[F01 - PP] <<The First Few Lessons>>(Open to all 4/4)

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth sort of blushed at NIGHT at her comment, he had hoped no one heard him, but all was well and good, at least the group seemingly accepted his apology. "If we aren't chipper in a world like this, then what do we have left?" Bismuth remarked smiling again, the façade was easy to put on once he started running his mouth, something he did too often. He was still laid back, but it seemed like a lot of his overly eccentric attitude was gone, and rather replace by a normal confidence, albeit still not really how Bismuth felt inside. 

Watching Nari speak Bismuth held his tongue, he didn't want to say anything rude to the obviously shy girl, rather she seemed nice, so he wanted to be nice to her. "I would love to join, I need to get to this quest someday, and well, I don't do quests too often." Bismuth made an offhand gesture towards the worn out journal on his thigh. "I don't get out much. This will be fun." Bismuth tried to smile reassuringly at Nari, glad that the others had also accepted her request. Company would always be nice, and these definitely seemed at the very least better companions than Freyd for the most part.

[NIGHT 0]

With how quickly the two budding adventurers had gone docile, she could really tell their lack of experience with the game as it was meant to be played. Or simply in other people. Though, the better confirmation was in the different ways they were oddballs.

Not that NIGHT could find it in herself to complain.

"That was the plan the entire time." Nari didn't have to ask -- in fact, the question itself drew some attention as to why it needed to be asked. And at Bismuth's confirmation, NIGHT nodded, turning and taking her first strides towards the outskirts of the city. Granted, though abrupt, being shorter than the other players meant that there was little chance in losing them behind. "It's this way then. C'mon."

She gave her companion's musings some thought. Koga was right; part of her response was in forgetting they even had workshops in the first place. But having a joint stall? "You could just point them down my way," NIGHT returned -- it wouldn't feel right to move her shop into Koga's for a replacement artisan, and neither was it complementary to be replacing someone as important to him as Noctua. "Though you might be overdue for a shop rehaul. At least a rebranding might be in order."

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

It took Nari a moment to register the soft sound she was hearing, her eyes shut to the world around her. Snapping them open, she spots the figure of the woman from the doorway heading towards the outer wall, the others seemingly preparing to follow. Straightening, Nari hoists the shield on her arm, stepping after NIGHT with limited hesitation. She looks at the other two, smiling shyly. 

"So, I guess we follow her?" Nari will point a finger at NIGHT as she continues on her way, letting the question hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "I...want to thank you. For. Well, you know. For coming along. I appreciate it."

Heaving a large sigh, Nari will attempt what can only be considered a very awkward smile, baring her teeth fully. Suddenly conscious of the fact that she must look odd, she'll wipe away the smile. "Uhm...have any of you done this quest before? Do...you know what we're looking for? I...kind of...didn't really listen to the man in the shop..."

Her face will turn red again as she remembers slamming her hand down on the counter, and she'll turn away so that the majority of her hair hides her expression of embarrassment. 'Smooth, Nari. Very smooth. They probably think you're an emotional mess. I'm sure they'll want to stick around with you if they think you're insane.'

Spoiler

Word Count: 228

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth

[Koga 0]

Koga caught Bismuth's response to NIGHT, a stray thought quickly running through his mind. 'Depressed, anxious, afraid. Hollow shells.' He'd been there. Was still there. He didn't like it, but it wasn't so easy when there was more in the world eager to kick you while you were down, rather than pick you back up. Maybe Bismuth would be one of the few to do the latter.

Koga followed closely beside NIGHT as they walked towards the Town's outer walls. "Hey Marv, keep up the good work," the Wolf said as they passed the gate guards. Silent and stoic as ever, but that only meant they cared. Well as much as two dimensionally coded AI could.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Koga replied to NIGHT. "I need to...move on. But I like the name still, so I dunno. Maybe I should just move my shop entirely, but keep the name. I'd probably lose a lot of customers doing that though." But then again, when had Koga ever cared for business.

The man glanced over his shoulder as he heard Nari's question. "They're kinda like...well...shiny...that's kinda it. Pretty much anything shiny is a material, they're pretty amorphous. Can be used for anything, so they don't really take on a final form until after you've taken a profession. Either of you got any idea what you wanna do as a profession?" he asked them both.

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth was fine with just taking NiGHT's lead on this quest, she seemed like a very capable leader, and well, he definitely wasn't going to take the lead again. Bismuth caught Nari's awkward smile, it was endearing, she was very clearly not that good with people, but she was clearly trying. "You don't need to thank me, I needed to get this quest done anyways, and I am always happy to help." bismuth smiled back at her before she stopped trying to smile. Bismuth kept started walking sort of in the middle of the group, giving Marv a small wave while passing through the gate, at the same time as Koga said hello.

"Oh the quest is really simple, most of the ingredients on this floor can be used for alchemy, so really just about any material you can find will help out the old shop keep, we just have to bring him back a few." Bismuth eyes seemed to glow at that sentence, a glint of excitement replacing the casual look in his eye, one that he always tried and failed to hide when it came out. "Oh me, I am a cook and forager. Need some boosts that come from the cook for my research." Bismuth answered Koga simply not particularly elaborating on what that research was, not really intending to be rude, his mind was just on the task ahead of them.

[NIGHT 0]

With everyone else piping in about the quest details, NIGHT supposed she didn't have to add onto their explanation. Instead, her eyes were set forward on the evergreen horizon, a cluster of dark trees bordering the outskirts of the city, the crown that circled a mountainous region in a locale way beyond. The 'Field of Beginnings'.

Of course, scattered about were a couple of boars that seemed more friendly than hostile. And the player took in the sight, briefly scanning the vicinity for her colleague's aforementioned materials, only to come up empty. The wind that blustered through the dirt roads was nothing more than a cold, welcoming ritual for newbies, but it felt more like a reaffirming caress, a gift from the world to the seasoned player. 'Welcome back.'

"The quest shouldn't have changed much since its creation," NIGHT began, turning back to the party once she realized she'd left them hanging for a response. "Five materials. As Bismuth's said, anything you find might work. But usually they show up as something white, obfuscated and shiny, like Koga mentioned."

The player rifled through her inventory before settling upon a handful of bars. They spawned in her hands, two blocks wrapped in paper, formed on a stack. "Just in case you two need help looking for them, these would help. Cardinal has its way with one's luck stat, so you might as well play into it when you can."

---

ID203288 | LD8+5 = 12 | nothing found. (unaffected by quest)

Offering [ Berry Crumb Bars | LOOT DIE III ] (x2) to the party.

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

 accepted by.

As they passed the guard and the gates out of the town, Nari felt herself relax. There were fewer chances of running into people out here - and although she travelled with these three, she felt...somehow at ease with them. Well, except maybe this Bismuth. His continuous smiling at her was...odd. She wondered if he was being overly nice for a specific reason - maybe he was waiting until her guard was down?

Shrugging it aside, she let her eyes roam around the area, looking for anything that could be considered glowy and standing out against the general landscape. She really had no idea what she was looking for - maybe it would be similar to her blacksmith - 

“Oh! Wait! You asked what we do! I’m a blacksmith!” Nari will call out randomly, as she continued to browse the area. “Did you say you’re a cook? So, you could make us all a nice meal after this is all over?”

Her eyes alighted upon a shiny flat bar sticking out of the ground, partially hidden within a pile of grass. Stooping down, Nari collected the piece of material, stowing it away before turning back to the others with a smile. Her first real attempt out here had been a success, and she was excited to push onwards.

ID203289 | LD: 12 | Material Search | Success (1/5)

Spoiler

Word Count: 220

Edited February 8, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results / Update post material

[Koga 0]

The level of relief Koga felt once NIGHT had revealed the consumables she had brought to the new players was simply immeasurable. "God, I remember doing this quest without that stuff," Koga commented as the two quickly munched on the little bars. "It took...like the whole day to find all our mats. It was awful, I mean there's only so many times you can look beneath boulders and rock before you just start losing your mind."

"Cooks are always good to have," Koga commented once learning what their two professions were. "Consumables are huge help to...well, everyone." Although he'd hardly used the items himself, Koga was well aware of how drastic a change they could have on one's stats. "I'm a blacksmith too," he then told Nari. "Not a very good one, but its whatever. If you ever need any help though, or want some customers, I can send anyone I'm too lazy to take care of your way."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth graciously accepted the bars from NIGHT before consuming it in order to get the bonus to LD. "These here are actually the entire reason I have become a cook, it should be able to help my research quite a bit, and I need all the help I can get most of the time." Bismuth smiled at NIGHT "Thankyou for your help." Bismuth really wished that he had his glasses right now, they were also a boost to his luck, but he wasn't planning on going on any expeditions today, so he had left them on his desk surrounded by his papers. 

Though the immediate surroundings of the beginner village was plentiful with all kinds of different materials for all of the low level players to kickstart their crafting careers, Bismuth wasn't able to find anything around there immediate surrounding, the blue aura that he had become accustomed to using his Hikei, was something that he had started relying on, so not having them was going to be something he had to get used to.

Spoiler

Consumed:  [ Berry Crumb Bars | LOOT DIE III ]

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Bismuth

[NIGHT 0]

She sighed at Koga's mention of the past. Because the first meeting with another player had been so impactful, she could still recall her first mistakes as an adventurer. Perhaps she might've even been lucky to make it out of that day alive.

"Well, someone's got a good eye," NIGHT quipped, noticing the sparkle in Nari's hand. "As long as you keep that up, you should be fine."

And there were statements made that she could follow up on, mentions she could query -- if she didn't value others' privacies to their duties. Likewise, she half-expected her own as she watched the fresh faces looking about for their quest objectives. Her gaze was cast to the field where she was certain her first gathering site was, wondering if the small patch of flowers were still present. Were they blue, or were they yellow? NIGHT couldn't quite remember, but there was a worry rested underneath her tongue.

[Koga 0]

The two new players were quick to begin their search for materials, Nari had even found one already. Good thing too, as this quest was one of the more time consuming ones, rivalled only by that stupid boulder quest and the search for one's familiar. At least NIGHT and Koga didn't have to do much besides making sure that the two players didn't wander off and get themselves killed. Kinda like babysitting

Too bad Koga was a terrible babysitter.

The man stood by with his hands in pockets beside NIGHT as the other two went about their business. The man stole a glance at his old friend, a curious look on her face as she stared off into the distance. "Penny for your thoughts?" the man asked her, wondering what she was thinking. NIGHT was not usually one to drift off like that. At least not as far as he'd ever seen. She'd always been the more focused one of the two, more controlled and far less impulsive than he.

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Nari watched out of the corner of her eye as Koga and Night stood off to the side, holding a conversation and seemingly watching over herself and Bismuth as they went about their scavenging. Nari had been impressed – and quite excited – to have already found one of the shiny bars that she needed for this quest.

Throwing glances towards the two veterans – for she had no doubt they were veterans – she slowly slid over towards Bismuth, whispering once she was close enough.

“Don’t look up or over at me, but… do you think there’s something between those two? Night and Koga, I mean… “ Nari continued scanning the ground as she spoke, pulling aside rocks and grass in her search for further materials. She felt herself flush suddenly, and quickly added. “I mean… not that it’s… you know… our business or anything… but… well… you know…”

She glanced again at the two standing off in the distance, worried that her voice had carried across to them. She wasn’t sure how they would react to such prying conversations, especially behind their backs, and involuntarily she felt her face flush again. Dipping her head, she tried less than successfully to cover it with her pushed back hair, wondering again how she had ended up in this mess.

ID203369  | LD: 7 | Material Search | Failure (1/5)

Spoiler

Word Count: 215

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth hadn't been paying much mind to anyone else at this point, the task at hand, one he enjoyed very much, had taken over the entirety of his mind. That was until the shy woman known as Nari had shuffled herself closer to him and whispered some questions towards him. Thinking for a moment Bismuth used his bright red dagger to pry a root out of the ground, placing it into his inventory. "Nah, I don't really think there's anything going on, all the frontliners are close, it comes with risking your life with someone every day." Bismuth turned to look at Nari, there was a glint of excitement in his eyes, though it wasn't at the prospect of the drama she was talking about, and more from the fun he was having out in the wilderness. "Don't worry I don't think they heard you at all." Bismuth with that continued his searching, this place wasn't the best for materials, but it would do.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 15 + 3 = 18 = success

+1 Material

1/5

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Bismuth

[NIGHT 0]

"Penny for your thoughts?"

NIGHT was quiet for a spell, before shifting her attention from the distance to her friend. "The First Lessons quest. When you were gathering materials, you were probably out with Noct, weren't you?" It was an assumption, certainly, but NIGHT had reasons for making the jump. Though, she knew there was a possibility to be wrong. Either way, she gestured towards the fields beyond, half-certain the spot she was pointing to had the flowers she remembered. "I was out with Yukiro my first night. Somewhere over there, I think. He'd chided me on having gone outside when the worst monsters were around." And though the equipment she had on was decent, she remembered having worn the man's defenses instead.

"I might've been in danger that night, if he hadn't kept watch. Manticores prowling about."

Two blinks, and she thought more towards the materials. The flowers. "When we were gathering, the petals of his blossoms were blue. And mine gold, I think, though they each came from the same patch. Or was it the other way around...? He'd guessed it was based on an individual's color. Different for every person."

Another exhale, before she took her mind off the memory. NIGHT brushed the back of her head with a hand running through her hair. "Yukiro can handle himself, I get that. I'm just worried about him since neither of us have seen him in a while. Y'know?"

A huff, and the woman dragged her gaze towards the fresh faces. Though nothing in her immediate attention caught their discussion amiss, she did wonder about their progress, but was inclined to stay silent.

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Nari will nod absentmindedly at Bismuth’s words – he was likely right, about the frontliners all being close. They were testing their fates as one, placing themselves in dangers that she and he could only imagine. But…

“Something about these two though…it seems different. As if they’ve got…something between them. I-“ Nari will suddenly stop talking and force her jaw shut as she realises she’s been staring at the two in the distance. Suddenly snapping her head around, she’ll hide her heavily flushed features and force her hands to resume her search through the grasses beneath her.

She couldn’t believe she had allowed herself to do something so silly, drawing attention to herself like that. It wasn’t polite – it wasn’t what she should be doing. Plus, if there was something between them, well, that just wasn’t her place to stick her nose into. Especially seeing as they were being so kind as to help her – well, and Bismuth – with this quest.

ID203392 | LD: 4 | Material Search | Failure

Spoiler

Word Count: 160

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Koga 0]

Koga found himself surprised. He'd never taken NIGHT to be the sentimental type. Well, not like he was at least. But as they stared out at the distant fields of flowers, they found themselves reminiscing.  "Yeah. I was." It had been how they'd met, in fact. Distant memories now though.

The man listened as his friend described the first time she'd completed the quest, and how Yukiro had helped her. He hadn't ever known that little folk tale about the flowers, but it figured that Yukiro would. He'd been better at keeping his ear to the ground than Koga was. "Yeah, I'm worried too..." he said quietly. It had been so long since they'd seen their friend. Koga's brother-in-law, he supposed, though he hardly ever thought of the man as such. Just a close friend, who'd happened to fall in love with his sister and marry her. Two separate things.

"I actually met Yukiro somewhere out there for the first time too," Koga began to say. "He helped me acquire my first katana. Showed me where...in fact, he'd mentioned he'd just killed the Manticore that had been guarding it." Koga chuckled lightly, "God, imagine, he protected us at the beginning." And now? They couldn't even find him. Tala didn't even know where he was...and God, did he know how she worried after him...

The Wolf's attention was drawn away from the pair's reminiscing as he heard quiet whispers come from the direction of the two new player's a perk of his recently acquired Searching skills. His gaze practically shot over towards them just in time to catch Nari staring at them, as he called out. "Ey, everything alright over there?" he inquired, his tone doing nothing to hide the fact he had most certainly heard their quiet utterings.

[Bismuth 0]

"I mean it has been what near seven years since this game began? Maybe there is something there, either way It doesn't matter much to me, if they are something that's good for them though" Bismuth was still searching around where he had found his last root, they usually came in pairs, so there should be another root really close to the last one, finding it he pulled it out and tossed it into his inventory, standing up just as Koga asked if they needed help. "Oh, not at all, Just talking about you guys, Nari here thinks you guys are something more than friends, I disagree, doesn't really matter though." Bismuth shrugged as he turned back towards the plains, he was tired of crouching hoping that he could find something a little bit higher to the ground in a nearby tree. Though he doubted it, especially with the nearest tree being a few meters away. Oh well he thought as he began walking to it.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 12 + 3 = 15 = success

+1 Material

2/5

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Bismuth

[NIGHT 0]

So she didn't know how to react.

"Nari here thinks you guys are something more than friends."

"Like, what," NIGHT wondered aloud, gaze still blank and filled with confusion. "Best friends?"

It then registered to her how abstracted her thinking was, especially after thinking back on the past. Hence the switch -- between demeanors, her shift was abrupt, the player half-panicking once realization struck her hard. Did it not show through enough? Wait, wasn't that a good thing? On a daily basis, perhaps, but when scenarios like these were present -- wait, why was it her who found herself in these positions?!

Oh, good lord. Was Nari pulling the straight girl card?

"No, it's not like that--" Almost like the pleas of a guilty party, until NIGHT shuffled backwards, waving her hands in innocence. "--I'm not into guys. Not at all! I'd much rather prefer girls!"

Wait, admitting she liked girls to another girl -- would that be a source of confusion?

"-- B-b-but that doesn't mean I was trying to hit on you or anything after tagging along to show you two around!" Frenzied waving only grew worse, and NIGHT hadn't remembered she was standing atop a slope, where the view was perfect for the rest of the fields in the vicinity.

If only the air was as relaxed for such sightseeing right now.

Steps backwards. Muddied thinking.

"There's nothing between Koga and I, okay? We're nothing more than good friends, that's all--"

Misplaced footing, and a trip.

NIGHT went tumbling down, disappearing in a flurry of green, rolling through the emeralds in a warble.

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Nari stared at Bismuth as she registered in her mind what he had just said aloud. Her only annoyance was that he had initiated the conversation itself –

‘Wait, what did she just say?’ Nari’s attention snapped back to NIGHT as the woman explained her lack of interest in Koga – which only made sense to Nari – and how her focus was on woman. ‘Is…is that why she invited me…? I…’

Nari’s heart began to race harder as she stared at NIGHT. The woman was…well, she was attractive. Nari couldn’t deny that. But… Shaking her head, Nari forced herself to focus on the words that the trio were passing back and forth.

“I’m…I’m sorry – Bismuth…he – he didn’t portray what I was saying properly. You two…well, you two have a history of some sort, right?” Nari paused a moment to catch her breath, before launching into a slight monologue. “I don’t think – I mean he doesn’t really look like a good choice. For you. I mean. Not that he’s – well, he’s not my…What I’m trying to say is…well…I understand.”

Nari stressed her final words in NIGHT’s direction, as if trying to convey some underlying message. She felt her face flush as she suddenly realised that NIGHT might not understand her message. Her mouth opened, but no further words passed from her lips – her tongue felt heavy, as if this entire situation had stolen its ability to move. She felt her hand raise and begin twirling her hanging hair in a nervous manner.

Suddenly realising that she needed to do something – anything – Nari spun on her heels, taking six steps before dropping to her knees and digging into the ground, trying to distract herself from everything by searching for the necessary materials to complete this quest.

‘Stupid. Stupid. Now she’s going to think – no. No she won’t. She wouldn’t assume…right? And the other two! They must think…what am I going to do?!’

ID203401 | LD: 15 | Material Search | Success (2/5)

Spoiler

Word Count: 318

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Koga 0]

Koga was a little surprised at first with Bismuth's forwardness, but then again, the man had shown to be nothing thus far. Koga was about to open his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by the sound of NIGHT explaining, or rather verbally stumbling her way through an explanation.

One step in the wrong direction.

Thump!

"NIGHT!" Koga was quick to jump down the small berm, sliding to a stop beside the now facedown NIGHT. The man crouched down beside her, arms on his knees as he looked at her, lips drawn in a thin line. Well she was still breathing. "Why am I surprised?" he said to her. "I know this is how you react to those kinds of question, and yet, somehow, I am still absolutely bewildered by how impressively you make a fool of yourself every time." Honestly, if Koga recorded it and sold the vids as comedy skits, he'd probably make a fortune.

After confirming that NIGHT was indeed, still alive (at least physically, emotionally and mentally was another story) Koga marched back up the hill search for Nari, who had busily buried her head in more searching, and somehow missed NIGHT tumbling down the hill like an overstuff elephant. "You!" he cried out, pointing an accusatory finger at her, "the fuck you mean I'm 'not really a good choice'!?"