SP - F1 Starting a New "Profession" (1st Day of Hunting/Gathering) (Complete)

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a stretch as he made his way towards the western gate of the Starting City, making sure that his Anneal Blade was sitting properly on the back of his hip. It had been fairly recent that he had been contemplating this decision, pondering it for what seemed like hours before he finally decided to act upon it.

 

After their trip to the Gurando Foji, Calrex had talked with Oikawa about the ideas of professions within the game. Of course the blacksmith and tailor markets were in such high supply right now that the demand would be very small due to the wide variety of shops being offered. After that came the alchemist and cooks, which weren't been taken up as much, but there was an interesting thing Calrex had been thinking about for quite some time.

 

From what he could tell, the owners of the shops were in charge of not only making the items they had; they were also usually responsible for procuring all of the materials needed for the crafts. Of course, there was the idea of joining guilds that having access to their stores of supplies as well, but something about that idea didn't sit completely right with him.

 

"It almost feels like you need to join a 'club' in order to have a successful business. I wonder if this might change that..."

 

With that he stepped outside of the gates, drawing his Anneal Blade, "It's not like monsters to kill are in short supply. When I've got the free time like now I'll stock up on materials, then hand them out to the shops. I mean, it seems like a win-win. I gain the experience from fighting the creatures of SAO and the col from the battles, the shops get materials to continue their crafts. Plus, the stronger I get, the more materials I can gather."

 

He drew his Anneal Blade, stepping out onto the path, "Alright, let's see what I can find..."

[Calrex 0]

He wandered the perimeter so that the gates of the city were just at the edge of his vision. That way in case he needed to get back quickly he wouldn't have to worry about pursuit. The first thing he encountered was a larger boar, a smirk coming on his face.

 

"Alright, a boar's a good start. Wouldn't want to push my luck with something bigger until I become strong enough to do so."

 

ID: 11892

Battle Dice: 4

Mob Dice: 7 (Evasion +1) = 6

 

Calrex readied himself as he rushed forward, preparing to strike the boar. As he got into striking range the boar had begun its charge. He tried to get a shoot slash in, but barely missed as the boar's tusk grazed his thigh.

 

"Alright, not exactly the best start I could have. We'll see how this battle goes and take it from there."

 

HP List

Calrex: 16/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 10/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11894

Battle Dice: 7

Mob Dice: 10 (Evasion +1) = 9 (+2 Damage)

 

Calrex turned as the boar began a second charge at him, "Ok, when did these boars get to be so quick? I think I've gotten too used to fighting the other monster types that these guys' battle tactics are somehow lost to my memory"

 

He braced for impact as the boar rammed into him. As the impact connected Calrex managed to get a swipe on the boar before he was launched flying a few feet. He rolled a few times to disperse the impact, landing on his feet, "Alright, I'd better get serious quickly. Never would have expected a creature on the first floor would still give me problems..."

 

HP List

Calrex: 13/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 6/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11921

Battle Dice: 8

Mob Dice: 3 (Evasion +1) = 2

 

As the boar charged at Calrex once again he readied his sword, pointing it at the boar as it began to close the distance between the two. He gave a few calming breaths as he focused his senses, watching the boar's movements as it got closer and closer. Once it got into striking range he turned his sword back, stepping forward and to the side. The boar made a clean miss as Calrex made a slash across the boar's side. It was a shallow cut, so he didn't need to wrench his sword out, but he was relieved that his accuracy had returned.

 

He quickly turned to face the boar as he focused once again, "You're not gonna kill me, but for sure once I'm done with you I'm going to head back to town and rest up. I'll need to do some more preparation if I'm going to do this 'job'"

 

HP List

Calrex: 13/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 2/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11924

Battle Dice: 7

Mob Dice: 3 (Evasion +1)  = 2

Loot Dice: 4 (Search and Detect +1) = 5

 

Calrex watched as the boar began to clop its hoof against the ground, preparing to charge him again. He sheathed his sword as he continued to focus, his mind thinking about his next move.

 

"Maybe it's time to test out this new ability. I'm usually more in control of my movement if it's not an extension of me right? Wonder how this will turn out."

 

As the boar made its charge forward Calrex relaxed his right hand from the hilt of his sword, taking a calming breath as he stood up straight. As the boar got about halfway through the distance between them Calrex lowered his stance as it getting ready to dash forward. As the boar came into striking range its head was smashed into the ground as Calrex threw his fist down, smashing it into the boar's snout. The boar created a small deformation in the grass as it dissipated into crystals.

 

Calrex gave a breath of relief as the boar disappeared, standing up straight. He looked at his hand, clenching it and releasing, "Definitely seems to be stronger than before. Good to know. I'd best head back into town to play it safe. I'll rest up and head out again once I've recovered."

 

Loot List:

+1 Material

+25 Col

 

HP List

Calrex: 13/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: -1/10

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex arrived back through the gate of the Staring Ckty he gave a couple of breaths before he looked around. He hadn't been out for very long, and unfortunately due to his sad stroke of luck very little to speak for.

 

"I spent only probably a few minutes out there and only managed to get one material so far. Well, it is my first haul and I wasn't expecting to do amazing. It's a good thing I have a few materials from my previous outings. Now the question is who will receive them first..."

 

He crossed his arms, contemplating the places he could stop by.

 

"Oikawa's Gurando Foji could definitely use some more materials, going from the progress he's made so far. Plus he's helped me and Teayre so far in this game it'll be another way of thanking him. Next could probably be Baldur's Catfish Sundries. His potions kept me alive in that golem fight, so without those I wouldn't even be here..."

 

With that he made a beeline for the merchant district, hitting Oikawa's shop first, then Baldur's. After taking care of that he went back over to the Hogsback Inn. It looked like Teayre had left to take care of her own things, so he quickly unequipped his outer jacket and boots, hopping on top of the bed, "I'll take a quick nap and heal up before heading out again."

 

Before he went to bed he pulled up his menu, sending a message to Teayre.

 

Subject: New "Profession" Is Under Way!

From: Calrex

 

Hey Teayre, hope things are going well on your quest! I've just gotten started on that new idea about gathering materials for the other shops. I'll be sure to be careful and not push myself. Be careful and I'll see you when you get back.

 

I love you"

 

With that Calrex closed his eyes and prepared to take his nap.

[Calrex 0]

After some time Calrex opened his eyes, giving a quick stretch as he looked out the window. It looked like the sun had just passed its peak and was beginning to make its way back down. "Alright, probably a good time to get back to doing more searching around. I think I'll take it easy on fighting monsters for now and just try and gather materials that I can find."

 

He got up from the bed, pulling down his menu to equip his jacket and boots, adjusting his sword sheath. With that he quickly made his way out of the Starting City and back towards the outer fields, "Now...let's see what I can find..."

 

ID: 11939

Loot Dice: 19 (+1 Search and Detect) = 20

 

"Well, things are looking up already."

 

As Calrex began to explore the fields he came across what appeared to be some kind of special herb growing nearby a stream, "Hm, not sure if a blacksmith could use this, but hey possibly a cook, alchemist, or merchant might be able to put it good use."

 

He reached down and plucked the herb from the ground, adding it to his inventory.

 

Loot List:

+1 Material (2 Total)

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11940

Loot Dice: 8 (Search and Detect +1) = 9

 

Since he had some luck finding herbs along the riverbank Calrex had decided to continue looking along the waters edge for any other herbs that might be useful.

 

"Rock...rock...more rocks...huh?"

 

He looked over as he saw what appeared to be another herb at the water, right where the water was flowing, "Alright, I can get this..."

 

He extended his arm as he tried to reach for the herb. He managed to get a grasp of it, but as he began to retract his arm the water picked up for a second, knocking the herbs out of his hand and washing it downstream. His eyes followed the herbs as they traveled, giving a disappointed sign as he saw the familiar crystals of an item being destroyed, "Darn I almost had it. Oh well, on to the next one."

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11945

Loot Dice: 12 (Search and Detect +1) = 13

 

Calrex sighed as he found another bundle of herbs that were nearby the river, beginning to make his way towards them. As he got close though he stopped as he saw a boar walk by, his sword at the ready. Unfortunately, the boar completely ignored him, walking over to the river. It took a few laps of the stream and then turned, taking a bit of...the herbs.

 

"Ok...so those herbs are also what the creatures consider nourishment...great..."

 

He gave an exasperated sigh as he put a hand behind his head, "Let's move to a spot with less creatures. Maybe I'll have some luck searching around over there."

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11946

Loot Dice: 11 (Search and Detect +1) = 12

 

Apparently there might have been a reason there were no creatures in the area Calrex had gone to. It was because the are had been picked clean of the herbs he was searching for, and since those herbs had not respawned just yet the creatures had decided to move to another area.

 

Calrex combed the ground as he walked, trying to find some hint of an herb somewhere, but unfortunately nothing of the sort turned up. He scratched the back of his head as he knelt down to see if maybe he was overlooking something.

 

"*sigh* I'm having even less luck with looking for them than simply killing monsters and getting it from them."

 

"I'll keep looking around a little bit more before heading back to the city. I think depending on how the next trip goes I'll see if I should focus more on slaying monsters or gathering items."

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11947

Loot Dice: 1 (I think I'll make so that when I'm dong these quests a 1 on the Loot Die will result in a monster battle)

Battle Dice: 6

Mob Dice: 5 (Evasion +1) = 4

 

"Did I finally find something useful?"

 

Calrex continued to feel across the ground as he found what appeared to be an herb poking out of the bushes. He reached on and grabbed it, trying to pull it out...but it wasn't giving up.

 

"Huh? What in the world...oh..."

 

The herb may have been intact, but hidden by the bushes, munching on it, was another boar. It didn't look happy that Calrex was trying to steal its meal, so almost immediately it tried to charge him from its sitting position. Luckily Calrex fell on his rear and rolled out of the way. He quickly got to his feet, dusting himself off. The boar had stopped just a few inches from him, so as its back was turned he gave it a swift front kick to knock it back a few more feet before preparing himself.

 

"Just my luck...alright let's do this."

 

Rolled a 1 on the Loot Dice, random monster encountered!

 

HP List

Calrex: 17/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 7/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11948

Battle Dice: 1

Mob Dice: 10 (Evasion +1) = 9 (+2 Damage)

 

As Calrex readied himself to fight the boar it gave a disgruntled snort as it did a quick charge at him. Caught unprepared Calrex caught the brunt of the hit. As the boar rammed into him it planted its front hooves in the ground, giving a secondary charge, sending Calrex lying to the side. As Calrex got thrown out of the way the excess momentum carried the boar about ten paces away from him before it made its way around.

 

To add insult to injury as Calrex came down the fall forced him to fall face first, smacking the ground. He was dazed for a couple of seconds before he pushed himself up off of the ground, shaking his head to get his sight focused, "Geezes, that was a really strong hit. Gah that smarts..."

 

He got to his feet, drawing his Anneal Blade, "Alright, if that's the way you want to play..."

 

HP List

Calrex: 14/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 7/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11949

Battle Dice: 2

Mob Dice: 7 (Evasion +1) = 6

 

Calrex weaved back and forth around the boar's attacks, being unable to exploit an opening due to it turning quick enough that he couldn't see any come up. The constant dodging was wearing down on him as he felt the boar manage to graze his leg with one of its tusks. He flipped his sword in reverse as he quickly leapt back to put more distance between him and the boar, "Alright, you're starting to become a pain."

 

"I'm doing alright on health so far, but I really need to get used to the attack strategies of this boar quickly or else it'll just keep wearing down my defenses. Of course it still for the most part sticks to the same charge-turn-charge attack pattern common among the boars, but it looks like because this one seems to be a strong type that its recovery time is smaller."

 

Calrex gave a few calming breaths as he readied himself, "That might mean I'll need to try striking while it's trying to ram into me, because at that point its speed is dedicated in a particular direction..."

 

HP List

Calrex: 13/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 7/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11950

Battle Dice: 8

Mob Dice: 3 (Evasion +1) = 2

 

As the boar began its charge once again Calrex brought his sword arm across to his unguarded side, flipping it so that he was holding it in a regular grip, the tip pointed towards the boar, the blade parallel to the ground. He took a couple of calming breaths as he waited for the boar to get closer. Once it got just out of striking range he rushed forward, thrusting his sword straight towards the boar's head.

 

Although the attack didn't strike true, it did manage to leave a moderate wound on the boar's side as the two separated from each other. Calrex quickly righted himself, keeping his sword trained on the boar, "Alright, looks like things are turning around so far. Hopefully I can finish this thing off quickly."

 

He took a quick look at the sky to check his time. It looked like the sun had reached about halfway down on its descent back towards the horizon. Night would be coming soon, which meant that if he could finish this quickly he might be able to make a couple more searches before needing to turn in for the night.

 

HP List

Calrex: 13/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: 3/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11951

Battle Dice: 10 (+2 Damage)

Mob Dice: 8 (Evasion +1) = 7

Loot Dice: 19 (Search and Detect +1) = 20

 

As the boar made another charge at Calrex he braced himself for impact, this time not bothering to dodge to the side, "It seems like it's able to maintain enough control that even if I manage to score a hit it makes it a shallow cut. So how about it it decides to come straight at me and skewer itself."

 

As the boar got close he lowered his stance, pointing his blade straight at the boar's snout, placing his free hand on the hilt of his blade. As the charge came he clenched his teeth, absorbing the impact and remaining in place. The boar traveled all the way down his sword, stopping at the hilt. At the same time one of its tusks managed to scrape Calrex's arm before it dissipated. Calrex gave a sigh of relief that the battle was over, sheathing his sword. "Alright, just in time. Let's what else I can find before the daylight fades."

 

Loot List:

100 Col

Additional 50 col

2 Materials

 

HP List

Calrex: 12/17

 

Enemies:

Big Boar: -3/10

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11953

Loot Dice: 2 (Search and Detect +1) = 3

 

In the aftermath of the battle he had just taken a part of Calrex dropped to the ground to see if any of the herbs he had seen before had respawned. Unfortunately, from what he could tell, the herbs were generated at random and not from fixed locations, "I guess I should have taken that into account when I decided to look in the areas where less monsters were around."

 

He got to his feet, putting a hand behind his head as he scanned the area, "I'll head just a little further out. Maybe if I follow that stream I'll have a little more luck finding something. Better not stray too far though, or else night will fall and I think I'll be at a significant disadvantage."

 

With that he adjusted his sword, heading downstream.

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11954

Loot Dice: 7

 

As Calrex headed downstream he continued to look around, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary that might prove useful for the shops. Unfortunately all that he would was just a lot of river and very little peculiar objects.

 

"Did the monsters pick this area dry too? They must move really quickly. Either that or I've looking in the completely wrong areas."

 

He scratched the back of his head as he continued to make his way along the riverbank, his hand on his sword hilt in case another boar had decided to attack him.

 

"Alright...where could these precious materials be hiding?"

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11955

Loot Dice: 18 (Search and Detect +1) = 19

 

"Finally some luck!"

 

Calrex had been walking down the stream for some time before he came across an odd looking plant. It was growing out in the sunlight and looked like it hadn't been eaten at all by the monsters in the area. He walked over to it, deciding to inspect it before picking it up.

 

"Hm...it looks like it might be some sort of bean. It even smells kind of sweet. I wonder if it would work as a good substitute of a vanilla bean or something like that. I'll go ahead and grab it just in case."

 

He reached over and picked the beans that hung off the plant, adding it to his inventory, "I'm sure that one of the cafe's might be able to make good use of this."

 

Loot List:

+1 Material

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11956

Loot Dice: 20 (Search and Detect +1) = 21

 

As Calrex continued to make his way along the stream it looked like his luck was turning around. While he wasn't finding any more herbs like before it looked like there was a large bounty of the sweet beans that he had come across previously. He found another plant with the same beans a few paces away from the first time, still out of the way of monsters.

 

"I wonder if these plants actually have some kind of scent that deters the creatures from eating them. If so it seems to be lucky for me."

 

+1 Material

[Calrex 0]

ID: 11957

Loot Dice: 18 (Search and Detect +1) = 19

 

It looked like Calrex's string of luck continued as he made his way further along the river, finding yet another collection of beans on a plant. "Alright, I think I've gone far enough outwards, so I'd best be making my way back towards the city."

 

He looked upwards to check the time. By this time the sun was beginning to hide behind the horizon. He nodded to himself, acknowledging and affirming his plan. He got to his feet, beginning to follow the river back towards the Starting City.

 

"Well, compared to this morning I'd say this was a pretty good haul. I wonder if I can find any on the way back..."

 

+1 Materials