[F1-SP] <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>>

[Marius 0]

Unfortunately for Cathal, it would appear as though the time had come for him to step up and begin to work towards becoming a true protector for his grandson. Or.. should he call himself by his user tag now, Marius? After a brief moment of inner consultation, he would decide that it was indeed easier to simply go by the tag that others would see in place of his name, so he would go on to introduce himself as such when the time would come. Regardless, Marius now had a job to attend to and there were a few ways to get started with that endeavor. In order for him to protect his grandson, Erebus, he was going to need to level up and get stronger, and as such, he would start by doing so via taking on a quest. From his understanding, the most local quest that he could find at the time would begin somewhere within the 'Town of Beginnings.' The information pertaining to this quest had been rather well known by this point in time, thankfully, so for the most part he knew where it was that he was going to need to go. Given that fact, whilst his grandson would be sleeping, Marius would head on out and begin to make headway towards the quest giver, an old man NPC named Zackariah. It would take him a bit to find the proper location, given how little he had actually explored the Town of Beginnings previously, but he would eventually make his way to the outside of the shop in which the quest could be given. Acknowledging the sign that would indicate that this had indeed been Zackariah's workshop, Marius would proceed inside. 

[Marius 0]

After having pushed his way into the old man's workshop, Marius would begin to take in the scenery that would lay before him. For the most part, the old mans workshop had been rather cluttered with supplies, beakers, and other such testing apparatus's simply strewn about the shop itself. It was a bit of a mess, but honestly, Marius had been used to such a cluttered work space. After all, he himself had been an old man in the work industry so there were a few comparisons to be seen straight away. In addition to the many things strewn about the workshop however, there had been a simple man of true significance within his sight. There, before him, had stood a simple old man, with an appearance not entirely unlike his own, with a golden <<!>> currently residing over his head. 'This must be the quest giver.' With a slight sigh, Zackariah would begin to rub at the back of his head whilst growing closer to the NPC. As he had begun to do so though, Zackariah would begin to turn towards Marius with a slight smile on his face and tired yet exuberant eyes. This might not have been all that significant, but from what Marius could tell, there was some serious detail that had gone into this NPC. 'Oh? I suppose I should keep an eye on these NPC's..? Maybe I can learn a bit more about the games Artificial Intelligence in doing so, which could certainly help me further my own work once I get the boy and myself out of here.

[Marius 0]

Simply from getting a better look at the old man before him, Marius would ascertain the fact that this NPC had found himself to appear rather troubled. Curious about whether or not the quest was capable of being picked up while the NPC had appeared in such a state, Marius would begin to approach Zackariah, whilst placing a hand on the mans shoulder and simply asking, "Is something troubling you friend?" Upon doing so, the golden <<!>> that had been residing over Zackariah's head had begun to transform itself, the tip of the exclamation mark tilting and curving until it had appeared as so: <<?>>.  Marius hadn't really taken much time to associate with the NPC's of this world as of yet, given how much his focus had been on his grandson, so learning about the start of a quest had been rather new for him. Thankfully most of the information pertaining to such matters had already been placed out in a guide for a majority of the players. With tired, yet exuberant eyes, Zackariah would turn to face Marius and simply begin to shake his head from side to side, as though unsure of something.

From here, Zackariah would begin to speak up in a somewhat hushed and confused tone. "Hm..? Yes, yes. I am supposed to be brewing potions and offering teaching on how to do so, but it seems as though I've run out of materials to do so.. Would you perhaps be willing to gather some for me? I can't exactly pay you but I can reward you with knowledge. Does that work for you..?" Recognizing this as the start of the quest, Marius would simply begin to nod to the man before realizing that he should probably speak a vocal command to accept the quest. "Of course friend. I'll look around the first floor for a bit and see if I can gather any materials for you. I'm relatively certain that there is a garden somewhere around here anyways. How many do you happen to need by the way?" For the most part, the continuation of his conversation past the point of accepting the quest had been a test of sorts. He hadn't been sure of how advanced SAO's AI had been and figured that he could put them through the loops for a bit and learn a bit more about how they operate. Given the response that would follow though, Marius had found himself a bit caught off guard. "Ah, yes! Thank you, thank you. I would appreciate it if you could bring me back five Tier One materials. Just head on out into the wilds and bring them back for me. Make sure you keep yourself out of combat whilst out there. Who knows what kinds of things could be found in the wilds?"

[Marius 0]

The response that Zackariah had given Marius had outright shocked Marius. This AI in particular had seemed far more advance than anything he had previously worked on himself! The speech recognition and conversational analysis that the AI had maintained was certainly a notch above most games. It almost seemed as though the AI itself had been aware. Certainly a strange thing for him to encounter, but something that he should probably focus more so on when he has the time. With his grandson currently sleeping, there was only so much time left before he would need to return to him. With that thought in mind, Marius would go on to tell Zackariah that he would retrieve the materials for him and would then head on out of the building. From what he could recall overhearing in the square, there had been some should be some kind of garden on this floor that would produce materials in which he could retrieve. It would take him the better part of an hour or two before realizing just how large the Town of Beginnings had been. Realistically, he probably should have asked someone for help along the way, but he just couldn't muster up the courage to bother anyone with such a thing. After all, he didn't want to be a nuisance to any of the other players. Eventually though, he would find himself out of the Town of Beginnings and on the road heading out towards the forested region of the first floor.

[Marius 0]

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ID: 133506   LD: 7;  Failure

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by Marius