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

[Ironside 0]

~Roughly two weeks after Kayaba's announcement~

Bruin watched the other players come and go from the shop across from the café where he ate his lunch. He knew what was there, he had heard others talking about it. He knew it was the "starter quest" for beginners. Yet, he had spent two weeks staring at it rather than going inside. Bruin chewed on his sandwich and continued to stare thoughtfully, wondering if today would be the day he'd go inside.

It wasn't fear, lest you worry. No, Bruin had simply spent his time exploring the Town of Beginnings and getting his bearings. He was always a completionist at heart, and he wanted to make sure he had left no stone unturned before he had "gotten the game started" as it were. Perhaps this was just an excuse though. He didn't even have anything to fear from the starter quest. Plenty of other players looked no worse for wear coming and going. It was another nook, and one Bruin had been putting off for some reason.

Post Count: 1

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Bruin popped the last bit of sandwich into his mouth, licking his lips and savoring the remaining flavor. With a light sigh, looking at his empty plate, he slowly stood from his seat, sliding it back with a small screech along the concrete. That was it, today would be the day. Bruin clapped his hands together and walked to the counter of the café, giving his Col to the server, and walking through the front door with a ding behind him.

The sun hung high in the sky, almost directly above them. He wasn't sure if that passed for noon in this world, as he was still getting the hang of how time works here. But midday at least seemed appropriate enough a descriptor. As such, the little alchemy shop was packed to the brim full of people coming and going. Bruin nodded to nobody in particular, and with a serious face and plenty of resolve waded into the crowd.

Post Count: 2

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Bruin found it hard to breathe. Between the fumes of the burnt potions and the close knit crowd of people, he wasn't sure if he was going to make it. Perhaps this was a mistake? No, of course it wasn't. Today is the day, and Bruin looked through the haze to try to find the man who provided the quest. He wasn't all that hard to miss though, as he effortlessly glided through the crowd as if it wasn't even there. Even with all the other people calling for help or pushing their weight around, he seemed to make it to exactly where he needed to be at any given moment.

"Ah, another student?" said the voice in front of Bruin, coming from the gray haired man Bruin had just been admiring. Bruin was startled and blinked at the man, realizing that in his stupor, the man had in fact showed up exactly where he needed to be, after all.

Post Count: 3

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

As the busy man stared at Bruin in wait, he realized that he shouldn't take up any more of his time with his lollygagging. Bruin nodded, "Yes, a new student. What do you need of me?"

The gray haired man chuckled and said, "Not many new students I get are closer in age to me. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Zackariah. For you to help, I need you to get me some golden flowers from the plains. They are easy to find and plentiful, I'm just so busy, as you can see."

Bruin nodded again, "I understand, I'll be happy to help. I'm Bru-," the name caught in Bruin's throat and he had to stop to correct himself, remembering that wasn't his name here, no matter how much like the real world it may seem. "I'm Ironside."

"Perfect, Ironside. Here, take this list, and meet me back here when you're done!" Zackariah said, a twinkle in his eye as he was swept away by the crowd once more.

Post Count: 4

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Bruin looked at the sheaf of paper in his hand, reading the one line of text written on it. As he looked it over, a quest window popped up confirming that he would like to accept the quest. Bruin tapped the accept button before looking at the paper once again as it disappeared. All it read was, "5 Goldenrod Flowers". Bruin wasn't sure that this could exactly be called a list, but he wasn't about to argue semantics. He just had to get out of the store so that he could breathe properly again.

He pushed his way back through the crowd after storing the paper in his inventory, and took a deep breath after breaking into the clean outside air once more. He coughed to clear his lungs, before standing up and giving a light stretch towards the sky. This was it, his first quest. The game had just begun.

Post Count: 5

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

It didn't take him long to reach the edge of the Town of Beginnings. He was certain it would take him just as little time to find the goldenrod flowers he needed to give to Zackariah. Realistically, all Bruin needed to do was avoid the boars and the rest was easy pickings. Being that this was a starter quest, Bruin was certain that the fields hadn't been picked clean of flowers. They'd have to respawn, right?

And yet, as Bruin looked around, he found nothing. He raised an eyebrow and was certain that the flowers wouldn't be that far away from the city for a beginner quest. But there were no flowers, just players and boars running around. Bruin sighed, and figured he'd just have to go a little farther out. No sense in complaining, just had to get it done.

Bruin skirted past a pack of boars grazing in the fields and made his way farther out.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183236
LD: 10
Failure

Total: 0 / 5

Post Count: 6

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

As Bruin made his way out into the field, he started to worry a bit. Boars were everywhere, and flowers were nowhere. But this was still early in the game. Perhaps he had just picked a bad spot to start looking? That had to be it, honestly. But his persistence wasn't completely unrewarded. He nearly stepped on the flower in his haste and impatience, but as his foot hovered inches away from crushing his prize, he slowly moved it away and back to his side. "That would have been unfortunate," he told the flower, as he bent down to pick it. The flower did not say anything back. That would have been strange, even for a fantasy MMO. At least, that's what Bruin thought.

Without any further thought on the matter of talking flowers, Bruin stuffed the flower in his inventory and stood up again. The sun had moved, but not considerably. Still plenty of time.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183238
LD: 16
Success

Total: 1 / 5

Post Count: 7

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

As Bruin looked around, he thought that he had found quite a good spot for gathering the flowers. At least, there was one other flower. That was a good start. Surely there were more than that without him having to go too far, despite seeing no others in his immediate vicinity. But that was for future Bruin to figure out. For now, he had a flower to pick. He bent down and cleared the area of the foliage before pulling the flower from the ground, root and all. 

Satisfied, Bruin stood again and gave another light stretch. He was more than a little suprirsed at how the game mirrored his actual fatigue that he might feel in the real world. He hoped that this wouldn't affect his ability to keep up with the younger players. But perhaps it was because he was just level one. The latter had better be it, or else he was in trouble.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183287
LD: 18
Success

Total: 2 / 5

Post Count: 8

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

It didn't take much wandering for Bruin to find the next flower. It was as simple as that. He seemed to have found a small grove of the flowers all spaced pretty evenly apart from each other. As would be expected from gathering in the starter area. At the very least, there weren't any other players around snapping them up, so despite everything he was getting this done quicker than expected.

Another flower safely stored away in his inventory, he made his way further into the trees, hoping that the last few flowers might be hidden away in the small forest located near the Town of Beginnings. He was less worried about the monsters now, as they didn't seem to be too bothersome, and well, it's the starter area. He should be able to dispatch them easily. That was the thought process at least. He just had to silently remind himself that he didn't have unlimited lives like in other games.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183428
LD: 13
Success

Total: 3 / 5

Post Count: 9

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Bruin's plan was working. As he waded into the brush of the forest, he spotted another flower quickly and easily. Things were going almost too smoothly, and for a moment Bruin wondered if he was being led into some beginner trap. But the flowers were most definitely planted, not just laying on the ground or something like that. He wasn't following a breadcrumb trail. At least, not one planted by another player. Though he supposed that he didn't know enough about the game world to be entirely sure.

As he picked the flower, that led into him thinking about the idea of digging up flowers and replanting them in a way to lead players to their doom. He wasn't sure how viable gardening was due to the durability system of items he had seen other players dealing with. One player simply dropped a sandwich and it exploded into pixels. It would have to be something he looked into later.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183429
LD: 18
Success

Total: 4 / 5

Post Count: 10

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

It seemed that for as lucky as Bruin had been, he had finally run dry. As he waded through the brush of the forest, he found that he couldn't see anymore goldenrod flowers anywhere. There were plenty of other flowers, and for a moment he had considered picking those as well. But that wasn't the quest, and as he looked to the sky through the trees he saw the bright light that originally shone through the trees was starting to fade.

With a sigh, Bruin turned around and made his way back the way he came, hoping against hope that maybe one of the flowers had respawned and would be easy pickings on the way back to the open fields. But as he pushed through this didn't seem to be the case. After a bit more trudging, he had broken out of the trees of the forest and shielded his eyes from the sun.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183430
LD: 4
Failure

Total: 4 / 5

Post Count: 11

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

As the sun started to lower itself behind the distant mountains, Bruin found himself walking into a field with the last flower he needed for the quest. It was a relief, Bruin was trying his best to not push himself into staying up and prided himself for keeping proper rest schedules despite the stress of the entire situation. Even if he had to finish the quest tomorrow, at least the flower picking part would be done. And so, with no more fanfare than the first flower, Bruin picked it, stuffed it in his inventory, and began making his way back to the Town of Beginnings.

He wrestled in his mind about whether or not he shold go see Zackariah tonight. On one hand, the quest location was probably less clear later in the evening. On the other hand, Bruin wasn't sure what was next and how long it would take, and he wanted to sleep. And he didn't have all that long to make his decision.

Spoiler

Quest Material Gathering
ID# 183431
LD: 16
Success

Total: 5 / 5 Finished!

Post Count: 12

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

After a bit more consideration, Bruin decided to head to bed for the night rather than beeline straight to finishing the quest. The quest isn't timed, Zackariah as an NPC isn't going anywhere, and Bruin is, in his mind, an old man. So to bed he would go. Besides, if he was lucky, all the younger players would sleep the morning away, leaving Zackariah all to Bruin. Though, as Bruin headed to the nearest inn he couldn't help but wonder about the lives of the poor NPCs.

If players spent the entire night running Zackariah's quest, would he get to sleep? Did sleep even matter to him? Would he show signs of fatigue, or would he just appear as chipper as he had to Bruin despite the throngs of people surrounding him. Bruin supposed he could watch the man for a day to get his questions answered, but that felt far too creepy, even if it was just an NPC. So as he laid in bed and drifted off to sleep, he perished the thought.

Post Count: 13

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Morning came quickly for Bruin, and as soon as the sun shone through the crack in his curtains, his eyes snapped open. He was used to this in the real world. After all, the only realistic time to work on a dig site is when the sun is up. Unless the dig site is in a cave. Then there's no good time to work at a dig site. But that was neither here nor there.

Bruin sprung to his feet, equipped his gear, and headed for Zackariah's shop as quickly as his feet would take him. He was determined to beat the crowd today. He was sure that it wasn't nearly as busy. And you know, Bruin was right. In fact, it seemed even more busy. And with that, Bruin let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. Either these players didn't sleep, or they all had the same idea as him. Didn't matter much, Bruin had no choice but to wade his way into the fray.

Post Count: 14

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Bruin pushed his way into the shop, looking for the friendly shopkeep. The haze hadn't dissipated in the slightest, and Bruin couldn't help but have a coughing fit halfway through his search and attempt to reach an open crafting station. When Bruin managed to reach the table covered in various glass doodads, Zackariah seemed to almost appear out of thin air next to him. In fact, it was so suddenly Bruin couldn't rightly say that he hadn't done just that.

"Ironside! I was beginning to worry that something had happened to you when you never came back! I'm so happy to see you in one piece," Zackariah explained, before reaching to the table in front of Bruin and turning on the burner under one of the flasks. "Okay, so take those flowers you gathered yesterday and boil them in this flask to make a potion. Let me know if you need any help!"

Post Count: 15

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Before Bruin could really respond, he looked up from the table filled with flasks and Zackariah was gone again. Just like that.

Chemistry had never been Bruin's strong suit, despite being an archeologist. They were required to know a bit of chemistry due to carbon dating, but Bruin had never been big on that. He let other archaeologists handle that. All Bruin had done was learn enough to get a passing college grade, if he was being honest. But, he remembered enough to know that once the water in front of him started to boil, all he would need to do is drop the flowers inside. If Zackariah said this would make a potion, then that was that. He had no reason to doubt his teacher.

So, after an excruciating few minutes sitting in the stifling smoke of the room's failed experiments, Bruin dropped the flowers in, and was happily greeted by a sweet smelling yellow mixture.

Spoiler

Quest Crafting
ID# 183454
CD: 6
Uncommon Success

Total: 1 / 1 Finished!

Post Count: 16

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

Bruin mixed the potion with a nearby stir stick, and as soon as he had turned off the burner Zackariah was at his side again. Bruin was more than a little startled this time, as he had been focusing on the table when the man suddenly shifted into his field of vision without warning. "Yes, perfect Ironside!" the man greeted him with no hesitation or even indication that he cared about startling Bruin whatsoever. Bruin took a breath, realizing too late that he had forgotten about the stifling smoke, and coughed openly for a few seconds.

Zackariah waited wordlessly until Bruin was finished coughing, and once Bruin stood up again, breathing with a slight wheeze, Zackariah snapped up the flask with the yellow potion. "I'm always so proud of my newcomers who can get it on the first try. Do let me know if you ever wish to pursue a career in alchemy, hm? Seems you have a knack for it!"

Post Count: 17

[Ironside 0]

As Bruin mouthed to respond to the cheerful alchemist, Zackariah held out three potions instead, along with what looked like a sealed note. "Take them, for your hard work and dedication. You picking those flowers and making that potion got some of my orders done early!" Zackariah explained, as Bruin looked over the potions in front of him. Looked like buff potions and health potions. Standard RPG stuff. Bruin grabbed the set of potions and stuffed them all in his inventory, before taking the note.

As expected, before Bruin could even so much as think to ask what the note was, Zackariah explained: "I have a blacksmith friend, Lyle. He's been having some trouble procuring some local materials due to the dangerous nature of gathering them. As you can understand, he isn't a fighter. And that's where you come in!"

Bruin was ready to sigh, mostly because of the one-sided nature of this conversation, but remembered the smoke and thought better of it this time, simply just nodding instead.

Post Count: 18

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside

[Ironside 0]

When all was said and done, Bruin actually watched Zackariah walk away this time, as effortlessly as if the crowd wasn't even there. At least Bruin was able to confirm that despite what it seemed, he wasn't teleporting around the room. Though he wondered if it was an NPC superpower when nobody was looking to be able to do that.

Stifling his thoughts for the moment though, Zackariah made his way to the exit, wanting to get out of the shop as quickly as he could so he could breathe properly again. He wasn't sure how people were failing that quest. It had been exceedingly simple. But he supposed if nothing else he was a scientist by trade, had gone to college, and played plenty of RPGs. Surely that had to be it.

Thinking no further on the matter, and just being glad at the ability to get a proper lungful of air, Bruin quickly made his way to the quest marker indicating Lyle's shop.

Post Count: 19

[Ironside 0]

Bruin easily found the shop, as it was just down the street. This shop was still busy, but appeared less so, perhaps due to the number of players who failed the initial quest only to give up entirely. At the very least, at least this shop had a chimney, so any smoke was being vented properly. Not to mention it didn't look like any players were actually crafting. "Just a fetch quest, it seems," Bruin muttered idly to himself as he figured out where the man of the hour was. Though, that was easy enough to figure out as well. There was a small circle of players standing around a man pounding away at an anvil. Bruin joined the crowd, and it appeared that Lyle operated the exact opposite of Zackariah.

The man was not ignoring players coldly, he just seemed invested in his work as he hammered away. Bruin cleared his throat, but to no avail, as him and others did all they could to start their second quest.

Post Count: 20

Spoiler

Thread Completion Summary
Post Count: 20
Quest Completed: The First Few Lessons Are Free

• Herbs gathered: 5 / 5
• Crafting completed: 1 / 1

Quest Rewards:

• 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)
• 2 SP

Thread Rewards:

• 1 SP
• 1 SP Bonus Event
• 400 Col

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ironside