[PP/F 1+] <<In search of a Mentor>>

[Alec 0]

As Alec placed his newly acquired Name Tag into his inventory he left the Non Player Character Blacksmiths shop on the Ninth Floor and made his way to the teleporter. As the stepped on to the pad he said in a deep clear voice “Town of Beginnings.” as all went dark and as the light returned he stood on the teleporter pad of the First Floor. Alec quickly stepped of the pad and began making his way towards his destination. Today he was headed to the Blacksmith shop that belonged to the the most successful Blacksmith in Aincrad he was headed to The Blazing Typhoon. He had finally made up his mind and he was going to ask the most successful Blacksmith in this digital world he would mentor him and teach him the ways of Blacksmithing. As Alec entered the man’s shop he ducked through the door and straightened as he entered. “Good afternoon.” Alec called out deeply. “ I saw your Bounty poster and I have something for you and a request if you’d do me the honor.” Alec began as he approached the mans counter. “First off I have your Name Tag you were looking for.” Alec stated as he placed the item on the counter. Secondly you’ve given me a good bit of helpful advice so far and I was hoping you’d be willing to mentor me. I wish to become a Blacksmith and as you are the most successful Blacksmith here I’d like to have ties allying myself with you and learn from you than simply being a competitor and business rival.” Alec stated as he looked the other man in the eyes.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Sitting in his rocking chair, Macradon was half asleep and half awake. Belphegor was cheerfully using up all his energy in the backyard linked to the shop and Macradon’s estate, running around in circles, chasing wild life that had somehow jumped into the grassy terrain. Macradon rocked back and forth, it was a slow day today, not much had happened, and not much was planned to be worked on for now. As he slowly began to get closer to sleep, the small bell rang as the door to his shop opened. Somewhat startled by the sudden entrance, Macradon got up from his chair and looked over at the entrance with a smile, ready to welcome a customer. “Hello and Welcome to th- …” Macradon said, still a bit dreary from his near sleep experience.

“Oh, Alec! Good afternoon!” Macradon exclaimed as he saw who had just entered; the behemoth of a man, Alec. “What can I do for you today? Already need some new armor?” Macradon said jokingly. As he listened to what Alec had to say, Macradon would nod. “A request? Is there a quest you can’t take yourself that you need the drop off?” Macradon would ask, not really knowing what this request really was. Macradon would firstly take a look at the item Alec had come with, he had indeed completed the bounty “Well how’bout that!” Macradon said with a smile and opened up his inventory. “You did a good job, and fast as well, here’s the labeled reward on the bounty, I hope you can put some good use for it!” Macradon said and handed over a pouch, sectioned up in 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd Tier materials, as well as a healthy amount of Col.

As Alec then came to the request, Macradon went silent for a bit, a bit dumbfounded. There really wasn’t anyone who wanted to ever be his mentee like this. He had had people he had trained in the start and then let them take care of themselves, but he hadn’t seem to be able to see them in quite a while, that being Bell and Comet, both people he had trained, both people he hadn’t seen anywhere since, luckily their names weren’t on the monument of life, so at least they had something going. "Hm ..." Macradon began as he pondered the idea. "I guess I could take you in as a mentee under my wings, but I've never been good at teaching, so bare with me on this." Macradon said with a smile.

[Alec 0]

Alec listened patiently as the other man spoke. Alec nodded as Macradon finished. "I think you find." Alec began in his deep baritone rumble. "that I am extremely patient and not afraid of hard work. Plus to be honest I'm still trying to figure out and understand how this whole place works so honestly I'm also simply looking for some guidance. I've heard there are quests to take pick up professions but I don't know where to start. Plus as a child my father taught me if you want to be the best at something find the best and learn from them. You're the best Blacksmith in all Aincrad as far as I can tell so I'd be honored if you could teach me what you could and are willing to share." Alec stated easily as he looked to the other man as he waited patiently for Macradon fully decide if this was what he wanted to do or not.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would listen to Alec’s reasoning and nod. He would stay silent for a few second while looking down into the counter desk with his hand on his chin, trying to find a good way to do this. “Alright then, if you haven’t already gotten your profession, then let’s get that first, that should be main priority. After that, we can take a look at what can help you with your crafts, like bonuses, consumables and the likes, and then you should find a way to reliably get materials for your crafts for customers. Crafting Perfects might take multiple days for you in the beginning, mostly because of the rate you have to craft at per day, but that limiter will expand, so you should over time be able to craft enough to maybe get a perfect or two a day.” Macradon explained and would open up a note sheet on his HUD and begin writing those points down for himself. “The quest to give you a profession is called «Earning a Living», it’s situated here on the first floor. The NPC Master Blacksmith Cerdic Leighton will be the one to give you the quest. He acts much like a person, and it seems like he even recognize people who had taken his quest, but he appeared much later after I had become a blacksmith from learning by myself, seems like stuff has happened over time from the start. Either way, he should be seeing me as his senior, but don’t mind that, he will be the one to help you start out.” Macradon said and would reach down under his counter to grab a wooden sign with the words “Closed” written on them. “Ready to go?” Macradon asked Alec.

 

[Alec 0]

As Macradon finished his set of instructions Alec gave a solid heartfelt nod as a smile began to spread across his face taking over the scowl that usually resided there. As he realized the Grandmaster Blacksmith would not only instruct him but was going to be accompanying him on his endeavor as well. Alec waited patiently for the other man to close up his shop do what he needed to before being ready to depart. As he closed up his shop Alec spoke in his deep baritone rumble. "So did I hear you correctly? They didn't use to have the profession quests when you chose to become a Blacksmith? How did you begin the profession then?" Alec asked as the other man went about his business of closing down his shop for their travels. "I ask because I've struggled so much myself up until a few months ago just trying to understand how to perform the most basic functions here within the game. I'm sure if I had to figure that out as well I would never have been able to accomplish it." Alec admitted.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would do his usual when closing down his shop, making she everything looked neat and tidy. As he went over to the back door leading to the yard, Macradon was about to announce his leave, but it seemed Belphegor was too busy chasing simmering again, so he would let the cerberus be for now. On his way out of the shop, Macradon would grab his formal jacket and throw it over his shoulder while sliding his arms into their sleeves, he was fully ready to leave. Macradon listened to Alec's question and would answer honestly "There were quests to gain a profession, but they were much more convoluted and you really had no help other than to ask others of what to do. Back then, you were just approached by an NPC that instructed you to gather materials for creating, and then you just mimicked the NPC until you got a successful craft. I wasn't taught his to, it just kinda happened." Macradon replied as they would walk towards the NPC quest initiator. Walking into the smaller Blacksmith shoppe, Macradon would knock on the door as he entered "Cerdic, I have someone to introduce you to." Macradon said and walked up to the counter, gesturing a hand towards Alec. "Ah, Master Macradon, how may I be of help? There's nothing I can do that you can't." The blacksmith replied. "This man, he wants to become a blacksmith, and you're the best Blacksmith instructor in Aincrad, why not give him a helping hand?" Macradon suggested to the blacksmith.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Alec listened patiently to Macradon as he spoke and began exiting his shop. Alex fell into easy step beside him as he began walking the streets of the Town of Beginnings with the Grandmaster Blacksmith on their way to Alec knew not where as they passed through various streets Alec listening quietly as the other man regaled him the earlier days within the game. Days when Alex had been shut up within his room at the Inn trying futilely to open his inventory or even equip or unequip a simple item. Those had been terrible times for Alex as he snapped out of his reverie seeing they had arrived another Blacksmith shop. Alec listened as Macradon made the introductions. "Greetings Sir." Alec began. "My name is Alec and as this fine gentleman has stated I'm hear to learn to be a Blacksmith." Alec informed the NPC named Cerdic. Alex listened to the quest giver as he instructed him to travel out into the wilds of the First Floor and gather 5 Tier 1 Materials and then return to him once he was completed. Alec nodded with a slight smile cracking the edge if his perpetual scowl. "Understood." Alec replied as he turned from the NPC to Macradon. "Well looks like it's time to play in the dirt." Alec stated with the faint edges of a smile still cracking the edges of his stern features.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon crossed his arms and leaned up against a nearby wall as Alec and Cerdic had their little back and forth, and as their conversation came to an end when Alec and Macradon met eyes, Macradon would nod with a smile, it was time to get some labor done. It wasn’t too noticeable, but if you really looked hard at it, Alec seemed to be … somewhat smiling, close enough to a smile  for Macradon to accept. “Seems like he’s ready to begin this, I’m eager to see what he might be able to do in the fields for gathering as well as his skills as a blacksmith.” Macradon thought for himself as he exited the blacksmith shop “See you later, Cerdic.” Macradon said as he went outside “Farewell, Master Macradon, and yes, we will accompany each other soon!” Cerdic said. Macradon would look over at Alec as the two would venture out of the Town of Beginnings “So, we’re just supposed to find a few materials, doesn’t need to be any specific, everything can be used for everything, so even if you find a particular flower, it can still be  used to craft some equipment … somehow.” Macradon said with a smile as he muttered the last word. “So, let’s get to it!” Macradon said and walked to the nearest forest, that’s where he usually found materials to begin with back in the days, hopefully the spawn rate of these were still going strong. But as Macradon walked around the forest floor, he found nothing, absolutely nothing. Confused by this turn of events, Macradon would stand up tall and look over towards Alec to see if he had had any luck.

ID: 117940
LD: 2+5+3=10, Nothing Found.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Alec accepted Macradon's nod and returned it as he turned to depart the Blacksmith's shop and accompany his new mentor out of the town and into to surrounding prairie and outlying forest. As the pair made their way through the streets of the Town of Beginnings Alec opened his inventory with a quick downward swipe of his index finger. He then quickly scrolled through his listed items until he came to the one item he was looking for and reached out and tapped it causing a smallish clear stone to appear within his hand as he closed his inventory and made his way outside the Town and followed the other man to the forest. As Alec began searching his surroundings for any useful Materials he let out a soft low chuckle as he rolled his Luck Stone around in the palm of his hand he spotted a mild glint from the corner of his eye and reached down pulling a small chunk if silvered ore from under a downed tree log as he held it up to show Macradon. "Found one." Alec announced happily in his deep baritone rumble of a voice as he placed the Material within his inventory and continued his search.

Spoiler

 

Roll: 117945

LD: 14+3=17 (Success)

+1 Tier 1 Material

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon smiled as Alec replied back to him that he had found at least on material “Awesome! Just 4 more and we’re pretty set on making this quest a success for you!” Macradon said, now eager to help Alec get this gathering task done, alone it could take a while, but with Macradon here, it probably wouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes to find all 5 materials, and perhaps even more if he were to just randomly spot some surfaced materials in the corner of his eyes. At least that was what Macradon usually encountered, but somehow, he fell short on his gathering capabilities. He should’ve at least have gotten an average of 3 materials by now, but he had nothing at all, he would only hope that Alec would be able to gather a bit and find what he needed, not relying too much on Macradon because of how ill Macradon was doing with his material searches.

ID: 117990
LD: 5+3+5=13, no material found.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Alec turned back to exploring his surroundings in search of more Tier 1 Materials he needed to complete his quest. Luckily he had Macradon with him his hopefully soon to be mentor. Gathering alone always seemed incredibly dull and boring but with another person along the companionship helped to ease the monotony and make the task more enjoyable. Now all Alec had to do was once he had completed levelling his skills he needed to become a Tank for the Front Lines then he could focus on levelling his skills to help boost his soon to get profession and the gathering skills needed to make Gathering a useful endeavor. Alec rolled his Luck Stone around in the palm of his hand as he continued his search for useful Materials. As Alec continued his search for Materials he continued searching but eventually came up with nothing of use. As he looked over to the other man and fave a slight frown. "Nothing here." he announced in his baritone rumble.

Roll: 117991

LD: 9+3=12 (Fail)

1/5 Materials

Edited June 6, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would sigh, it was a bit annoying that it was taking this long for two people to gather materials out here in the open, it shouldn’t be this hard, but maybe the spawn rate of materials had changed since he last used this spot for harvesting materials for his shop, maybe he had to find another spot, but for today, he would empty it out as much as possible. And just like that, after two successful harvests from both Alec and Macradon, they finally managed something. “Oh, I found something!” Macradon said as he went down on one knee to examine the ore he has seemingly found. Pushing aside dirt, roots and rocks, Macradon would unveil a big cluster of materials, 4 to be in fact. “I think this is already enough for you to begin your crafting at Cerdic’s shop if you’d like, but if you want to gather a few more materials, you’re welcome to do so.” Macradon told Alec, now confident that they were not only able to get back and clear the quest, but also give Alec some time to find good harvesting techniques when it was about ores and minerals hiding below ground. With a swift flick of the wrist, Macradon would open up the trade prompt and send over the four materials to Alec.

ID: 117992
LD: 16+8, Material Found!
CD: 12, 3 Bonus Materials!

Edited June 6, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Alec was awestruck by the easy with which Macradon had just found nearly every Material he needed for the entire quest in one fell swoop. "That was amazing!" Alec responded in pure admiration of the ease with which the other man had found the Materials. " I have to say I think your powers of perception exceed even those of the luckiest man I've met here in Aincrad, Dagger. Please let me know your opinion it's one of the reasons I sought you out and asked you to mentor me in this. I could use any and all advice you're willing to share." Alec replied to the other man. "If you feel we're good with these Materials then I'll follow your advice and head back but if you think it would be better to hint for a few more than I'm more than willing to put the extra effort in." Alec responded as glanced around to see if anything else was laying around. Alec looked up from his search empty handed to the other man for his suggestion.

Roll: 117993

LD: 1+3=4 (Nothing)

5/5 Materials

Edited June 6, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would smile as he was humbled by Alec’s comment “I might be perceptive, but it has only become so because of the events that had been following me through this game. It was not just all fun and practice that made me able to spot out things as they are, many bad people hiding in the shadows are what have made me so perceptive of my surroundings, which in turn helps me find materials and things like that on my journey.” Macradon said, somewhat sad that the only reason he’s good at what he’s good as is because of the fear, the paranoia, the defenseless feeling he had during the time of the Azure Brigade. Macradon would shake his head to get those bad memories out of there, and address Alec’s comment “It would be best for you to gather a good handful of materials, that way, you won’t run out that fast of materials when your shop opens and you have to either craft to level up, or craft for customers.” Macradon said  and would walk around the area to look for materials. As he followed the different tree roots along the ground, Macradon would find yet another small cluster of materials "Found some more for your small startup!" Macradon said and sent over the two materials he found to Alec.

ID: 117994
LD: 15+5+3=23, Material found!
CD: 4, Bonus Material!

Edited June 6, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Again Alec let a smile crack perpetual scowl at the ease with which the other man found Materials while Gathering. Alec let out a low chuckle as he continued his own search for Materials. "You know." Alec offered as he saw the quick flash of emotions cross the other man's face. "Your skill at Gathering reminds me of an old Chuck Norris joke." Alec began as he glanced at the other man and eagerly awaited the groan his joke was bound to elicit. "They say Macradon doesn't go Gathering because Gathering implies the chance of failure. Macradon goes finding." Alec ended the horrible joke as continued to search the surrounding area for more useful Materials. Alec knew exactly how bad his jokes were Danny groaned Everytime he told one but he couldn't help it he loved the old cheesy one liners and equally painful puns. It was just his style as he looked up from searching again empty handed. "Now it's beginning to feel more like me just following you around while you find everything I try not to get in your way." Also offered jokingly as his search again proved fruitless.

Roll: 117995

LD: 7+3=10 (Fail)

7 Materials

Edited June 6, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would laugh lightly as he replied “Oh boy, I haven’t heard a Chuck Norris jokes  in ages! Thanks for lighting up the mood in such a … I could even say, nostalgic feeling.” Macradon said with a big smile on his face as he kept on looking for materials. “I think 15 materials would be a good head start for the quest completion as well as your shops starting days. If you think it’s enough with what you got currently, we can go back and get your crafts going.” Macradon offered while still walking around the area, looking through every nook and cranny to find anything that would be of use for Alec. Once again, Macradon's odds had balanced themselves out again, he was beginning to really rack in the materials from gathering. His gain was average, small in sizes, but large in  numbers, which made this gathering session very efficient, even though it was Macradon doing most of the work. "With time, you will become just as good if not a better material gatherer if you either long for the Fishing skill or the Gatherer skill." Macradon would say as he sent over two materials again.

ID: 117996
LD: 11+5+3=19, Material Found!
CD: 4, Bonus Material!

Edited June 6, 2019 by Macradon

[Alec 0]

Alec smiled to himself as Macradon acknowledged his attempt to lighten the other man's darkened mood, that was one of the things Alec had always been good, that along with being a source of strength for others to rely on. Alec contiued his search for usable Materials in their immediate vicinity as he continued his searching. He really needed to find some Materials other than the first one which had started Macradon's steam rolling of finding Material after Material. So Fishing or Gathering the other man had said. "So Fishing is a good way to find Materials?" Alec asked shocked. "I knew you could fish here but didn't know that was a way to Gather. Which is a better way to Gather Materials? Gathering or Fishing? I had planned into future to puck up Searching so I could get Night Vision and to help find hidden persons to enhance my fighting abilities. But I always did love fishing with my son Danny before I got stuck in here." Alec offered as a look of nostalgia crossed his features at the thought of his lost son and wife in the real world while he was stuck in here. "I already have 38 Tier 1 Materials before any we find in here." Alec offered as he stood up holding another one.

Roll: 117997

LD: 17+3=20 (Success) +1 Material

10 Materials

Edited June 6, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would nod at the notion of the Fishing skill being good for gathering materials “Aye, fishing can net you some materials, it’s not the best at gathering, but in the right conditions and the right place, Fishing become optimal compared to the regular Gatherer skill, so a professional Fisher might net you a good amount of Materials for you buck instead of hiring a Gatherer or straight out just buy from a merchant, but since Fishing needs so much dedication to make it better than Gathering, people tend to not invest in either and just pay their way out or fight their way out of a bottomless pit of no materials. I’ve usually just fought my way through hordes of monsters and gotten material drops from there, but when I met a special someone, I found it much more calming and soothing to just go out and harvest them by hand instead of having monsters drop them.” Macradon said. He still remembered her, his first love in here, whom he had never seen in quite a while, still glad that that someone wasn’t dead, still out there living their life. Macradon would stand up from his gathering spree as Alec seemed to do so as well “If that’s so, let’s head back and get you that profession!” Macradon said with a thumbs up and a wink at the behemoth of a man compared to the small demeanor of Macradon.

[Alec 0]

Alec nodded as Macradon explained about Fishing and Gathering it made a lot of sense. "Guess one or the both of them will have to wait for a while then." Alec said to the other man. "My primary goal is make myself capable of joining the Front Lines as a Tank. Other skills have had to be put on the back burner till that's done I'm afraid. I have my Heavy Armor maxed but my Block, Battle Healing and Humphrey here's ability to heal are all in the infancy stages I'm afraid. Plus I have several mods I want yet so unless I sacrifice my aim if reach the Front Lines as soon as possible I'm afraid my profession will be forced to suffer. Hopefully I can limp along until everything starts panning out." Alec explained as he looked around their surroundings one last time before turning to his new companion. Picking another useful chunk of ore up out a hole with a small smile is he held it up for Macradon to see. "All right, I guess. Let's see if I can figure out how to make some of these into something useful." he said with a smile at the edge of his stern features. "I really appreciate all your help so far and your words of guidance." Alec said in his deep baritone rumble.

Roll: 118002

LD: 19+3=21 (Success) +1 Material

11 Materials

Edited June 7, 2019 by Alec

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would smile and reply “You’re welcome! I’m glad I’m at least to some use!” Macradon said sarcastically, making it sound like he was quite confident that he wasn’t useless after all, even though he had pretty much laid it up to be so, he even had thought so himself at the start of the day when he was asked to become a mentor. As the two ventured back to the main settlement of the 1st floor, Macradon would quickly reply to Alec “I’ll try to help you as much as I possibly can. A lot of what I do has no real way of just doing, it’s just been through a lot of experience. I’ll try to help you through my thought process when we craft in the smithy, but I’m not sure how well I can help you with what I got.” Macradon said. After a short while of walking, they arrived at the blacksmith shop of Cerdic. Macradon would once again enter and wave at the blacksmith “We’re back!” he exclaimed and ignored much of the dialogue from the NPC, walking straight into the smithy to inspect all the furnaces, mallets, anvils, and all other equipment that Alec was gonna use to learn with. “Master Macradon! Good to see you’re back already -” Cerdic said towards Macradon who walked straight by him “Ah yes, making sure your student has the proper tools today, sharp as always, Grand Master Blacksmith!” Cerdic said as he turned with Macradon walking by him, then turning towards Alec when he would enter “Welcome young master, I believe you have enough materials for us to begin working, come over here to the furnaces and I’ll help you through the basics of crafting!” Cerdic said, gesturing towards Macradon who had gone through a rather thorough inspection of everything in the smithy. “Seems like it’s decent equipment, but I got some better in my shop you can get when we’re done here.” Macradon said and set up two stools facing towards the biggest furnace in the smithy. Macradon would take a seat and gesture for Alec to take the other, for Cerdic was about to do some demonstration.