[F01-SP] Romancing the Stone

[Rencesvals 0]

It had taken weeks to gather tools and supplied enough for Ren to make ready his one-man caravan.  It wasn't much to look at: a sheltered wagon pulled by the most obstinate oxen in the universe.  He'd be making this run solo, mainly because he had no collateral to entice partners or investors.  No one was willing to risk well-earned col on such a risky venture.  And why would they?  Ren was no different than any other white-haired bum on the street, and there were strangely plenty of those these days.  Sword neatly tucked into its scabbard, and traveling cloak wrapped around his shoulders, the sun had barely risen by the time they were ready to set out.

"Are you sure about this, Ren?  Traveling alone in the wilds isn't especially prudent for anyone these days, even here on the first floor."  Verdy had been stewing about this since he first proposed the idea.  Owner and operator of the Happy Daze Inn, Verdy had graciously been putting him up for far too long.  He wanted... no, needed, to earn his keep and eventually manage to afford his own place.

***

Uses/Consumes:
Gelato - ID 212841-03 | LD 3

Rencesvals | HP: 140/140 | EN: 32/32 | DMG: 6 | MIT: 8 | ACC: 2 | LD: 6

Spoiler

Rencesvals
Level: 7
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 140/140
EN: 32/32

Stats:
Damage: 6
Mitigation: 8
Accuracy: 2
Loot Dice: 3+3

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Joyful Tribulations | ACC 2
Armor: Black Regalia | -
Misc: Music Box | LD 3

Skills:
Straight Sword R3
Heavy Armor R1
Fighting Spirit

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions x2

R4 Forager
Demeter's Cornucopia | Crafting Tool | Bountiful: +1 CD when using Foraging skill.

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"Relax," he chided, his voice as soft and soothing as he could make it.  "I've left nothing to chance.  The route is mapped out." She scoffed at that, knowing full well that Ren could get lost in his own tea cup.  "Have a little faith!  Besides, I've managed to claw myself across quite a few floors of late.  Taking a stroll around our own backyard will hardly break a sweat."  A mountain of reassurances had been required just to get her this far.

"I'm coming with you.  There's no other way to have it.  Just let me get my things and I'll..."  Ren's face and raised hand stopped her cold.  They'd had this fight last night, for the third time.  He wouldn't budge.  

"Let me go, Verdy.  The sooner I get out of here, the sooner I can return and set your nerves at ease."

"Hnnnnngggg... FINE!  But if you get yourself killed I'm scratching out your name on the wall with crayon!"  A swirl of blue hair signaled her huff and retreat into the bastion of her own dominion.  Still clinging to the edge of the door and partially hiding behind it, Ren knew this was agony for her.  It was also necessary.  Blowing her a kiss, he snapped the reigns and Biscuit grudgingly got underway.

***

ID 212912 | Gathering LD 10+6=16 | CD 7+1=8 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+8 Forager EXP
3 Materials
1,500 col

Edited July 4, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

There was a time when passage through the Town of Beginnings was near impossible.  Every route was jammed with players, many still in some manner of distress over Kayaba's disclosure.  Rumours and speculation were rampant.  No one really knew anything, and the worst sort were gleefully conning the gullible for shits and giggles.  As players fought their way up to higher floors, the population was spread out over a broader area, but also slowly and steadily dwindling.  Ren had never heard anything to suggest that players were capable of having children in SAO.  What would such creatures even be?  Virtual humans?  Human-mob hybrids?  Without knowing the relative rate for the passage of time in the outside world, would players even survive long enough to parent such offspring?  Years in here might be little more than seconds outside, or pass on a one-to-one basis.   

"What a terrifying prospect," Ren admitted, pausing to consider the contents of his own daydream.  "New topic."

***

ID 212913 | Gathering LD 4+6=10 | CD 3+1=4 | Find 0 material
(R4 Forager; +3 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+11 Forager EXP
3 Materials
1,500 col

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

A few acquaintances waved or shouted encouragement as Ren made his way through town.  Biscuit was clearly in no hurry, yet also basked in what it perceived as cheering for its own benefit.  Her scruffy, matted fur constantly picked up random bits and bobs from her passage.  Today it was a pair of colourful woolen mittens and a ebony comb with a flair for dramatic irony.

"Come on, girl, just a little farther and we'll be in the clear."  A gentle tug and ripple sent across the reigns was all it took.  Ren knew just how to handle her.  They made it to the outer gate without any trouble, patience guiding their way.  If all went according to plan, they could make their way around the major landmarks on the floor and be back before the sun set.  He'd mapped out as many potential sites as he could.  If he'd done his homework properly, today should yield half decent results.

***

ID 212914 | Gathering LD 7+6=13 | CD 3+1=4 | Find 1 material
(R4 Forager; +5 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+16 Forager EXP
4 Materials
1,500 col
 

Edited July 5, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Fluffy waves of pinks and oranges lapped at the eastern horizon as the solitary caravan finally made it out to the open road.  The lands around the Town of Beginnings were mostly grass undulating in low ripples and rolls, dotted by solitary trees, fences and the occasional traveler.  Boars, deer, sheep and other relatively unthreatening critters strolled lazily across the landscape in predictable, repeated patterns.  Ren suppressed the thought that these had been killing fields in the earliest days.  The hapless, innocent-looking beasts wandering about were once considered lethal.  Now, they were barely an afterthought.

A few easily accessible stone outcrops provided the day's first find.  Ren slowed Biscuit back down to a crawl and set her to grazing while he worked at the handful of mineral nodes  laid out before him.  This was the lowest of low-hanging fruit, but beggars couldn't be choosers.  With most players having long since moved to higher floors, there were few left on this level to camp or collect their previously precious resources.

***

ID 212915 | Gathering LD 4+6=10 | CD 1+1=2 | Find 0 material
(R4 Forager; +3 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+19 Forager EXP
4 Materials
1,500 col
 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

The next few hours passed pretty much the same way.  Wandering short distances between the most convenient clusters of usable materials, Ren was finding his stride and rhythm.  A few solitary players could still be scene wandering through the fields and pastures.  Some were still performing the early lesson quests, having finally worked up the nerve to do so.  Others were serving as escort for the ten thousandth time - a noble calling.  New recruits were increasingly rare.  An opportunity to convince another novice to pick up and learn to work a blade helped the whole, in the long term.  It was a worthwhile investment that few still seemed willing to undertake.

"I'll have to make certain to set aside time for that."  Ren had already met a few spirited and unexpected allies in this way.  The more people helped each other out, instead of fighting over scraps, the better off the entire player base would be.  That same sense of comradery had motivated this sojourn in the first place.  The point was to create opportunities, not just perform charity work.  Lead by example, his father's favourite foreman had always told him.  Garim was a good man, with a big heart who treated his workers right and earned their respect in exchange.

***

ID 212916 | Gathering LD 13+6=19 | CD 8+1=9 | Find 3 material + 3,000 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+27 Forager EXP
7 Materials
3,000 col
 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Deep ruts soon marred the roads as they change from neatly set pale grey flagstone to unceremoniously brown dirt.  The woodlands surrounding Torunka were sparse and littered with footpaths traveled by the many hunters who favoured them for hunting game.  Torunka itself was little more than a hunting camp, with barely half a dozen buildings to mark its presence.  It was nearing dusk by the time Ren finally arrived, having managed some success, but at a far slower pace than originally hoped.  Jolting to the left as its wheels caught a large snarled root inconveniently projecting into the path jarred the wagon's contents.  Tools and stacked stones spilled sideways to the muffled yet suspiciously feminine sound of a startled yelp.

"Whoa, girl.  Gimme a second.  You didn't break a shoe on that, did you?"  Smacking lips and fart-like noises suggested not.  Biscuit wasn't shy about expressing any form of displeasure.  Sighing deeply, Ren swiveled his attention behind him.

***

ID 212917 | Gathering LD 10+6=16 | CD 4+1=5 | Find 2 material
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+35 Forager EXP
9 Materials
3,000 col
 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Pursing his lips, Ren pulled back some of the toppled goods to reveal a contorted blue-haired girl with her face smooshed between the curved blade of a shovel and a bag full of copper ore.  Strangely adorable, but surely uncomfortable, she smiled awkwardly up a him with a look akin to the one he used to give his mother when he was caught pilfering from the cookie jar.

"Verdy, what are you doing here?"

Silence hung thick in the air, as if it could provide some manner of plausible deniability to a mystery that had already unraveled.

"Heyyyy, Ren... uh... funny thing."  Efforts to dislodge herself were not paying off, mostly because she hadn't realized that Ren was still pressing down to keep her pinned in place.  "I thought I might come along anyway as emergency backup, you know, in case you needed to be rescued like some sort of damsel."  That one earned her a smile, and a bag in the face as he released his goods to slide back into place.

***

ID 212918 | Gathering LD 6+6=12 | CD 8+1=9 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+43 Forager EXP
12 Materials
4,500 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Cursing might have followed.  There was certainly a lot of thumping and squirming going on.  Ren had already dismounted and tied Biscuit off so that he could survey the area for gathering nodes.  A dust-covered, wild-haired woman with eyes half scolded and the other half scolding eventually clambered out of the wagon to storm-sulk her way to his side.

"I was worried, alright.  You do stupid things when left to your own devices!"  A hinting smile admitting she was speaking about herself as much as him, Ren responded with one to match.  

"You've got a good thing going at the inn, Verdy.  People rely on you and you take care of them.  I'm proud and happy for you.  This," he gestured to the humble cart, "is about me trying to find my own way to the same thing."

Fidgeting with the edge of a dust-sullied cloak, she nodded understanding what he felt.  All of them who had survived the ambush had needed time to come to grips.  Ren had remained listless.

***

ID 212919 | Gathering LD 2+6=8 | CD 2+1=3 | Find 0 material
(R4 Forager; +3 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+46 Forager EXP
12 Materials
4,500 col

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"It doesn't mean you have to do it alone."  Her tone, soft and sympathetic was enough to give him pause, half turning to show that he was listening, but failing to meet her gaze.  There was no more awkward subject between them, but it meant a lot that she was willing to broach it.  A tug and snap of cloth signaled that she'd put up her shield in the form of that weather-beaten blue hood.  She always withdrew inside it when uncomfortable.

"I... you're right.  I'm sorry."  Closing his eyes to make the admission, the truth had pushed them apart by their inability to face it.  "It was kind of you to offer, and I'm glad that you're stubborn as a mule.  Here."  He held out another shovel in her direction.  "Since you've become so well acquainted, and you're here, you might as well make yourself useful."  Twinkling blue orbs full of snark from beneath matching cloth confirmed that he'd his mark.  Snatching it with indignation, her nose snooting at high angle, she marched passed him.  Ren couldn't help but spot the rosy warmth in her cheeks as she did so.

***

ID 212920 | Gathering LD 9+6=15 | CD 8+1=9 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+54 Forager EXP
15 Materials
6,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Hard labour was hardly the stuff of courtship, and this wasn't meant to be that anyway.  Ren and Verdy had long been close friends.  Her playful, teasing manner played well against his nerdy awkwardness.  Before SAO, they had often found themselves exchanging wordy banter, twisting each other's lines to keep the taunting match going as long as each could sustain without breaking into laughter.  It often left their companions in stitches.  Ren knew she was the naturally better player as a literature and languages student.  He just gave it his best shot and cheerfully accepted his defeats just to hear her laugh.  Verdy was so much like her sister that it sometimes still sent pangs through his heart.  There was no favouritism. He cared for Vindalia and Verdy separately in their own ways, but the twins often had far more in common than either of them could ever admit.

"Why did you choose blue?"  Unbidden, the random question just slipped from his lips.

***

ID 212921 | Gathering LD 2+6=8 | CD 9+1=10 | Find 0 material
(R4 Forager; +3 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+57 Forager EXP
15 Materials
6,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"What?"  Focused on turning over broken soil and stone as Ren clove the ground apart with a third-rate pickaxe, she clearly hadn't been expecting it.

"Ummm... the eyes and hair.  You and Vin went very different ways with your looks.  Was it because you needed to feel different from each other?"  They were identical twins in the real world.  Distinct in many ways, yet virtually indistinguishable in physical terms.  "It just struck me as curious, and I wondered how you felt about it."  Leaning against the tool's worn handle, he allowed himself a moment's respite for a drink of water and response.

Wiping her brown with equal thirst, Verdy motioned for the canteen when he was done.  She must have kept armor in her inventory to have changed after leaving the city.  Touted as a front line DPS for their team, she'd always favoured the lighter gear and long-hafted glaive for best effect.  It only just occurred to him how similar the weapon could be to the shovel she'd been spearing the ground with for the last hour.

***
ID 212922 | Gathering LD 17+6=23 | CD 2+1=3 | Find 1 material
(R4 Forager; +5 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+62 Forager EXP
16 Materials
6,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"When you spend your life looking at your sister like an image in a mirror, it can be nice to be able to change the reflection."  Candid and honest, as was so often the case with her.  Ren had always admired how forthright she could be, even if occasionally a little snappish.  Verdy's silver tongue had pierced the hearts of a few would-be suitors who proved too bold while bearing super-inflated egos.  She always set them straight.  If they were decent about it, she'd let them down easy.  The brasher crowd were fated to crash and burn in the harshest and most painfully embarrassing ways imaginable; and she had quite the imagination.

"This place just gave us both an opportunity to express our inner selves without the crutch and baggage of matching photo-IDs."  Nodding, he resumed his work.  "Was it a bother?  I never asked, thinking that you must both have been so tired of hearing it."

"So you're doing it now instead?"  The mocking lilt in her voice inferred no offense.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess?  Maybe I figured it had been long enough that you needed a refresher."  He grinned, but caught a pensive flicker in her face as she pondered it.

***

ID 212923 | Gathering LD 18+6=24 | CD 10+1=11 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+70 Forager EXP
19 Materials
7,500 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"Few people understand the need for a sense of self more than someone who shares their face with another."  Verdy's voice cracked as she spoke.  Grief was still too close to her heart.  Like a slowing pulse, the beat of pick striking earth stuttered and stopped.

"I'm sorry."  A dismissive wave discarded the sentiment.

"It's fine.  What's done is done, right?  I know you didn't mean it that way."  Looking back to the cart and Biscuit grazing on the lean tufts of sparse grass that managed to grow by the trail's edge, Verdy pushed it all back down.  "She'd kick my ass for clinging to this.  She was always rock-like in the face of tragedy."  Anguish frayed her features, clenching her jaw to suppress it.  "And I can't keep falling apart every time someone mentions her."

Propping herself against the tool, the slender woman reminded him of her sister in that moment.  Nothing kept Vindalia down.  Her spirit was indomitable, until fate itself intervened to strike her down.  

***

ID 212924 | Gathering LD 18+6=24 | CD 7+1=8 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+78 Forager EXP
22 Materials
9,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"I chose blue because she'd already chosen red."  Haltingly spoken, but managed nonetheless.  "I'm grateful for what you tried to do that day, Ren.  I always will be."

"Even if I failed?  Even if Aus kept me from getting to her?"  The vengeful flame in his heart still burned to be unleashed.  He'd fought with every ounce of rage only to see her fractured into a thousand sparkling motes of crystalline light less than a hand span beyond his reach.  As calm as everyone always thought he was, the desperate fury of that moment lingered deep within, building like a pressure vessel and wanting to explode.

"Because of both those things." Unexpected.  Shoulders sagged and anger fled at the confession.  

"Why?"

"Because you proved you had the lion inside that she always said you did, and because Austerlitz kept it alive to fight another day."

"I feel like a coward."  At least he managed to look her in the eye as he said it, and not sway his gaze to the ground.  Verdy walked over to him and lifted a hand, caressing his flushed cheek.

"Even the cowardly lion eventually found his roar," she joked, instantly breaking the brewing tension between them.

***

ID 212925 | Gathering LD 19+6=25 | CD 2+1=3 | Find 1 material
(R4 Forager; +5 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+83 Forager EXP
23 Materials
9,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Ren just laughed.  Verdy always found a way to cull the brooding right out from under him.

"I'm not sure that you were really meant to agree with me so readily," he said, his dusty gloved hand reaching up to cover hers, "but thanks, I think."  Something snapped loudly from deeper in the woods,  followed by the scraping of branch on branch and a heavy thud.  Loggers.  Hopefully.  

"We're not far from Horunka, and the day has gotten away from us.  Let's pack up what we have and find a safe place with food for the evening.  I'm not sure my stomach can stand any more of your cooking."  A swift jab the gut was his reward, mischief and grudging approval for his retort mixed in the smug grin upon Verdy's fair face.  Packing up in silence, the day's work and emotional exchanges had worn them both raw.  Some things even the game's suppression algorithms could not prevent.

***
ID 212926 | Gathering LD 9+6=15 | CD 6+1=7 | Find 2 material
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+91 Forager EXP
25 Materials
9,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"Do you ever hear much from the others?"  Ren knew he hadn't.  The strain of past events had pushed them all apart in the same way that losing a child can shatter marriages.  Despite all the years together, or perhaps because of them, they could no longer stand the static grief that inevitably built when they were near.  He and Verdy had been somewhat of an oddity, both staying at the Daze.  How aptly named.

"No, not really.  I try reaching out every once in a while, but don't get more than a few courteous words in reply.  There's no conversation.  Everyone has drifted their own separate way."  Regret clung to her tone as she spoke.  

"Maybe we should try again when we return to the City, together?  All of us needed time to heal, but too much solitude exacts a price."  He loved the way her brow curved downward on either side of her face when happiness claimed its place.  She'd been waiting to hear someone say that for too long.

***

ID 212927 | Gathering LD 1+6=7 | CD 8+1=9 | Find 0 material
(R4 Forager; +3 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+94 Forager EXP
25 Materials
9,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

Ren's earlier assessment of Horunka wasn't wrong.  The village, barely a hamlet, also barely four corners, totaled about seven buildings surrounded by a flimsy palisade of young oak trees.  They were stout and rugged, but nowhere near as durable as their elders.  Butt ends planted to some depth in the area's black soil, they rose about ten feet from the ground and were lashed together with makeshift rope of questionable integrity.  It didn't look like much because it wasn't.  The inn at the camp's centre was barely more than a shack and made Verdy positively beam at the state of the Happy Daze by comparison.  

"Quaint," replied his azure companion, critical and honestly in a single breath.  She somehow loved and hated the place simultaneously.

"Don't be like that," Ren replied, already unloading their supplied and ensuring Biscuit was stabled and fed.  "It's more than good enough for our needs and beats sleeping in a cramped wagon, unless your recent experiences have taught you otherwise?"

***

ID 212928 | Gathering LD 12+6=18 | CD 12+1=13 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+102 Forager EXP
28 Materials
10,500 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

It hadn't taken more than an instant for Verdy to decide that the fare on offer was not up to her standards.  Far more skilled at foraging for greens that Ren would ever be, she'd wandered out beyond the walls to find something more palatable to her tastes.  He, meanwhile, was quite content to gnaw upon whatever game the locals had roasting on a digital spit.  It was little more than a digital skin anyway, in his opinion.  This from the man who regularly ate gruel with hearty glee.  

Some half an hour later, his companion returned with a plate full of berries, herbs and assorted greens, and the proudest smile he'd ever seen on her face.  She and Lalia, the innkeeper, exchanged a few tips about her findings and Verdy was ultimately satisfied that she had forever improved the state of Horunkan cuisine by refusing to partake of it.

***

ID 212929 | Gathering LD 19+6=25 | CD 5+1=6 | Find 2 material
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+110 Forager EXP
30 Materials
10,500 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals

[Rencesvals 0]

"So, what happened to your grand plans for a one-day outing?"  It turned out that the inn didn't really have any rooms, but instead offered chairs and benches where exhausted patrons could sack out for a while.  The wagon would serve, despite Ren's earlier comments to the contrary.

"Tag-alongs dragged me behind schedule," came his reply, along with some exaggerated hand flailing for dramatic effect.  Verdy just chuckled.

"Do you remember that time we all went to Suzukaze Garden for the weekend?" She'd already improvised a pillow and banket from the assorted goods at their disposal, another set on the opposite side of the cart for Ren's use.  "I think it was the last outing we did before getting trapped in here, but I can't remember whether Magenta and Harfleur managed to join us."

"They were there," Ren replied, a wry grin on his face, "but too busy snogging by the water to have anything to do with the rest of us."

***

ID 212930 | Gathering LD 16+6=22 | CD 12+1=13 | Find 3 material + 1,500 col
(R4 Forager; +8 EXP) - LD 11+; CD 5-7: 1 additional mat; CD 8+ 2 additional mats & 1,500 col

Total:
+118 Forager EXP
33 Materials
12,000 col
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Rencesvals