[PP|F1] <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>> Silence

[ChaseR 0]

It didn't take much more than her sharp words for him to instantly freeze right in his place and feel genuinely scared by how serious she got. He'd normally back down at this point, and he will, but... He couldn't just take her words and not even question her in the slightest, although he knew how serious she was. He remained silent upon snapping out of it, looking down at his own two hands and clenching them tightly, gritting his teeth. "F-Fuck... Damn it..!", he cussed in the back of his mind and punched the ground, tears beginning to form on the corners of his eyes.

"I've done nothing the past months. I don't want to stay useless like I have been. Can't I do anything to grow and help others as well?", he persisted even if he already knew what to expect for an answer, looking at her with a saddened and spiteful expression. Not spiteful towards her, but more so towards him. Words, especially coming from Chase's mouth, couldn't begin to describe just how he felt towards himself after how long he idly stood by. He stood by and all these people fought tooth and nail for his survival and escape from this world.

Spoiler

ID# 155405
LD 1

No materials found.
Total Quest Materials: 3/5

Edited June 26, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

She could tell her words got to him, but not really until she saw the tears forming at his eyes. Perhaps she was a bit too rough there, but she didn't want him to get the wrong idea. After a deep breath, she put her blade on the ground and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Anyone in this world can be a hero, but you can't help anyone if you don't first help yourself. I am telling you that you cant help anyone if you don't first learn the basis of the game. Everything here has a reason. This quest is meant to teach you how together to make items like I do. Players use them as currency as well. The quest has exclusive sp, which basically means that once you past level 16 you can't cash in on the experience. Think smart and maximize your potential, then you'll be able to help others."

[ChaseR 0]

The blue-haired male simply nodded at her and wiped his tears away, asking as his face shifted back to determined, even if she could still hear the sadness in his words. "I see. I'll learn the basics with you then. Sorry for burdening you, but...", he took a deep breath, even if shakily, pinning his gaze to the ground and lifting his hands again, keeping an eye out for any materials scattered around that he could pick up. He got lost in deep thought momentarily, only snapping back to reality because of the rustling grass around them from the soft breeze that began to blow.

It didn't look like anything else had spawned near them for him to pick up, but that didn't make him deter at all this time. He lifted his head and looked back at Shay, giving a small nod before he called her by her name for the first time. "Shay. Help me learn the game, let's train and make it to the frontlines. We have to get back.", he stated, his voice unwavering this time around. "I don't care how long it takes. Let's just not die."

Spoiler

ID# 155410
LD 8

No materials found.
Total Quest Materials: 3/5

Edited June 26, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

"I'll teach you the best I can." The girl says, keeping an eye out for those elusive glowing materials. "I only know the basics of MMORPGs in this setting since it isn't anything like I've played before, but I bet it has the same skeleton. We'll continue to keep the front lines in the back of our minds while we grow out here. I refuse to take you into combat without first getting you a level up or two. Keep looking for materials so we can go and get this done. The longer you spend thinking, the less time you're using to actually get stronger."

Shay never really talked this much, but she was sure that this boy needed a reality check. Wishing to be a member of the front lines isn't much of a sin or anything, but it wasn't all roses and rainbows. She would have to teach him how to keep himself alive, then the two of them can duo their way up the ranks.

Materials found: 0
Total: 2

[ChaseR 0]

As hard as it was for Chase to stop thinking about it, he tried his best to focus on the gathering. It wasn't really helping, hos little they were doing, but it'd definitely get buried deeper and deeper in the back of his mind as days keep passing and he gets stronger and stronger, finishing more and more quests alongside Shay. "Okay. Thanks.", he shortly responded, unsure what else to say. 

Although, just as he was about to go completely silent, an interesting question came to mind. Once more, his eyes ran up and down Shay as if he was inspecting her. She was leveled, maybe too much so compared to him. So he was curious... "Up to what floor have you reached?", he expressed his curiosity genuinely for once, showing even in his voice. Considering she wasn't too many levels ahead of him, he could measure how much he'd need to learn the world until he caught up to her, slowly but steadily. 

Waiting for an answer, he turned his head to see a glowing material further out and with a small smile, picked it up before tucking it in his inventory along with the rest. "Just one more to go."

Spoiler

ID# 155666

LD 12

Materials Found: 1
Total Quest Materials: 4/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

Shay cocked a questioning gaze. Not because she thought it was a dumb question or anything, she just seems to have misunderstood if she meant the front lines or herself personally. 

"I am unsure if you mean the front lines or me. So, I'll just answer both: The front lines have currently cleared up to floor 24. I believe they recently had a meeting, or are about to have one about the boss situation, but I have no idea where and have no reason to be there for it. If you want to know what floor I've been to, I have visited everything up to Floor 4, where I live." She had lived in that shop for awhile now as a makeshift home. She really needed to go out and gain some money to get a bigger residence. "However, we're going to be spending a few hours doing these quests so don't worry about going higher just yet. We'll get to that." Her tone was no longer harsh, just a feeling of sureness.

Materials found: 0
Total: 2

[ChaseR 0]

With a slow nod, he felt satisfied with that answer. She was so much stronger, yet she had only reached three floors higher than the start. It didn't take long before another question went her way. "Floor 4... Is every floor the same all across? Is all of the first fields like this?", Chase asked, uncertain if the terrain would change any. He didn't know if there even was any town further down, let alone what it could look like. All he had ever known was the Town of Beginnings and even that he didn't know in full. He'd never wandered down the alleyways or less populated areas yet in fears of being attacked, kidnapped, or even worse, killed. 

Truth be told, he had no idea what safezones were. He thought since the town has people, nobody would attack out in the open and become a target. That's why he believed them to be safe. "What do the monsters look like?", he continued, seeming naturally curious about his surroundings. He didn't happen to find any materials again, but he only needed one, so the bluehead paid no mind. 

Spoiler

ID# 155668

LD 5

Materials Found: 0
Total Quest Materials: 4/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

Shay thought about it.

"Hm, the next two floors up are pretty much just giant forests from what I remember of being up there short times. I live on floor 4 though, so I spend most of my time there. It completely covered in snow. My house sits outside of the safe zone area on top of a hot spring that keeps my entire house warm. It's pretty nice." She didn't really mind the cold weather all that much since she was from northern Japan. It usually got somewhat cold in the winter up there, so it was just like that, but perpetual.

"I know there are weak bosses on floors above us, so might be jumping around a lot at first, but there isn't much reason for us to go past floor 6 until we are around level 25. Once we hit that level, it'll be a lot easier to beat those higher floors."

Materials found: 0
Total: 2

[ChaseR 0]

Of all the things Shay mentioned, there was one in particular that caught his attention. He seemed all too focused for a moment, looking at her in confusion before he repeated the term she just threw as a question. "... Safe zone?". Chase thought about it for a single moment before he asked. "But they're not really safe. You can still die in towns if there aren't many people around to stop the attacker.", he continued, furrowing his eyebrows. Hopefully Shay would correct him on that and teach him what safezone actually meant. He knew too little for his own good, which prevented exploration even in no PvP or monster zones. 

The way he saw the game, it was a fantasy setting with few rules applied. Game logic wasn't there for him, any term would fly over his head as any new lingo would. "Are they actually safe..? Is that a game term or is that her knowing she's strong enough that no attacker can pose any danger..? I mean... A cut is a cut, even if it's from a low level monster it has to still be very damaging...", he rambled in the back of his mind, spacing out. With no material to shine in his face showing up, he remained lost in thought.

Spoiler

ID# 155727
LD 1

Materials Found: 0
Total Quest Materials: 4/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

The crimson eyed woman pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed audibly. This man really was nothing but a noob, not only to SAO but to freaking MMO's in general. She had so much to teach him in so little time. Finally, she let go of her nose and looked over to him, still not really sounding mad.

"A safe zone is around every settlement that protects players and non-player characters while they are inside it. If this is your first time ever leaving the Town of Beginnings and heading into the field, then this is the first time that you have ever been vulnerable to death. Once you are out here, you can die via monsters, another player - they have orange cursors but some of them aren't crazy its a bit hard to explain - and you can die from falling damage or status effects that deal damage over time." She feels like she could have said that in a single sentence if hadn't been for the fact that she couldn't use acronyms.

Materials found: 0
Total: 2

[ChaseR 0]

As she spoke, it struck him and he only slowly nodded. What an info dump, but a useful one at that. "H-Huh... You're right...", he looked down at his hands silently, squinting his eyes before he averted his gaze back towards her. "It's still a game, isn't it. So rules can just exist like that.", he replied, realising that all this time he was scared of exploring the town all for nothing. "So that's why there are no guards in the plaza or patrolling the town, but just at the gate?", Chase slowly connected the dots, nodding to himself. "I wonder what other rules exist in this world that I don't know."

He let out a deep sigh, figuring he'd just find out as they went further and further. Tagging along would be enough to pick up tidbits of information on the rules and the world they lived in, but... "I'll have to pay very much attention... Ugh...". Just thinking about it tired him. Speaking of tiring, the material searching was starting to get on his nerves. At least it'd help him level up, so that couldn't be all too bad.

Spoiler

ID# 155730
LD 10

Materials Found: 0
Total Quest Materials: 4/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

Shay went quiet for now. She was so deep in her own head space wondering what would be next from the boy, but this time he came at her with nothing whatsoever. The thing about guard were apparent, but he seemed to already realize that so there was no need to go further on the subject. Instead, she looked around for materials. She had yet to find too many now and was wondering if she'd even get enough to supply a days worth of crafting at this point. Not that she cared too much, honestly. She could always go and hunt down some random mobs to get materials and Col off them.

The boy had gone quiet for sure this time, so Shay wasn't sure what to say at all. There would be all the time in the world to level up and talk about what a build is. Also what kind of rules the game set that differed it from the real world.

Materials found: 0
Total: 2

[ChaseR 0]

Shay's silence got met with an even quieter Chase. He eventually snapped out of it and went back to looking through the grass, squinting his eyes and biting his cheek just slightly, groaning. "So do materials just appear like that or do they have some time interval between each appearance..? There has to be some pattern to it at least...", the bluehead wondered and pondered the many mechanics and questions of life, in this world at least, just because he hadn't seen a material or two for three or so minutes. Honestly, if he weren't trapped in here, he'd consider this an early sign of insanity.

Before the existential dread got enough time to settle in, he saw something glowing and forgot everything about the pattern to spawns. He picked it up, finally having gathered all five of the materials and letting out a deep, loud sigh of relief. "I got them all, Shay.", he stated and looked towards her with a small smile, knowing it's not much but being quite happy to have finished the first part of the quest successfully on his own. "Where to?"

Spoiler

ID# 155751
LD 13

Materials Found: 1
Total Quest Materials: 5/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

Shay groaned a little as she realized she wasn't getting more than two measly materials to add to her waning supply. She had hoped to find more, but leveling was more important that crafting.

"Now we head back to the quest giver and he'll teach you how to do basic crafting. The system helps you, so you don't need to know how to actually do it." She explains. While heading back to the safe zone, she keeps any eye out for at least one more material but ultimately finds nothing.

It doesn't take long for them to make it back to the kindly alchemist that originally sent them on the fetch quest. Upon entering, he welcomes them back.

"Ah, you've returned, perfect timing! I've just arranged the alembic for use. Please, give it a go. It's not difficult at all. Just mix the materials into the alembic and watch them turn into a healing potion!"

Materials found: 0
Total: 2

[ChaseR 0]

The boy nodded at Shay while they travelled, confused as to how the system would really help. It doesn't have a physical manifestation after all. "... Does it?". As conflicted as he felt, he simply decided to shrug it off and kept silent, swinging his head along his steps left and right on the way to the alchemist's humble abode once more. He listened to Zackariah's instructions, opening up his inventory and hesitantly taking one of the ingredients out of it. "So just throw them in... Right.", he nodded slowly and put the ingredient in, taking a deep breath and waiting for a result.

Spoiler

ID# 155763
CD 12

A bright blue glow blinded Chase as he quickly put his hands in front of his eyes, before he only saw a health potion on the bench. He picked it up, opening the interface to see that it was of Perfect quality, letting out a low groan and furrowing his eyebrows. "S-So all I had to do was dump in the material... And that's enough to make a perfect potion..? If that's the case, the system did it, I was the one assisting...", he mumbled lowly to himself, obviously happy that he accomplished it but at the same time, taken aback from how underwhelming it was. Always better than nothing though, definitely.

Edited June 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

Shay stood with her arms folded. She had been lucky to get even a few perfect crafts and yet he had nailed without hardly doing anything on his first try. For her, she had to learn how to play the damn piano for years just to undertake such a profession only to have her crystal shatter into pieces more times than she could count on five hands.

"G-Good job." She wasn't outwardly angry, but it was still annoying none the less.

"Oh before I forget, I have one more item on an agenda to take care of." The NPC lifted a box from behind the counter and put it down on the wood in front of ChaseR. "Could you please take this to a friend of mine by the name of Lyle. His blacksmith is a couple blocks away. I think your friend there might know where he is."

Shay sighs and beckons him to follow her.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase slowly nodded and stashed the potion into his inventory, letting a sigh and taking the box in his hands. "Right behind you. Thank you, old man.", Chase dipped his head in towards Zackariah and then exited the shop, following right behind her with his eyebrows furrowed. "That... That was too easy, wasn't it, Shay?". He still had his doubts about who was helping who at this point, but it'd be rude to not settle for the best, if that's how luck wanted things to be. "Shouldn't it have taken more tries or uh... Some tutorial or something..? It feels weird to just get something perfect by dumping in ingredients and staring..."

Little did the male know, just how much he was probably rubbing salt in her wounds unintentionally. Not only was it incredibly lucky, getting a perfect potion just like that, he was oblivious to it and wanted to talk it over with her, believing she'd know more considering she had a profession and most likely had also dabbled into crafts before. "It's happened to you too, right?", he finished, seeming to have gotten much too talkative now that they were so close to finishing the quest.

[Shay 0]

Shay's frustration was hidden under the thick curtain of raven-strands. She just tried to get of the subject, but now he was rubbing it in, albeit unintentional, she can't help but let the stress of her grinding teeth take over.

"The system does most of the work." The girl finally barked out, not making any eye contact. "Crafting is a lot of luck and experience in the skill to create stuff. The first one has it's parameters lowered from what I know so that means that your luck was a little bit easier than what you would deal with when you actually learn the skill. That is, until you start leveling up."

She was doing her best not to show her frustration, but it was apparent in her voice now. She led the duo to the quest's end by way of the streets, only taking about ten minutes or so to reach their destination. "Here, give him the package so we can get you some gear and start the second quest.

[ChaseR 0]

Hearing her voice, it was more than apparent he was doing something wrong. Getting discouraged by the frustrated tone he remained silent all the way, simply following along until they were there. He gave her a nod and delivered the package, placing it down and stretching afterwards as he let out a deep sigh, finishing the quest. He looked over her way once the quest completion message appeared in front of him, coughing dryly and opening his menu as he seemed to look through his inventory a bit. "It's not because I messed up, but..."

Chase looked over at Shay and tapped her on the shoulder, furrowing his eyebrows and wearing a determined expression on his face. "Hey, since we're already on with this... Before we start, can I give you something?", he vaguely said, ignoring how his inventory screen was see-through, even though in reverse. Well, it's not like the dry bread was going to be a bad present... "I-I seriously don't have anything better... Damn it... I might look like a cheapskate, but... I'll have something better next time, for sure. Definitely."

[Shay 0]

Shay's crimson eyes darted over to him when he brought up the notion of giving her something. He had an item that he wanted to give her? If it was the potion that he just made, she was going to be even more than pissed.

"Yeah sure, what is it?" She tried to relieve some of the growing tension in her tone as she spoke. Slowly the tenseness in her muscles faded and her facial features weren't as glowering as they were earlier. "I apologize for yelling at you the way I did earlier as well. I am not the best with choosing the correct words to satisfy others and I am usually pretty direct. I suggest that if you can't take my criticism, you learn how to deal with it or you don't party with me."

Blunt as ever, the raven-haired assassin was known for being a bit harsh. Years of being pent up and pampered by their family can really make for annoyed emotions.

Spoiler

Rewards:

SP: 2 quest; 2 page; 1 event
Col: 400 per player

ChaseR
- 5 Tier One Health Potions of Rare quality. (+40 HP)
- 1 Tier One Damage Potion of Uncommon quality. (+1 Damage)
- 1 Tier One Over-Health Potion of Special quality. (+50 HP to maximum HP for remainder of thread)