Azrael 0 Posted April 29, 2015 #1 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Azazel had been wandering around the city for awhile now, and she had come to find several of the profession NPC’s during her excursions. So finding one when she needed to decide her profession would be easy, what wasn’t however, what wasn’t however, was deciding which profession to choose. She sat in her favorite hangout at a corner table reading over the player written guide she had received. Zaz was grateful to the beta testers and the higher up players who wrote it as it made things easier or her to figure out. According to the guide, there were eight professions, and there were perks to being each, so she would have to make her selection carefully. “But what to choose…†she asked herself aloud as she read over the details for each yet again. The woman knew a few things already. First, she knew she would not be a fisherman. That skill was not appealing to her at all. The thought of touching slimy fish, even game ones did not sit well with her. Cooking sounded okay, but she didn’t have a home so that meant she didn’t have a kitchen readily available to use. So that was out too. Performer was also out as the thought of entertaining other was less than appealing. That meant having to be around people and being nice to them for money. “Yeah… not so much,†she said and skipped around the page. What were left were the standard maker categories. She could be a blacksmith, but the thought of mining for resources sounded more laborious than she wanted to do. The same with Alchemy, though the performance of the work was sure to be less back breaking, Zaz was positive that it would take way too much work to craft anything useful with Alchemy. With everything so narrowed down, that really only left Tailoring and Artisan, both of which sounded good to Azazel. In the real world she did both. Since stuffed toy making was one of her specialties, she decided to go with Tailoring. Closing her book, the woman hopped out of her seat and strolled to the tailor NPC to start her crafting quest. Anna was glad that she went with tailoring as the NPC she found to teach her this skill was one who lived not too far from where she was now. She followed the road around the bend and into an area of small houses until she came to the one she was looking for. She opened the door and found the cheerful looking older NPC she was looking for. “Hello,†Azazel greeted her. “Hello dearie!†The NPC called “Nana†greeted her back. According to the backstory Anna heard from the NPC, Nana used to be a Grand Master Tailor in her younger day and now that she is old, she can comfortably live out her days with the money she saved. However, Nana was sad that she could not pass on her skills to anyone as she has no children and wonders if maybe a player would be so kind as to carry on her legacy as a Tailor. If Zaz could bring Nana back twelve cotton, then Nana would show Azazel how to make a cotton bolt and tread to complete her first project : <<Cotton Shirt>>. “Alright Nana, I’ll take on your quest,†Azazel said as she clicked on the accept prompt. “Thank you dearie,†Nana replied. The NPC went on to tell her where she could find the cotton field, and warned her to be careful as there were boars that would on occasion, trample through the area. Zaz knew exactly where that was, as she had been there before. “I’ll be back soon!†she told the NPC. “Have a safe journey!†Nana replied. Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted April 30, 2015 Author #2 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Anna walked along following the road toward to where the cotton field was. It was located not too far outside the border of town, and was surrounded by several small huts that housed about ten different NPC’s. It was a rather cute little place really, resembling a miniature village. The woman walked along keeping her rapier close at hand, ready just in case she was attacked by any animals. She remembered Nana’s warning about there being boars in the area. Everything was quiet for the moment however and this put Zaz at ease. She came around a small bend and found that the field was in sight. Everything looked on the up and up and the NPC’s were busy doing their little programmed duties happily. If she was lucky the NPC’s would be programmed to kill anything within a safe zone, but not all games had this. Still she kept her fingers crossed that this might be so. At the very least she hoped the NPc’s might serve as a warning system that danger was lurking. Zaz approached the cotton field ready to get to work, but she was stopped by a portly NPC. “Woah there little lady,†He said to her. “What do you think you’re doing?†“I need to pick some cotton so I can learn to make a cotton shirt from Nana.†She said. “Well…I can let you have some cotton in exchange for some work from you. If you pick me eight cotton then I will let you have whatever else you need. Does this sound like a fair deal to you?†A small “quest accept†screen popped up and Azazel quickly clicked yes. Now her quota had jumped to twenty cotton instead of just twelve, but that was fine. It was better than the alternative, which was to find another source of cotton. She was not sure there even was another source in the area. The woman wasted no time getting to work. She went over to the cotton plants and clicked “gather†on the popup beside each plant. A small time measure bar and a percentage count popped up and ran to 100% . ID: 15083 2015-04-30 07:23:03 LD: 18 Success! A piece of cotton appeared and Azazel picked them up and added it into her inventory. She was off to a good start. Hopefully this would work out nineteen more times so she could get her task over with quickly. 1/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted April 30, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted April 30, 2015 “Piece of cake!†Azazel said as she closed her inventory. Gathering materials in this way was far less sexy than battle, but it was infinitely safer, and that’s all Zaz really cared about. There would be time for danger later on in her advancement of profession. Eventually she would need to kill animals for their hides to use as leather, but for now simple cloth clothes would do. Moving on the the next plant in the row Zaz clicked the “gather†option once more and she waited to see the generated results. ID: 15084 2015-04-30 08:04:04 LD: 11 Nothing. “Hmph,†Zaz said. It was fine really. She already found a piece so it wasn’t like she was losing more than finding. It just made the stats equally now. “Moving on then,†she said going to the next plant. 1/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted April 30, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Zaz was rather impressed with the quality of gameplay the SAO offered. Sure, in other games gathering resources was a part of the experience, but it was never on a level like this. As she picked up the cotton and loaded it in her inventory she could feel the soft fluffy bits in her hands. Real cotton was probably scratchier and far less soft, but the woman was pleased that they skipped that small bit of realism. Clicking on the next plant she waited for the results. Another cotton fluff appeared and she picked it up and added it to the pile. 2/20 Cotton ID:15093 2015-04-30 18:16:32 LD:17 Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 1, 2015 Author #5 Share Posted May 1, 2015 The woman stared up at the bright blue sky above as she clicked on the next cotton plant. Anna wondered if the sky here was always this blue? For some reason in town, it didn’t seem that way. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there were so many building taking up the sky that it was hard to notice. Out here in the flat land where the tallest things were the occasional tree and the very edges of the sky met the ground below it; it made it difficult not to notice the little things such as this. She stood there a few moments lost in thought until she remembered that she was on a mission and couldn’t waste time just standing around. Looking down she saw that the last plant had yielded nothing so she shrugged and moved on. ID: 15095 2015-04-30 18:24:06 LD: 10 2/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 1, 2015 Author #6 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Anna worked down the row, clicking on plants, trying to gather what she could, but it seemed that she was at so low a level for gathering that most of her attempts proved unfruitful. “Maybe I need to change rows,†she said aloud. She came around and went several rows down from where she was and tried the skill again. 15129 2015-05-01 06:23:10 LD:5 The “gathering†prompt came up again and she waited a moment. Once again she failed to gather cotton. “Maybe I’m doing this wrong…†she mumbled to herself. After so many failed attempts she was starting to think her method of picking the cotton was incorrect. 2/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 1, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted May 1, 2015 As Anna tried to work out what was going wrong, she continued to click on a few more plants. Once more their gathering cycles ran and she could gather nothing. She knew gathering materials this way was going to be long, but she had not realized the painful tediousness of the task she was set upon. “This is ridiculous!†She complained and clicked her tongue. 15136 2015-05-01 06:29:09 LD:2 Still, Anna was a stubborn woman and she was not going to let this stop her. She clicked on the next one and waited. Once again, she got a big fat nothing. “Stupid random generators… give me some cotton! She complained. 2/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 2, 2015 Author #8 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Anna was starting to think this Nana NPC was a troll. This had to be the case because apparently picking cotton was IMPOSSIBLE. She had cleared another entire roll and collected a whole lot more of nothing. The lady’s forehead wrinkled and she pursued her lips as she came around the next aisle and clicked on the closest cotton plant. "If I don’t get some cotton soon, I’m going to burn down this field,†Anna muttered bitterly. Not that she actually would or could; she was just so frustrated that it was all she could say. 15200 2015-05-02 16:21:53 LD: 3 “AHHH!!!†She screamed and clenched her fists as her harvest failed to produce anything her. “What the heck is going on here?†she whined. 2/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 2, 2015 Author #9 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Anna was being punished. That had to be it. This would be her punishment in the afterlife; Sisyphus always had to roll that huge boulder uphill, Tantalus could never eat or drink a thing, and Azazel would be forced to pick cotton that she could never gather. This was to be her eternity… Or so she dramatically lamented. Whenever things did not go her way, Zaz was prone to temper tantrums and wild dramatics. She was quite the little brooder. She glared at the next plant sourly and clicked it waiting for the expected outcome: nothing. 15201 2015-05-02 16:29:07 LD: 20 But of course as dumb luck would have it, produced cotton. “YAY!†She cheered eagerly and gathered the cotton into her inventory, quickly forgetting how upset she was. Did I forget to mention that Azazel was also prone to bipolar mood swings? 3/20 cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #10 Share Posted May 3, 2015 The dark haired woman hummed and bounced toward the next plant. Her mood slightly lifted due to finding more pieces of the material she needed to complete her quest. She had three pieces of cotton now, and three was much closer to twenty than two. Clicking the next plant she felt confident that this too would yield crops for her so that she could wrap up her gathering mission much quicker. 15202 2015-05-02 17:10:28 LD: 7 But of course that would be asking too much, and once more she was left with no cotton. Frustrated, Zaz removed her rapier from her sheath and swung it around slicing up the cotton plants in front of her. Or course no materials dropped and the plants disappeared. It would be quite awhile before they regenerated, so Zaz had managed to lessen her chances of finding cotton by shrinking the number plants she could search. “Ugh,†she said smacking her forehead. She always managed to make her own problems worse whenever she got like this. Placing her rapier back into its sheath, she calmed down and went back to her tedious chore. 3/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #11 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Azazel could not take her emotions being toyed with like this. A plant would drop a cotton and her spirits would soar. This high would then be replaced by the rather soul sucking low of clicking the next twenty plants and getting nothing. And just about the time Anna was ready to fall into despair, and curl up fetal position and die, She would find another cotton, starting the process off all over again! It was very exhausting to be on such an emotional seesaw of gathering cotton. 15203 2015-05-02 17:23:07 LD: 15 The next plant Anna clicked produced a piece of cotton for her, making the woman less agitated than either extreme. She took the piece of cotton between her fingers and stared at it stone faced. Without a word she added it to her inventory. 4/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #12 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Anna was right for not getting excited about finding the previous piece of cotton. This time when her gathering skill failed, she was not surprised that there was no cotton to add to her inventory. The woman looked up at the sky and sighed heavily. She was bored of this, and tired. She had been trying to gather stupid cotton and wanted no more of it! Not now anyway! Irritated and annoyed, Azazel marched out of the cotton field flipping it off with both hands as walked away. She walked toward a small tree standing in the middle of a grassy patch beside one of the huts and plopped herself down in the grass. She lay on her back staring straight up at the blue sky that peeked through the braches above. Maybe she would take a little break from gather cotton for a moment and rest up. She was tired, and gave 0 fox about her stupid quest. She needed a time out to get centered again. 15204 2015-05-02 17:32:19 LD: 7 4/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #13 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Anna’s eyes blinked slowly and the woman stretched out giving a big yawn. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. A small line of drool crept from the corner of her lip, and there were pieces of grass stuck into her hair. It seemed that she had fallen asleep. “OH HECK!†Zaz shouted and popped up off the ground. Falling asleep in the open was dangerous! She could have been attacked, or looted, or worse, killed! Luckily for her, nothing of the sort happened. Rubbing off the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand to mop up her drool, she yawned again as she approached the cotton field. The plants that she had cut down before had grown back, and were ready for picking. Clicking on the nearest one, she was pleasantly surprised with a fluff of cotton. She added it to her inventory. Refreshed and ready to go, Azazel got back to work. 15239 2015-05-03 10:11:24 LD:15 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #14 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Moving on to the next plant Azazel decided that she was no longer going to care so much if the plant produced nothing. This was obviously how the game was set up. But there had to be an easier way of gathering materials. Surely picking cotton wasn’t the only way she could attain it. Zaz went back into the small community and talked to the local NPC’s. It seemed that her hunch was correct. There was in fact, another way to gather cotton. Apparently, if she were to go up the road that lead out of the opposite end of town, and followed the path around the hill, there would be a field where a creature called “Watacco†lived. These Watacco were the guardians of the cotton fields in the community, and as she had hoped, they dropped cotton. Excitedly, Anna thanked the NPC and then ran down to path to find the cotton producing creatures. She came around the bend as she was told, and sure enough she found them, or assumed that she had found them. There were a handful of little creatures no bigger than a dog, bouncing about on the hillside. Their bodies were round and yellow, and there were puffy white plume- like protrusions sprouting from the very tops of their heads. The little monsters reminded her of something out of a child anime series she used to watch growing up. As she moved closer, she realized the mobs were marked green; they would not attack unless provoked. Zaz pulled out her rapier and approached the closest Watacco. She held her sword in her hand, and pursed her lips together looking at the cute little creature. The lady was feeling a little guilty about what she was going to do to, but it was this, or spend the next week picking cotton. She chose the first option. She charged the bouncing creature, her sword sailed to the right of the animal as it leapt away. These Watacco were fast! The animal charged, but Anna was ready for it, twisting her body to the side, the creature breezed right past her. She was going to have to be faster if she was going to land a blow on the speedy mob. 15241 2015-05-03 10:46:22 BD: 2 MD: 2 Azazel: 15/15 Watacco: 11/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #15 Share Posted May 3, 2015 The creature circled around just as quickly as Azazel did. They eyed each other and then moved toward each other again at full speed. The woman wished she had more points to invest in speed skills, but she had very little to earn any. She was just lucky that she had a couple of them to invest in her sword’s skill. Thrusting her rapier toward the Watacco hoping this time they would collide. 15245 2015-05-03 11:07:27 BD: 2 MD:6 She missed! Once more the agile creature contorted itself away from her sword keeping itself from harm. It sailed past Anna gracefully, as it did; she felt something strike against her cheek causing a small cut. The woman was startled. She did not realize that the fluff had thorny protrusions hidden beneath their little head fluffs. “Damn you,†she cursed at the creature as she turned to face it again. Azazel: 14/15 Watacco: 11/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #16 Share Posted May 3, 2015 The creature made a small sound, like a purr, but she thought it was supposed to be a growl. Anna laughed, she felt less nervous about fighting something that looked and sounded utterly ridiculous. The animal came running straight for her. Instead of also running at it, she chose to stand still and ready herself to attack when it was within range. She felt that maybe this would help her out considering she was not nearly as fast as the Watacco was. 15248 2015-05-03 11:42:07 BD: 9 MD: 6 Success! Her sword gashed across the creature’s belly, however, it got another hit on her too, this time scratching her shoulder as it went by. She knew that she wounded the animal far worse than it got her. “That’s right you fluffy little bastard, come and get some more,†she taunted the Watacco. A few more blows like this and the Watacco would be dead and she’d have her cotton! Azazel: 13/15 Watacco: 8/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 3, 2015 Author #17 Share Posted May 3, 2015 With every passing round, Azazel’s confidence grew and it showed upon her face. A wide smile ran across her slender lips and her eyes shone brightly as she watched the creature intensely trying to read its moves. The Watacco grew wise to her attack pattern and so it switched up its own. It started to zig-zag back and forth as it charged. She watched it carefully as it moved in closer and then once it was within range, she moved to strike. 15250 2015-05-03 13:00:22 BD: 6 MD: 8 Her sword tip sliced the Watacco once more and again the speedy creature also landed a blow. For such cute little puffballs, these creatures were rather hearty. She was half hoping they’d be dead with one strike, but she would have no such luck in that department. The injured creature let out another purr-like growl, and again, Anna could not help but laugh. The sound engineers should have worked on that sound a little more; it was not at all intimidating. “Right back at you…†Zaz said and grinned at the Watacco. Azazel: 12/15 Watacco: 6/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 4, 2015 Author #18 Share Posted May 4, 2015 As luck would have it, Anna leveled mid-battle. “YES!†she said, checking out her shiny new number in her level bar. She did not have time to celebrate however as she was mid-battle. The Watacco was not going to let her celebrate things just yet. Readying herself again, Zaz got into position, eyeing the squirrely puffball for any changes in its trajectory. 15257 2015-05-03 18:13:53 BD: 3 MD:1 Azazel moved before the animal attacked. Both she and the Watacco failed to make contact, and instead they leapt out of each other’s path. They both whipped about and got ready to square off other yet again. Azazel: 12/17 Watacco: 6/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 4, 2015 Author #19 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Azazel decided that when she got back into town, she would hit up a weapon’s trainer so that she could work on rapier skills, she wasn’t terrible, but she knew she was not using the skill to its potential .else she would have been landing more blows. She also felt that she would need to throw points in her accuracy skill. Between these two things, eventually Anna’s attacks would improve. For now, however, she was just going to have to muddle through and fight to the best of her ability. 15258 2015-05-03 18:32:23 BD: 3 MD: 9 Once more the pair rushed each other. Anna trust her weapon at the Watacco, but he easily evaded her attack, and instead landed another scratch on Anna’s body, this time the evil little tribble got her right in the neck. Zaz cupped her hand around her injury as she glared at the creature. Something was wrong here, either he was getting faster, or she was starting to get tired. Zaz was not ready to give up; she would defeat the little bugger and collect her prize. Azazel: 10/17 Watacco: 6/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Azrael 0 Posted May 4, 2015 Author #20 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Zaz checked her health bar, and she saw that it was starting to get lower than she wanted it to. Grimacing, she tightened her grip around the hilt of her rapier determined to give that little monster a taste of her steel. 15259 2015-05-03 18:44:43 BD:7 MD:6 She landed her hit, but the Watacco did as well. At least this round was a draw. If she could just keep this up a little longer she could finish the mob up and the go pick more cotton and wait for her health points to regenerate before trying again. Azazel: 9/17 Watacco: 4/11 5/20 Cotton Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts