe walking wasn't so bad by comparison. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - 93979
Loot die 10

Still not finding anything by this section of the river, there wasn't much else to do but move along.  The winds were going to start picking up again soon, and Ben didn't want to have to cut things short just because of a bit of wind.  Even if the wind was on the desert of this floor and a lot fiercer than he was used to. 

So he pushed ahead, his head down a bit to shield himself from the sand as he went.  He was a bit surprised to find a few bugs and scorpions scurrying on their way- actual small ones, not the big monsters he was expecting.  There were a lot of little details like that more prevalent as he got to the higher floors. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As he walked, Ben wondered why the details changed from place to place like that.  Maybe the lower floors were more simple so that players could get used to the amount of detail a bit at a time.  Having full conversations with complex NPCs with lots of moving parts would be a challenge for someone who was first being introduced to virtual worlds. 

It was certainly a challenge for him as the heat from the sun beat down onto him, the glare coming back up off the ground making the distant areas a bit hazy from the heat.  Each of the different patches by the river he searched led him out onto the water and the glare of sunlight that it kicked back up into his face.  And so far, each of them left him moving along empty handed.  Nothing much to do about that except keep moving on, and keep trying again.  And again. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll - ID 93980
Loot die - 11, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The next section of the river happened to be next to a few of the lower elevation dunes, and Ben decided to climb up to get a good look around at the surrounding area.  It was a bit harder climb than he had first thought, and when he got to the top it took him a few seconds to properly figure out how to protect his face from the much stronger winds up here.  Still, the view was worth it.  Nothing was there to block his line of sight, so he could see for over a mile down the sun scorched sands, scorpions and sand serpents slithering silently by.  He would have a good time hunting around if he ever wanted to hunt enemies on this floor- there wasn't many areas for anything to hide out here. 

Still, he had a task to do, and couldn't spend the whole day sight seeing. He had materials to find.

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 93982
Loot die - 8, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Another leg of the journey was ahead of him.  Ben checked his map and found that he had only gone about an eighth of the distance that he had planned.  Which would be good, since he hadn't found anything to show for it yet.  Well, he could always take an extra detour or two if things called for it.  That's the advantage of wandering around himself, rather than with someone else. 

He found the next few patches of reeds to search for, his HUD lighting up as he got near them.  At least these ones were close enough to the shore that he wouldn't have to get wet at all in order to grab at them. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll - ID 93984
Loot die - 3

Still, his luck was exactly the same.  He had found nothing once again.  This was starting to become a drag... he knew that these areas had materials that he could find.  He checked before he left!  *Sigh...*

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

I hope my luck changes soon... Ben thought as he walked along.  Hopefully he would be able to level up enough to get himself a familiar.  Having someone to talk to would be a good way to relieve some of this boredom he got as he took these walks.  But that was for later, and right now he had a few more patches of reeds to check out. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 94019
Loot die - 11, nothing

He sighed, he had made such a detailed plan when he went out, and now it was just not coming together.  With his focus on crafting skills, he was going to be using up his materials very quickly.  With him getting the ability to craft crystals soon, what he had been planning to gather in this trip would get used up in just a day or two.  And he was already behind what he had planned.  At least he was going to be having a few extra skills to help him out real soon.  But not soon enough with how things were going to be going. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The sands were starting to kick up as the wind blew harder.  The area up ahead was going to begin opening up into less dunes and more open desert.  Which would be very bad news for him if he didn't stay close to the river.  Ben tightened his scarf around his face, glad that he always had it on him, and moved forward.  He couldn't afford to just keep his head down because of the need for searching, which made it slower going than he wanted.  Maybe that would help out as he was more careful in his searches...

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 94022
Loot die 9, nothing

Or maybe the wind would just blow all the reeds down and leave anything that even had a chance of being useful in the water.  Ben stared at the knocked over reeds for a while, realizing that wouldn't help but feeling that he should show them that he's angry at them.  It was the principle of the thing. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

The waters were still running strong through the sands.  It was actually nice how clear it looked around here.  It almost reminded him of back home, when his family took him on vacations to the ocean and to the Great Lakes.  Swimming had always been a fun activity for him- just relaxing in the water by himself.  But even that was gone.  I mean, he could still go for a swim, just with strangers around, monsters that may kill him, and none of his family here with him.  The family thing actually didn't make much of a difference, now that he thought about it. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll ID 94079
Loot die 16 - material (1 total) found

As he went along checking each of the gathering spots, he finally picked up his first crafting material of the day.  He smiled to himself as it was added to his inventory- maybe this trip was going to start looking up for him after all. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Still, after the past few days of adventures and crazy quests he's had with the players in this game, maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought.  They were a weird bunch- nothing normal about anyone he'd met yet.  But they were enthusiastic, and friendly.  He had even gotten an offer to join up with a guild that was being founded.  Maybe in this game he'd actually stand with the other players instead of apart from them this time.  It would be a nice change of pace for him. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll - ID 94080
Loot die 20 - Materials (2 total) found

He kept checking the same patches of reed as he thought to himself, and once again found a good stash of material.  His potions had been getting better and better as he practiced, and soon he would be able to buy the skills to afford to make even more of them.  Going into battle with his friends by his side, tossing healing potions and spells wherever they were needed... that had a certain appeal to him. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben approached the next patch of reeds, crossing his fingers that his luck would stay good as he kept looking.  So far he had enough materials for half a day of crafting- that really wouldn't be much help in the long run.  He would have to keep going.

Spoiler

Gathering Roll ID - 94086
Loot die - 12, nothing

Or maybe he could buy some material from other players.  Honestly, that might work.

Except he did need his col to eventually buy a house for himself and get the workshop upgrades it would have.  And if he joined a guild, the col could be used to help make the guild house better.  Plus he didn't have enough col for many units of material as it was- they were over 300 col each - more than he could hope to sell his stock for.  So he just had to keep on looking, maybe thinking that each material he found was 300 col he didn't have to spend.  At least that made him feel better about his low success rate. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben's thoughts were still drifting a bit as he forged ahead.  He had a schedule to keep to if he wanted to make sure to get back to town before he was out too long.  Staying out in the heat like this too long would be just as bad as running into a pack of monsters.  And this time he wouldn't have any of his friends to watch out for him if that happened.  Maybe next time he would find a cooler floor to walk through for materials.  Of course, he was always making more plans and such each day, and never really following through. 

Spoiler

Gathering Roll - ID 94176
Loot roll 18, material found (3 total so far)

He plucked through another few sets of reeds, adding some more picks to his inventory as he moved along.  Hopefully he'd get a few more handfulls before he got to the end of his trek.

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben moved along the next bend of the river, taking in the clear blue waters of the river he was following.  He was approaching the first large turn that the river took, in his path that he would follow off to the west.  With any luck, he could get another few herbs as it meandered that way, then head up to the trail that he could head back to town. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID - 94301
Loot die 13, nothing

Still, he had nothing from this part of the river.  He sighed, there was another few opportunities that yielded nothing, and left him trudging along the sandy banks a while longer.  At this point, even if he wanted to head on back, it was a bit late. 

At least the sun was behind him now, and would be for a while longer- if he hurried all the way until he got back- but it was still as hot as ever, and that meant he had to keep moving if he wanted to not get overheated. 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

With the sun behind him, Ben could see a bit further out than before.  This gave him a good view of some of the bigger monsters on the horizons- some of the scorpions and sand snakes were busy moving too and fro- there was even some much larger monsters out there he never wanted to run into.  At least the materials he was looking for didn't bite back when he picked them.  Unless he ran into a mimic for a treasure chest...

As he picked through the next few patches carefully, trying to grab a few bits without getting himself too deep into the water.  He plucked a few promising stalks, better able to see things now that he wasn't fighting as much glare from the sun.  Maybe next time he came out here he could use some sort of paste to reduce the glare he got- that would help him a lot. 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID - 94359
Loot roll 18- 4th material found

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben was starting to get a bit sick from the heat.  His scarf had been protecting him so far, but not completely.  He stopped for a minute to try and adjust it, covering up more of his head.  Maybe he could even get a cloak to help protect him from the heat next time.  Or maybe he'd go to some other floor where it wasn't so bloody hot next time.  While this floor was the first place he could possibly search for sub-dungeons, it really wasn't worth dealing with the heat.  Actually, he might want to try searching each of the floors to see which he had the best luck with.  Even if the sub-dungeons were too hard for him, that was probably going to be true of any of them he found.  So he might as well look for whatever he could find. 

Unfortunately, nothing in the area seemed to be able to be searched.  He would have to keep moving if he wanted to get anything more. 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94370
Loot die - 13, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Hmm hmm hmmm... Ben hummed to himself, trying to block out the sounds of the wind blowing around him, kicking up a few small dust devils in the sand.  He was really grateful that he chose a route that kept him near the water, as the dust was a lot less prevalent here.  Though it did make the sand a lot stickier, unfortunately, which would be a big pain to get it all off his clothes when this was over.  He kept on humming to try and drown out the noise, but it didn't work again.  Once more he wished that he had gotten a music crystal to bring with him... next time, he supposed. 

At least maybe next time that he would have sold some of the items he had made- that would be a good start to him making some col that he badly needed.  Maybe once he started making some crystals and tier 2 potions he would get more help. 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID - 94426
Loot die 2, nothing

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin moved further along the river.  It was getting closer to noon as he went along, and the heat was only getting worse.  Even though this had been the plan, keep walking while there was enough light that he wouldn't get ambushed by monsters as he went, it was still not a fun task. 

The heat by now was mostly from the sun reflecting off of the different surfaces in the desert, the water being the worst of it.  Each time he walked out to grab something from the reeds, it was a brutal spray of reflected sunlight coming with it.  After a few times of doing that, he decided to walk a little further from the river to see if there are any cacti that he could grab materials from.  Unfortunately, there wasn't many of them in the area, and the ones that he did check were empty.  Looks like he would have to tough out the heat of the river after all. 

Spoiler

gathering roll ID 94551
Loot die - 3

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

As he moved along the river, Benjamin checked his map.  The next bend in the river would mark the halfway point for his planned trip.  Unfortunately, he only had 4 pieces of usable materials so far.  He really needed to get some better skills if he wanted any hope of getting anything more during these trips.  More things to buy with the XP he gets. 

And so, he went along trying to find if there were any good cacti to search in this area.  With a sigh, he found there was not.  Just miles and miles of desert with few places to look in between.  He supposed that checking the reeds, even if it was hotter, would give him a better shot of actually finding anything.  Or at least it would in theory. 

Well, only one more twist in the river before he reached some good spots to look.  That would help. 

Spoiler

Gathering roll ID 94559
Loot die 6 - Nothing found

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben had managed to get his way to the branch of the river that would be the halfway point.  He looked ahead at the rest of the river, which turned south for a while before moving south by southwest deep into the desert.  He just had to find his way down to the point it intersected with one of the roads out of the city, and he could follow that back in.  His materials searching would be a lot harder as he went down that path, but hopefully there would be a few cacti that would be useful. 

At any rate, he took some time to check the surrounding sands around here, seeing if he could spot any hidden treasures and such in the area.  The blowing sands that kept sweeping over the land kept him from seeing anything at all, and he headed back to the river empty handed.

 

Spoiler

search for a chest - Roll ID 94591
Loot roll 4 -  nothing