[PP-F01] Hindsight <<The First Few Lessons>>

[Andromeda 0]

;A;.....

Hide contents LEVEL 20 HP 430 | EN 58 | DMG 8 | MIT 55 | ACC 1 SKILLS: Spoiler | skills mod count: 0/5 THROWN WEAPONRY | RANK 5/5 [BASE: Proficiency] +7 DMG [ADDON: Focus] -1 minor critical and DoT threshold. [ADDON: Precision] +1 ACC [ADDON: Stamina] Reduce EN of all attacks by 2. HEAVY ARMOR | RANK 5/5 [BASE: Proficiency] +40 MIT, -5 Stealth Rating [ADDON: Iron Skin] +15 MIT, +30 HP FIGHTING SPIRIT | Passive | +1 Hate HOWL | Post Action (2 EN / 2 CD) | +2 Hate vs. up to 4 targets | expenditure Spoiler Total SP: 100 | Spent: 96 | Unspent : 4 SKILL: Thrown Weaponry (30) ADDON: Stamina (4) ADDON: Precision (2) ADDON: Focus (4) SKILL: Heavy Armor (30) ADDON: Iron Skin (6) SKILL: Fighting Spirit (10) SKILL: Howl (10)

 

20(28)

This is how An walked into the fourth biggest tragedy of her life: not really walking, but running at full speed midway through her lunch break, plowing through the eternally crowded streets of the Town of Beginnings like a rampaging bull.

My shop, she thought wildly. Drinks were thrown into the air. Players and NPCs (indistinguishable) squawked in shock and indignation. At a Japanese restaurant on the other side of town, a server brought a steaming bowl of ramen to a table and serenely waited for input from a customer who wasn't even there. My shop, she thought again, as if it could spur her legs to go faster. She pumped every remaining bit of energy into her lower limbs for an acceleration of 0.0003 m/s². My collections. My one hundred plus identification queue!

An was a woman on a mission.

She had left her front door unlocked.

Edited August 31 by Andromeda

[Mishiro 0]

shale, screen your worry, from what you won't ever find.

Spoiler [ NOTE: this is a flashback thread taking place three years in the past. let's just handwave the continuity errors with mishiro's weapon- ] STATS: Spoiler LEVEL 22: HP 440 | EN 62 | DMG 19 | | ACC 4 | AA | FLN 6 (6-8) | VO 10% WEAPON: RAPIER V + STAMINA + PRECISION + FEROCITY + ST SPECIALIST -- COMBAT MASTERY: DAMAGE III EXTRA 1 + 2: FIRST AID V + ADD-ON: FIELD MEDIC; 3: SURVIVAL (total sp: 105 | used: 99 / unused: 11)   EQUIPMENT: walpurgisnacht T3E4 WEAPON (RAPIER). CURSED, FALLEN, VAMPIRIC (OFFENSIVE), ABSOLUTE ACCURACY dioscuri T1E3 JEWELRY. ACCURACY III

not long after the transfer, lyudochka called her over to headquarters.

let’s make a habit of this, she said upon receiving her at her tea table. the last pair had gotten away with speaking almost exclusively through messages, apparently, and she had found the level of detachment disagreeable. she had incentive prepared: a slice of cake, even though mishiro would have come without it. i’ve read through your files and i have my own opinions from personal observation.

i’ve identified two points of focus: you lack experience, literally and numerically, and all those years as a crafter left you isolated. your first assignment, then, is to find a quest we’ve documented in our library -- any quest -- and complete it with a player outside of our guild. be ready to deliver a verbal report in a week.

cue the troubled student, a day later, sliding into a merchant girl’s empty shop.

Edited September 3 by Mishiro

[Andromeda 0]

The door was slightly ajar.

An did not think rationally when she was stressed. An slammed the door open with enough force to take it off its hinges for the nineteenth time in its poor life. Her eyes blazed red -- wait, they had always been red -- and she breathed hard from exertion. She immediately identified that Piles of Stuff No. 26, 33, and the crates on the second shelf nearest the door had all been disturbed, so at the first sign of human activity, she pointed an accusing finger (an axe was useless in a safe zone and she knew from personal experience that public shaming was frighteningly effective in situations where you can't just kill people) and screamed with her entire chest: "You thieving vagrant! Put that down this instant!"

Then, her red eyes landed on a girl.

A pretty, delicate girl. She had spun in the direction of An's voice, her head slightly tilted up for their difference in height, and her lips parted around words that didn't reach An's ears. She was lost for words, and so was An. An's eyes followed the line of her hands to an assortment of trinkets she had been balancing into a tiny pyramid on the counter. On the counter--?

"Did I do something wrong?!"

She looked like she had never done anything wrong her entire life.

An slowly dropped her hand. The fire inside her sizzled into nothing and she felt herself turning a bright, embarrassed red.

Oh.

Edited September 2 by Andromeda

[Mishiro 0]

are you looking for that appraiser, dear? an old woman stopped her before she could pass the closed shop by. mishiro's eyes went upwards to the yellow cursor floating above its head. go right inside; she doesn't turn anyone down no matter the hour.

 

 

the last thing she expected, then, was for said merchant girl to barge into her own shop and immediately accuse her of thievery. the last thing she expected, following that, was for said merchant girl to let out a high-pitched gasp as soon as their eyes met and immediately bow her head and apologize.

perhaps this was also a point lyudochka wanted to emphasize: the common people of aincrad were going insane, thus the necessity of pushing the frontlines.

"no, i'm so sorry," she said robotically. duck fluff white hair tied together in a ponytail slid down her right shoulder. her bow was a near-perfect 90-degree angle and she was staring at the floor. it appeared distressingly well-practiced. "you've never done anything wrong in your life. it was all me. please just take the stuff and leave."

mishiro's head was spinning from the incongruence between 'thirty seconds ago' and 'now,' and she felt as though half her soul had left her body from the earlier scare. she didn't dare touch the trinkets. she crossed one arm over the other, started hesitantly, "if i just... took everything without paying, wouldn't i really just be stealing, then?"

"no!" the merchant girl, still red-faced, straightened. (loud, she was loud.) she had more left to say, but her red eyes landed once again on the selfsame wares she had just been about to hand off for free. they were all expensive, the most precious of their respective piles. her mouth shut and opened and shut, and something changed in her eyes when she turned them back onto mishiro. it didn't spell out any negative impression, nor was it particularly intense, but.

mishiro awkwardly dug her fingernails into her elbow and avoided meeting the other's gaze.

"i meant, no, yeah, you're right! i'll tally it all up right now." she babbled. and she marched past her, taking her place on the proper side of the counter. she worked at a confident pace, in an unexpected departure from her awkward demeanor, her fingers blurring across her calculator without second-guessing as she picked through each item at a time. once bundled up, the transaction window switched sides. "now pay up, and please get out."

she did.

Edited September 3 by Mishiro

[Andromeda 0]

To An's horror, she was back the very next day.

“Y-y-y-y-y-y-you--”

"Hello." Yesterday's blunder was standing beneath the shop's awning, her coat loose around her shoulders, when An cracked open the door at 8AM after she flipped the sign to 'OPEN'. "I wanted to speak with you as early as possible."

Please don't sue me for emotional damages. I didn't even know Aincrad had a legal system. An could think of no other reason why she would still be here after that mess. Try as she might, though, she couldn't find a single glimpse of judgment in the other's soft eyes. It dissuaded her from outright slamming the door on her face and perhaps changing her name and moving to another country. "Will it take long?"

"It depends on your answer."

"Okay... Come in, then."

Internally, An was screaming. She had spent the previous night very externally screaming into a pillow and overthinking all the possibilities of how she could have recovered from that gaffe better. The girl was kind and polite and loaded, and in any other circumstance, An would have loved to see her in her shop. Now, she was just inviting disaster. More fumbling. She kept her mouth firmly shut as she walked her customer(?) to the counter for fear of digging herself into an even deeper hole. When they had settled into their places, An drummed her fingers on the counter, unsure where to start. "If you wanted to keep looking around, please feel free. You took out all the best stuff though, I think." There were duplicate uniques in that purchase and the merchant itched with curiosity to ask what she was planning to use them for.

Seated on a stool that was far too small and old for someone of her standing (An should get better furniture), she shook her head. "Thank you, but that was not my original purpose."

So, appraisals?

"Are you still offering to assist players on quests?"

Her fidgeting stopped.

It was the first time anyone had ever asked.

Edited September 5 by Andromeda

[Mishiro 0]

"you... want an assist from me?" disbelief colored the merchant's tone, her voice pitching upwards at the end of every word as though each one of them was its own question. "i've been... it's new. i just put the sign up the other day." she had started to drum her fingers against the wood of the counter again, a dull, unobtrusive sound. her nails were cut short. "um, normally, for half the col equivalent of the shop hours i'll miss, i can tank anything from a tier two or lower quest. i'm lower tier three -- and um, obviously, a tank."

"there's an exception."

"er, yeah! if it's something i haven't cleared yet, i won't make you pay! it's, like, a 'you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours' deal at that point. i'm learning and gaining as much experience as you are, so."

in the space between her words, her white brows knit into a thoughtful frown. "it's more than enough. 'cause i want to get stronger, too."

she would do just fine, mishiro thought. the air between them was more subdued than it had been yesterday. adjusting herself to a more comfortable position (which was an ordeal, given the state of... everything... in the shop), she began to explain to an increasingly curious merchant girl the full details of her current situation.

Edited September 11 by Mishiro

[Andromeda 0]

So.

The Girl Who Wouldn’t Leave Her Alone was lower tier three, and a DPS with a side of healing. Interesting. Maybe, just with her, I can take on some stronger stuff--! No, wait, what was she thinking? The Girl Who Wouldn’t Leave Her wanted to pay An to accompany her on… The First Few Lessons? Why would a tier three pay for someone’s help on a tutorial quest? Was she leveling in her sleep? The Girl Who Wouldn’t Leave was part of a guild, earning EXP by pure circumstance, and clearing the lower floors’ quest logs was a requirement for a promotion, or something. An didn’t understand guilds, she avoided them as if her life depended on it. Lastly, TGWWLHA was living through An's worst nightmare: forced social interaction with a stranger. And a deadline.

An winced. She truly sympathized. Then she realized how that could be misinterpreted, so she blurted out the first question she could think of. “Does it still count if you hired someone to do it?”

TGWWLHA didn’t even blink. “I have an explanation prepared, if ever. I’m confident that she’ll accept it.” An believed that.

“A-And you’re fine with me?! Even after… you know…” She was stalling. She truly didn’t know what to say. This was the first assist she was ever going to undertake. She had a feeling she was being entrusted with an important task, even though the quest was the simplest one could possibly think of. In fact, that was probably why TGWWLHA had chosen it in the first place. An would have felt less pressure if TGWWLHA had dumped an entire sack of unidentifieds on her counter and asked her to fish out the uniques.

Which was to say she didn’t actually want to hear the answer.

“I know? About--”

She desperately did not want to be reminded of it. An shot up and slammed her hands on the counter, interrupting whatever the other was going to say. “Yeah!! I’m fine. And you’re also fine! I’ll take you on your quest and we can write a cool report to finish.”

“I don’t need to write a report--”

The poor girl was sitting so stiffly in her chair like a prey animal staring at an approaching car’s headlights, but An bulldozed through regardless. “And you don’t need to pay because I haven’t taken it either! So when are you free?!”

“Y-yes! I’m free right now!” TGWWLHA's voice, also, rose up to a pitch that almost matched hers. Hands tented in front of her lips, she softly added, “I just wanted to say that we can start over from yesterday... If that concerns you at all, I was not truly bothered by it.”

She said it anyway.

An would have slumped back in her seat, if it hadn't been such a... nice? considerate? response. "Oh. No, uh, I was not..." Instead, she just froze there, not really knowing what to do. Harriette, your stupid mouth. She dropped her eyes, ended up staring somewhere to the side of the other's lap. Then a hand entered her vision, extended over the counter. An's jaw would have dropped, if she wasn't keeping it so firmly shut (again). Now that her vision wasn't fogged by her outburst, she noticed that the hand was covered in a gauntlet. This woman preferred to kill things by punching them. And An was an experienced hand at uniques. She could tell when something was special at first glance.

She was earning EXP by pure circumstance...?

"Mishiro," she offered. (What a quiet name -- it suited her.) "It's nice to meet you, Pandora."

Edited September 12 by Andromeda

[Mishiro 0]

"i, actually, pffft--"

pandora slapped a hand over her mouth, but she couldn't take back what she had already started. the merchant girl didn't seem so mean-spirited as to laugh at someone for no reason, so mishiro was struck with the certainty that she had just said something very wrong. she was just clueless as to what exactly that was. she almost shrunk back in doubt, but pandora grabbed her hand and shook it rather aggressively. "an," she said, her voice tremulous around the shape of a suppressed laugh. "my name is andromeda, but everyone just calls me an."

oh. mishiro felt a faint, embarrassed flush rising up her cheeks. her hand was a dead fish in andromeda's stronger grip. "i-i see. andromeda. an. i'm sorry," she stammered. she liked to think she was more graceful with these small mistakes. the other's jumpiness was throwing her out of her element, and she was glad to see that it was quick to fade. "i mistakenly assumed from the name of your shop. who's pandora, then?"

"pandora from the myth!" an said brightly. she pulled back and slid the drawer on her side of the counter open, quickly checking through its contents, then shut it and twisted its lock closed once she was satisfied. at mishiro's blank expression, she kindly explained, "from greek myth. pandora had a box, or a jar, technically, and she didn't know what was inside. one day, she got so curious that she opened it. out came sickness, death, all the evils of the world, and they afflicted all of mankind. pandora, as soon as she realized what she had done, hurried to close the box. or the jar. but little did she know, one last thing remained inside of it."

an walked around her counter and mishiro turned her head as she passed.

"--hope."

she paused before she followed an out of her shop, her eyes wandering to the humorous motto written on a wooden board above the counter. "just... one more... pull..." she hadn't paid much attention to it when she came in. she was impressed. the mess the merchant had made of this place and of... half of their talk... had not prepared her for how well thought-out her response was. mishiro was eager to see more of this side of hers. "oh, but, just like with everything from ancient history, there's a lot of scholarly debate over what the last thing in the box really was. i really like the optimistic interpretation, but others say that the original text could be translated differently..."

her nervousness forgotten, an would chatter as she went through the motions of temporarily closing up. mishiro trailed behind her, faithfully listening to every word.

[Andromeda 0]

An wasn't aware of how much she was talking. All she was thinking of was the seriousness on Mishiro's face when she called her by the wrong name (a common mistake -- most of everyone makes that mistake when they call on her before she tells them. she's back on familiar ground), then the quiet interest she leveled onto An as she continued to relay the story. Maybe most of her customers got the reference at first glance. But she was rarely ever asked about it and she was itching to let out the thoughts that had been rattling in her head ever since she decided on her shop's name. Mishiro's attention was sincere, but it wasn't intense in the way that usually set her off. Remember when you used to do this for hours? The old anxiety was there, clawing at the back of her mind, but Mishiro kept asking questions that she was surprised she knew the answers to. Kept listening patiently as An circled back again and again to fill in the gaps. She seemed to be... learning from her? An hadn't found herself in this role in a very long time.

"I once heard of a folktale, also about a forbidden box. A 玉手箱." -- Her accent folded into the foreign word as naturally as it had when she pronounced her name. So she really was Japanese, not just naming herself like one. -- "But it was nowhere near as disastrous as yours, I think. It stored away its handler's time. When he opened it, he turned old and frail."

"If I woke up an old man one day, I think I'll feel just as bad as I would if the world were ending."

Edited September 21 by Andromeda

[Mishiro 0]

"the tragedy is personal."

they were well on their way to the plaza where the quest giver was stationed. the two women walked side by side, neither leading the other; mishiro had fermata's files and an must have studied the important npcs' locations somewhere despite never having finished the quest before. guiding her clients was part of the job. providing good company wasn't, but she seemed to be enjoying their conversation so far. "and an..." mishiro continued, curious. "did you use to study greek mythology? i doubt that i've ever come across anyone who can talk about it as much as you."

an tensed. "o-only as a hobby."

she had thought the topic might potentially breach into a past life. she was ready to back off, conversationally, but an spoke up again before she could. "and it's been a while since i read the proper references, so i might've mixed up some things. or a lot! there's no way to tell." ("i believe you," mishiro said under her breath when the realization caught up -- she didn't know it, but an heard anyway. it solidified her confidence to keep going.) "there was, ah, this fantasy book series about it back home. it's... one of the things i miss the most, really. i was obsessed with it for years, and when i ran out of novels to read, i moved on to studying the source material. have you ever heard of..."

the name was foreign to her, like most popular western media. mishiro shook her head, to an's visible dismay. "i didn't have the time to read."

but if someone had managed to rewrite it, acquiring a copy to share with an might have earned a place in her agenda.

Edited September 23 by Mishiro

[Andromeda 0]

“Bummer!” An huffed. She was the first person she had ever asked in this game. “And you looked like you would have, too.”

“Mostly, I was occupied with lessons.”

Never done anything wrong in her life, An thought again.

And were she not keeping a tight grasp on her mannerisms, she would have turned her pair’s way and looked her up and down like a total weirdo. She hadn’t been expecting her to share. You wouldn’t bring something up just to rebuff someone if they asked to hear more about it, right? Was it really just classes? Japan’s education system that demanding; or did she just like giving everything she had, overshot every requirement assigned to her? Or were there extracurriculars in the mix? A part-time job? After spending most of the talk on her own interests, she was aching to hear more about Mishiro. Heart in her throat, An started, “So, was there anything that you–”

“You there! Excuse me!”

“You’re not excused!!”

Beside her, Mishiro slowed to a stop. Mayor Dorian froze in the middle of his pre-quest monologue. Player and player and NPC stared at each other in a relatively empty street. Oh, that’s the plaza. She hadn't realized it was within sight.

“An,” Mishiro said patiently, “I think this is...”

“Yeah.” Face heating, An found herself bowing apologetically for the second time in two days. “So sorry. You surprised me. What did you need help with?”

Edited October 1 by Andromeda

[Mishiro 0]

with three separate instances as evidence, mishiro concluded that socially speaking, an was a little disaster-prone. but she cleaned this one up quite well, so mishiro wasn't about to complain. as though to compensate for her outburst, an completely took over their talk with dorian and accepted the quest for them both. then she hurried them in the direction of the alchemist's location, still rosy-cheeked.

and quiet. perhaps she needed the time to recover again. "do you want me to speak to the npc this time?" she was prepared to deal with her companion's personal idiosyncrasies.

"yes please!" so frantic was an's nod that her wool cap bobbed with her. "we'll alternate! i'll talk to the next one and then you'll go after."

"sounds like a plan."

the two entered the shop. a faintly sweet scent floated in the air and an visibly went sparkly-eyed at the sight of the shelves and shelves of alchemical concoctions. zackariah was a kindly old man that requested them for help replenishing supplies before mishiro could get a word in about dorian's money. no deviations from the standard script observed. before she turned them around to leave the shop, the alchemist pointed them to a bubbling pot of fondue. it greatly appreciated their willingness to do it a favor, perhaps it could help them along with a boon?

they didn’t need to eat the fondue.

an looked at her shyly. “c-can we eat the fondue?”

they were going to eat the fondue.

 

-> consuming: zackariah's fondue [+3 ld]

Spoiler

Mishiro | HP: 440/440 | EN: 62/62 | DMG: 19 | ACC: 4 | AA | FLN: 6 (6-8) | VO: 10% | LD: 3

 

Edited September 23 by Mishiro

[Andromeda 0]

An floated over to the low table, red eyes wide with curiosity. The cheese fondue was sat on top of a small stove and kept constantly heated by a candle. Four square platters surrounded it, bearing snacks made for dipping: bread and vegetables cut into perfectly precise cubes (a feat only achievable in a world where everything was constructed out of numbers, An assumed), and strips of meat. She was the type of person that got sick of savory flavors rather quickly, but the first bites were heaven. Picking up a skewer, An poked two cubes of bread and dipped it into the bubbling concoction. She watched, fascinated, as the cheese seemed to stretch upwards for miles when she drew her snack out of the pot. She let it cool for a moment, then she bit off the first cube and her entire being lit up like a lamp as she chewed.

"Mm, wow...! Mish, Mish, you've got to try it, too!"

It didn't even occur to her until later how she'd shortened the other's name. And if Mishiro was bothered, or had any opinion on anything at all, she didn't show it. She followed An's example, swirling the bread in the cheese until it was entirely coated. An thought she was going to bite the cube in half like a mouse, but she drew it out of the stick with her teeth much like she did. Somehow, she still made the gesture look delicate.

"Mhm. I think I understand," Mishiro said, thoughtful. But contrary to her milder reaction, she went for seconds first. An will remember that. She darted in with her own skewer and took a slice of meat. "Did you get the buff?"

Buff? What buff?

An shook her head, honestly unaware. ("Alright, try again.") So An did, and Mishiro, with nothing else to occupy herself with, continued to follow. They took at least two samples of each platter before Cardinal realized An's confusion and brought Zackariah over to explain to them that An wasn't receiving the boon because she had cleared a version of the quest before. Embarrassed, An apologized again. She bade the generous alchemist goodbye and took Mishiro out of the shop.

[Mishiro 0]

an brightened the screen of her interface, allowing mishiro to peer at it as they walked. to her credit, her quest log wasn't barren. mishiro's was, save for the quests that yielded her the martial arts skill and her crafting profession. she had been out and about as her tier implied, just inconsistent.

"here it is. the old one." the tip of an's finger hovered over a tab, guiding mishiro's gaze. beneath it was one quest, marked completed, and three titles following in faint gray font. unselectable but for the first. she lightly bumped an's hand to bring up the summary window and she found the outline near-identical to dorian and zackariah's scripts. yes, fermata's record had been newly updated, hadn't it? except -- "the fondue!!" the merchant girl burst out. "i knew it wasn't there before! how come the slackers got the good stuff?! oh, uh, not you, mishiro."

"not me." she was not offended.

"a-anyway." an blushed slightly. "i really didn't know it counted. cardinal collapsed the four into a single quest and listed it separately. i thought it would let me repeat it but if my current run is being stonewalled from the buff... no. no, the new one's tracking." she had switched tabs to her tracked quests, where their shared progress through [the first few lessons] title was listed. her head tilted from one way to another as she tried to puzzle out her situation. "so maybe it doesn't count? then why did zackariah pull us off the fondue? argh."

fermata didn't have this exception on record. in her eyes, her surroundings suddenly gained clarity. an, a fluffy red cloak now set around her shoulders as they neared the combat zone, continued to mumble under her breath. the arch of the town gates passed overhead and her quest partner materialized a simple iron axe. mishiro already had her gauntlets, hadn't even taken them off in the alchemist's shop. they faced floating islets and hills of endless green, thousands of strands of grass shifting underneath the wind's caress. fermata didn't have this exception in record. no information was nonconsequential. she could write it in herself.

"an," she started, nearly wavering in her tone. "let's just go about this as usual--"

 

-> gathering [1/3]: 234224: LD 9 + 3 = 12

 

Edited October 7 by Mishiro

[Andromeda 0]

"--and if you find anything else out of place, I want you, as a player who has taken this quest before, to point it out to me. I'll be writing a report now also -- didn't you say you wanted to help before? Collaboration isn't necessary for standard quests tiered two and below, and they often don't involve non affiliated players, but some minor things could be slipped past. So long as it's all recorded. First of all, I need to ask, An, do you consent to--"

"Yeah."

"--having your data used for Fermata's. Oh."

An shut her mouth. Mishiro took a few surprised blinks to reorient herself within the conversation but if she thought anything about it, she didn't ask. The moment passed in unacknowledged silence. Thank goodness. This was why An was doing the pointing. "Thank you, then," Mishiro concluded. That was the most she had ever talked at once and she still wasn't done. An was just fascinated with how consistently soft her voice was. "When it reopens, you're also welcome to visit the headquarters in Lhasri to see the results of these investigations."

 

-> Foraging: 235092: LD 13

Edited October 8 by Andromeda