[F01- SP] Leaving the cradle <The first lesson>

[Victrix 0]

Another day in Aincrad, another day spent in the town of beginnings; the peaceful idyllic safe haven that many of the players trapped within SAO had never left, whether through fear or simple apathy, whilst a few brave souls risked their lives on the frontlines to bring them closer to escaping Aincrad, many others had elected to simply do nothing; to sit, and to wait.

Valerie, or Victrix, as she had named herself in SAO, was one of these people.

Ever since that dreaded day she hadn’t once set foot outside of the town’s safe limits, for that could mean death, and that, to say the least, was undesirable, most definitely something that she wanted to avoid, if possible. Whilst it had been boring and stale, it was safe, and besides, SAO had lost all of its fantastical allure when it had been turned into a deathtrap wearing the skin of a VRMMO. It no longer inspired the sort of fantastical joy and enthusiasm that it once did, it was no longer a magical world she could lose herself in without worry; it was just an elaborate and deadly prison.

A prison that she had asked for time and time again.

The woman let out a sigh as she looked down at the half-eaten sandwich in her hands, and as she did she felt a deep pang of regret and longing. It all felt so foolish, how she had begged her parents to get her a nervegear time and time again, how she had crammed and stressed near endlessly in order to earn it. Hindsight, of course, was 20/20, but that didn’t make it any less unpleasant to remember. It didn’t make her yearn for the life she once had any less.

A scowl spread across Victrix’s face as she sat in silent contemplation for several seconds, her eyes vaguely focused on the small food item in her hand, until something drew her out of her reverie; the sound of a child crying nearby. She turned her face towards the source, and saw a small child, their face glistening with tear trails as they clung to a man who seemed to be their father. Victrix wasn’t able to hear all of the conversation, and, truth be told, she heard more of what the child said, as their mournful wails carried further than the hushed responses of their father. A few utterances stuck out in Victrix’s mind as she listened.

“I wanna go home”

“I miss mummy”

“Please do something”

Over and over they begged, pleaded with their father for some way to escape, to make it all end so that they could return to their old life and see those that they loved. But the child couldn’t make that happen, and nor could their father, for he had to care for the child. One was simply unable, while the other had his hands tied, they both yearned for release, for an end to Aincrad, yet neither could make it happen.

This made Victrix think, made her think about herself, about what she had been doing, or, more accurately, what she hadn’t.

There were many, many people like them in Aincrad; the weak, the young, those who could not march forwards to freedom themselves. They had no choice but to sit within the safety of the town of beginnings and wait for others to carve the path to freedom for them, but Victrix, Victrix had other options.

So why had she done nothing?

There was nothing that tied her to SAO’s starting area, nothing that stopped her from going out and fighting alongside the frontliners, other than her own apathy and laziness.  So many of the people trapped in Aincrad begged for release, and yet she had spent god knows how long simply wasting time in the town of beginnings doing nothing! How many children were trapped in Aincrad, unable to help themselves? How many people on the frontlines struggled and bled to take them closer to freedom, while she simply sat in the town and contributed towards nothing?

How many?

She had wasted so much time doing nothing, and this small encounter, this chance meeting somehow brought it all into focus and revealed just how foolish and selfish her inaction had been. It galvanized her, for she had always held this irritating little trait that made her care for children and the weak more than was sensible, so, seeing a helpless child beg their equally helpless father for release tugged at her heartstrings. They could not fight, but she could, so why hadn’t she?

She thought in silence for some time, just staring into the distance blankly as if she was transfixed by something. However, no matter how much she thought, no matter how long she sat there, she always came round to the same answer.

There was no good reason for her inaction; there was no good reason for her apathy.

That had to change, if not for herself, then for the countless helpless souls trapped within Aincrad. Sure, one extra soldier wasn’t going to make too much of a difference, but one good soldier can make a bit of a difference, perhaps even save a few lives if the right thing was done, if she fought hard enough.

Or, perhaps, she wouldn’t change anything, perhaps she was destined to march towards her death without achieving anything of note. A macabre thought to be sure, but it was by no means an unrealistic one; many people had fallen to such a fate within Aincrad; a wasted life, followed by a meaningless death. The thought scared her, truth be told, the possibility that her life within Aincrad would amount to nothing, and, perhaps more importantly, the possibility that she may never leave it.


Such speculation mattered little, however; she had a goal, a desire, a purpose, all that was left, was for her to march towards it.

So he stood, and with a flick of her wrist, opened up a small menu so that she could have a quick look at the quests within floor 1 which could be completed by a level 1 player, and, thankfully, there seemed to be a few, which, hopefully, had been designed as a way for new players to gain experience an progress, or at least that’s what she assumed. There was no way to find out other than doing the quest, so she opened up her map, and started to walk out of the town of beginnings, and towards the area which held said quest.

 

The walk didn’t take too long; a peaceful stroll through some of the safer areas surrounding the town of beginnings, which eventually brought her to the outskirts of a small, humble, and rather idyllic village, the kind of sight she expected to see on the cover of a fantasy novel. A small smile crept across her face as she continued to casually walk towards the village at a rather lax pace, as she watched the numerous NPC inhabitants go about their daily business; shopping in the small village market, she saw parents leading their mall, admittedly adorable children around, and others were drawing pails of water from a well in the centre of the marketplace. Victrix smiled as she walked into the marketplace, striding with confident grace as her chainmail rattled rhythmically with each step. Before long, she reached the centre, in which stood the village’s well, and, not too far from it, a rather well-dressed man with a recognizable quest marker above his head. Almost as soon as Victrix laid eyes upon the man, he also noticed her, and began to walk over with long, purposeful strides, like he was a man on a rather important mission.

"You there! Stop, please!" he said, in a tone which betrayed a hint of nervous, almost stressed anxiety.
"Pardon me, but I am in need of some assistance, and you appear quite capable." He continued, as Victrix turned slightly in order to look directly at the man, as he took a moment to adjust the rather opulent monocle over his right eye.  "My name is Dorian, and I am the mayor of this town. As part of those mayoral duties, I issued a small loan to a member of the community a few months ago. Well, the time to collect had come around and I-" His tone was flustered, as if he was embarrassed, or otherwise under some kind of stress, which made it difficult for him to articulate his explanation without interruption or pause. Dorian, as he had identified himself, took a moment to run his fingers along his moustache, before he continued.

"You see, I've forgotten who it was I loaned the money to. Terribly embarrassing, I know, but I am a very busy man, and I cannot keep track of everything that happens. I'm sure you understand.” He said, and as soon as he finished, a small window appeared before Victrix, which indicated that a quest was being offered, <<The first lesson>>, specifically. A small, satisfied smile spread across the woman’s face, as she accepted the quest, which caused Dorian to continue speaking.  

 "Excellent, I knew I could count on you! You might start with Zackariah, the alchemist. He's often doing projects for the town, so it may have been him that borrowed the money."

Following that lengthy introduction, Victrix nodded at the man, and offered him a reassuring smile. “So, head to see this alchemist, work out whether you gave him a loan, and then come back? You should really hire an accountant, or just, y’know…make notes. Really helps ya remember stuff, trust me, saved my hide in university” She said, before she offered the man a small wave, and began to walk off in order to locate the aforementioned alchemist. For some time she wandered the small village, following the cobbled pathways as she kept an eye out for anything that looked vaguely like an alchemist’s shop, and she began to become annoyed at all of the meaningless wandering, when she noticed something in the corner of her eye; a small sign, which bore upon it a small image of a flask, filled with some non-descript green liquid.  

“That’s an alchemist’s shop if I ever saw one” She quipped, before she strode over to the small, rather unassuming building the sign was attached to, partially opened the door, and poked her head in just to make sure that she had the correct place. She was greeted by a rather cluttered and chaotic store; the wall seemed to be utterly covered with rather haphazardly placed shelves, all of which had an array of bottles of varying shapes and sizes, all of which were filled with an array of coloured liquids which gave off a soft, magical glow. That wasn’t all, as innumerable scrolls and diagrams hung from small pegs built into the walls, or from parts of the ceiling, not to mention that many rolled-up scrolls were scattered around the floor, in the centre of the room stood a large desk, at which sat a rather unkempt looking alchemist, who, seemingly, had not noticed Victrix, as he was too engrossed in his work. The woman let out a small chuckle, as she slowly walked forwards and, once she was close enough, she gave the desk three sharp taps with her knuckles. She sudden, sharp rapping sound made the alchemist jump, as he suddenly looked up at Victrix, with wide-eyed surprise.

 

“Oh, hello," Came a somewhat surprised, but also distracted response, as the man had quickly gone back to tinkering with the small phial of bubbling liquid sat before him, and was only partially paying attention to Victrix. "Are you here to order something? I’m sorry, but I am currently swamped with orders, and I’m running out of supplies.” He continued, and a he spoke, his eyes lit up and his face seemed to beam with realisation, as if a lightbulb had just turned on in his mind.   “Would you gather a few materials for me? Flowers, herbs, rare woods, whatever you can find outside the city walls. I promise I’ll help you fill your order as soon as you return. In fact, I would be willing to show you how to do it yourself.”

‘Ah wonderful’ the woman thought, as she crossed her arms and let out a small indignant huff. ‘A bloody fetch quest…why am I not surprised?’ She thought to herself, before she let out a small sigh and leant forwards, as she rested her elbow on the man’s desk.

“So, you just need some materials gathering, and you’ll help me make…something, potions, I assume. Alright, I’m game, I’ll get you some materials. Just uh, gimme a bit of time…never done it before”

And with that, Victrix gave the man a small salute as she wheeled around, and exited the store with purposeful strides.

[Victrix 0]

ID: 209392
LD: 20 (Success)


She exited the shop, turned a corner,  and strode towards the nearest village exit with purpose, as her feet set a steady marching rhythm and her chainmail rattled like a poorly tuned guitar, accompanying the rhythmic metallic ringing. She had a goal, something she could march towards, and all which was left was for her to march until she achieved it, or she could march no longer, although the first possibility was far more likely, given the designed ease with which such a quest could be completed. The alchemist had just told her to ‘search’ for some materials, rather than kill enemies for them, so Victrix assumed that combat was by no means a necessity, and, when she took a second to think on the matter, it made sense for the quest to involve no combat at all; it was a beginner quest, after all, and as such it must have been designed to ease the player into the SAO experience. While her brain did it’s best to logically justify and explain her thinking, in truth the root cause was one, simple emotion which many players had experienced since the game’s launch; fear. Combat carried with it the threat of death, and while she hoped that the floor 1 enemies weren’t strong enough to kill someone with starter tank gear on, it was still a possibility, and whilst she would never have admitted it, she could feel a tight knot of fear resting uneasily in her chest, akin to a pebble stuck in a boot. It was by no means a great hindrance, but it was almost impossible to ignore, and undeniably uncomfortable, to say the least. Victrix shook her head, and slapped her cheeks in unison in an attempt to rid herself of such thoughts; they did not benefit her, and while she could afford distractions at such an early level, she knew, or rather, she assumed, that at higher levels such momentary lapses in judgement could be fatal, and as such she needed to train herself to resist such tempting thoughts sooner rather than later.


Eventually, after a few minutes, she once again left the village and emerged into the verdant rolling plains of the first floor, an expanse of lush, life-filled fields which almost looked safe and peaceful; they probably would have, were she not trapped within SAO. She strode into the fields, and began to search for areas which looked suitable areas in which to search for the materials that she required. Before long she found something which looked promising, a small collection of bushes, surrounded by abnormally high grass which extended past most people’s knees.

“Now that’s a bloody looting area if I ever saw one”

She quipped with a small smile, as she knelt down and began to rummage around within the thick, long grass and within the tangled branches of the bushes. Thankfully, despite the innumerable modeled thorns and general unpleasant texture that the branches had, she felt no pain, and at most only slight discomfort, which was a small, but greatly appreciated mercy afforded to her by Kayaba. For but a few scant minutes she went about searching amongst the dense foliage, but it felt more akin to half an hour of digging through unpleasant mud and plant-life to Vixtrix, until she came across something;  a small, odd-looking plant, which bore a bright-red flower atop it, alongside the word <Material>, which floated next to it and gently shimmered in an attempt to grab her attention. A wide, toothy smile spread across Victrix’s face, as she extended her arm out towards the plant and grasped it, before she placed it within her inventory, at which point she saw her quest status change, showing that she had collected 1/5 materials.

“Ayy, that wasn’t too painful, thankfully…wait I should have shut up, I’ve jinxed it now haven't I?”
 

She said, as she awkwardly chuckled at her own joking mistake. Regardless, she briefly drew her forearm across her forehead, before he stood up, and gazed upon the seemingly endless rolling plains.

“Right, let’s hope that the others are this easy, if they aren’t I ain’t  gonna be happy”

(1/5 Materials gathered)

Edited June 3, 2022 by Victrix

[Victrix 0]

ID: 209404
LD: 3 (Fail)


Having just successfully completed one fifth of her task, Victrix found herself a little more emboldened and motivated. After all, the first step had been quite easy, and she hoped that the following four would be just as easy, although that was by no means a certain thing. So she ventured further, and walked across the lush rolling fields whilst she kept an eye out for any groups of bushes or suspiciously tall grass which could have materials hidden within them. Unfortunately, none appeared to be within then immediate area upon her first cursory search of the surrounding area, and as such, Victrix let out a small mildly-annoyed sigh, before she set off in a random direction in the hope that she would find what she sought before long. She walked, and walked, and walked, with naught but the gently whistling wind and the metallic rattle of her armour for company. Truth be told, the first floor was peaceful, even though it was but the first cell in a 100-floor prison called Aincrad. She could feel many things; the soft blades of grass bending beneath her feet, the wind as it blew through her hair, the soft glow of the sun far above her as its warming rays enveloped her in their radiance. Even though deep within her mind, Victrix knew that it was all an illusion, a grand façade, merely an amalgamation of code, an immense string of zeroes and ones which combined to form the brilliant image before her, the masterful painting in which she stood. Her mind wandered as she walked and took in the beauty that she was surrounded by, visions of the life she had before SAO flashed before her, brief and flickering, when she tried to hold such thoughts, such visions within the gaze of her mind’s eye they disappeared. It was like trying to catch mist with her bare hands; futile and doomed to fail. Each vision, each brief flicker of memory stood before her, brilliant and clear for but a moment, and a hazy fragmented recollection in the next. She had spent far too long in SAO, she had lived within the virtual prison for years, long enough for threads of memory t fray and become shattered, unrecognizable remnants. For a few brief moments she agonized over her failing memory, before she once again shook her head. She had no time to reminisce and bemoan her inadequacies, for she had already wasted far too much time.

Onwards Victrix walked, ever gazing towards the horizon, until she noticed another patch of suspiciously long grass; target acquired. The woman strode over to said patch of grass with purpose, and once she was next to it, she knelt down and began to look through the area. She brushed blades of grass aside to inspect the ground, and, frustratingly, found absolutely nothing, not even a fun little insect to marvel at. Such was the way of the VRMMO; players were always at the mercy of RNGesus, the sadistic trickster god of numbers and probability.

Victrix let out a small annoyed sigh, before she stood once more, and looked outwards, in search of the materials she needed.

(1/5 Materials gathered)

Edited June 4, 2022 by Victrix

[Victrix 0]

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