PP - F1 Some Company Is Always Welcome (3rd Day of Hunting/Gathering)

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a yawn as he stretched his arms out while standing at the fountain just in front of the exit gate out of the Starting City into the fields. It had been some time since his last trip to gather materials, so he figured today would be as good a day as any. Ariel had already contact him previously that she could make do with some more materials for her shop, so that was already one order in place. In addition one of his fellow players Hikoru had contacted him to see if it was possible to participate.

 

"The more the merrier I guess. In any case I'd better get myself ready. I wonder if there's any other players that would be interesting in coming along."

 

He made a few quick swipes on his menu, sending out a public message.

 

Looking for Company on Hunting/Gathering Trip

 

If anyone is interesting in helping to gather materials please gather at the fountain just in front of the western exit gate.

 

Calrex

With that he put his hands into his jacket pockets as he waited, "Should be too long now I guess..."

[Reusririasuir 0]

It was an early morning, Reu had been going over his inventory and checking the game messages when he eyed one in particular that caught his interest. A customer of his, Calrex, had posted an open announcement related to a hunting expedition. Reu knew he would need more supplies in the coming weeks if he was going to continue stocking his fish stand, and he needed more col to purchase a sharper sword soon, so Reu made up his mind, packed up his inventory, and headed down to the fountain in front of the western exit.

 

It was a nice day, as the weather in the Starting City was always beautiful. Slightly warm, but not over-bearing. You could walk outside and feel a cool breeze blow across your face, but it still wouldn't send chills down your arms. Basking in the sunlight, Reu slowly moved through the market-place. Listening to the sounds, and taking in the sights of the busy marketplace, it helped Reu to forget that they were in a death-game. It made it hard to forget, that this wasn't real life. Life in this game felt real, and every-day felt even more real then the last.

 

"I just want to clear this game, and get these people back home." Reu mumbled to himself. Despite the sunny day, clouds invaded Reu's thoughts. However, Reu refused to take his mind off what he was going to do today, today he would join this party, go hunting, and hopefully come back with some experience, some new allies, and some nice loot. Looking forward to the expedition, Reu spotted the fountain, and made his way towards it. Approaching the fountain, he spotted Calrex, and greeted him cheerfully. "Hail, Calrex. It's good to see you again. I spotted your open invite, so if you don't mind, I'll be joining your expedition today!"

[Calrex 0]

OOC: Bumping this back up XD

 

IC:

 

Calrex turned as he heard a familiar voice speak to him, turning to recognize Reu walking up, saying that he would be joining the material gathering trip. He assumed a friendly face as he gave a welcoming smile, "Sure thing Reu, good to see you again. I'd be happy to have you along. Some company is always welcome."

 

With that he sat down on the edge of the fountain, looking around the area, "I'm still waiting on a couple other possible players to join us and then we should be able to get moving. Hopefully we'll be lucky enough that we can avoid too much combat while we're out there."

 

"I usually tend to avoid trying to attack monsters during these trips and focus on just finding and gathering the materials that spawn in the area. Hopefully the first floor will have a better yield the the second one did."

 

He swiped down on his menu to retrieve the Coho Salmon he had purchased from Reu's store recently, promptly munching down on it to receive the enhancements it gave.

 

"So how's the shop going so far?"

 

(Consumed Coho Salmon. +2 to LD for thread)

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru wakes up and looks at the time, seeing that he was late. He quickly sprinted and put on his gear, making sure he had everything equipped, and ran out the door of the place he was staying. He dashed through town, dodging players and NPC's all around him, until he came into the large square. he looked around for Calrex, seeing if he could find him. Suddenly, he shot past him, and a new player that must have known him

 

"Oh, not again...." He thought to himself as he hit the brakes, and bumped and battered his way into a nearby wall, via the tile floor. He brushed off the dirt, making sure everything around him was okay, and made his way over to the two of them

 

"Hey Calrex.... I uh.... yeah, you saw what happened." He said as he chuckles while rubbing the back of his neck.

[Reusririasuir 0]

"Oh Calrex, you know how things go. Good business and bad business. I've got some new fish coming in soon though, a rare Alaskan Salmon, and a rainbow trout which should be pretty helpful on longer adventures. I will also have some other minor fish, good for dinner parties and such, but they won't be much use beyond that. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, why don't you have a profess--"

 

Suddenly, Reu and Calrex watched a younger player come running through the court-yard in their general direction. They watched him running towards them, and then they watched him running...past them. As the running player did so, he was looking at Calrex & Reu. He was so busy looking at Calrex & Reu that he didn't see the wall that was right in front--

 

--that he had just smashed into.

 

Reu thought about going to check on him, but before he knew it the player had risen, crossed the square, and was apologizing to Calrex for making such a scene, as well as for being just a few moments late. Reu smiled to himself, stood quietly, and patiently waited on Calrex to perform proper introductions.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex heard a resounding slam suddenly as he turned to see the origin of the sound. It was almost an exact re-enactment of when he had first met Hikoru, as the boy had apparently run past him and Reu. However, instead of like before where he failed to stop and barrel rolled across the ground, this time Hikoru was stopped...by a wall.

 

"I swear this feels like something out of an anime or something like it."

 

"Hey Hikoru, nice...landing I guess? Heh, in any case welcome!"

 

With that Calrex turned over and directed Hikoru to the man next to him, "Let me go ahead and introduce you two then. This here is Reusririasuir, or Reu for short. He runs currently the only fishing shop here in Aincrad."

 

With that he directed Reu over to Hikoru, "And this here is Hikoru. He's the person I was telling you about that would be coming along as well. He's very skilled and speedy with a dagger..."

 

"Might as well throw in some fun to lighten the mood."

 

"...although his braking skills could use some work."

 

He made sure to keep his voice light as he made the quick joke.

 

"In any case, let's hang out here for a few more minutes and get ourselves ready. Once the invitation has expired we'll go ahead and set out. Any questions while we're here?"

 

As Calrex spoke he began swiping rapidly in his menu, equipping his Grand Armament, starting with the Grand Chariot full-body armor, then the Grand Gauntlets, and finally the Grand Blade.

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru felt a little irritated at himself for looking so stupid, and when Calrex made the comment, it made him a bit edgier.

 

"Well maybe if I had my Pegasus boots I would be a lot better off...." He muttered to himself angrily, knowing that he would never get Pegasus boots. He kicked a nearby rock and looked around, already knowing that he had everything equipped that he needed for this next mission. He pulled out his blade, making sure that it was prepared for battle, and sheathed it once again, and stood with his arms crossed.

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reu watched as Calrex began equipping his gear, certainly Calrex enjoyed dressing the part of a heavy-clad knight with a set of blue armor and a large sword Reu had heard him refer to as 'The Grand Blade'. It was certainly imposing, though Reu felt a competitive spark wondering how it would fare against his next requisitioned weapon, the Apotheosis Unto Mars. Perhaps he would challenge Calrex to a friendly duel to find out. But certainly not today, for one, they had other business to attend too, and for two, that 'requisitioned weapon', was just that, requisitioned, not forged. The blueprints Reu had crafted were sitting in The Empty Shells forge on the fourth floor, but Rusty had been so backed up that he wasn't even close to fulfilling Reu's order yet.

 

Reu navigated to his menu and selected his one-handed straight sword, Ragnarok Enduring. With a few more clicks, it was equipped and Reu felt it's familiar weight at his side. It had been a reward for one of his first quests, a quest which had nearly seen him die in a confrontation with a simple bat. Luckily, Reu survied that battle inside the mines, and emerged with materials to forge a blade, which he did so all under the quest-givers tutelage. The result? A finely crafted blade which had served Reu well so far.

 

The next item Reu equipped was his armor. The light armor 'Shakespearean Vanguard Vestimentum', appeared in a flash of light, fitting snugly over his avatars common clothing. The thick leather vest was blackened, but also held deep, yet easily readable, engravings, some of which read 'Cor Aut Mors', 'Res Firma Mitescere Nescit', 'Tuebor', 'Per Ardua Ad Alta', 'Intrepidus', 'With Glory', 'Live Knightly' and finally, alongside the right-hand side, a series of inscriptions being four lines vertically, one after another, reading 'Once More Unto the Breach','Beware the Ides of March','Find them the Primrose Path', 'For They Are Gold, While You & I Are Merely Iron'.

 

Finally, the last piece of equipment Reu equipped wasn't visible, though he felt it appear underneath his clothes instantaneously. The lucky trinket's cool metal chain hung around his neck, and the steel dog-tags at the end felt smooth against his chest. After it appeared, Reu turned to Calrex and gave him a simple nod, signifying that he was ready.

 

Hikoru had been fully equipped when he arrived, and had a decent looking dagger at his side, as well as some interesting light armor pieces. The three were ready to go. This wasn't going to be a hard days work, but he was still glad to see that the others weren't going to be taking it too lightly either. You never could know what dangers Aincrad would throw at you.

[Calrex 0]

As Reu finished equipping his gear Calrex gave a nod, resting his arms at his sides, "Alrighty, looks like we're all set. Hopefully the materials on this floor have replenished enough that we can get a good haul in. If either of you need a hand or happen to have gotten the attention of a creature in the area please let me know. Since we'll be operating as a party most likely the monsters attracted will be closer to my level unfortunately. However if we keep low and out of their way they tend to avoid engaging us in combat."

 

With that Calrex double checked to make sure Reu and Hikoru understood his word before giving a nod, turning and heading towards the gate. As they exited he began looking left and right to see if there was any possible materials in the immediate area surrounding the Starting City.

 

ID: 15095

Loot Dice: 9 (Search and Detect +1 / +2 Item Bonus for Thread) = 12

 

Unfortunately the immediate area seemed to be picked clean to Calrex's eyes as he looked around, "Well, not exactly the best start, but I've definitely had worse."

 

Total: 0

 

Danger Level:

Calrex: 0/3

Reusririausuir: 0/3

Hikoru: 0/3

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reu trotted out to the field of beginnings, his allies nearby. As they moved out into the field, the three slowly expanded out, roughly 25 meters away from each other. Close enough to regroup if they found danger, but far enough apart so they could search a wider area. From his vantage point, Reu could see that Calrex was looking looking at the shrubberies for any useful herbs. Reu was fairly certain they weren't going to find any herbs in this area though, they were still too close to the Town of Beginnings which had already been thoroughly searched. Reaching into his bag of Gummy Swords and devouring a handful, Reu moved through the field eating while he was searching. Reu knew the general grasslands here wouldn't be too full of useful materials, but Reu had also found a neat trick to hunting this area, something most players hadn't thought of. Slowly and very carefully, Reu picked up some of the larger stones, and began digging through the soft soil underneath, pushing almost his entire hand into the soil, getting the cool dirt between his fingers; somewhere down there would be a large...onion-like food stuff; Reu tried one raw once, and was laid up inside an Inn for three days, but after giving one to a cook with a high enough cooking skill, he found they could be made edible and were actually quite delicious.

 

ID 15103 LD 9 + 2 Lucky Charm + 1 Search + 1 Item Bonus For Thread = 13

 

Disappointed, Reu came up empty handed. Pulling his hands back up, he could see how muddy they were and he wiped his hands on the grass. Hopefully his luck would turn around soon.

 

Total: 0

 

Danger Level:

Calrex: 0/3

Reusririausuir: 0/3

Hikoru: 0/3

 

(Consumed Gummy Swords +1 LD for thread / Source)

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru looked around to see if he could find anything useful. He hoped he would get luckier than his other companions, but he could never be too sure of what is to come, or what he could find.

 

ID: 16377

 

Loot: 17

 

17+ 1=18 Loot (Success!)

 

Hikoru looked into a hole in the ground, discovering a bit of ore that he could give to a blacksmith for a new weapon. He smiled and put it in his pack

 

"Found some ore!" He said as he held it up for them to see

 

+1 Ore Material Found and added to Pack

[Calrex 0]

ID: 16383

Loot Dice: 5 (Search and Detect +1 / +2 Item Bonus) = 8

 

As Calrex heard Hikoru yell that he found another one he gave a nod of approval as he continued scrounging around, "There's gotta be something arou..."

 

As he did he thought he found a potentially useful herb, but it turned out that it was just a strangely shaped leaf. He gave a small sigh to himself as he let the leaf blow away in the wind before he kept searching around, "How're you doing in finding materials Reu? I've got no dice so far."

 

"Well, we are still fairly close. It's possible the that materials haven't respawned just yet. I wonder if this was actually planned, because there's no way we could easily gather even close to enough materials if this were being played as a casual MMORPG. If that's the case...that's pretty messed up."

 

Total: 1 (Calrex 0 / Reu 0 / Hikoru 1)

 

Danger Level:

Calrex: 0/3

Reusririausuir: 0/3

Hikoru: 0/3

[Reusririasuir 0]

For the second time Reu found himself reaching into a hole, hidden underneath a rock. Driving his arm down up to his elbow, Reu frowned and came up with nothing. Disappointing, to say the least. Those onions didn't seem to be here anymore, Reu silently took a look around, trying to figure out where they might be able to have more luck at.

 

"No good here either Calrex. I'm coming up empty-handed."

 

 

ID 16536 LD 11 (7 + 2 Search + 1 Dog Tags + 1 Item Bonus)