[F01-SP] <<The First Few Lessons are Free>>

[Prisma 0]

Stats

Level: 1
HP: 20
EN: 2
DMG: 2
MIT: 9
ACC: 1
EVA: 0

• Skills:
  • [Rank 1] One-Handed Spear
• Equipment: 
  • [Uncommon] 1H Assault Spear (+1 ACC)
  • [Uncommon] Light Armor (+9 MIT)
• Battle-Ready Inventory:
  • (5) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)

((don't know if I'll decide to fight anything but it seems like good practice))

[Prisma 0]

Prisma read over the information in the guide book one more time, just to be safe. Beginner quest- “The First Few Lessons are Free”, Floor 1, Town of Beginnings. Zackariah’s workshop, on Market Street. She glanced around the Teleport Plaza one more time, then set off in the direction of Market Street. She passed players with far better equipment than her having discussions around the plaza, and gripped the guide book a bit tighter. Hopefully, starting today, that would change. These quests were supposed to be a good introduction to the game’s systems, and easy EXP to boot. Prisma headed into Market Street and started taking a look at the shops. Blacksmith… Item shop… There, Zackariah’s workshop. She pushed the door open apprehensively and listened to the bell ring. Behind the counter, the NPC had his back to her, bent over looking for something, and perked up at the sound of the bell. He turned around. “Hello there! How can I help you?”

[Prisma 0]

“U-um,” she started, then froze. What were you supposed to say to NPCs to start a quest? Her brain froze up. Come on, Prisma, you know this! What would a game character say in this situation? She cast her mind around, fishing for phrasing. The NPC waited patiently, with no indication that her hesitation was odd. “I heard you were giving tips to newcomers?” she tried.

“That I am!” said Zackariah. “I’ve got a bit of work for you just to show you how things work around here.” He turned, reached under the counter, and pulled out a sheet of paper. “I need you to fetch me some of these, then come back and I’ll have something else for you to do.” He pushed the paper across the counter. Prisma picked it up and looked at it. Five red potion flowers, it said, complete with a drawing. “You can find these in the fields just outside of town,” said Zackariah. “Sound good?”

She realized he was asking for confirmation of the quest. “Yes, I’ll do this for you,” she said.

Quest Log updated, said the notification.

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112319 - LD: 13

Prisma took the paper, nodded to Zackariah (who just smiled at her pleasantly) and left the shop. She followed the roads and soon found herself standing outside of town, looking out over the fields. Okay. She would need to avoid the monsters around here. Prisma eyed the nearby boars, judging the distance between them with a practiced eye, then paused. It struck her that for a moment, she had been treating this like any other MMO- using the old tactic of evaluating enemy distance to avoid drawing aggro while running between them.

She smiled to herself a little. That was reassuring. Maybe she wasn’t going to die after all.

In any case, she picked a pair of boars to take her chances on, and jogged out between them, glancing around. Was that…? There! She spied a flash of red and (after taking a moment to check for nearby enemies) headed for it. As she drew closer, the name of the item appeared over it. Red Potion Flower. “Well, there you go,” she muttered.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112320 - LD: 8

Prisma crouched and inspected the flower. Just grab it? 

She reached for it. When she touched the stem, it crumbled, leaving a couple inches near the top of the flower. Incidentally, because she’d grabbed the middle of the stem, this left the flower to fall on top of her hand and then onto the ground. “Oh-! Alright...” she muttered, exasperated. She picked it up and poked the air in front of it to inspect it. Red Potion Flower, yep, sure, and- Oh. It didn’t have a durability. Right, it was a material item. A quest item, too, so probably you wouldn’t want those breaking on a player. She hit the button to store it in her inventory and stood.

She glanced around. Any more nearby? No, but a boar was wandering closer. Prisma edged away, eyeing it suspiciously, then cast one more glance around. No? Fine. She’d just keep looking. Move parallel to the walls, fan out slowly. Stay as close to town as possible.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112321 - LD: 4  ((really?))

She jogged out, keeping as even a distance to the wall as possible while having to dodge mobs. So more of a zigzag, really. Still, no luck on the red flowers. Prisma stopped and looked around carefully, a bit irritated. Had she ran outside of the spawn area for them? She turned in a circle, then headed back towards the walls. There were no mobs within a radius of the walls and it would be easier to head back to her original position this way, without constantly dodging monsters. This was a bit exhausting. It would be easier if she had the confidence to fight and could just take out enemies in her way. But… this was kind of reassuring, too. Getting practice at evading monsters- seeing that it could be done- helped calm her about her own survival chances. This was like any other game, really. You just had to be more careful. Like playing on hardcore mode! Or a Nuzlocke. Just grind more than usual and don’t take on anything remotely risky.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112322 - LD: 6 ((kdjdfdsjd))

She slowed herself to a walk as she arrived at the walls and turned back the way she came. She looked out into the field as she walked, trying to keep an eye out for any flowers. With no luck by the time she arrived back at the gates, she decided to sit down. Jogging had been kind of tiring. She needed a drink. Prisma swiped with her hand to pull open the menu and headed to her inventory. There, Bottled Water. Free to refill at any water source. It materialized in front of her and she grabbed it, opened it, and took a few gulps. She watched the boars in the field move between swallows. It seemed like relatively standard idle monster AI. They moved a few steps, stopped, then moved again in a random direction. They had some nice idle animations like grazing and sniffing around, but their eyes had a malicious gleam to them. Prisma shuddered and kept drinking her water.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112323 - LD: 1 ((noooo))

Prisma drained the last of her water and poked in front of what was now an Empty Bottle to put it away. She stood and stretched. She squinted out at the monsters. She’d headed… thatway, when first heading out, right? The boars there were a bit close… but maybe she could make it, she didn’t know what the aggro range was in this game. Prisma watched to see if they’d move apart, then just went for it. Unfortunately…

Reeee! She yelped as one of them let out an angry squeal and turned to face her, pawing the ground and snorting. “No, no no no,” she gasped, stumbling to a halt. It bunched its muscles, and she processed what it was about to do just before it charged at her. She shrieked and sprinted back towards the walls. She heard heavy footfalls behind her for a few terrifying seconds before she got back within range of the walls and it stopped pursuit.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112324 - LD: 10 ((so close))

Prisma bent over and panted. For the second time in 5 minutes she sat down next to the wall. This time, she curled herself into a ball, frozen with fear. After checking several times that no, no boars were actually coming close to the walls, she closed her eyes and breathed, waiting. Four seconds in, eight seconds out. Just wait.

After sitting there for several minutes, the fear was slowly receding. Prisma opened her eyes and blinked out at the field. The mobs were still in their normal movement patterns. Well, what have we learned? she asked herself. That’s what the aggro range is. Just… just don’t get that close again. Right.

She stood and took a few normal deep breaths. Okay. She set herself to looking around again. Best to go out that way, then head over… Okay. Just like before. She was doing so well before, right? Just… just more practice. Now she knew how close was too close.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112325 - LD: 14 ((yessss))

Prisma proceeded out into the field again, heading for about the same spot as before. No flower where she’d originally found one, but after a glance back at the town to orient herself, she started weaving back and forth over the general area where she’d found the first. Internally, she began working out a plan for if the movements of the mobs left her with no path or if she got pinned between them. If there’s no way to avoid getting targeted… I’ll stab them with my spear and sprint past. They’re not faster than me. She reached over her shoulder for her spear and pulled it out, tightening her grip on it.

A glimpse of red. Prisma squinted at it, then glanced around to consider how to reach it. There. Approaching, she saw that it was indeed a Red Potion Flower, and knelt to collect it. Two down, three to go. It just took forever to find a second one. She rolled her eyes.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112326 - LD: 12

She grabbed the second flower and put it away in her inventory. Then she stood and surveyed the surrounding area. Once again, no immediate luck, but at least now she knew she was in the right place. As she moved, she hefted her spear in her hands. Around the bend of a tiny hill, she spotted another flower, and with no enemies nearby or in the way she ran straight at it to collect it. She picked it up, toying with the petals. Somehow they’d managed to capture that silky feeling of flower petals. Interesting.

Well, that was three. With the third securely away in her inventory, she stood and climbed atop the little hill, watching the boars around her moving. Eventually she moved off because one was getting too close. She decided to move back a little closer to town. She still wasn’t ready to fight and didn’t want to get caught very far from the safe boundary by the walls.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112327 - LD: 10

Once closer to town, she wandered around again, but wasn’t having any luck. Damn, who decided that you would need to actually look for these sorts of things? To be sure,the kind of MMO design where the enemies were packed tight and all the quest items were within five feet of each other and the only challenge was fighting off the enemies while you grabbed the items was tiresome and outdated. Having to look made it actually challenging, which was cool, but this was hard! And spending time in the field constantly dodging these monsters was making her anxious.

She pulled back over to the wall to take another break, this time for food. Some plain bread for a snack. Once she finished this quest, maybe she’d have some Col to get some better food. Right now, she could only get food that was cheap or free. Granted, there were several places in the Town of Beginnings where that was possible for new or inexpert players who had mismanaged their cash.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112328 LD: 11

Finished with her bread, Prisma took out her spear again and braved the field.She circled the general area where she’d found the other three, and spotted red in the distance as a boar moved out of the way.

She found her fourth flower perched proudly atop a hill, easy to see from afar. Pleased, she stashed it. She wondered if she might actually get some Col out of this. How much? Could she buy some good food with it? Maybe some better gear? She’d been too spooked to spend anything but tiny amounts of Col on anything without proper income. A shield… a shield would be good. A spear to keep them away and a shield to defend herself. Perfect.Maybe she could get a shield from the next quest in the chain. She’d have to check the guide…

A boar snorted nearby, making her jump. It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t being targeted- it was just an idle noise, but still, the monster was a bit too close. She backed away from it, checking behind her for others, and then stood on her tiptoes to try and peer around for another flower.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112339 - LD: 18

There! Prisma practically sprinted for the final flower, picked it up and added it to her inventory. Well, this was certainly the MMO experience here. She picked her way back through the field, past the boars, and opened her menu to confirm that the five flowers were in her inventory and the quest log had updated. And she hadn’t even gotten into a fight. Not so bad. She needed to take a break after this though. Dodging mobs for that long was exhausting.

She headed back into town. On the way, she opened her messages and started writing one to herself. Get shield. Make friend.Maybe not in that order, but she couldn’t play this game forever by herself. In most MMOs, maybe, but in most MMOs you could afford to die. In any case, pleased with the written reminder, she sent it to herself (and then marked it read immediately). Taking a deep breath, she proceeded back towards Zackariah’s shop.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Prisma headed through Market Street to Zackariah’s workshop. Opening the door, the bell rang again. Zackariah looked surprised and pleased to see her. “Oh, you’re back!” he said. “Do you have the flowers?”
“Yes,” she replied, approaching.

“Great! Could you place them on the counter for me, please?”

Prisma navigated through the menus in order to withdraw the items from her inventory. She placed them all on the counter in a bunch. Zackariah nodded and swept them off the counter into a basket, which he put away. “Now then,” he said. “I would like your help with another task. This will teach you something too!”

“What is it?” Prisma asked, but she’d already noticed that the quest hadn’t completed.

“I would like you to help me make a potion. No need to be shy, it’s a very basic one, something even a beginner could make.”

“Oh, um, okay,” said Prisma.

“Great! Over here,” said Zackariah, gesturing for her to join him behind the counter.

[Prisma 0]

Dice ID: 112340 - CD: 5

Prisma headed around the counter and entered the space behind it. Zackariah moved aside, revealing a small crafting station with a mortar and pestle, and burners with glass instruments above them. He turned, and from a nearby shelf, he pulled out a small red fruit.

“Here,” he said. “First grind the ingredient.”

She took the fruit from him, placed it in the mortar, and no sooner had she tapped it with the pestle than it turned into a fine red paste. Zackariah nodded. “Good, good,” he said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Now, turn on the burner.”

The burner had two glasses above it. The bottom one was filled with water, and as Prisma turned the burner on, the water began to boil. Too quickly, but it WAS a videogame. Suddenly, the water began to move upwards. Prisma stared in amazement as the water moved to fill the upper glass. “Put the paste in the water,” said Zackariah. Prisma fumbled, then quickly picked up the mortar and scraped the paste from it into the water, then at his instructions, stirred it in.

She turned the burner off and watched as the water filtered back down from above, now a vivid red. Zackariah took the top glass off the burner and removed the bottom glass, which she now recognized as a potion bottle. He inspected it. “Not bad,” he said. “It was successful. Not perfect, but well done.”

Edited February 4, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

Prisma grinned. Zackariah smiled at her and put it away. As he did, she asked, “What was that, with the water moving up?”

“This? It’s a siphon brewer,” he responded. “Very useful for alchemy, and cooking, too. Good for making things like coffee and certain kinds of broth. Cooking and alchemy are related, you know.”

“I see. Do you have anything else for me to do?” asked Prisma. The quest still hadn’t completed. “Yes,” said Zackariah. “Now that you’ve helped me make this potion, I want you to take this package to Lyle Tealeaf, the blacksmith.” He set a box wrapped in brown paper and string on the counter. Prisma headed back around the counter to pick it up. She debated over whether she was supposed to physically pick it up, then just put it in her inventory. Zackariah nodded. “You’ve been a great help. There’s something in that package for you too,” he said, winking. “Lyle will give it to you after you deliver it.”

Edited February 4, 2019 by Prisma
missing space

[Prisma 0]

“Thank you,” said Prisma, moving towards the door.

“No, thank you,” said Zackariah. “Lyle may have something for you to do as well. He’ll make it worth your while. Do you need help finding his shop?”

“Maybe,” she said, turning back towards him. “Where is it?”

“Go left. It’s down the street, on the right side, just before the corner. Thanks again!”

The conversation routines of the NPCs were relatively natural, but then, Prisma had been deliberately trying to “hit buttons” with her questions and answers. Sometimes when you said something to an NPC, they just wouldn’t respond, as though they hadn’t heard it. And they didn’t respond to any of the system mechanics, either, just behaved as though things were proceeding without any sort of game systems. You couldn’t use game terms around them, really.

She headed down Market Street. Close to the corner… on the right… there. Blacksmith.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Prisma

[Prisma 0]

The blacksmith’s shop was more of a stall. A good portion of the front was open to the air, just gated off so nobody would wander in. The NPC Lyle Tealeaf was working on something by an anvil, and blacksmithing tools littered the area. He inspected his work on a rod of metal and stuck it back in the furnace.

“Lyle Tealeaf?” Prisma called. She could see his name clearly, of course.

“Yes!” he said. He removed his gloves and approached the front of the forge area. “What can I do for you?”

“I have a package for you from Zackariah.” Prisma opened her inventory to get it. Lyle waited as though the conversation were merely paused until she held it out to him. “Ah, thank you!” he said. “Let me see what Zackariah has sent me.”

He turned away to open the package on a nearby table. Prisma watched him hold up a potion, then inspect the rest of the box. He pulled out a sheet of paper and began reading it.

[Prisma 0]

“Hmm,” he said, then started taking things out of the box. He divided them into two groups, then brought over a half-dozen potions. “These are for you,” he said. “Zackariah said they’re your reward for doing him some favors.”

A screen popped up in front of Prisma, detailing the items. Healing, damage, over-health. “Ah, that’s great,” she said, pleased, and closed the screen. The potions vanished from Lyle’s hands. “Now then,” he said. “Since you’ve been such a help to my good friend Zackariah, perhaps I can find something for you to do as well. It’ll be helpful to you. No need to answer now, but when you want to help, just let me know.”

Quest Complete!

So that was how they handled quest chains. When she didn’t respond immediately, Lyle nodded at her and turned back to his forge. Prisma thought a break was in order now after all that item gathering.