[PP-F01] <<The First Lesson>>

[Marius 0]

     Figuring that he would attempt at least one last look around in the area surrounding the outer layer of the forest before heading further in, Marius had pushed ever onward. A multitude of trees, plants and vegetation had been encountered along the way but there hadn't seemed to have been any mobs or materials that could be seen. A lot of this was just the typical stuff that one would find in a forest. It was both a relief and a bit of an annoyance. Mairus had honestly just about been prepared to give up on the outer rim of the forest when he had stumbled over a root sticking out of the ground. As he had begun to tumble forward and towards the ground, he would immediately remove his weapon from its holster and prepare for any sort of encounter that might have been about to occur. Turning around the moment that he had hit the ground, Marius would come to see that there hadn't been any sort of beastie to combat at present. There had however been a gnarly looking root sticking out of the ground. Upon further inspection, said root had seemed to be gatherable. It was admittedly a strange one for him to be adding to his collection but it was needed either way. "Alrighty. Just one more to go and we should hopefully be set after that. Than I'll just need to head on back to meet up with Zackariah and see what else he needs. If there is anything else to do for this quest, that is."

Spoiler

Word Count: 263
ID: 198939 | LD: 14
Gathered Materials: 4/5

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Marius

[Marius 0]

     Having more or less proved his hypothesis to a certain extent, Marius had decided to push onward. This was naturally going to end up being one of those multi-step hypothesis'. If he were to find nothing within the center of the forest than his point would be proven but if he had indeed found things in the center than his hypothesis would have been moot. As with all things in life, there was but one way to find out. The elderly gentleman had begun to proceed towards the center of the forest as he would realize how late it was slowly starting to become. If he had left earlier in the day than things might have been easier for him to stay out late but he was going to need to get back to Erebus at some point. "It's only one more piece so it shouldn't be too much trouble to find. Once I get all of this done, maybe I can even take the two of us out for dinner or something. Ensure that we manage to get some food into us." He had mostly been speaking aloud to himself but there was also a small part of him that was speaking to Erebus, despite him not actually having been physically present with him. To no surprise, there was no materials to be found during this attempt.

Spoiler

Word Count: 228
ID: 198940 | LD: 10
Gathered Materials: 4/5

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Marius

[Marius 0]

     Just as before, this old man had nothing to do other than continue on with his work. He was going to need to get used to this kind of work eventually, considering how he had wanted to get into the profession game but... That was something that he could always find ways around. A familiar could be gained with some effort and said familiar might be able to be trained to aid him on his journey. And being as this was a game, there were all kinds of mechanical benefits that he could theoretically find to assist him with it when that time had come. That was all in the future though. He couldn't just stop what he was doing and acquire all of this help and than restart the mission. It doesn't exactly work that way. Trying not to worry about it all too much, Marius would just keep moving forward. While he hadn't managed to succeed in finding the last material, he had succeeding in passing the time until he could go back and see his grandson again. Kind of, anyways.

Spoiler

Word Count: 183
ID: 198941 | LD: 7
Gathered Materials: 4/5

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Marius

[Marius 0]

     "While I may be wrong about quite a few things, I am most assuredly proving my own point from earlier on. This hypothesis on finding the materials really only on the outer rim of each forest on the first floor must be proving to be true. I wonder if anyone other than myself ever has this issue or if it's just a me thing? Is my hypothesis actually true or am I just having exponentially poor luck? I'll have to be sure to ask around and get a sufficient answer from a few others once all is said and done. Maybe I can even ask someone while out getting dinner for tonight!" Things had been shaping up to prove him true as of late but there was no guarantee that he was actually correct. Sometimes bad luck just happens. He would come to find out the truth behind all of this in the future though. Regardless, his time had been more or less well spent. Sure he hadn't managed to find the material that he was looking for but knowing that he was probably right about the mechanics of the game had always been something that Marius could enjoy.

Spoiler

Word Count: 199
ID: 198942 | LD: 9
Gathered Materials: 4/5

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Marius

[Marius 0]

     Not wishing to continue this delve into the abyss of the forest, Marius had decided to head back to the forefront of the forest. It was there that he had continuously managed to succeed in finding the materials that he was after, after all. To no one surprise at this point, as he had begun to head back out towards the outer rim of the forest, Marius had managed to come across the final piece that he was after. It had happened to be about a good fifteen feet into the outer rim which was more or less what Marius had been predicting. This was knowledge that he was going to need to bare in mind in the future if he were to ever do this sort of thing again. Remain in the outer rim for materials and push ever onward into the depths of the forest if you wish to encounter NPCs. It only made sense that this was how things had turned out, given his luck. "And that's that! Now I just need to traverse back to the <<Town of Beginnings>> and hope that I can make it back before it grows too dark out." From there he would make his way back towards the <<Town of Beginnings>> in hopes of completing this quest.

Spoiler

Word Count: 216
ID: 198943 | LD: 19
Gathered Materials: 5/5 (Success)

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Marius

[Marius 0]

     Having finally made his way back to Zackariah's shop, Marius would push the door open and head on inside. "Right, Zackariah, I have finally returned. Shall I take it that you intend to show me how to do this or will our paths end here? And... I suppose it's just me that is going to be running through this part of the quest..." It was after these things were said that Zackariah would turn about and begin to face Marius. "I said that I would be willing to show you how to do it yourself and as such, I shall." Zackariah would than run through the motions of instructing Marius on what exactly he had to do to craft a potion with the materials that he had required. It was a fairly simple process that really just required utilizing the proper tools while fiddling with the crafting menu. Thankfully this was something that he was able to do with relative ease overall. The understanding what to do part. It had still remained to be seen on whether or not he could successfully craft a healing potion.

     Figuring that he had this whole crafting thing down pat, Marius would walk on over to a brewing set and place the materials that he had acquired directly within it. From there he would fiddle with the pop-up menu and would watch at the brewing set had begun to boil down the materials placed within. Following the trail of the materials until they had finally hit a beaker at the other end, Marius would wait with baited breath to find the outcome of his potion... And it had been a complete and utter failure. So much so  that even the resources that were utilized for it couldn't be salvaged. Overall it was a rather embarrassing thing to have happen in front of the NPC. Good thing that his grandson wasn't here to witness such a thing.

Spoiler

Word Count: 322
ID: 198944 | CD: 1 | Critical Failure

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Marius

[Marius 0]

     Cheeks tinged red with embarrassment, Marius would slowly turn his head to face Zackariah. He had been expecting to be berated for this blunder, much like when he had been working back in the real world,  but there wasn't any sort of discouraging look upon the NPCs face. It was almost... surprising to the elderly gentleman. Was he truly not upset about what had just happened? Perhaps this was due to the fact that he was dealing with an NPC and not a human.  "There is no need to worry about your failure here, my friend. When you don't succeed, you can always try again." Reaching into his robe, Zackariah would produce several more materials and place them down beside the brewing set. "Go ahead and try again. I'm sure that you'll be surprised at what comes next."

     Although admittedly a little unsure of what it was that Zackariah had meant, he had come to understand that he had another attempt prepared for him. Hoping that things would work better for him at this point, Marius would redo the process that he had completed earlier on and would await an appropriate response from the machine. It was just as the beaker would begin to glow that Marius would take yet another baited breath. What would the result be this time? Would he fail again? No! He had manged to come out on top this time with not just a typical healing potion but with one of rare quality! It was astounding that he had succeeded in this attempt with just a little coaxing from the NPC. Was this planned? Of course not but at least it had worked out! 

     After successfully crafting the potions, Zackariah holds them up, examining your work. "You did a fantastic job," he finally declares, offering you the items. "Now, was there anything else?" Having almost forgotten something so important himself, Marius would immediately fill him in on why he had initially come out here. This had prompted for Zackariah to chuckle and shakes his head. "Leave it to Dorian to forget something so important. No, I'm afraid it wasn't me that borrowed the col. You might try Lyle, the blacksmith. I've seen him talking with the mayor frequently the past month or so, and he's just up the road. I wish you luck!"

     Yet another pop-up menu would appear before Marius' eyes as he looks over the potion in which he had just created. It was the quest rewards page and ultimately the signifier that he had completed the quest. Despite how long it had taken him to accomplish it, this mission had been worth it. 

Quest Rewards:

450 Experience Points
500 Col
(5) T1 Uncommon Health Potions: Heals 5% of Maximum HP.
(1) T1 Uncommon Damage Potion: +1 DMG for an entire thread.
(1) T1 Uncommon Overhealth Potion: Adds 5% of Maximum HP to users Maximum HP for a thread.
(1) T1 Rare Health Potion: Heals 10% of Maximum HP.
Unlock <<The Second Lesson>> Quest

A singular eyebrow would raise as Marius had read the final quest reward. There had been a second part of the quest? That wasn't something that he had been anticipating from the beginning but it was something that he was certainly looking forward to. He had learned his lesson today and with that being the case, he was going to be prepared. "Well... I suppose that I'll just need to head off to complete the other quests now." Feeling quite appreciative of the words that Zackariah had given him, Marius would nod his head to him and than head on off. There were things to do after all but for now... Dinner.

Spoiler

Word Count: 613
ID: 198945 | CD: 9 | Rare Quality (Success) 

Spoiler

Thread Summary

Marius:
+ 1,550 EXP [Total] | 450 EXP [Quest] + 1,140 EXP [Thread Progression]
+ 900col [Total] | 500col [Quest] + 400col [Thread Progression]
+ (5) Health Potion | Tier 1 Uncommon Consumable | HP Recovery I
+ (1) Damage Potion | Tier 1 Uncommon Consumable | Damage I
+ (1) Overhealth Potion | Tier 1 Uncommon Consumable | Over-Health I
+ (1) Health Potion | Tier 1 Rare Consumable | HP Recovery II
+ Unlock <<The Second Lesson>> Quest