[F1|PP] Nature's Treasure, ft. Cord

[Zajcica 0]

No matter how high of a level she became, Yuki always found herself coming back to Floor 1 for something or another. Whether it was to see friends she knew on the floor, to visit shops and check they're stocks, or, for her main purpose today, to gather materials for her crafting. She was beginning to run low after just a week of crafting and in that week, she was able to make strides in the cooking rank. Already halfway to maxing it out, and it's only been about six days since she unlocked it. All those buffs people recommended that she get really helped her level up quickly.

While walking through the Town of Beginnings, she was thinking about how bad her luck with materials was. She always seemed to have a difficult time finding them, unless she went and spent time to kill mobs with her thorns and horrible accuracy. Hopefully today she could get a good helping of materials wot ensure she'd be set for another week or two.

@Cordelia

Spoiler

General
Level: 15 | HP:  300 | Energy: 30 Hate: 1/3/4(M/H/C)

Stats
DMG: 3 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 35 | ACC: 0 | Thorns: 18 | Regen: 5

Skills
R2 OHAS, R1 Heavy Armor, Fighting Spirit, Concentration

Equipment(In use)
Regal Cuirass(Heavy Armor): 1MIT, 2 Thorns
Silver Serpent Ring: +2 LD
Covetous Gold Serpent Ring: +1 LD

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia's shoulders sagged. She hated gathering. It still amazed her that people did this for fun. What exactly was so fun about looking for materials? Exactly! Nothing! It wasn't like she could just go hunt during this. She physically couldn't. Her level was way too high to have lootable mobs spawn here, which really sucked. So everytime she wants some tier one materials she must stick to. . . gathering. 

Shame. 

"Gah, it's so warm," she whined under her breath, shrugging off her jacket and capelet before she folded it her over her arm. She had forgotten how warm this floor could be. She was used to much more. . . chilly weather. She lived on a floor where it was completely ridges and mountains and had a shop on one of the coldest floors to date-- so she supposed it would make sense she would suddenly feel the effects of warm weather as uncomfortable. 

---

ID: 138891
LD: 11+6=17, +2 Materials
Total Materials: 2

Equipped Gloves of Caerus: +3 LD
Consumed Super Lucky Fancy Asian Cheetos: +3 LD

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki walked through the grassen plains of the first floor, to start searching for materials. She despised this method of material hunting, but fighting mobs just took way too long as a tank. However, something caught her eye really quick. A silver haired woman that looked striking familiar. How could she forget the person who had saved her life on one of the higher floors. The dangers of that floor meant she had no time to actually thank her for saving her life, even after they made it back to the teleporter. Yuki rushed over to her.

"Oi! Sorry to bother you, but I couldn't help recognize you from that underground floor and I remembered that I didn't actually have time to actually tell you thank you for saving me." Yuki said with a bright smile to Cordelia. "I also realize that I never actually introduced myself. Watashiwa Yuki-desu, yoroshikune~ What are you doing on this low level floor?"

 

LD=8+3=11
1 Mat found

Edited March 30, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia's ears perked, her chin slightly lifting as she faced a familiar pinkette. She silently wracked through her brain before it clicked. Ah, right. She was there when Cordelia had taken the Ugzeke quest. . . "Oh, it's no problem," Cordelia said, giving the player a smile. "Anyone would've done the same. It wouldn't just be me." The silver-haired girl stuck her hand out. "My name's Cordelia, pleasure to meet you." She looked over her shoulder, sighing in defeat when she couldn't find anything. "Just. . . material gathering. I needed some tier one things for my shop. I haven't crafted anything for the tier ones in a while, and I'm running a bit low," she sniffed, turning back to the girl. 

"Are you here to do the same?" She asked, tilting her head. It would be nice to talk to someone while she gathered. It would certainly make the task a lot less. . . boring.

---

ID: 138897
LD: 3+6=9, Fail
Total Materials: 2

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki reached out her hand and firmly grasped Cord's thin hand in her own. Her grip was much more firm than Cordelia was probably expecting. The pink paladin smiled again as she mentioned her looking for materials, exactly what she was doing.

"Hey, but you were the one who did it, Cord. Not anyone else. I'm sorry that I put that pressure onto you." Yuki said, finally letting go of Cordelia's hand. "Yeah! I'm looking for Materials as well. I just started my own food grill on floor 22. I make a lot of traditional Japanese foods. I'm running out of materials for crafting to gain levels, so here I am."

She looked over where Cordelia looked, she seemed like she was checking for more materials. Yuki looked around herself for anything useful, but unfortunately her usual luck rang true. Nothing at all. She pulled open her HUD and sent Cordelia a party request with a smile.

LD: 7+3=10
Fail
Total Mats: 1

Edited March 30, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia released her hand from the girl's and grinned. "No, no. It's fine, really. I was already going to do that quest, it just so happened that you two were there when Ugzeke found me."

"Oh, you're a cook, too?" Cordelia clapped her hands together. "There seems to be a spike in those recently. . . I wouldn't have become one if I knew this many people were going to be cooks," she sighed, rubbing her neck with her free hand. "I run my own shop up on floor four. It's a small little ramen shop. It's not much but I do what I can. I don't go out of my way to try to make money. . . it's just so I can help out my boyfriend, but even then, he doesn't really need it," she chuckled sheepishly. 

The girl's peeked over the other's shoulder. "Oh, there's some," she exclaimed, skipping over to a patch of spring onion. "So, what specific foods to you make at your shop?" She asked, plucking a few stalks of the green material.

---

ID: 138899
LD: 20, +2 Materials
Total Materials: 4

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki laughed as she talked about only really becoming a cook for her boyfriend. The pinkette thought about her mother again, I mean, it was difficult not to think about her mother when it came to cooking.

"I've always loved cooking, so there was no way I was taking any other profession than that. My mother taught me how to cook after I got out of high school so I could make my own food when I moved out. It helped aft-" She stopped there, no need to bring that up right now. "Ah- nothing! My mom was just a big inspiration for cooking for me. I make anything you can think of out of a Japanese recipe book: Udon, Ramen, Bentos, Donburi, Sushi, etc. I haven't started charging anyone yet since I'm still perfecting my skills. Though, if you ever wanna stop by for something to eat, come up to Coral. It's right outside the safe zone." Yuki scooped up some of the onions for herself after Cord was done taking her share.

LD: 10+3=13
Materials found: 1
Total: 2

Edited March 30, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

"Ah, I was never really a cook outside of here," Cordelia murmured, pausing to think before she brushed off the weird interaction off. "Maybe that's why I only specialize in one dish," she mumbled, laughing to-- or more at herself. "Most of it just came from watching others cook," she chuckled, tapping the tips of her fingers together as she flashed the girl a sheepish smile.

"It's nice having someone to look up to like that," she commented, her voice trailing off for a few seconds before she came back to reality. "I certainly will! Mine's just outside of Snowfrost, you're welcome to come there if you want, as well. I've given up on trying to keep it lowkey. . . people just seem to find ramen no matter where it is," she shuddered, shaking her head. She had a small shop for a reason. She could barely serve one person, how would she be able to serve a whole shop full?

---

ID: 138901
LD: 6+6=12, +1 Material
Total Materials: 5

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki laughed with Cordelia when she mentioned her only specialty was ramen. She wondered how many times she'd made ramen herself while learning how to cook. After all, you have to learn the basic recipes before you move on to the more intermediate ones.

"Ramen isn't that tough, and it's not like Ramen Shop don't exist and basically only sell ramen anyways. I've seen a few. If you would like some tips to make your recipes even better, maybe we could share some time. You get better by learning from others, of course." The paladin smiled to her yet again. She was never really conscious that she smiled that much until she hung out with Life and realized how much she really did smile. Her grin could feel infectious to some people.

"So, what's it like being close to the front lines? It's my mission to get stronger and join the front to help us all get out of this digital prison. I'd like some insight."

LD: 1+3=4
Materials found: Fail
Total: 2

Edited March 31, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia nodded her head eagerly. "Really? That'd be great! Oscar doesn't really cook the kinds of things my shop has, so it's hard to learn sometimes," she admitted, "but if it's coming from someone experienced like yourself, then I'll gladly take on your offer!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. 

The girl shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. She had never really considered herself even close to the frontlines, but the numbers don't lie-- she was only a handful of levels away from the rest of the frontliners, which was really odd now that she thought about it. She was but a mere newbie all but a couple of months ago, and now she was already ready for the next floor raid boss. The amount of time that had passed since then still amazed her.

"The frontlines. . ." she murmured, trying to find the exact words for it. ". . . I wouldn't call it anything special. Of course, that must sound like blasphemy to everyone, but it felt. . . the same to me, I suppose. Something like that." Cordelia sighed, crossing her arms as she lowered her head in thought. "I think players sometimes forget that frontliners are people too, just like them. We aren't some god-like entity. Heck, even I used to think that, but now that I'm finally here, it's not any different than being a lower tier. The only thing separating frontliners from everyone else is numbers, I think some people tend to think otherwise."

Cordelia chuckled as she looked up at the player sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to get all philosophical."

---

ID: 138905
LD: 3+6=9, Fail
Total Materials: 5

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki smiled when she agreed to share recipes with her some time. More friends was always great, though she was starting to wonder how she had made so many insanely high level friends compared to friends her own level. The only people she'd really met that was her level was Luna and Rosary, She knew Rosary for about 5 minutes and Luna hasn't responded in some time to her messages. Hopefully she was alright.

"N-Not that I think front liners are invincible or anything. I get's there just as much a person as I am, but I want to be... Uh, I'm not sure. I want to be a hero to myself. To stay strong and get through this digital world not as a scared little kitten but a strong beautiful lion, whether I live or die." Yuki blushed a bit as she said that. "Maybe it's not something I should be thinking about. I just want to keep my spirits up. If I'm strong, I wont die.

LD: 3+3=6
Materials Found: Fail
Total: 2

Edited March 31, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia bit her lip. Somehow, she could see herself in this girl's shoes. In fact, she had been practically saying the same thing al but a few days ago. Her eyes downcasted to her feet as she thought about what Oscar had said. She sighed, smiling softly at her. "You can be strong without all the numbers," she murmured, feeling slightly hypocritical. "There are plenty of heroes out there that aren't on the frontlines." Her thoughts drifted to Solei, and then to Oscar. Oscar was her hero way before he had reached the frontlines, and Solei wasn't even close to being there, yet she was sure many people could call him a hero.

"Maybe strong people don't die," she muttered, under her breath, placing her knuckles on her hips as she gave the girl a small smile, "but they certainly can fall. Take your time, Yuki, don't make the same mistakes as some of the more crappy people out there, myself included."

---

ID: 138947
LD: 6+6=12, +1 Material
Total Materials:6

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki's smile faded for a moment. Was that not what she was saying? Or was Cordelia just pressing the fact further to ensure that Yuki wouldn't do anything stupid and get herself killed. She let the silver-haired girl finish before sighing.

"Cord, no offense, but I am tired of waiting to grow the will to be a strong person. I'm taking this stupid digital world by the neck and making it mine. At least if I do die down the road, no one can fault me for doing what I made me happy and what made me feel strong enough to die for. Heroes are born in many different lights, but I'm not actually here to impress anyone other than myself. I will take what I have, put it on the line and become stronger from the risks. I'll be a better person when I see my family again, and I won't regret anything if I do end up dying here. To sum it all up, I've made my peace and I'm going to do everything I can to keep my pride intact." Yuki came back, hoping Cordelia could understand her situation. Maybe she just sounded suicidal, but she would do whatever she needed to to become a hero to herself.

LD: 14+3=17
Materials Found: 2
Total: 4

@Cordelia

Edited April 1, 2020 by Zajcica

[Cordelia 0]

"I see," Cordelia murmured, giving her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "do whatever makes you happy." Something about Yuki made her think of herself. Or what she used to be at least.

"I don't plan on staying alive before we get out."

A small shiver went up her spine. It might've been the exact opposite of what she was saying but it still reminded Cordelia of her much. . . darker times. A place she never wanted to go back to.

"Anyway," Cordelia quipped, eager to change the subject, "have you been doing well in Aincrad so far? It has been some time since the game has started, and I've only just started meeting new people around a year ago. It's interesting to meet new people nowadays, I only hang out with the people I usually know." It was honestly more depressing when she had said it out loud. Most of the people she met were usually just one-time encounters. They would probably never see each other again after that.

---

ID: 139035
LD: 9+6=15, +2 Materials
Total Materials: 8