[F1-PP] <<The First Lesson>> The Path Starts With a Single Step...Again!

[Astreya 0]

Astreya blinked as she sat up, her breathing quick and shallow for several moments as she began to realize just where she was... which was the Town of Beginnings.  She had no house of her own, and so she was in the Inn, awakening as she realized that her HUD was displaying a new message regarding... an update?  

She sighed slowly, lifting a hand to her face as she tried to get her breathing under control.  That black storm had come down on her and then... she'd woken up here.  Damn- she'd expected that the servers were getting shut down or that the game had decided it was tired of having people in it and was just going to shut itself down.  "That's way too scary of a way to do a system update.  Geez," the girl muttered to herself as she slid out of the bed.

She looked at her character's information and realized that her amount of SP had almost doubled.  "Nice!  Okay that's actually really cool," she admitted, beginning to happily move her points around.  She imagined there were likely some higher level players that missed out, but she was actually benefitting pretty well from this change.  

--

A few minutes later, she left the Inn, stretching her arms up over her head as she looked around the town.  Everything seemed to be about the same- there wasn't anything that was so far out of whack that drew her attention.  So maybe the update was just for the stats themselves?  She frowned- did the game think that people were clearing it too fast and was nerfing the stats?  Or maybe they were going too slow and it was throwing them a bone? 

Either way, things seemed about normal, until she heard the voice of someone she didn't recognize as she observed a fellow with a monocle approaching a player.  Wait, was that a new NPC?  She paused, coming closer as she heard the name 'Zakariah.'  Was this a new newbie questline?  Maybe she could get in on this...

She didn't speak, but merely drew closer to the target of the NPC's unprompted conversation, curious how the questline might have changed.

TWC: 362

 

Spoiler

--Level 11
--HP: 220
--NRG: 40

--Base Damage: 8
--Mitigation: 30
--Regeneration: 1% (Currently 2)
--Accuracy: 3
--Thorns: 18
--EN Recovery: 2 (On CD rolls of 7+)
--Taunt: 2

Gear:
»Silver Frost [2H Straight Sword] | Rare T2
[Damage] - Gain +2 base damage per slot.
[Accuracy] - Add 1 onto your BD rolls (Cannot cause crits)

»Battle Dress | Rare T2 Heavy Armor
[Mitigation] - Prevent 12 damage from successful attacks against you.
[Thorns] - Successful non-critical attacks against you deal 18 unmitigated damage to the attacking enemy. Only activates on damage dealing, melee attacks.

»Dodgeball | Rare T1 Trinket
[Accuracy II] - Add 2 onto your BD rolls (Cannot cause crits)

»Spotlight | Rare T2 Trinket
[Taunt] - Adds 1 Hate generated from successful attacks, Howl and Furious Howl.
[Recovery] - Regain 2 additional energy on natural CD rolls of 7+. 

Consumables:
»Starter Healer Potions | Heals 50 HP
[3 Total]
»Tier One Damage Potion of Uncommon quality. (+1 Damage)
[1 Total]
»Tier One Health Potions of Rare quality. (+10% HP)
[3 Total]
»Tier One Immolation Potion (+10 Thorns Damage)
[1 Total]
»Fixer Upper (Salve) | Antidote I
[1 Total]

 

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Astreya

[Etherial 0]

After the long slumber Etherial woke up panicking. With the server due for a major update she knew that it happen last night. But unlike everyone else she didn't feel different. Her stats seems to be the same besides little more skill points added to her account, but other than that her level was the same as well as her energy and health stats. After adjusting her skills and stats around for a couple of minuets she hops out of the inn's bed and walk downstairs.  

Leaving the Inn she notice nothing new happen to the actual game it self as The Town of Beginnings looked the same. But the one thing that caught her attention was a new NPC that wasn't here from the last version of the game. And so she walked up to him to interact with him. Although it seems like he's only asking for help for the newer players she knew that it was again the Beginner's missions she could never complete in the past and kept untracking it on her quest bar. 

Listening to what the man has to say she decided to approve this quest. This time though she will compete it even if she had to do it by herself. Looking to her left she notice another girl staring at her way. Was she interested in this quest or just curious on what the quest was. Either way it was kind of weird. But with no thought at all she walked up to her. "Are you interested in these quest? They're the Beginner's quest that you saw at the beginning of the game once it was released." She didn't mention the fact that she never done them as well as she was under the level limit to do them.

@Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She was being a little too much of a voyeur, she realized, watching the other girl talking to the man who'd introduced himself as the mayor, and it had become quite clear to the other girl too when, after accepting the quest from Dorian, she'd turned to talk to Astreya directly regarding the quests.  "Ah-haha, yeah.  I actually did these like... a couple days ago.  Well, back before the update," the girl admitted, giving a rather flustered grin at being caught staring as she had been.  "I was going to try and see if I was eligible to do them again, actually," she added.  "I decided I'm going to try to get strong enough to help out on the front lines, and so I was kind of hoping the system would let me do them again for some more bonuses," she spoke.

"But I guess since he didn't approach me it still remembers that I did them.  But I can still help you out!" she called, giving the girl a nod.  "If it's the same thing with Zakariah, you have to go and gather these herbs and it took me, like, forever to find them all," the girl spoke, frowning as she recalled having spent almost an entire day running around trying to find the herbs and either her bad luck or the fact that she just didn't play a lot of games coming back to bite her.

"I'm probably not going to be able to pick the herbs, but maybe I can at least help you find the ones... assuming that the actual quest hasn't changed with Zakariah," she finished, before blinking, her eyes widening.  "Oh!  Man, sorry, my manners are just, like, gone, right now.  I'm Astreya," she offered, grinning widely at the other girl, offering a hand.

Granted, she had no surety that the girl was going to accept, but if she did, Astreya was going to be only too willing to help.  

TWC: 688

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

She smiled. It wasn't to often someone that's already finished the quest. "Of course you can tag along. My name is Etherial..." She smiled once more before heading out to Zakariah. "If I remember we have to report to Zakariah first before looking for the materials..... I started this quest a while ago but never finished... I guess when I started it with another player they just got up and abandon me so I just ditched the quest." 

As they walk towards Zakariah's shop she she looked at the girl. She looked like a girl back at home. It was quite amazing to see so many people that look like your friends in the real world. The girl was quite beautiful. Quite shocking that she joined this death game. Kind of like her actually. She was probably quite beautiful to someone out there and she was trapped in this death game. But before she was wanting to say something they approached the shop. She looked at the door. It was the same door as before but maybe with a different shade of colour. "Well. Here we go again." she said with a slight giggle at the end.

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

"Nice to meet you!" Astreya called cheerily as the other girl introduced herself as well, and she moved along with Etherial toward Zakariah's shop.  "Yeah, we gotta talk to old man Zak first and then he's gonna ask you to go out and get some of the materials he needs to make a potion, I think.  Or at least that's how it was before.  But maybe it's different now?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly as she wondered if maybe it was different in some ways.  Hopefully they made finding those darn materials easier.  Having to do that before was really, really awful.  

But as Etherial admitted that someone else had ditched her the last time she'd started the quest, the dark-haired girl gasped.  "No way, for real?  That's so rude!" Astreya spoke, shaking her head.  "Like, even though I've done it before I still want to help people out.  The more people we can get up at the Front Lines, the sooner we can, like, get out of here, y'know?" she chattered, happy to have someone it talk to, it seemed like.  She was a social butterfly, and being cut off from people was doing a number on her.

"All right!  Here we go!" she called out as they arrived, and she turned the handle, pushing the door open to the old alchemist's shop.  "After you," Astreya spoke, nodding at the other girl to gesture her inside first.  After all, since she couldn't take the quest anymore, she wasn't even sure if Zakariah would give her more than just a general chat, anyway.

TWC: 955

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

She smiled once more before walking in. The only thing she heard from Zak was the same thing he gave her the first time she accepted the quest. "Looks like the the speech is the same as last update." She laughs a little as the quest updated for her to find the five materials. It was on the side of the roll of the dice to make sure she's able to get the materials.

"Well looks like we're off. You want to lead the way. You might know the better hunting ground than me." She smiles a little before following her outside of the shop and heading towards the gate. Walking out of the gate she looked around seeing plenty of herbs that maybe be the materials Walking around and attempting to pick one up. 

As she grabbed the material at ease she looked over at Astreya . "Looks like we're going to start on the right track." It was only a matter of time until she'll find 4 more to continue with this quest.

ID# 187625 results:15 LD Success +1 T1 MAT

@Astreya

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

Zakariah's spiel was pretty close to what Astreya remembered, although he seemed a bit more interested in talking and a little less in listening, but that wasn't a big deal either way.  It wasn't too much longer before the girls were on their way back outside the city.  As they left, Astreya lifted her hand in greeting to the gate guard that stood just outside.  She had been informed, prior to this update, that the guard's name was 'Marv.'  She didn't address the guard by name at all, but the fact remained that she realized that there were more than just her that treated these NPCs as more than just that.

"All right.  So when I first got out here, I went off this way to the left," she spoke, pointing off toward the left side of the wall that was wrapping around the Town of Beginnings.  As she pointed, she was unaware of the fact that Etherial was getting one of the herbs right away.  "But going that way didn't do me any good.  I wandered out there for like an hour or two and didn't find anything.  When I came back and started around the other way-" she spoke, turning around as she saw the girl with an herb.

She blinked, before a wide grin split her face.  "Awesome!  One down, four to go!" she cheered.  

As they began to walk, Astreya glanced back at the other girl.  "Is it too weird to ask what you did in the real world before all of this happened?" she asked, gesturing to the world around them at large.
 

TWC: 1,223

@Etherial

Edited April 5, 2021 by Astreya

[Etherial 0]

She was quite happy knowing that the hunt was going well for once. Usually it ended with her never finding anything for hours then find one then back to nothing after. As she kept searching the only thing that he heard was her life before the death game accrued.

“I was in high school. Matter of fact I should of graduated last year.”

 She paused for a second.

 “I was in a lot of clubs as well as student council.”

 She looked over and spotted another herb that she quickly try to obtained. As she went over to though it wasn’t going to budge as she gave up on trying to pull something that wasn’t going to give in.

“What about you? What did you do in the real world?”

Usually, it was rude talking about people’s personal stuff but everyone here is always curious on other’s pass life before entering the Death Game. It was only if they felt comfortable telling them why they join the Death Game is when it usually goes overboard for people.

ID# 187639 results: LD: 5 (Failed)

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

"Oh man, so we're probably not that different in age," the girl responded, gushing slightly at the mention of the other being in high school. "I was, like, in my first year of College," she responded, happy it seemed, to have found someone her own age to talk to about things.  "That's wild.  Seems like there's all types who wanted into this game, huh?" she asked, scratching her head before Etherial went into more detail regarding her previous time as well, mentioning the club activities as well, which struck yet another similarity chord within the dark-haired girl.

She grinned, although it faded slightly as the herb that Etherial found wasn't going to budge.  "Darn.  I had a lot of trouble finding the right ones.  There were a lot of herbs that looked the same..." she murmured.  "But as far as clubs go, me too.  I didn't do anything with student council, but I was in Volleyball, Track and Basketball, depending on the season, and then Chess too," she added, giving a small sound.  "But after I graduated and went to college, by my second year I was back playing sports and was the captain of the girl's Volleyball team."

At that, her smile started to fade slightly and she seemed to deflate a little. "But then my boyfriend wanted me to come play this 'cool new game' coming out and then... well, here I am," she added with a smile.  "I'm not much of a gamer, so a lot of his has been really... weird... for me," she admitted.

TWC: 1,482

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

After telling her some of her personal life, Astreya went even further in explaining why she was here. Etherial thought for a moment before looking for another herb to try and grab. It wasn’t a surprised that a boyfriend would drag their girlfriend into a game to play with them but when it comes to not joining with her seems kind of scummy.

“I never had a boyfriend before. I was so busy with after school activities and school work I never thought about adding dating into it.”

It was only a matter of time before she included why she joined the Death Game.

“I actually joined this game by accident. My brother bought it and was so excited about it. I just wanted to see why he was so hyped about it. I never played games before so when I got stuck in here I kind of stayed back here in the Town of Beginnings. But now I don’t want to be lost away in a video game knowing we might never leave… I wanted to keep who I am and see my brother again.”

With that though she did find another herb to pick. And this time she was successful in grabbing it.

“Well three more to go. Let see how much this game really likes me today.” She smiles.

ID# 187640 results: LD 19 (Success) +1 Mat (2)

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

At the mention of the fact that she hadn't had a boyfriend before, Astreya could somewhat sympathize.  Before Zack, she hadn't really had anyone either.  But by this point, it had been so long since she'd seen him that she didn't really... well, it wasn't to say that she didn't feel the hurt anymore.  She was just better at managing it.  "Yeah, between everything, adding that on top of homework made it seem like there wasn't any real time in the day for myself, but I made it work somehow," the girl responded with a small grin.  "Besides, I like being around people!  Makes every day better than the last!" she cheered.

As Etherial shared how she got in, Astreya nodded along with the girl's words.  "Geez.  So you got in by accident, I got pulled in by someone else.  It seems like there's quite a few of us who are stuck in here without meaning to be.  Well, you know what I mean.  Like, not everyone was really meaning to be stuck here," she spoke, waving a hand as if to dispel the idea that people actually wanted to be stuck here in this world... and if they did, then she'd just consider herself pleasantly surprised.  

"Oh man, awesome!  This is going way faster than it did for me," the woman spoke, seeing Etherial getting her second one already.

"But I hear you on that.  That's why I decided I wanted to get strong enough to get to the Front Lines and help out.  I want to make sure that everyone can get back to their lives.  I want to see my parents again, and you want to see your bro.  I'm sure that everyone has something that they're missing and so I want to help everyone get those lost things back!" Astreya spoke, clenching her hands in front of her.  "Is that being too idealistic, you think?" she asked after a moment.

TWC: 1,806

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

It wasn’t long until she thought she had a new friend. Although these two don’t know each other outside of the game it seemed like they would have been great friends in the real world.

“I actually had a crush on this boy. I was so close of asking him out…”

She never finished her sentence but instead found another herb. But this time trying to grab it, it wouldn’t budge just like the other one.

“You know sometime I wonder if these are even herbs or just annoying weeds that are here to throw you off.”

With that though she laughs a little before getting off the ground. Brushing off the dust off her dress and jacket she fixes her rapier as she continues searching as well as catching up to Astreya.

“If only boys can be as easy to talk to as girls.” She laughs once more before they continue walking.

ID# 187643 results: LD: 4 (Fail)

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

"Ooooh?  Do tell," the girl spoke, enjoying the chance to just have a 'girl talk' again.  She chatted with a good few people here and there around Aincrad since she had decided to come out of her Town of Beginnings shell, but she hadn't really had a good long conversation with another girl up until that point.  But before the conversation could go further, Etherial found another one of the herbs and moved forward to grab it... but  much like the previous one, it was stuck in its spot, not wanting to pull out at all.  "These dang weeds, anyway," she muttered as she frowned at the lack of another material gained.

"Y'know I think they're just the ones that look like the herbs but they're not quite the same.  And if this was the real world I'd just figure they've got real deep roots.  But since this is a game I figure it's probably just not interactable?" she asked, looking down at it and frowning as Etherial stood up, not able to pull the root out at all.  She shook her head at that.  "We'll have better luck if we keep moving!  Let's see what else we can find," the girl called out as she marched on ahead.  

However as Etherial caught back up to her with the note wishing boys could be easy to talk to, Astreya turned, grinning slightly.  "Okay, so boys are super easy to talk to.  Tried and tested trick- let them think they're leading the conversation by talking more.  But just ask questions to lead them to what you want to talk about.  Sometimes you'll get a smart one that tries to outmaneuver you and then you just play their game but never let them win.  Boys like a challenge- they always need to have something they're working on," the girl spoke, grinning.
 

TWC: 2,115

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

She wasn’t surprised that Astreya was interested in girl talk. It has been a while since she’s had it as well. Most of the time she’s been avoiding having to talk to men that were left in the Town of Beginnings. But after attempting to grab that false herb she would try to continue.

“Oh… He’s actually a year older than me. He was the class rep for his year. Nice and handsome. He was pretty much the only guy I talked to for the longest time.”

She paused a little before continuing.

“He was actually the one that showed me all kind of cool things like some of the trading card games. He was nerdy but also was in sports as well. I call that a good balance of being a jock but at the same time a nerd.”

It was then she spotted another herb. But like the last time it was a false one and she just continued until then. Hopefully, she’ll find another one. She’s really wanting to get going with the leveling and searching herbs isn’t one of the ways she pictured it.

ID# 187650 results: LD: 3 (Fail)

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

"A year older is no big deal!  That's basically pretty normal, I'd think," Astrey commented as she thought to herself as they went on to see if they could find any more of the herbs.  But as the girl mentioned that this class rep had been the one to get her into games and that sort of thing, Astreya couldn't help but to grin slightly.  "Aw, that's cute.  Yeah Zack tried to get me into games and that sort of thing but it never really stuck.  I was kind of interested in this one because it wasn't just sitting and staring at a screen and  all that.  Well, there were some other VR MMOs but they didn't look as good."

As she continued, Astreya nodded, grinning.  "Yep!  Need a good balance because if he's just a meathead, then he's not gonna be good for conversation.  Meanwhile if I don't have a guy that can keep up with me then that's no good either," the dark-haired girl spoke, giving a small smile back toward her ally for the moment as they came across yet another one of the herbs.  Or at least, they both thought it was, but then as she leaned down to pick it, it once more didn't let her actually pull it up out of the ground.

"Oh my- geeez," Astreya snorted with an exhale, shaking her head.  "This beginner quest is seriously the worst.  Who wants to run around and go pick up weeds, Zakariah?  Seriously?" she demanded, shaking her head slightly in annoyance as the next herb that was just another weed.  "Okay, new plan.  You found that first one pretty easily without my help, so what if you lead?  Maybe it'll help turn your luck around a little bit.  That makes sense, right?" she asked, not sure if it really did- but when it came to luck, there wasn't much to work with.

TWC: 2,433

@Etherial

 

[Etherial 0]

She laughed a little while they talked about these boys of theirs. It wasn’t to often you’re able to have these conversations and it actually make searching herbs fun after a while.

“Hey you know Zack doesn’t sound like a bad guy. He just wanted to spend all the time with you.”

The only thing that she had to go with Alex was the times they spent hanging out for student council . Then it hit her. College… She wasn’t ready for it since being trapped in here. Knowing how things going to be if they ever leave the game the government will shoved all the survivors that are minors into a school and have them get “caught up” or in Etherial’s case… Prepping for college. She wasn’t to far away from graduating it was only the stage of prepping for college.  

“What did you study for while you were in college?”

After being stuck in the game it made her want to study more on the brain. She had the interested in something with medical but maybe Neuroscience would be a good choice for her. But for now she was looking for herbs which she found another on the side that she successfully grabbed.

“Maybe it’s you that is why I’m having a hard time getting the materials.” She laughs.

ID# 187651 results: LD: 20 (Success) +1 Mat (3)

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

At Etherial's words regarding Zack, Astreya forced a smile up onto her face, ignoring the stabbing pain in her throat and down to her heart at the thought of him for a moment.  "Yeah he was a really cool guy," the woman spoke, giving a small nod to her new friend.  "He and I spent a lot of time together doing a lot of random things.  He came to a lot of my practices and games and I'd help him out with his music from time to time.  He was never really good at it but I never told him that," she added, a slight smile on her features as the memory flitted through her mind.

The topic switched at least for the moment, to what she had done in College, and Astreya gave a small thankful breath for that.  "My dad got me into strategy and all that when I was younger, and I, like, applied a lot of it to watching people and learning how they talked and that sorta junk.  So I was going to go into something with psychology or psychiatry.  I hadn't really decided yet at the time- the credits were all the same for the first year or so," she spoke, the happy impish grin finding its way back onto her features.  "But I like figuring out how people tick.  I think they're interesting," she added.

"What!" the girl exclaimed as Etherial pulled out another one of the herbs as if it was just sitting there the whole time.  "Okay first of all- rude.  I am totally not bad luck!" Astreya called out, laughing despite herself at the situation.  "But second of all- maybe.  I was at this for a real long time before I actually found all the herbs I needed so maybe that is the case," the girl spoke, laughing still as she shook her head.

TWC: 2,747

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

She laughed with her as they continued to look as there was one directly next to it a couple of feet always. But as always it didn’t want to budge. Getting up off the ground and brushes the dust off of her she continues on with what they were talking about.

“I was always interested in how the brain worked. So I started looking up degrees I could go for and Neuroscience was the one. I’m not sure what path I want to go down with after. A lot like to be brain surgeons but I don’t want to go to deep into the medical. I enjoy the sciences.”

But before she was able to continue she decided to head back to Alex.

“Alex went to go to the US and study engineering. In case you were wondering. I know you talked about what Zack did figured I added that in.”

She started laughing a little before they continue to search.

ID# 187653 results: LD: 8 (Fail)

@Astreya

Edited April 5, 2021 by Etherial

[Astreya 0]

The laughter from the two of them seemed to continue for a long moment, before it finally began to die down after a moment, when it seemed that Etherial found another one of the herbs.  "Did you find another-" she began, when it became clear that it wasn't coming up out of the ground at all.  "Darn.  Another one of the face ones," Astreya added with a small sigh, setting her hand against her cheek and tilting her head to the side.  "Maybe we need some more luck.  What if I stand a little bit further back?" she asked, a teasing grin on her face.

As the other girl mentioned that she was (potentially) going into Neuroscience, Astreya let out a slow whistle.  "Dang, that's awesome!  That's a lot smarter than what I think that I could do," the girl spoke, thinking for a moment.  She wasn't exactly an intellectual, but she was quite intuitive when it came to people- that was certainly one of her most remarkable traits... and making snap decisions that needed to help people.  That's why she was the captain of the volleyball team- but all the same, when it came to actual book smarts... she left a lot of that on the table.  "Engineering, too?  You're both smarties," she spoke, grinning widely for a moment.

But she paused then, making a gesture to allow Etherial to go along forward first- and staying far enough back so that her 'bad luck' didn't cause any issue from getting the rest of the herbs.  They only needed two more.  If they were lucky, they could find them soon and get back and onto the next quest- that one was way easier to do than having to deal with finding all of these herbs and everything.  "Go go Etherial!  Let's get another herb!" she cheered.

TWC: 3053

@Etherial

[Etherial 0]

She smiled a little. Nothing feels more awkward hearing someone telling her that she’s a smart person. She doesn’t think anyone isn’t smart it just takes time and focus to be successful.

“Thanks… But don’t let yourself down. Everyone can be smart. You just have to push yourself into doing what you want to do in your life.”

With that thought she continued on until she found more herbs that she attempts to pull but failed. It’s coming to the point now where no matter what the game decides to roll it doesn’t want her to finish the quest any time soon. But for now, she would continue moving forward. Dusting off her dress as well as straightening up her rapier.

“So what make Zack pick music for something he want’s to do for a living?”

She asked with curiosity. It’s to often someone was flat down wanting to me a musician unless their parents forced it onto them as a child.

ID# 187658 results: LD: 7 (Fail)

@Astreya

Edited April 6, 2021 by Etherial