[PP->SP-F1] A Late Start! <<The First Few Lessons are Free>>

[Andromeda 0]

Right on—! The young adventurer found a flower dusted with gold only a little ways from the Starting City's gates. Bending down, she carefully plucked the material from its stem and a small smile of accomplishment tugged at her lips as she twirled it between her fingers. Large red petals encircled a golden core and it emitted a fragrant scent. An wasn't an expert in plants, but she could recall bees used to flock around similar-looking flowers in her family's garden.

Red... lily...

She placed the item in her inventory and the satisfying sight of an item crossed out on her list of objectives greeted her as she switched over to the quest tab. Currently, the quest window only displayed one other objective: [give the materials to Zackariah], but from the way other players talked about this quest, there was a little more afterwards. She dismissed all her windows and continued down the road. An didn't know, but she wanted to find it out herself. Consider it a small challenge to spice an otherwise basic beginner quest up!

Spoiler

Searching: Quest Materials
ID: 146896 | LD: 12

Quest Materials: 5/5

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

"Excellent work!" praised the elderly NPC. An would give a sheepish smile at the very thought — but she treasured the approval all the same. "Now, place your materials in this basket. I have something to teach you in return."

She followed as instructed and was ushered into a corner of Zackariah's tiny house.  

"Woah..."

It was a wonder how the NPC made use of every available space to neatly stash vials of different-colored alchemical concoctions and herbs and brewing apparatus of every type, while also leaving enough room of a couple of leather-bound books. Briefly shielding her eyes as Zackariah slid the curtains open, An was immediately drawn to its workstation. Beside what she figured was a brewing stand, unfamiliar tools of all shapes and sizes were lined up on the table like silver utensils in a fancy dinner. She tried to find some commonalities between them and the equipment in the science lab she used to frequent on the other side. They couldn't be too far in function. Alchemy was the origin of some science, right—? Zackariah had already begun to clear them out, but she couldn't resist picking one up and holding it against the sunlight streaming in from the window.

"There would be no need for that." Smiling gently, the old alchemist held out its hand in silent gesture for her to hand it over.

An pouted. "Aw, really?"

"That is a special tool used for harvesting [agafron seeds]. And that is too complex of an ingredient for you at the moment."

"Th-then," she began, red eyes shining at her own brilliant idea, "can you show me how to do that instead? This all looks interesting! Like the science experiments my classes used to do on the other side!"

Zackariah placed the rest of the tools away then looked down at her, its interest piqued. "'Like the'— ...so you have experience with alchemy?"

Slip of the tongue! It was hard not so speak so casually when the AI in front of her was made to look so exactly like a human. Its animations, the natural sound of its voice, how it seemed to have some 'life' in its eyes... and An hadn't expected it to react to a sentence containing a term it was unfamiliar with. It progressed the conversation like any other person, and now she was the one lagging.

Uhhhh.

This was a rare opportunity. Let's see how far she could go!

"We call it chemistry."

"'Chemistry?'" the NPC shook its head. Its expression conveyed some confusion, but it was nothing less than patient with the younger player. "You youngsters and your terms. What does this 'chemistry' entail?"

"I made a solution that dances to the beat of a stereo!"

"And does this 'chemistry' also involve brewing a potion with simple healing properties?"

"N-no." None that An knew of. Really, she had no way around that. She cupped the back of her neck sheepishly and continued, "We were always told not to drink our own experiments, so none of the things I did would really qualify. Ahahaha..."

"I see. You may have already been attempting some advanced work with that 'chemistry' of yours even though you skipped some of the fundamentals. However, that means I cannot give you all that you want to know at the moment." At her obvious disappointment, Zackariah gave a pleasant, understanding nod. He accepted the tool she handed back to him and stored it away with the rest. "With firmer foundations, you may see greater success in your experiments and you may even become a wonderful alchemist one day. For now, I hope to work on that by teaching you the basics of crafting a Healing Potion."

So in the end, the conversation led back to the same quest objective... An didn't push any more though, she was plenty satisfied with their interaction. This NPC was nice to talk to; she wondered if it retained its memories like many of the others. "Then, please teach me! It would be greatly appreciated."

The next half-hour was spent happily following along Zackariah's demonstration. She took a couple of the red flowers she gathered, plucked the petals off their stems, and sprinkled it into a mortar. Along followed a few more ingredients the elderly alchemist had her carefully measure in teaspoons. Grinding it all to a pulp, An stuttered with starting a small flame without a lighter as her mentor added a small cup of bitter-smelling liquid to the empty mini-cauldron.

"Would this taste bad?" 

She dreaded the answer. If she was supposed to do a taste-test during this quest, not only her instincts from her science classes on the other side have her recoiling, but any foul taste would also make it completely impossible for the girl to ever take any healing potions. Ever.

"It would, like most medicine."

"Blimey."

"But in the future, you could develop your own solution to make the taste more bearable," the NPC finished. It looked up from its own brew and gave her a good-natured smile. "Of course, the potions I'll give to you as an additional reward have been modified to simply taste like water."

Water?

Curious design choice, but now that her brew was starting to boil, An turned her focus back to her work. It took only a few more minutes before she funneled the steaming mixture through a filter paper and into a round glass vial. Grinning, she stepped back and compared her dark-red-ish output to Zackariah's flawless craft.

A prompt window appeared between her and the workstation, displaying the system's verdict on her craft:

[Rare Healing Potion crafted.]

Spoiler

Crafting: Healing Potion
ID: 148814 | CD: 9 [rare]

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

“There is room for improvement, but you did very well for a beginner.” Zackariah examined her potion then looked down at her with a twinkle in its eye. “Not many could craft a functioning potion on their first try. Might I suggest giving the alchemist path further consideration?”

NPC or not, the girl’s red eyes glimmered at the praise. 

“Maybe!” she decided without putting too much thought into it. Ordinarily, this was where this specific quest NPC’s relevance would fade away – all to be replaced by other citizens of Aincrad down the line – and where other players would simply follow where the system took them, An stayed, curious as ever. “Are you going to teach me more? I can do additional errands, of course, just like today.”

“You would do better under Miss Calora’s tutelage. She lives east of the trading district, and she’s known for guiding many adventurers like you on their pursuit of alchemy.” As it spoke, it cleaned and put away the tools they used until all that remained on the work table were the two crafted vials and a small leather sack filled with bitter-smelling herbs. “Thank you kindly for your assistance. Please take this pouch to Lyle Tealeaf. Your reward should be waiting for you in his forge.”

Default dialogue. 

An was a little… disappointed.

“Will do.” Before she could catch herself, she gave a small respectful bow before she took the small package. “Thanks for everything, sir!” 

With her next task appearing on her objective tracker, An carefully hopped past a crate containing vials of potions which looked remarkably similar to the one she just crafted. She glanced over her shoulder before she opened the door to see the old alchemist placing the newest craft with the rest.

How long would it stay there? The item? The memory? NPC guaranteed to interact with players or not, there had to be a limit to his storage.

The door shut behind her and instantly, she was ambushed by a familiar bundle of energy. “Big sis is back!!” (“Hey, slow down a little,” grumbled another voice just behind.) Tugging at her sleeve, it looked up at her, its excitement clear as day. “How was your adventure? Do you have another story for me?”

She held the pouch carefully out of reach. “Were you looking for me? You know your brother’s always here to play with you…”

“He’s always mad and busy, and he talks bad about you! Big sis is better!” Behind the smaller one’s back, a heated glare was pointed her way as the individual in question approached. The small child leaned back a little, blinking in sudden recollection. “Oh, but you know, he did say some–”

“Lance!”

NPC or not, when someone raised their voice around her, she always felt nervous to some degree. An smiled guiltily and held up both hands, her fingers curling around the neck of Zackariah’s pouch to keep its contents from spilling. “I solemnly swear I’m not up to no good.”

“That’s for me to decide when you’ve finally shown your true colors.” It rested a hand on Lance’s shoulder, a gentle prompt for the smaller of the two to let go, all while its olive eyes searched her countenance. It scowled and turned its head away when she looked back. “C’mon, Lance, she’s busy. You should play with your other friends today.”

What was with that misplaced resentment? Once again, An was curious!

“That’s okay!” she interrupted, and both looked at her – one joyful, and the other completely inconvenienced. “I’m heading somewhere, but we can talk on the way. He just wants stories, right?”

After a little more back-and-forth, the unusual trio of player and NPCs somehow maintained a decent semblance of a conversation on the way to the forge. For the convenience of beginner players, it wasn’t too far from Zackariah’s place, but it wasn’t so near either; her route passed a few notable landmarks in the settlement and ended in the middle of the trading district. “Wait here,” An told the two, briefly holding up the pouch to show them her business with the forge. She strolled in to find the blacksmith hard at work. Placing the sack down, she rang a small bell. “Delivery! From Mister Zackariah.”

She’d walked the outer zones of Floor 1 for the first time, gathered, crafted, then completed her first quest.

But for a start? 

She didn’t feel any different.

[quest completed.]

✦ ✦ ✦

Quote

@Andromeda
+ 4 SP
+ 400 col
+ [x5] Tier One Health Potions of Rare quality. -- +40 HP
+ [x1] Tier One Damage Potion of Uncommon quality. -- +1 DMG
+ [x1] Tier One Over-Health Potion of Special quality. -- +50 to maximum HP for remainder of thread

@Hydravion, @Dustin
+ 2 SP