[F1/SP] <<The First Few Lessons are Free>>

[Sumire 0]

(set about 3.5 ingame years ago)

A certain teenage witch was not happy.

That wasn't really anything new; this bullshit death game thing had turned her into a bit of a wreck for a while. No big deal. It's perfectly normal, she had assured herself; NORMAL teenage girls didn't have to deal with being thrown into a life or death situation in which a single wrong move, even picking one uncertain fight, could lead to having their brains melted, or whatever that Kayak Arknights guy had said, the one who said he made all this. She didn't know what his name was but was pretty sure she had seen a TV commercial mentioning him once, and that was pretty close to the right spelling.

No, the real problem here was that she was bored, and things that fixed being bored cost money. Prices were cheap around here, but what had seemed trivial initially definitely seemed like much more of a concern after what could by some perspectives be considered unwise spending of limited funds. She still had enough for a while, but she refused to live here like some common... whatever the non-people here were. NPC? She had no idea what that stood for, but they weren't people, so it didn't matter.

All the players who mattered were off on on higher floors of this nightmarish clusterfuck of a world, which might as well be another world entirely as far as she was concerned, fighting and dying and all that other stuff she didn't care about doing. And while she was pretty sure she could bum some money off the other players living here, that seemed like a last ditch resort rather than something she actually wanted to do. Just because she didn't really care about them didn't mean she wanted them to starve to death or anything. And so she would lower herself to the darkest, direst fate for one such as her, barely a step above indentured servitude.

A part time job.

[Sumire 0]

Now she hadn't COMPLETELY ignored everyone around her this entire time. Sabrina was well aware that enemies dropped yen, or uh, whatever the currency in this game was called. Some bullshit. Col maybe? She had kinda glossed over it and had to doublecheck in the inventory menu. But that was how frontliners 'farmed' money, they called it; not by actual farming or irrigation techniques or months of time growing things, but by beating the shit out of some imaginary creatures. Honestly, if farming in the real world was more like that, she'd probably be more interested in it.

The problem with this so-'called 'farming', of course, was that you could die doing it, and she wasn't really enthusiastic about that prospect. So instead of risking life and limb for a few measly col, she was wandering around the Town of Beginnings or whatever pretentious bullshit name it had looking for these not-players with gold... icons over their heads. Apparently that was how you found quests, usually, though sometimes the not-people didn't have the icons and you had to actually waste time talking to them. Yawn! Smiling sweetly at someone walking past and holding back a smirk as they nearly tripped, she immediately tuned them out and went back to focusing on her grand task.

...Apparently she didn't qualify for nearly as many quests as she had assumed, because half an hour later she had only found one that seemed to actually be open for her, from some gross old guy she didn't really want to even interact with, but c'est a vie. That was French. She didn't know shit for French, but one phrase was better than zero, and it was totally romantic to say, even if you didn't pronounce it at all like it was spelled.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

His voice was aged, but well enunciated and clear to understand, his words picked for what she could only assume was maximum old timer bullshit vibe. "Greetings, young lady! You look a bit lost, would you like some help?"

Sigh. Stifling the actual sigh and just imagining it in her head, Sabrina did her best to not let any of her frustration show on her face, giving the old fart a pleasant enough smile to appear as the polite young lady she was pretending to be. Her pleasantry didn't quite extend to her tone. "Sure thing, gramps. What do I need to do, gather ten bear asses?" Hey, that was actually pretty funny, she was gonna have to save that one for later. For better or for worse, the old man completely missed her light sarcasm and laughed jovially as if what she had said was actually funny, successfully making her feel like he was laughing at her and like she was the worst person in the game for being such a bitch. It was an... abstract kind of feeling.

"No, young lady. Even a brave young adventurer such as yourself should keep an eye to your survival. Before fighting those bears, why don't we get you some health potions instead?" Seeing the blank look on her face, too confused to even hide it, he continued. "Health potions allow you to recover health immediately, and can be very useful in combat. Not one adventurer should leave home without them! You likely already have a few, but you can never have too many." Okay, that did sound pretty useful. In the normal game, he was probably pretty ignore-able, but given the circumstances... "...Yeah, alright, hit me. With the potions, not with - nevermind."

[Sumire 0]

The old coot gave her a wry chuckle and she could almost feel a vein pop at how much he was dragging this crap on, but kept quiet as he continued. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me gather some materials. You'll need to know how to craft your own potions in the future after all miss, unless you want to rely on others forever!" Her initial reaction was to snap back at him, that last bit sounded a bit too personal, but when her brain caught up a few moments later the perplexed look on her face spoke to the belated realization that he... actually had a really good point. Not that she would mind him making all her potions for her, but it DID seem smart to know how to do it herself, too. She didn't plan on joining the frontlines or anything crazy like that, but who knew what might end up happening here? She didn't want to die in a ditch with a pocket full of posies after all.

Apparently she wasn't doing a very good job at all of keeping up with the conversation or measuring her reactions, because he reacted as if he'd read her mind, or her face, she wasn't sure which prospect bothered her more. "Don't worry, finding the materials isn't that difficult. You can borrow these notes. They describe what some of the leaves and salves that can be used are. It's not an exhaustive list, but for a simple health potion it should be more than sufficient." true to his words, he offered her a few pages of... well, at least some of it looked like another language, but the majority was surprisingly easy to read.

Sabrina skimmed over it for a few moments to familiarize herself with the gist of it, then looked back up, offering a somewhat more genuine smile than before. "Thanks, uh..." "Zackariah, ma'am." "Thanks, Zack. I'm... Sumire." Apparently if you told people in the game your real name, they would hunt you down and do terrible things to you, this "in game name" thing was pretty serious. It made her feel almost like some kinda secret agent. Sabrina Bond. Stirred, not shaken. Now she just needed some floozy hanging off of her to complete the look. For the first time in a while, she almost missed- no, no she didn't. She was FINE here by herself. She didn't need any of those slackers. Not now, not ever.

[Sumire 0]

Finding her way out of town was little issue given she'd been leaving here for a year and a half, but it WAS the first time she had actually gone outside since the death game thing started, and Sabrina found herself standing there for a time, feeling for all the world like some country bumpkin on their first visit to the city. The sheer... scale of the world around her was so impressive for how fake it was. Emerald grasslands sprawling under the golden rays of the sun for as far as she could see, trees and mountains(?) in the distance. She'd heard rumors of there being much greater danger around the mountainous area, but like hell was she planning on going there to find out. She couldn't help but wonder how many of the names on the big-ass monument in town had had similar thoughts go through their head shortly before dying horribly.

The newbie adventurer shook those thoughts off as stridently as she could. No one was gonna do any dying today. She wasn't even going to fight a damn thing if she could help it, just do some light exploring, keep an eye out for some good materials, and then skedaddle on home. Skedaddle... dad had said, hadn't he? Blah. All this deep thinking bullshit wasn't her. Just keep your eyes on the ball Sabrina. Get the goodies, get home, get free potions. No biggie. You're a big girl now, you can handle this, just absolutely DO NOT think about all the people who have apparently died to these early enemies.

...Too late.

[Sumire 0]

Apparently there wasn't much of culinary value right next to the gates where she would have felt safer, so with a bit of grumbling and cursing under her breath, Sabrina had eventually found herself further afield than she would have liked, a good twenty or thirty-ish minutes walk away from safety. Of course, she wasn't an idiot, so she had kept an eye out for monsters and steered WELL away from any she saw. The only thing worse than picking a fight she couldn't win would be getting hit from behind by one while she was trying to focus on gathering these damn materials, and she was NOT about that 'death from behind' life at freakin' all!

A blotch of red amidst green grabbed her attention, revealing itself to be not a vicious creature, but an unassuming... berry bush?

Spoiler

155566 

Loot die: 4

"I mean... they LOOK edible," she mumbled, but after a few tense moments consigned herself to looking at the notes.

....WOW, those were way more poisonous than she would have guessed. Maybe high level players had more, but it was real fuckin' hard not to notice that 20/20 HP thing she had going on, and these sumbitches looked like they'd do a bigger ratio of that number than she was fond of.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

Okay, okay, it was perfectly normal to have a few hills to crest along the way to perfection. No big deal. She wasn't doing anything wrong, those red berries were just a load of crap that it was... probably for the best she hadn't tried to taste test. "Thank you, almighty papers," she grumbled with little to no sarcasm evident - or intended for that matter. There weren't actually any enemies nearby, but if she'd tried that poison-ey stuff and then gotten ambushed, she would have been in some serious trouble. Now... were these ALL the same berry? Some of them looked different, but she wasn't sure if they were unripe, or ripe, or... something else entirely. Hmmm. What wisdom did the great God of the Written Sheet have to share with her?

Spoiler

155569

Loot: 13

...Ah, those were the unripe form of the berry, and they were... oh. Good. Even MORE poisonous. Yes, that was exactly how this should go. From normal poisonous to 'vomit out your intestines' poisonous. She was off to a WONDERFUL start, huh? Did not-poisoney stuff even exist here? Had she been sent on a wild goose chase, searching for a Holy Grail that might not even exist? Was anything even real?

Oh. Huh. Apparently they were HELLA poisonous, but if you mixed them up right and mixed them with the proper reagents, they were safe, and a potential ingredient for potions...? Ah, whatever, at this point she would take it. And... did exactly that, by taking them.

"Alright, enough of that. Those... flower ish things look promising."

Quest materials: 1/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

Did they? Up close, it was actually harder to tell. Sabrina wasn't, like, the goddess of flowers or anything, but she was pretty sure something was weird about these. It was kinda concerning to even touch them after the other berries turned out to be so damn poisonous; were the sorta fuzzy looking.... thingies on these flowers actually fuzzy, or like, super death poison stabbers? If the wind started blowing hard enough, was she about to get a faceful of guided death missiles, Nature's way of telling her to gargle a cactus? ...Surreptitiously looking around her just in case anyone was watching, the wayward adventurer shuffled around the flowers to be a little less downwind and pored over the damn paper that now governed her life.

Spoiler

155576

Loot: 11

After reading over the list twice, she grudgingly accepted that the flowers didn't actually seem to be on it at all. Either ol' Zachapoo was trying to get her killed, or these were neither useful nor dangerous. Hmm... another glance around for monsters, and she carefully stretched out her hand to grab them, ready to recoil in unending agony.

...Huh, they WERE kinda fuzzy. Hehe. It was sorta funny feeling. She giggled helplessly at the strange sensation. It was so strange for some fake flowers in a video game to feel so real, even weirder than a normal flower but no less genuine. 

-------

future edit: forgot that LD for gathering was 11 instead of 15 here, gonna pretend that was a fail

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

A short time later, her flower-floofing completed without injury and the flowers still standing proudly where they grew, Sabrina left them to their own devices to compose herself. Yes, the fluffiness had somewhat satiated her frustration, but she had been out here for a little while with absolutely nothing to show for it yet. She hadn't expected to find everything instantly on the first try, but admittedly the half-blood had expected a more even progression. No wonder she had never really gotten into video games. If this was the best they had to offer, rolling some stupid dice over and over until you found what you wanted, she didn't get what gamers saw in this stuff.

Spoiler

155588

Loot: 4

Onwards and upwards, huh? Except the only place she was going was Bullshit Junction, 'cuz these berries weren't even on the damn list either, and unlike the flowers they just looked kinda like budget raspberries. Which was kinda cool in its own way admittedly, berries that DIDN'T explode you were cool, but that didn't mean they were safe to eat either. Touching flowers was one thing, but slightly shaken by the poisonous berries earlier she didn't want to risk eating these.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

Ok, ok, it wasn't THAT bad really, or at least that was what she kept telling herself as her temper continued to fray. Yeah, it was... not great, and this quest was a load of bullshit designed by the kind of lunatic who would trap a few thousand people in a death game, but that didn't mean she was giving up - it was personal now. She would find these damn... whatever thingies... if it killed her, hopefully not literally, but if it would spite the lunatic who designed this crap, she was willing to consider that too. Try wiping THAT much blood off your face, Mr. Insane Science Asshole. It'd be more satisfying to kick him in the junk until she ensured he would NEVER reproduce, but that would be an acceptable followup. ...Would that be considered a weird motivation for becoming a frontliner? Wanting to kick the guy who made this game in the junk a bunch of times?

Spoiler

155589: Loot 16

Contemplating the pros and cons of CBT, Sabrina walked right past the blue-speckled bush and was half a dozen feet beyond it before she abruptly stopped, turning around in amazement at the discovery. Hey, didn't that look a lot like... this time knowing what she was looking for, it was actually quite quick to find what were possibly called Fremckleberries, unless Zach had had a stroke while writing it. She supposed that was about as possible as the rest of all this crap.

Quest materials 2/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

It was amazing how much a stroke of half decent luck could do to change one's mood, and as her fury from before fled into the night there was a bit more of a spring in her step as Sabrina started paying a bit more attention to whatever was going on around her. Thankfully there didn't seem to be too many monsters around, she had barely seen any in a bit now. Maybe walking off the beaten path was wise. Or maybe you were supposed to be bored. Before this place turned into a death game, she would have expected there to be a lot more enemies to keep all the players busy. Maybe the 'gamers' were supposed to fight with each other over the enemies? This "PVP" crap was apparently a big deal for some people, and 'Rina didn't get that at all. What was so cool about murdering each other? Before the death game thing obviously. Now it was clearly bad, but even then it just seemed... dumb?

Dammit. Focus. So what else DID she need? Hmm. The berries were good. There was also some kind of.... ok, she didn't even know what that meant, but some kind of... roots, huh? Hmm, that looked oddly familiar for... some... reason...

Spoiler

155590: Loot 19

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Without even having the decency to give a damn about anyone hearing her, though with just enough presence of mind to look around for enemies, a fuming wannabe witch walked angrily back to the fuzzy flowers and viciously uprooted one, which, yep, had the EXACT god damn roots she was supposed to be looking for. Normally she'd be happy, but having her feelings toyed with by an uncaring god of chance was a crime punishable by a thousand years of torture. Possibly more if she wasn't at least a bit closer to her goal.

Quest materials 3/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

To some degree, Sabrina was acutely aware that she was being a bloody child about this. She wasn't dumb. Not that smart either, she had faced that down long ago, but no matter how much her emotions ruled her actions they could not completely devour her mind. Her luck or lack thereof in finding the materials for this quest was no one's fault really; it was not her skill or intellect that had led to relatively quick finds now or the dearth of results initially. The game wasn't inherently badly designed because she didn't finish the quest instantly. It was just... frustrating. That was all, really. She was mad that she hadn't gotten her way instantly. It sounded even more pathetic in her head, and the mix of anger and shame served to help her focus, at least to some degree.

That was two down - the berries, and the roots. Time to make like a tree and leaf. Specifically, leaf this area and find some running water, as well as a... Blumenkranz flower. Apparently you were supposed to dip them in water, and that made some kind of reaction that... ah, whatever, the why and the how didn't matter, it was probably some goofy video game logic anyways. Nonetheless, she kept her eyes peeled and got moving, her pace a little hurried as she realized that her earlier outburst had a chance of attracting monsters - best to be well away before they arrived. If they arrived.

Spoiler

155595: Loot 18

Good luck struck as she ambled onward; the rainbow-hued flowers were exceedingly easy to locate amidst the gorgeous greenery, mostly on account of them being every color other than green, and while the first thicket she found of them had a monster in fairly close proximity, forcing her to steer clear, it didn't take long to find a second that was much easier to access and pick a few.

Quest materials 4/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

Things took a bit of an awkward turn when she nearly happened on a boar, but what had looked relatively harmless from a distance was a lot less so from 20 feet away and the brave young adventurer hightailed it the FUCK out of there as quickly as possible. She didn't understand aggro at all, but it didn't take a professional gamer to figure out that the bad guy not seeing you is better than them seeing you, and they hadn't been all that close in the first place. But it did mean another damn detour, and it ended up being nearly an hour before she found the stream she had been hoping for. It wasn't much of one, certainly no raging river, but that was quite alright by her - from what she had heard, larger bodies of water meant you were getting close to the scary part of the first floor, and she wanted absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with that shit.

Dousing the Blumenkranz flower in water was super easy, barely an inconvenience, which was... almost disappointing, she'd half expected an alligator or something. Or was it crocodiles in freshwater? She had only been to America once, and wasn't quite an expert on which was the saltwater inhabitant and which preferred freshwater. Hmm. Maybe she'd look that up later, if she could find any info on it.

For now though, she had to find some... the page wasn't super clear, or maybe she wasn't reading it quite right, but apparently willows near the water had some kinda flowers or nuts or something, and she was supposed to get a few of those. Well, at least it was as easy as following the river up or down stream. Hmm. "Eenie, meenie, minie... thataway", she decided, pointing downstream and following her dreams towards what looked like a decent sized copse of trees of some kind.

Spoiler

155625: Loot 13

...Which definitely had some kinda bugs inside, and she was NOT going to explore that shit, no way no how. But there was a willow on the verge, and the weird little pod things on it came off pretty easy. Gottem!

Quest materials 5/5

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

Walking back to town turned out to be a whole hell of a lot easier than this whole stupid adventure had been - the giant ass fortress in the middle of everywhere wasn't exactly hard to see, and she wasn't wasting any attention on searching for materials, so she could focus on more important things. Like, for example, not getting ambushed by monsters and brutally murdered mere steps away from safety. That would be bad. Doubleplus ungood even, to crip a phrase from that book she had read about the dystopian society. Which made it very easy to justify taking an occasionally circuitous route to avoid monster spawns, even if she really wanted to just go through them.

Again though, it didn't take a genius or a professional gamer to have heard the horror stories of new players getting beaten down by even a few monsters, and Sabrina was far from egotistical or suicidal enough to think she was a better fighter than they had been. So she was patient and took her time, and before long the massive gates of the Town of Beginnings loomed large above her. Safety at last. Safe enough that she could finally relax again. It was an almost... alien realization. Utterly without compare. She hadn't even thought about it that much while out and about, but after a year and a half of cowering in town, she had almost forgotten the prickling tension she recalled all too well from school. But here, it wasn't just an angry ex-girlfriend or a spurned suitor. Here she could actually die. It was... she didn't know what it was, exactly. Something. Something intense. Something new.

Zackariah seemed happy to see her again, or perhaps he was just programmed to act that way. Sabrina was having a bit of trouble reconciling the idea of NPCs being mindless robots with ones like him that seemed to act more like - well - people. It almost made her feel uncomfortable. "Welcome back, Sumire! Did you find the reagents alright?"

...It was strange to be greeted with welcoming kindness after so many days coming home to an empty house. In reality or this false world, that never seemed to change, and for a moment she despaired that it never would. But it was gone a moment later, the young adventurer all smiles as she greeted the elderly NPC as though nothing had happened. "Heya, gramps." Hefting the bag of gathered materials, she grinned at him with a sense of genuine accomplishment that took her off guard when she realized it. "Hell yeah I did!"

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

If he was nonplussed by her coarse verbiage, Zackariah didn't show it, instead clapping his hands together and looking quite pleased. "Excellent, excellent! Follow me inside young lady, let's get right to brewing those potions. Time's a-wastin', and Blumenkranz withers quickly." Well, he seemed properly... what was that word, the British thing. Choffed? Chuffed? She wasn't sure, but it seemed appropriate. As her newfound potions mentor hurried inside she followed along, feeling partially like she was following Snape and partially like Dumbledore, they entered a pretty cool little... workshop... thing, she had absolutely no idea what most of the stuff in there did but it looked and smelled like the kinda place a mad scientist would make potions in.

"Sumire, the first thing to keep in mind is that preparing a potion is primarily a question of proportions. You can't simply add a random bunch of berries, you must carefully mix the materials together in appropriate ratios to maximize the efficiency of the resuming potion. For example, these berries should be mashed using this grinder, I'd recommend about fifteen to start with. The exact number will vary with their size of course, but in the end you want this many millilitres of the resulting concentrate for each health potion you desire to create. Now if we were making a damage potion..."

The elderly man droned on, quickly but thoroughly explaining the tools of the trade as well as the uses of each material, some of which could be used in multiple ways. It was all a bit overwhelming, but it was actually quite interesting, WAY cooler than that chemistry bullshit in school, and Sabrina found herself nodding along as she struggled to keep up with all the information.

[Sumire 0]

Before long he had her DOING it rather than just talking about it, and while it was an... uphill battle, the elderly alchemist walked her through each step. His gentle guidance helped keep her from wasting too large a volume of the gathered materials, and after a few minutes she had... something resembling a potion. Holding it, staring down in the murky, swirling crimson, it was yet another strange sensation in her bosom as she considered the fruits of her labor. Sabrina was well aware that she wasn't much of a creator. She didn't really... add. She used existing structures, exploited them, rarely adding to them meaningfully. This was something new.

Spoiler

155644: craft 6

Zackariah's words after carefully inspecting the shifting potion jolted her out of her reverie with ease, and she almost dropped the damn thing before recovering and paying attention. "Not bad for a first try. Don't worry about the look right now, the parts are still mixing, it will attain a more uniform coloration within ten minutes. I'd say... mmm... it's a hint too light. When pouring a measured quantity from a beaker, be sure to take a moment and ensure ALL of it is delivered. There are various qualities of potions, and a Rare or Perfect one can be significantly more potent than the average alternative. Don't worry miss, you'll get it with practice; you picked that up quite nicely!"

• Quest materials lost [-5]
• Quest potion gained [+1]

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sabrina

[Sumire 0]

Zackariah gently took the potion from her, something the slightly overwhelmed teenager made no attempt to stop, and busied himself putting it away. For her part, Sabrina was more than fine simply... standing there, taking in the experience. For maybe the first time since coming to this damn game, she felt as though she could understand how people could get interested in this kind of game. Not enough to call herself a gamer, that was for sure. But... it was such a fresh, new experience for her. Creating instead of abusing or destroying. Pushing her mediocre intellect further than she normally would, but in a way that sort of made sense, as though there was a meaningful structure to things. She still didn't know what the complicated sensations flowing through her from the adventure itself were, but this stuff she could understand.

...And with a sense of gratitude flowing through her, it was a LOT easier now to see that... she had been kind of a bitch at the start. Even if he was just the equivalent of an imaginary robot, someone must have written this character to be a decent guy, and he had only done right by her so far. Greeting him with sarcasm and lackadaisical uncaring had, uh, probably not reflected well on her. If only she had put that much thought into her initial greeting. Nonetheless... "...Hey, Zackariah?"

[Sumire 0]

"Hmm? Yes, Sumire?"

The elderly man seemed roused from his own thoughts as he finished arranging potions and turned to her, and the gentle smile on his face made her feel even more like a piece of human garbage for her thoughts on first meeting him. It was frustrating, but there was absolutely no justification in her mind for it, and while her emotions weren't exactly ruling her now, neither could she deny them. "I, uh... 'm sorry for being rude when we met. I really appreciate your teaching me all this. And... it was fun, too." Was it fun? The crafting, yes, definitely, she quickly confirmed. She definitely felt positive about that. The adventuring... had that been fun? It had been dangerous. Thrilling? Exciting? Was that fun? She had never really thought too much about why she did what she did, but it was hard not to now with such a rush.

Zackariah's kind smile grew a bit, not enormously but she was perceptive enough to pick up on it as well as the twinkle in his eyes. "You were raised quite well, young lady. No apologies needed, I am simply glad you gained from the experience. Too many young adventurers these days treat potions as unimportant, relying entirely on strength and valor to carry the day. Those are certainly important things for a warrior, but cleverness and preparation can even seemingly impossible odds. It is good to see you take to the lessons so well. But don't forget to keep practicing! For this lesson it didn't matter much, but the higher quality the potion the more value it can provide to you, whether in potency of usage or col for selling it to others."

[Sumire 0]

Sabrina nodded, a little dumbstruck and with a newfound appreciation for these NPCs - and a slight note of horror at the realization that she had been treating them like they were just robots so far. Zackariah had been a new experience, yes, but who was to say she hadn't just been willfully blind to similar depth in others? Unlike real people, they weren't deceptive and unreliable. If anything, maybe she'd had things the wrong way around.

"Ah yes, a gift, if you don't mind. I actually prepared a few other potions for you earlier while you were gone. Some healing potions of course, but a few with heartier effects in combat; this one strengthens your blows for a time, while... this one raises your durability, also for a time. Please keep in mind these are not permanent effects, but they should last for a good amount of time... certainly a battle or two, maybe even a few hours. Don't waste them, but remember that not using them when needed is wasteful in itself - you must use everything at your disposal to survive."

There wasn't much else to do but nod again, struck by the realization that even after she had been kinda-sorta a bitch to him he had still been willing to get this gift together for her. She hadn't really been paying attention to some of the quest setup and assumed the reward was just the knowledge, some dumb tutorial you did once and then never thought about again. This... this was absolutely not that. "...Thank you, Zachariah. Really. This has been a new experience for me, and one I won't forget."

[Sumire 0]

He nodded, still smiling, but his eyebrows rose as he seemed to remember something. "Of course, Sumire. Though if I may ask a personal favor of you, would you mind taking a package to the blacksmith for me? I promised him some potions, and - ah, actually, this might be a good experience for you to meet him as well. While monsters and chests can provide very powerful equipment, a good blacksmith can do the same in a much safer manner. If blacksmithing isn't your fancy, other adventurers can do so for you, but it is wise to try it for yourself before deciding!"

Huh. A delivery, and a new opportunity for learning. Eh, who knew, maybe it'd be cool too. "Sure thing, gramps. Just give me a name and some idea of where the hell I'm going, and I'll get it there. It's the least I can do after, uh, well, you know. All this." She couldn't quite meet his eyes as she finished, but he seemed quite the opposite of nonplussed, instead waving her concerns away with a sweep of his hand and a chuckle. "Thank you, miss. Your target is one  Lyle Tealeaf, a blacksmith in town. He's actually quite close, only a few blocks down." He continued with the directions, which didn't sound too complex - and besides, it was just a blacksmith, they probably had anvils and furnaces and stuff, how hard could it be to find?