[SP-F1] Earning a Living - Performer (Quest)

[Mutsu 0]

Mutsu sighed to herself and blew a gust of air from her lips upward to blast her hair out of her face. A few seconds later the curtains of short brown hair were in her eyes again. Growling, she reached up with her left hand to brush the hair to one side while she scrolled through quest options for the Town of Beginnings with her right hand, examining each of them and discarding many of them for the time being. "Too difficult, too difficult, too dangerous, that's for a Level Ten... why do they even have that quest? Boring, boring, oh..." the brunette trailed off as her finger lingered over a single quest title, 'Earning a Living', that was broken down into several different sub-quests depending upon the profession one was choosing to enter.

"Blacksmith? No."

"Tailor? No Seamstress option? Sexist."

"Merchant? Boring."

"Cook? I can see the boys now," the woman's voice took on a mocking alto tone, "'Hurr, hurr, yer a cook? MAKE ME A SAMMICH, WOMAN!" Mutsu rolled her eyes. "Pass."

"Alchemist? Stereotypes."

"Artisan? Well, it is true that a girl can never have too many bells," she muttered to herself, giving a little shake which set the various bells on her armor to jingling for a moment.

"Performer? Now that's interesting. Instead of making the bells I can do something useful with the bells." She tapped the "Performer" option and the next quest step popped up.

'Proceed to the shop of Alyssa Singular.' The step was accompanied by a waypoint. Shrugging her shoulders, Mutsu set off through the town in the direction of the shop.

[Mutsu 0]

Mutsu had made her way through the city to the point indicated by the Navigation Beacon. As she stood in front of the shop's door and peered through the window set into the door she could see a woman inside, apparently singing and, indeed, the faint strains of song could be heard through the door. "And the busy work continues," the brunette muttered to herself, placing a hand on the door and pushing it open. There was a veritable wall of song that hit her, drowning out the sound of the bells on her armor. Stepping into the shop Mutsu pushed the door closed behind her. Since the quest giving non-player character was still in the middle of her performance Mutsu took up a position leaning against the wall next to door. There did not seem to be too much that she could do until the song was finished.

[Mutsu 0]

Mutsu was not left waiting for too long before the NPC's performance came to a conclusion. Turning towards Mutsu the NPC, Alyssa Singular, spoke, "Hello there, I do hope you enjoyed my singing, I love singing for others, and I see you are here, would you like to learn how to bring enjoyment to others in terms of singing? I would love to help you."

Mutsu shrugged her shoulders and the sound of bells ringing momentarily filled the shop. "I don't know about singing, but performer seems like the best profession to choose," the brunette allowed. Performer seemed like the least cringe worthy profession. Also, bells. No one would or could complain about the bells then since they would be part of the performance. "So, what do I need to do to learn to be a performer?"

"Now, I will start to record a song, and you can watch me and take notes on how to sing, the vocalization of words is key in making a good product." Mutsu watched as the NPC reached for something from a bowl on the counter top next to her. Instead of coming up with an item from empty air, Mutsu watched as the NPC's fingers closed on nothing and Alyssa frowned.

"I can see where this is going," Mutsu muttered to herself. Surely enough, a few seconds later the NPC began with the dialogue that would begin the quest.

"Oh no! I have completely ran out, would you be a dear and gather five materials for me? I can still sing, but making a recording crystal will only work with materials. Thank you very much."

"Sure thing," Mutsu muttered, flashing a finger in the air to tap the 'accept' icon which would begin the quest.

 

 

[Mutsu 0]

After having accepted the quest Mutsu pushed open the door to the performer's shop and let herself back out onto the street. Her brown eyes squinted as she glared up at the sky and snorted in a derisive manner. Swiping a finger she pulled up her player menu to glance at the mini map and completely confirm that she had properly accepted the quest for taking an official profession.

"Figures it would be a simple fetch quest," the short woman grumbled, turning her feet in the direction of one of the Town's main gates that would put her out in the fields where she could begin collecting in earnest. The sooner she left, the sooner the chore would be done, the sooner she could find something more worth while to do.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 106922
LD: 4 (bupkus)

Mutsu craned her head back to look at the high arch of the gateway that allowed players to pass from the safe zone of the town out into the unsafe lands beyond it. "Mighty big arch," she muttered to herself, passing the invisible barrier and stepping out truly into the beginner fields that surrounded the town. "I wonder if the game designer is compensating for something. Bet he is." Swiping a finger in the air in front of her, she pulled up her player menu and, after tapping a few buttons her vanity weapon appeared in her hands. The sarissa was next to useless, compared to the weapon she was trying to secure for herself. But, at least using it would allow her to tap into her level one sword skills. Or, in Mutsu's case, her level one spear skills.

Who wanted to use a sword anyway? A sarissa was a much better weapon, sure to strike fear into the hearts of everyone that saw it. Plus, it could be used for other things as well.

"How do I search for materials anyway," she asked no one in particular, walking up to one of the bushes that flanked the heavy wrought iron gates of the Town. The bushes looked decorative, but bushes could give out goodies sometimes. She'd played the old classic Legend of Zelda games enough to at least know that much. "Nothing to do but try it," she muttered to herself, rearing back a booted foot and delivering a sharp kick to the bush. This failed to produce any appreciable results.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 106927
BD: 9 (Crit. Hit +1) [Heft: DMGx2] [DMG=5 (1 Base, 3 Skill, 1 Dice Roll)
MD: 6 (Hit)

ID: 107369 - (The absurd gap between the roll numbers is because @Zandra informed me that Monster Loot and Monster Fite rolls were to be separate)
LD: 18
CD: 6

Mutsu: 19/20 (0/2) (3-18 = 1 DMG)
Boar: 0/10 (5x2-0 = 10)

Loot: 2 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted] (See LD and CD rolls)

"Well, this is idiotic," Mutsu groused, delivering several more sharp kicks to the bush that had deeply offended her by not disgorging any kind of useful quest item. Her brown eyes swept along the low row of similar such bushes that looked as if they ran the complete length of the wall that surrounded the Town of Beginnings. The brunette swore, like a sailor, and stalked off away from the wall heading properly out into the fields. Even though she disappeared into the grass after only a few steps the bobbing tip of her sarissa could clearly be seen above the grass since the weapon was a full fifteen feet in length. It was not exactly as if her location would be any kind of big secret to anyone watching from the Town, or anywhere else nearby.

Of course, with all the noise the woman was making from her complaining and the merry jingling of the bells affixed to her armor it did not take along for a wild boar to appear before her. It grunted, pawed the ground twice, and then charged. The beast slammed into her and rocked the heavily armored woman back on her feet as the porcine animal raced on past her. Mutsu grunted and glanced at her Health Bar and then chuckled. Apparently, even though her weapon was crap her armor was quite good.

"My turn, piggy!" Dropping the sarissa into an attacking position, Mutsu raked the spear tip diagonally across the boar's chest and face. It gave a squeal and exploded in a shower of pixels, leaving behind a pair of crafting material, two small phials of... well, it was definitely something. There was also a small bag of col which were quickly retrieved. When she tapped on the phials they only said 'Unidentified Item, take to the Merchant.'

"That's more like it," Mutsu grumbled, shouldering the sarissa and disappearing deeper into the grass of the plains.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

Out of Combat: +1 EN, +1 HP

ID: 106936
LD: 18 (+1 Mat)

Loot Total: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

As Mutsu tromped through the tall grass of the plains, her short height allowing her to easily and completely disappear between the tall blades of grass, she occasionally jabbed her spear at random clumps of grass or else aimed sharp kicks at various bushes as she came across them. While she could not physically be seen behind the barrier that the grass provided her sarissa marked where she was and the jingling of the bells on her armor announced that she was in the general vicinity to one and all, player and monster alike.

"No point in being sneaky when I have more things that I need to kill," she said to no one in particular. Admittedly, sometimes the woman liked to talk to herself and, occasionally, it was the only intelligent conversation she would have all the day long. Marching past a particularly large bush she gave it a savage, jingling, kick. To her surprise the bush disappeared and, in its place, there was left a... well, it was a something that was for certain. Stooping, she tapped the item and its only description was 'Crafting Material.' Mutsu shrugged and tapped the button to add the item to her inventory. "Good enough, moving on."

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

Out of Combat: +1 EN (Full EN)

ID: 106938
LD: 8 (No Mat)

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

Mutsu continued to grumble and mutter darkly to herself as she wandered through the grass of the plains. This quest was unbelievable. This was Sword Art Online, after all. How could they have failed to put time and thought into making new and unique tutorial quests. Fetch quests. Really? "Ugh," Mutsu growled, throwing her hands up in frustration at the whole pointless exercise. "If it weren't for the fact that I now need this XP I would not be bothering with this," she said, continuing to grumble and complain, accompanied by the jingling of bells, even though there was no one at all around to hear her or commiserate with. Approaching another likely looking bush, at least in terms of finding a crafting material, she drew back a belled and booted foot and delivered a savage kick to the topiary. Unlike the last time, this time nothing happened other than the bush shook a bit and a songbird exploded out of it, twittering madly. The tiny spear user scowled and continued on her way.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 106939
BD: 3 - Miss
MD: 8 (Hit)

Mutsu: 19/20 (0/2) (3-18 = 1 DMG)
Boar: 10/10

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

Cursing and stomping through the grass, the bell adorned tip of her sarissa bouncing and jingling merrily above the top of the field grass as it blew in a gentle breeze, Mutsu continued her work towards accomplishing the requirements for the fetch quest. The sooner the requirements were done, the better. She was making so much noise, between her own complaints and the jingling of the bells, that she never spotted the boar that had appeared until the animal had pawed the ground a few times and charged her down from behind like a runaway bacon freight trained. The brunette was knocked sprawling to the ground, her cries muffled with the mouthful of digital dirt that she unwillingly was forced to eat. Growling, and knowing she had not actually been hurt too badly, she pushed the tip of her weapon into the ground and used it to get back to her feet, glaring hatefully at the offending monster.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 106947
BD: 1 - Miss
MD: 5 (Miss)

Mutsu: 19/20 (0/2)
Boar: 10/10

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

Mutsu spat, even though she did not really need to spit, to get the dirt out of her mouth as she narrowed her eyes at the offensive boar. How dare the four legged terrorist attack her without having the good grace to announce its presence in a boarfully appropriate way. The boar squealed and grunted as it circled her. Mutsu growled right back at the beast and leveled her spear at the creature to keep it at arm's length. There was, after all, a reason for carrying such an impressive weapon. It was not a matter of compensating for being short. Nope, it was not about compensating for a lack of height, not even at all. As they pair of combatants continued to circle one another, Mutsu made a half-hearted jab at the boar and the tip of the sarissa sailed over its head. But, because the weapon was in the beast's face it also couldn't try to attack him back. Check and mate.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107045
BD: 3 - Miss
MD: 4 (Miss)

Mutsu: 19/20 (0/2)
Boar: 10/10

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

Mutsu continued to circle the boar as it squealed and grunted. Whether or not it was squealing and grunting at her was a matter that was up for debate. After all, such noises were simply the normal noises for a boar to make. Or, at least, that was the assumption that Mutsu made and she was simply going to roll with that assumption. Growling back at the beastie, Mutsu lunged forward and jabbed with her spear at the boar. The procine super villain, for super villain he clearly was, leaped back nimbly out of the way and flashed his tusks in her direction. "No fair," the little woman pouted, though she did not let up on her combat stance or turn her back on the boar or cross her arms over her chest. "Piggies are supposed to be dumb and slow."

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107125
BD: 4 - Miss
MD: 6 (Hit)

Mutsu: 18/20 (0/2) [3-18 = 1 DMG
Boar: 10/10

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

In a sudden, lightning quick, movement, the boar dashed forward and charged Mutsu. "What the hell," Mutsu squawked as the boar darted underneath the tip of her sarissa. The weapon removed a few strands of hair from the creature's bristle covered back, but other than that there was no discernible damage that the digital beast suffered. Boars were not supposed to be this fast. Someone had clearly programmed the animal to be better than it would have been in real life. That was the only explanation, as far as Mutsu was concerned. Not that she had really ever closely observed a boar to know what one could or could not physically do. She set her feet as the burly beast shoulder checked her and was rocked back a few inches but took no appreciable damage as a result of the assault.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107130
BD: 4 - Miss
MD: 6 (Hit)

Mutsu: 17/20 (0/2) [3-18 = 1 DMG]
Boar: 10/10

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

As the boar went charging past Mutsu after having shoulder checked her the porcine attacker stopped, planted its front hoofs in the ground, and then lashed out with a two footed kick and slammed into her back. For the second time in less than five minutes, the woman was knocked into an unwilling faceplant on the ground. Snarling, she lashed out wildly with her sarissa as she rolled over onto her back. The boar danced easily out of the way to dodge the strike as the weapon again cleanly missed. "This weapon sucks," she growled, using the lengthy spear to push herself, again, to her feet. Snarling, she rounded on the boar and adopted a fighting stance once again.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107132
BD: 7 - Hit
MD: 7 (Hit)

Mutsu: 16/20 (0/2) [3-18 = 1 DMG]
Boar: 6/10 (1 Base + 3 Skill - 0 MIT = 4 DMG]

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

The snarls and growls issuing from Mutsu were on the same level of the noises coming from the boar, matching the creature in ferocity and anger. The spearwoman had really had just about enough of the system not allowing her to hit her target. With a screaming roar she lunged forward and jabbed the steel tip of the leaf shaped spearhead in the direction of her digital tormentor. At last, success! The weapon gouged a lovely red furrow across the boar's snout as she scored a solid hit on the creature and its health bar dropped by just about half. "Finally," she snarled, not caring that the boar then neatly sidestepped after being hit and slammed into her again.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107368
BD: 9 - Hit
MD: 9 (Hit)

Mutsu: 15/20 (0/2) [4-18 = 1 DMG]
Boar: 1/10 (1 Base + 3 Skill + 1 Crit. - 0 MIT = 5 DMG]

Total Thread Loot: 3 T1 Mats, 30 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [yet to be submitted]

Mutsu grunted as the boar slammed into her with a shoulder check again before continuing past her. This time, though, when the beast planted its forelegs and tried to then kick her in the back and send her sprawling to the ground she was ready. Growling, she thrust the tip of her sarissa into the soft dirt and, using the weapon and her legs as a sort of modified tripod, she was able to keep her feet under her when she was kicked.

"See, I can learn unlike you little piggy," she snarled, jerking her weapon free from the ground and slamming the business end of the lengthy sarissa into the back of the retreating pig. The beast squealed as the tip of the spear slammed into it and a critical hit was scored. Mutsu watched as the enemy's health bar ticked down, down, down to one remaining health point. "Really?!? You've got to be joking!"

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107370
BD: 6 (Hit)
MD: 8 (Hit)

ID: 107371
LD: 13
CD: 8 (30 Col, 1 Mat, 1 Rare Weapon [UID])

Mutsu: 14/20 (0/2) (3-18 = 1 DMG)
Boar: 0/10 (5x2-0 = 10)

Total Thread Loot: 4 T1 Mats, 60 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [UID], 1 Rare Weapon [UID]

Mutsu scowled as she eyed the boar with disdain and disgust. One lousy hit point. The boar had a single hit point left after her last attack. That was completely unfair. If one attack was not good enough to kill the mud loving beast then two definitely should have been more than sufficient. Especially if one of the two hits was a critical strike. She eyed her weapon and grumbled many insults at it. Starter weapons were always weak in these kinds of games, but it seemed to her that Sword Art Online was taking the idea of weak weapons for starting players to some kind of ludicrous new height.

The woman was so fixated on her sarissa and how crappy the weapon was and how Alexander the Great would never have equipped his troops with such a poor weapon that she didn't notice that the boar had charged again until it was almost inside the reach of her spear. "What the hell?!?" Defensively, she lowered the weapon just in time for the boar to skewer itself upon the stick. For a second it looked absurdly like a luau pig as its momentum carried it down the length of the weapon just far enough that it managed to impale one of her hands on its tusk before it shattered in a shower of blue sparks.

In the wake of the pesky porcine there was a new weapon laying on the ground, a single tusk which was probably a crafting material, and a small jingling bag of col. Mutsu quickly stored all the items in her inventory.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

Out of Combat: +1 EN, +10 HP [HP Full]

ID: 107373
LD: 9 (Nada)

With the boar slain and the loot gathered and stored in her inventory, Mutsu set off once again through the tall grasses of the prairie with the tip of her sarissa serving as a visual marker of where she was for anyone that might have been trying to find her. She found a few likely looking bushes that seemed as if they might contain sweet, sweet crafting material goodness. But, when she kicked the leafy villains they refused to disgorge anything that might have been of use to her. Sighing, the tiny collegian puffed a blast of air from her lips to get her hair out of her face and began to consider her options. She could not see any creatures to slay and the non-combat gathering was not going all that well.

"I can't see anything from down here," she growled to herself. With a grunt she slammed the tip of her spear into the ground and then shimmied her way up the sarissa, which was easily taller than the grass. As she perched on the weapon's haft she held a hand to her brow to shield her eyes from the digital sun, and surveyed her surroundings.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

Out of Combat: +1 EN [FULL]

ID: 107375
LD: 8 (Nada)

Mutsu stood on the haft of her sarissa with the business end of the weapon planted firmly in the ground, looking like a somewhat curvaceous version of a sparrow. Except without feathers. Also, no beak. But, other than that the similarities were close enough. The brunette spun slowly on the spot, considering her surroundings and what the next course of action should be. There did not seem to be any likely looking places for gathering materials outside of combat anywhere close by to where she was. Naturally, she could not be completely certain of that fact since the grass did I pretty good job of obscuring things from her vision. Similarly, she also did not see any monsters nearby that could be easily slaughtered to render up whatever juicy, juicy loot they might have had. Growling and muttering, Mutsu made a delicate sort of backwards hop, wrapped her arms around the Sarissa as she dropped past, and slid back down to the ground as gracefully as a firefighter heading out to fight a fire.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107435
LD: 18 (SUCCESS)

Total Thread Loot: 5 T1 Mats, 60 Col, 2 Rare Consumables [UID], 1 Rare Weapon [UID]

As she slid down the sarissa and back down to the ground Mutsu's boots sank into the soft earth and a decidedly heavy sounding thud. Immediately thereafter she felt a sharp jab of pain in the big toe on her left foot. Swearing like a sailor, because no one was around the see the shameful and shameless display, she hopped around and shook her foot this way and that. She had obviously stubbed her toe on something.

"HOW?!?" She whined and continued hopping up and down, finally turning her attention back on the spot where she had stubbed her toe and noticing that something decidedly golden was poking up out of the ground. Abruptly dropping the charade, the pain had faded by this point anyway, she knelt on the ground and began to dig with her hands until she unearthed a small golden nugget. Tapping it, she discovered it was a crafting material.

"You've got to be kidding," she muttered to herself, hefting the golden bounty for a second and eyeing it before adding it to her inventory. As she did there was a soft audible tone that told her she had collected the requisite number of things to complete the fetch quest. "Finally."

Edited October 13, 2018 by Mutsu

[Mutsu 0]

ID: 107436
CD: 10 (Uncommon)
LD: 16 (Non-Masterpiece)

With all of the things gathered from the annoying fetch quest to obtain her profession, Mutsu all but flew back to the Town of Beginnings. In the figurative sense, not the literal one. Unfortunately, flight was not an option in Sword Art Online when it came to getting around the various maps. That left only one option. The brunette hit the gates to the Town of Beginnings at a dead sprint, not bothering to slow down. In the real world, she wouldn't have been able to sprint nearly as long or as far, but stamina worked differently in Sword Art Online. Which meant she could finish this stupid fetch quest that much faster. In a matter of minutes she had burst through the door, hurried through the instructions from Alyssa Singular, and crafted her first item.

A musical chime told Mutsu that she had completed the quest. Pocketing her newly crafted item, she exited the shop and set off to see what quests she could do next. With a little luck, and speed, she could get all the tutorials done in a day and never have to think of this dark time in her existence as a player ever again.

END OF THREAD REWARDS:

1 Uncommon Song (yet to be submitted)
9 T1 Mats
460 Col
2 Rare Consumables [UID]
1 Rare Weapon [UID]
+2 SP
+Performer Profession
+Performer Shop

Edited October 13, 2018 by Mutsu