[PP|F1] <<The Third Lesson, Is Just As Free>> Sounds

[ChaseR 0]

With both Chase and @Shay having just now finished Lyle's quest, a quest flag triggers and Lyle tasks them with taking a parcel all the way to some artisan, by the name of Hannah. "For NPCs, they sure are familiar with one another...", the young man thought, accepting the quest just like his partner did and beginning to head for the exit of the shop. Upon stepping out, he opened his menu and took his Silver Earring off, replacing it with the armour that he'd bought before. It appeared to look like a casual outfit one would wear back in the real world during a nice, breezy spring day.

It definitely didn't look like it belonged to the world, but he was very contempt with what he'd gotten. Surprisingly enough, his Sky Blue Apparel looked just like one of his favourite outfits from before he'd gotten trapped. Even without knowing much about him, it was easy to tell he'd specifically bought this for nostalgic reasons. He turned to look back at the raven assassin, giving a small frown and posing the two important questions. "Know where she is? And can you teach me more terms? I'm not planning on talking with others much, but I want to know."

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 6
HP: 120/120
EN: 12/12

Stats:
Damage: 8
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Cloud Cutter>> (T1/Perfect/2HSS): DMG III
Armor: <<Sky Blue Apparel>> (T1/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I; REC II
Misc: <<Warm Earmuffs>> (T1/Perfect/Trinket): ACC III

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 2]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*5
T1 Uncommon Damage Potion (+1 DMG)*1
T1 Special Over-Health Potion (+50MHP)*1
Potion of 'Safeguard'*1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 2
Requires Extended Weight Limit 3
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[Shay 0]

As Shay attempts to accept the next quest on her menu, the button denies her from accepting it. Her screen read 'You are too high a level to accept this quest.' A disgruntled groan escaped her lips as she closed it and the delivery box disappeared from her inventory.

"Looks like I've out leveled the quest. You might catch up to me here." She mentions with a shrug. "Oh well, it'd be better than me getting much stronger than you."

With the quest marker laying out their next objective, Shay sighed. "There's a way-point on our maps that will show us where she is. Not all quests have these, but it is meant to be for new players so they go easy on you."

Upon bringing up more terms, Shay wasn't sure where to begin. She knew most of them as any other words so it was weird to think right off the top of her head. "List the ones you don't know to me."

Spoiler

Name: Shay
Level: 16
HP: 320/320
EN: 32/32

Stats:
Damage: 8
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 1
BLD: 12
REC: 2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: (Katana)Murasame α: BLD 2; DMG 1
Armor: Leather Overcoat: EVA 3
Misc: Deep Red Tie: Recovery 2; ACC 1

Skills:
Curved Sword [Rank 1]
Katana [Rank 4]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Lullaby*1

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[ChaseR 0]

With a sigh, he gave her a nod and silently began to head towards the marker once she'd told him where to see it. "It feels so weird, this would never happen in reality...", Chase thought, stuck up in between the real world and the virtual one more than ever now that he had his daily attire with him, even in SAO. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was enough so that the line between the two worlds blurred more than ever before. "I don't know.", he blurted out once they'd exited the Town of Beginnings, looking to the side at Shay who was walking next to him. "I don't know what terms I don't know."

After having graced her with his informative as ever insight, he took a deep breath and opened his menu, looking through the various tabs in order to gather some terms to pick and choose from. At least the ones he couldn't understand off the bat. "Professions? There are jobs? And is Col slang for money?", the bluehead found two terms and presented them to her, not so much because he couldn't tell what they stood for, but to get more insight. What he'd said before stood true, he wasn't sure what terms he wasn't familiar with as he obviously enough hadn't heard them before. Only time would go to show, by the looks of it.

[Shay 0]

Shay pinched the bridge of her nose again. There was still so much he didn't know and she was sure that he would annoy her about it. However, it was necessary that he know these things if he wanted to get stronger. At least he figured up something to go with.

"Players can invest in gaining a job that lets them create either consumables or equipment. For example, I am a performer. I can create debuffing crystals that lower monster's stats on use. Don't ask how they work, its just a game thing. If it doesn't sound correct then it's a 'game-thing'. Stop thinking that this world is anything like the real one. Nothing that makes sense here makes sense there."

With that out of the way, she continued. "Professions are those jobs yes. Likewise, Col isn't so much money as they name for money. It's like Yen or US dollars. There is another form of currency by way of materials. They are a little more expensive than Col cause you need them to make items like you did in the first quest."

[ChaseR 0]

It didn't take long before the boy noticed just how irritated Shay was beginning to get, frowning slightly before letting out a sigh and shrugging it off. "She offered, not my fault.". Her words began to help him reach the conclusion, while they were trapped in SAO, which would last long if the vanguards were truly still at the 24th Floor, he'd have to get used to game logic. It'd become necessary to reevaluate how to approach situations and how to think about everything around him, as well as the way they functioned. "You have a house. How did you get it?"

Chase asked once he recalled her having mentioned that during the first quest they were having together, walking through the fields and towards the grove where the artisan was said to be located. He'd asked her, back then, what the floor looked like, as in, if the entirety of the first floor was just huge, green fields. Since she didn't answer that though, he'd guessed the answer was yes. Much to his surprise, it wasn't. As they moved further and further ahead from the Town of Beginnings, he began to notice trees by the side, and even in the far distance, a portion of the floor leading to the dungeon's entrance be a complete forest. "So each floor is like its own 'country', so to speak... Surprising."

[Shay 0]

Calming herself be she got too annoyed the girl continued on the way. They were close to Hannah's location by now.

"My house is really just apart of my shop. I sleep in a hammock in a loft. Perhaps I'll let you come over some time and show you how Performer crystal are created. I have one in my inventory right now that is going to help you fight this next boss. There is also an item that you got from the second lesson. Should be a potion that will protect you from a single attack once you take a hit. This boss does about ten times the damage on his first attack that hits, so make sure that you drink it."

She was talking much more than she had wanted to, but it was all so necessary. Is this really what having friends was like? Man was it stressful.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase looked at the blackhead silently, before opening his just recently closed menu and looking for the Safeguard potion he'd gotten before. He made it appear on his hand, opening the oddly shaped potion's tip and drinking it all. Once it was empty, he pulled it away from himself to look at the empty container, which almost instantly turned into blue crystals and disappeared. "You don't have that potion. Let me take the hit.", he told Shay, looking at her with a determined face. It was easy to tell, he was scared despite all the determination he began to show.

"I don't want you to die.", he finished, before looking at the path and seeing they were approaching a grove. Entering it, they found the Artisan they were told to look for, and Chase delivered the parcel from Lyle. She then pointed them towards the direction of a cave further away into the mountains, to which the male nodded and gestured Shay to follow along. If they kept progressing at this pace, they were certainly going to make it to the higher levels quite early on. They were both equipped as well as possible, and the game's first two quests seemed to be smooth sailing. Especially if NPCs kept giving potions like this one every other quest, designed to make the next monsters easier, they'd never run into trouble. "You said boss, before. You mean stronger monster, or is it a leader of a group?"

[Shay 0]

"Bosses are monsters that are stronger than normal monsters. They usually have special abilities, high health pools and damage and maybe certain mechanics that you have to follow. This boss does a lot of damage on his first attack, so I wont be fighting, but I'll be using an item for you. It will lower the creature's ability to dodge. Since you'll be fighting in low light, it best to have whatever advantage that you can." Shay took the duo to entrance of the cave, holding her black cube that contained the music crystal in her hand. She tossed the item up into the air and caught it looking into the dark cave. She beckoned him ahead of her.

"If I attack it with something strong, I might kill it, so don't rely on me." The cave was insanely small, it was more of a tiny coven to be honest. The golem was pretty easy to spot, since y'know it's just standing in the middle of the open section of cave. The girl stepped into the cavern, of to the side as not to interfere with the battle and tossed the crystal onto the group between both of the combatants. A soft tune of piano played through the crystal, seeming to affect the golem in some way.

"Enjoy the music"

Using Lullaby 1 on Cave Guardian. -1 EVA

---

ChaseR |

Cave Guardian | 20/20 | DMG: 50/5 | EVA: -1

[ChaseR 0]

As they entered the cave, Chase took his blade out of its sheathe, holding it carefully close to the ground. When the golem began to come into sight, he gave his partner a determined nod and took a deep breath, watching her go to the side. "I'm scared. I won't die, but I'm scared. I can't back down though. I have to get used to this.", he tried to calm himself down, as the music began to play and the Cave Guardian raised from the ground, towering over the boy. He quickly shot a glance at Shay, before fixing his posture to stand more firm, seeming much tougher than he really was. A purple glow came from his blade, before he dashed forwards towards the golem.

It felt as if time slowed down the more he approached, cold sweat having formed on the sides of his head. "I'll do it. I'll kill it and survive.", he encouraged himself, swinging to the side horizontally once, seeing the red cut appear on the monster's body. He used the momentum to spin on his heel, cutting it diagonally upwards once he'd turned fully, another cut forming on top of the first strike. He then stopped only for a second before swinging the other direction, downwards and finally raised the sword above his head, slashing down at it. The glow faded once he'd pulled his sword out and jumped back, only to land back on his feet and see it crumble into dust, falling on the ground and breaking into tiny shards.

He swallowed dryly, letting out a deep breath. Just how anxious he was about this fight showed, although he realised just how powerful his gear was. He wasn't letting up either, he left as few openings as possible, although that was hard to tell given no monster ever got the chance to attack him up to now. Then again, knowing just how experienced he was... "I did it. Shay.", he chirped, laughing for the first time and giving her a wide smile, wider than he'd ever smiled since coming to this world.

ChaseR | HP: 120/120 | EN: 5/12 (-7)

Cave Guardian | HP: 0/20 | DMG: 50/5 | EVA: -1

Edited June 28, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

"Good job." The girl said somewhat plainly. It wasn't that she wasn't impressed or anything, it was just what she had expected from him. Any one could be a force to be reckoned with in this world given the time and determination. Even someone who had no idea how to hold a sword correctly could still swing it and kill shit. ChaseR was a good example of this, but he'd only just begun. Soon, he'll be someone people will respect and fear.

By now, the music crystal shattered on the ground and the music stopped. He should have the item in his inventory now so all they had to do was return to the quest giver and give her the item so she can tell them to deliver another stupid package to another NPC for no reason whatsoever. "Come on. No time to stand on ceremony, we have to keep leveling you up." She said starting to make her way out of the cave.

[ChaseR 0]

The bluehead frowned a bit, letting out a deep sigh as he accepted the item drop into his inventory and silently followed behind her. He knew what she meant though. "No time to stand on ceremony, we have to keep leveling you up.". He could already tell by her demeanor from the first time they'd met, a few hours ago. Her words had still stuck with him, about talking 'rot'. If he wanted to get to the frontlines, it was obvious she was going to go as far as to help him. "She's not going to go easy on me though. She's definitely going to push me as much as she can to keep pressing forward and catch up to her. Even then, she'll most likely still keep being harsh until we're strong enough."

He could understand her. As bad as she was at expressing her own thoughts and feelings, he was all the same in a similar way. "Right. Let's get the quest done with.", he responded once they were out of the cave, covering his eyes from the blinding light. They hadn't been in the cave for that long, but the difference was quite large, from the dim lighting of the cube back in the cave compared to the sun shining down the fields of Aincrad's first floor. While heading towards the grove, he looked to the side to see a huge, tall tower reaching all the way to the top of the sky, by the looks of it. "What's that tower?"

[Shay 0]

Shay looked up to the giant concrete pillar and nodded. "That's where the floor boss room is. The front liners go inside them when they go to clear the floor then walk straight into the next floor." She explained, not going too into detail on what happens in them. If she knew herself, it would be easier to explain but she's never been inside of one so she can't say much more.

"If you want to be on the front lines, you'll go in one when you gain enough levels to get there. From what I know right now, the front lines is currently around the level of 60+ so I'm not sure if we'll be able to catch up in a timely fashion." She shrugged a bit. She wasn't that worried about joining the front lines yet, that was for sure. She would just keep doing quests to level up, then when she was there, she was there. It made enough sense to her.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase's imagination quickly drifted off and began to ponder about just what could be inside of the said boss room. If it was the boss to reach the next floor, it would surely be no push over. Was it even there, since this floor had been cleared? It was a game, still, but that didn't mean everything would come back to life. Players surely never did. With a shake of his head, he focused back on getting to the grove to meet Hannah and hand over the quest's reward. "How many quests have you done? I'm already level six."

He remembered that back before they started, she was around level 14 or so, but it was obvious they'd both killed a few monsters and done some quests along the way, considering they were following this small quest line. It was kind of like a story of sorts, although if everything else went the same exact way, this would surely become tedious even for Chase. "It's my survival so I can't be picky, but... Talk about laziness. Like she said earlier, from one place to the other. I wonder where Hannah will send us to next."

[Shay 0]

Shay wasn't even worried about her level at this point. Worrying too much about what levels you gained only slowed down your progress. It was like counting your footsteps as you walked. It gave you a good sense of progress, but it inevitably made the journey feel longer than you expected. That being said, she needed to open her menu to check the level.

"Looks like the last quest we did allowed me to reach level 16, hence why I couldn't undertake this one. This quest and the next one require you to be level 15 or below. This is the exact reason that I told you why you needed to do these annoying quests first. If you didn't you would be wasting the total experience you gain like I did." She was trying to put it in a way her would understand without using too many exclusive terms to gaming. Hopefully he was catching it all.

[ChaseR 0]

Giving Shay a quick nod, he followed up her explanation with a plain: "So you're not leveling up at all, I am.". He realised just how much of a sacrifice she was making for him, causing a small smile to appear on his face once more as Hannah's grove slowly came more and more into sight. "You're really horrible at speaking.", he continued, as if making clear he stood perfectly in agreement with the statement he made a few hours ago during their first mission.

The only reason the bluenette cared about his level all that much was because the higher he got, the further he got from the embarrassing 1 he was stuck at for so long. He wasn't stuck because he couldn't help, but because he didn't want to, instead relying on others. "Enough, cut it off. You're making progress.", he convinced himself with a shake of his head, his smile fading back into his expressionless, normal face followed by a groan. "You haven't done these quests before."

[Shay 0]

"Im aware, again." The rogue replied, the same answer he had gotten earlier. She knew full well that she had a stubborn and harsh way of viewing things and dealing with other people. She was hardly taught how to socialize with anything. After her parents passed, she didn't really have much interaction with anyone whatsoever. She just reclused into her home and wallowed in the inheritance that they had left her with. Made it difficult to move on with life when you were completely loaded with no connections.

"Once we get done with this, there's only three other quests that I've completed that you haven't. We'll go do them cause they're easy to do and it'll get you caught up with me. I need you to be around my level if we're going to be playing together. I don't want to have to worry about you dying because your a lower level or something."

[ChaseR 0]

"I won't die.", he reassured her, as abruptly and emotionlessly as he spoke, crossing his arms and moving closer and closer to the grove. "Don't die either.", he finished with a huff, opening his menu to look through his inventory as they walked again. The item they were tasked to pick up was in there, all well and fine, and the potion he'd consumed specifically for this quest wasn't there anymore. Everything else was in order. His health, damage and overhealth potions were all good to go, alongside the rest of the equipment they'd bought earlier.

"So if I'm catching up, she hasn't done much in this game. If I catch up, does that mean I can be stronger than even her?", Chase wondered and gave her a troubled look. If the gap between these two was truthfully so small, then anytime he was in danger, she might as well be in just the same predicament too. "But she's more experienced with the blade than I am. I can't compare us two yet.". What he was saying was true, to an extent. She had more knowledge fighting and inhabiting the world than he did, by a long shot.

[Shay 0]

"You wont die, and neither will I." The girl said with certainty. She folded her arms as well, hoping they would reach their next destination soon. "We're going to make our builds revolve around keeping each other alive. One of us picks up supportive skills and the other picks up some tanking skills. With that on top of our damage, we'll be extremely hard to kill for any boss in the game. Nothing will ever threaten us, even as solo players."

As they continued to walk, the lake where Ol' Pete was came into view, they would have to walk around to other side to reach the pier however, and it probably wouldn't be the best idea to wade through a lake of mobs. "There's the old codger that Hannah wanted you to find it looks like. Let's head over there and get a move on. Like I said, the more time that we spend standing around is more time wasted."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase only felt more convinced with her first statement, smiling slightly. He wasn't really familiar with the term build, but he could tell what she meant to say. "So we rely on one another to make it out of here.", he commented while agreeing with Shay's initiative and beginning to walk around the lake in order to get to the geezer. "What did she want us to do with the geezer again?", the boy wondered, shrugging it off after not too long. It's not like they'd take long to find out after all.

Speaking of builds however, as Chase backtracked into the previous train of thought, he looked down at the ground and took a deep breath. Tanks are heavy and slow, but very sturdy. So she must have meant one would be playing defense, while the other backing the 'defender' up. Hence the 'support'. It sounded solid, as a plan. He wasn't too sure how it'd work out on paper as he'd never had a drawn out fight past a single hit up to now, but... He got the gist of it. "I'll be the tank. You're fast.", he offered, knowing he couldn't ever match up to her speed when darting around with the katana in her hands.

[Shay 0]

"Tanking can be difficult-" She stopped herself. She just offered him which he would like to do, so it wasn't best to go straight for his throat or anything anymore. "But, so is having the courage to leave the Town of Beginnings and actually do something. We'll get you some gear to make you able to take a hit and I'll invest in skills that help you do just that."

As the two rounded the lake, fish continued to jump from the surface and splash right back down into it. She wondered if the old man had ordered a fishing pole from the artisan Hannah was now going to want them to help him catch some stupid fish. If so that, would be so predictable that even Shay saw it coming. They would end this quest line here right? Just finish the delivery and go home? As they finished the delivery, he offered them to help do exactly that.

What the fuck.

Spoiler

Rewards:

SP: 2 quest; 1 page; 1 event
Col: 200 per player
1 Tier one Amulet with  +1 Evasion