[PP-F1] Secret Medicine of the Forest (Dellis, Zauis)

[Dellis 0]

Dellis had decided to try his hand at a quest.

He had looked through the beta tester's guides for a long time before finding the right one. It was the Secret Medicine of the Forest.

The reward was an Anneal Blade. Not that he needed it - for the moment, till the tournament was done, he had Sunlight Sword with him- but he wanted to try to do a true quest.

He would need to recover a Little Nepent's Ovule. A rare monster, the Little Nepent, dropped it.

Then he would have to bring it to a man in a hut near Zelder Forest. The monster was deep in the forest, which was supposedly to the east of Beginner's town.

So, there he was, him and his pet lizard, now hidden in the backpack, going through the fields. When he reached the forest's entrance, he stopped for a moment. He would have liked to get some help to do the quest, but he didn't know anyone yet.

"Maybe there are other players around, which could help me..." he thought out loud, as was his habit.

He looked around in the distance, seemingly a little lost. It would have been clear to anyone who looked at him that he was a newbie, still in starter armor.

[Zauis 0]

Zauis wearing his usually all black attire along with his long black trench coat. I had a black and green scarf wrapped around my neck since I was pretty sensitive to the cold. My hair looked as if it was in a bowl a long time and just naturally took the shape of it. Most would think with a carefree look on his face that he was the ideal nice guy. Truthfully he is nice and does anything to help others but he's a orange player now. Only for doing a good deed though. I had finally escaped from the NPC who couldn't even keep up as I bumped into some noob that looked as if he was about to do something interesting with the look on his face. I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry about that man. You about to do a quest or something? My names Zauis." I said with a friendly tone.

[Dellis 0]

As they say, help comes when you least expect it.

Dellis was just about to stop looking for people to help him when someone bumped right into him, sending him flying to the ground, while the backpack opened and his lizard, Izzy, went out of it scared.

"Ouch..." Dellis said, while trying to get back on his feet. "Ah, no problem." He said when the guy who had run into him said he was sorry.

"Yes, actually I'm going to try the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest." He inspected his gear as he spoke. He seemed to be a high level player! What was he doing in floor one? Anyway, that was what he called true luck. Maybe he could help him with the quest.

"Say, would you want to help me with it? You'd do me a great favour. I'm new around here, it's actually my first quest attempt. If you've done it before, you would be of great help."

He paused.

"Anyway, I'm Dellis, and this here--" he said, picking up the little lizard from the ground "-- is Izzy, my pet lizard. Found her in a cave north of here. Nice to meet you!" He concluded, scratching the back of his head, smiling.

[Zauis 0]

"Sorry about knocking you down man. I honestly didn't mean to. I'm not a huge jerk to just knock down a low leveled player minding his own business." I smiled at him as he rambled on and in and finally asked me to help him with his quest.

Looking at the guy with a raised eyebrow as he informed me his name I patted him on the back to make sure he was alright. "Dellis, eh? Nice to meet you. And about the quest offer. Sure, I'll join you and help you obtain the Anneal blade. Meh, I've got nothing else to do right now since the woman I'm engaged with isn't with me right now. So how old are you man? I'm sixteen." I said in a friendly manner while pushing him to lead us the way to the quest, to complete this journey that just began.

[Dellis 0]

"Ah, I know you didn't do it on purpose." He said.

"Ah, thanks a lot for the help!" He said, as Zauis accepted to help him in his quest. "You're very kind." He hadn't noticed he was an orange player, for the moment.

"I'm 22. I've always been fond of computer games, so I started playing SAO. You're engaged? You're lucky! It must be fun to quest together with her."

"Ah, but i'm blabbering too much. Sorry, that's an habit of mine. Shall we start the quest?" He said.

He started to go deeper in the forest, with Zauis behind him. "If I remember well from what i've read in the guides, we're going to need to kill some small plant mobs, before the Little Nepente appears. They should be near."

They were halfway through the forest, when he heard some rustling noises in the bushes.

"Uhm, Zauis, i guess some of the lesser monsters have spawned." He said, uselessly, since he probably had noticed them way before him.

He readied his sword and shield, as two little plantlike mobs called "Nepente Minions" appeared. They had huge needles right in the middle of their flowers, and seemed to aim them at Dellis. They suddendly shot the needles through the air, and while he parried two of them with his shield, one reached him in the arm.

"Ugh, that hurt", he shouted, while slashing back with the Sword of Sunlight he had crafted, outright killing one of them.

[Zauis 0]

"I see. And I'm not that kind! At least I don't think I am. So your 22? That must be pretty cool and yea I'm not really a fan of games like this but I had to give it a try and I'm really liking it. And yes, I'm engaged to a young lady name Oske. Were getting married soon so you should come! I'm not really the type to invite but when the woman who your engaged to asked you, then you've got no choice. And questing up together is fun and all bit I do miss being solo when I do quests so I can obtain all the prizes and such."

I said calmly but with a smile on my face afterwards. As we made it into the forest we were ambushed by a few monsters which attacked Dellis first for some odd reason. I quickly unsheathe my sword, The Oblivion, which was a red and black sword crafted by the woman I'm engaged with. I dashed the enemies and swiftly took them out with under two hits each. They shattered before his very eyes. Being a high leveled player, this was child's play. "You okay man? They really got ya."

[Dellis 0]

Dellis held his shoulder.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay, thanks. That was just a grazing hit. it doesn't hurt."

He stared at Zauis. "Wow... you're really fast! I couldn't even follow your movements with my eyes." He paused. "I guess you're a really high level player, to destroy those monsters that way. I'm still level three!"

They started moving again towards the heart of the forest.

"Ah, by the way, thanks for the invite at the marriage. I'll be sure to come!" He said, smiling. "It's the least I can do to thank you of the help you're giving me."

While they were walking, he looked at The Oblivion, that strange red and black sword. "Wow, that's a really good sword. I wish I could craft swords like those. This is my masterpiece, but doesn't quite compare to your sword, yours is way better." He said, opening the Sunlight Sword's appraisal window.

"I'm thinking of putting it as the first prize in a duel tournament i'm going to host on floor three in a week. Let me know if you want to join!"

He paused. "Say, Zauis, do you have fun playing this game, even if we could die?" He asked, while they were going deeper in the forest.

----------

Shown Items Appraisal Window:

Sunlight Sword

This One-Handed Sword is made of gemstones, translucent and gleaming. It seems to shine in the dark with the same radiance of the sunlit day it was forged in, and is warm to the touch. It weighs a bit less than a normal one-handed sword, but its hits are little less heavy than a two-handed one. On the hilt, in little, shining letters, three words are written. Don't lose hope.

Enhancements/Powers: It raises the wielder's damage by 2 points. (Approved GM Shark)

[Zauis 0]

"If it didn't hurt then why it's you yell it hurts? Heheh yeah I'm level nineteen. But level doesn't mean much if you don't protect the ones you love. Or anyone in danger for that matter. But yeah, your not to shabby either!" I said while pushing him gently as we continued on our way I listened to every word he said. I thought to myself, Oske will be really happy that I got another person to come. I've invited so many people she's gonna be surprised. "Sounds great man! I can't wait to see you there!" I said with a chuckle.

Sheathing my sword, The Oblivion, I noticed his words and his eyes was glued to the sword before he started weeping about ow he couldn't make good swords. I patted him on the back and smiled while noticing he mentioned a tournament for that sword. I raised my eyebrow. "I'll look forward to competing in that tournament!

[Dellis 0]

"Ahah, I guess you're right." he said, laughing.

They both pressed on through the path inside the forest, stopping for a moment only when it became clear the path had ended.

"This is gonna take a bit, I fear. The Nepente is in a clearing further in this direction," he pointed to the east, "but it's still a bit far."

He stopped, opening his inventory. "Here, take this." He handed him a tuna sandwich. "I prepared these before I departed from my shop in Floor 1." He unwrapped his one.

"Hey, Zauis, how did you meet Oske?" He asked, curious, while taking a bite off his sandwich. He kept walking, waiting for the answer.

[Zauis 0]

"Meh, I don't mind." I saw him reveal his tuna sandwiches he had brought for the trip but I shook my hands and bowed. "Thanks, but no thanks pal. Tuna isn't my kinda thing." I gave him a smile while listening to his question. I chuckled before cheerfully speaking. " I was just wanting to hang out with her not too long ago and then I think she asked me to go to the festival with her and I said yes. After that we went to her black smithing shop and she crafted me a high leveled sword. Probably because of her love for me. After that I knew what I needed to do. I asked her to marry me" I said while going through my HUD and switching to my real wardrobe which was a black jeans and black boots with a chest plate and a long red trench coat which had white trimmings and on the back it had the "Knights of Christ" written on it with the logo of two swords crossing over a shield.

[Dellis 0]

"Ahah, no problem, guess i'll just eat two then bro." He said, unwrapping the other Tuna Sandwich.

"She asked you to go with her to the festival? Well, you're lucky, man. You didn't even need to ask her, she came to you herself." he joked. "Well, I'm really happy for you two. I guess I'll meet her at the marriage!"

He went through a patch of dense bushes. "This way, I think. We're getting nearer."

He looked back, and saw Zauis had changed wardrobe. "Wow, that's a guild's armor! You're in a guild? The knights of christ... I hadn't noticed that before. I've heard of them, they're a really strong guild. You're a frontliner, then? Did you fight in any boss battle yet? Was it hard?"

He asked, as he went up a small hill. He could see the clearing in the distance. They were almost arrived. Then they would have to battle the boss.

[Zauis 0]

I smiled, though it quickly turned into a frown after we spoke about the marriage. I shrugged a bit and gave him a fake smile. "Yeah man, I hope to see you there." After I switched my attire I knew he noticed the guild's logo and name. I nodded at him who seemed excited. "Yeah, Im in the Knights of Christ. I love that guild and hope I can become the co leader soon. And yes, we've fought tons of boss battles but at first I wasn't the guild type. I still aint. I just gotta get use to working with others because I was doing dungeons alone. Like dungeon six im taking on by myself." I went through my HUD and revealed a box of cream filled bread which was my favorite. I tossed one in my mouth chewing on the creamy delightful ness. I handed one to him. "Wanna try it? Its good!"

[Dellis 0]

He took the bread he offered. "Why not! That seems delicious." He said, while taking a bite off it.

"You're gonna be the Co-Leader, huh... I guess once i become stronger i'll try to enter in that guild. For now, i'm gonna try a bit of party play. I'm too shy to be in large groups yet. Better to take on little quests like this one with someone I know."

He stopped to climb a little steep slope. "With this... we should have arrived... to the... clearing!" He grunted, climbing.

Once arrived, he stood up.

They were in a small clearing, with a lake pond in the middle, and luscious green plants all around. In the clearing, no plant grew, except for grass.

"The boss should show up once we defeat two more minions... which should be... right at the side of the pond. So... here!" He shouted, while with two blue flashes the monsters appeared.

He slashed at the nearest one, killing him, then turned to see how Zauis was doing. Once he killed that one too... they would have to fight the quest boss.