[SP-F1] A Quest Only About Fishing - Earning a Living [Complete]

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh sighed softly to himself, figuring he should have done this sooner. He knew that he wouldn't constantly be able to kill things, so he'd need to have something to pass his idle hours, or when he wanted to just sit and do nothing. Smithing was too popular, tailoring was too useless for his current build, he didn't like the hassle of cooking and preferred instant meals or meat, he had alchemists to visit already, and he was not going to be a singer. That really only left him with one choice, and it was probably the best one for someone of his opinion. He would just fish. Just sitting around with your line in the water, and tugging out the fish that bite on. You get food, buffs, and practically no work is required! Plus you could do it anywhere, you wouldn't be limited to one spot. Having taken all the factors to heart he started to read through the books that players could [censored] up from the information brokers to see if he could find a place to learn the fishing skill.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

It didn't take long to figure out what he needed to do. By this point at least ten floors had been cleared, there was information broker books all around for people to use and purchase. He was reading through one at the moment to figure out what he had to do for professions, and it seems that various people had different methods. This book mentioned one NPC who could teach fishing that tended to hang around a lake on the first floor. It did not specify which lake or which direction to head in from there. With a sigh he shuts the book and dematerialized it into his inventory, heading to the nearest teleport plaza and then down to the first floor. This floor had a bad habit of pulling people back it seemed. With a slightly frustrated look at being forced to head back down here he starts off towards one of the gates he didn't use. He had seen a few lakes but not the NPC so he figured it would be somewhere he hadn't explored yet.

[Kalesh 0]

After leaving the Town of Beginnings he started to glance around and figured it would be a good idea to equip his weapon, tapping through his inventory and taking out his heavy greatsword which he dragged behind himself by the hilt. His eyes scanned the horizon for signs of any humanoid NPC, or even a body of water. He knew for a fact that he didn't have the searching skills so he would just have to settle for his eyes leading him in the right direction as well as his luck. He didn't rush himself or even brace himself much when he saw a monster. Even as weak as he was, the first floor was a cakewalk for him to handle on his own. He felt his sword bump over something though and he raised a brow, glancing down to notice a material that was hidden just under the dirt. He dug it out with his hand and smiled at the little nugget of luck before tossing it into his inventory and continuing his search for the actual NPC.

[ID# 30348][LD: 14+1=15]

+1 Material

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

After his brief spot of luck he found himself going from body of water to body of water just in case they qualified as a 'lake' by the writer of his book's point of view. This started to take him hours, the sun crossing the sky a bit at a time until he finally found a massive plot of water he would have almost wagered went right to the edge of Aincrad! Figuring this must have been the lake mentioned in his book. Moving to the edge of the water he scanned along the shoreline, noticing a small humanoid far away from him but at the water's edge as well and sitting. He sighed softly and almost considered swimming to him before shaking his head. He instead circled around towards him.

[ID# 30349][LD: 10+1=11]

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

He did eventually reach the NPC. He seemed like a somewhat portly older man but he didn't judge, it was just a simple NPC after all and so he said "Hey, I'd like to learn how to fish." He figured the command was simple enough for it to handle and translate, really hoping he would not need to go into that voice and method of speech people do when getting their new phones to do stuff. The NPC hardly hesitated before nodding and going through menus with automated efficiency. "Alright, then here's a fishing rod for you. It's temporary and will disappear once you catch me eight fish. Do that and you'll officially be a fisher and get a proper rod." The NPC held out a rod that was little more than a long twig with a line tied to the end. It really hammered the noob message home. Kalesh sighed as he took the rod and out of habit said "Alright, I'll get right on that." He didn't know why he was responding at all but he did, and so he took several steps away from the fisher and looked to the water. Shrugging his shoulders he casts his line into the water once his greatsword as securely impaled into the sand next to him. He wasn't going to unequip it in the wilderness. After several minutes Kalesh felt a slight pull on his line and tugged, lifting up what appeared to only be a damp boot. Sighing he unhooks the boot and throws it aside so it would shatter apart.

[ID# 30351][LD: 7+1=8]

((For RP purposes and to help draw this out, gonna use a modified version of the actual fishing rules. 11+ LD is a fish the NPC will accept, and I'll pretend Monster Fish are not available in this lake. Also no point with the line snapping stuff for fairly obvious reasons.))

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

His first fishing attempt ended with failure. Technically. He at least got something, though he wanted to smack Kayaba for having the stones to make people catch boots. They couldn't even be combined in pairs to make a set! Grumbling his frustrations to himself he recast his line and stared out into the water and humming in thought. With a sudden spark of inspiration he adjusted the location of his sword which was as tall as him. He impaled the blade directly behind himself and grinned as he leaned back against it like it was a telephone pole or a tree. With some weight off his legs he refocused himself to his pole, waiting for any signs of a twitch or the like. Seeing the tip of his fishing pole bend Kalesh suddenly tugged hard, watching as the creature he had pulled from the water was in fact not a boot! He was rather happy to grab the fish and place it into his inventory for the NPC when he was done.

[ID# 30354][LD: 16+1=17]

1/8 Fish Caught

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

With the morale of a successful catch under his belt he cast his line again in preparation for either another success or a failure. He was fairly mellow about the whole thing though. He didn't exactly have a time limit or anything to make him rush, he could just rest back and relax the rest of the day if he needed to. Maybe even try again tomorrow. He kept his eyes wandering around though, this being a fairly peaceful profession he confirmed. It didn't need any deep thought or strategy outside of getting the fish and confirming its properties. Moments later, a very specific went through his mind. A sentiment the thousands of other players in this game must have thought at least once at one point. 'God damn it, Kayaba.' When he lifted his line up another piece of footwear was revealed. This time a shoe.

[ID# 30368][LD: 4+1=5]

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

Destroying the useless item once again his line was cast. He did momentarily wonder what other types of footwear or miscellaneous items would be in the depths to be caught. His time with gaming has taught him that it could be any number of things, but surely getting something like a tire would be a touch ridiculous since it didn't fit the fantasy thing that was going on here. On the other hand, magiscience is a fairly common thing. Call it a golem and you could give them tires for their unicycle legs or something ridiculous like that. Interupting his thoughts was the tugging of his line, to which he tugged back! A moment later another fish was bared before him, triumphantly placed in his inventory with the other. "Fail, win, fail, win. Shall the pattern continue?" he chuckled softly to himself.

[ID# 30372][LD: 12+1=13]

2/8 Fish Caught

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

With his line cast once more and his distraction gone, he continued where he left off mentally. Golems, to be precise. He considered what a golem would look like in this game. Would they be shoddy rock-people, or would they be awesome intricate creatures carved from stone and given life. It would of course take him time to know for sure, and there could always be both if one assumed enemies changed through floors and Kayaba didn't take the "This time, color the raptors blue" method of game design. Interrupted by another tug of the line Kalesh pulls to reveal his largest fish yet! It seemed that the pattern had been broken and he had himself a bit more luck than a moment before.

[ID# 30376] [LD: 17+1=18]

3/8 Fish Caught

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

With two successes, he decided to see if lady luck would offer him a third and threw the line into the water. Well, he was going to do that even if lady luck was a harsher mistress than she usually was. Still, it's nice to think that things are going your way than thinking the opposite. That just leads to sadness and despair, and he himself didn't find it particularly interesting. All in all he preferred positive people or even angry people to those who just stay sad all the time. He definitely preferred to think on the bright side, or at least the neutral side. On the other side of the spectrum though... He was somewhat aware that he used humor as a coping mechanism for fear and sadness, so he was a huge hypocrite. With a sigh he tugs his fishing pole and revealed a fish that was surprisingly familiar. He checked his inventory and confirmed it wasn't the same fish, but it looked identical! "Huh. Well, I guess that is to be expected. Still, the odds." He shrugs and adds that fish to the tally in his mind.

[ID# 30379][LD: 17+1=18]

4/8 Fish Caught

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

He figured he was half way done now, his eyes glancing up at the sky to check the time before laughing to himself and looking a little to the side to the actual clock. "Even after this much time, old habits remain hm?" He smiled and confirmed a few hours had passed but that was fine by him. This is why he wanted the profession. Peaceful thought with rewards at the end, it was awesome. Certain he would get used to doing this in his idle hours he yawned and just shut his eyes, head resting against the heavy blade behind him. "Hidden feature... sweet." Moments later Kalesh lifted the pole higher and cracked an eye open before confirming there was nothing of value on the hook.

[ID# 30380][LD: 7+1=8]

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

With the shoe promptly discarded he cast the line and shut his eye once again. He just listened to the sound of the wind and the grass. He knew it was automated, that there were probably imperfections, but for the life of him, he couldn't detect them. He sniffed the air and sighed pleasantly as it felt almost natural by this point. He had to hand it to the creators of this world, they had done a good job. The first impression of the game itself was nice to him, not even needing to become high leveled to appreciate everything around him, he found it all a very well put together world. Yawning softly he felt a tug and lifted his arms higher with a sharp tug, feeling the wriggling of a fish he grinned and didn't even bother looking, just going through the motions of placing it in his inventory and tallying it mentally.

[ID# 30382][LD: 14+1=15]

5/8 Fish Caught

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

He sighed happily, only three more to go and he had plenty of sunlight left to burn. If things worked out too fast he decided he would just scrounge around for some bait or materials. Either would ensure he got further along in his would-be career, and get him further along as a direct result. With the idle time on his hands he decided to think about his business strategy. He considered doing what most people did and putting a price on specific things... But Kalesh grinned as an idea better suited to him arose in his mind. "Pfft, just make them gamble." He chuckled happily to himself, he'd have an upfront fee and whatever decent fish he caught would be given to the other player. No pre-orders, no waiting to get juuuust the right item. They can either take it, or pay more money for another attempt. As if on queue his line got a nibble and he tugged up another decent-sized fish! It certainly wasn't one to scoff at but he was sure bigger beasts waited in the depths.

[ID# 30399][LD 17+1=18]

6/8 Fish Caught

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

His task was 75% done if his math held, so he felt fairly confident he would be done soon as long as his luck agreed to hold up and not pull any fast ones. Sadly he knew the bite of luck rather well, so he didn't try to get too smug about it. The next thing on his list of considerations would be where he would 'set up shop'. The very idea sounded frustrating and pointless as a fisherman. Perhaps it would be better to simply post a flier with his name and what he did, and he could just PM people his location if the actually care about buying from him. It seemed the best option for a skill as mobile as fishing. This time he felt a particlarily hard tug, no way he could miss or ignore it. He tugged back with all his might and watched as a big fish a few feet large appeared out of the water, making him laugh as he said "Ohhh yeah, that has to be the biggest fish in the water! If it was up to me, you would count as two fish!"

[ID# 30400][LD: 19+1=20]

7/8 Fish Caught.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

With the big fish in his pocket so to speak he got to work fishing up the next! No point delaying things he thought as the throws his line into the water once more. At this point he only had one to go before the quest itself would be complete, he was rather close so this time he was having some trouble shutting his eyes and not paying avid attention to his pole for even the slightest sign of movement. His diligence was swiftly rewarded for a moment later he was tugging another fish from the water! This one was small and barely worth mentioning but it fit the bill so he happily put it into his inventory. With the conditions met the rod shattered apart and Kalesh started the walk back to the NPC once he had grabbed the handle of his sword so he could drag it behind him.

[ID# 30423][LD: 11+1=12]

8/8 Fish Caught!

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

Before long he was standing before the NPC and he began trading the fish to him. "Ah, well done. Best of luck catching fish this big in the future too." The virtual being smiled and Kalesh out of habit returned it and even thanked him! "Thanks, it'll be nice if I stay lucky!" he blinked and just decided to chuckle it off as a fishing rod appeared in his inventory and his character information updated to include him being able to fish. He checked his clock and shrugged softly as he figured he had a few hours longer before nightfall. This floor had nothing to harm him, but it would still be better to head back and get some sleep he figured.

[Kalesh 0]

After getting his plan straight he softly nodded and started the walk back to town. He was moving at a snail's pace, the heavy greatsword dragging against the ground behind him every step of the way. His eyes were kept to the ground as he didn't find anything around him to be strong enough to be a threat, obliviously focusing on finding materials for his expanding collection. He saw something shimmer out of the corner of his eye and grinned as he found a shiny piece of metal. He figured it would make either a good lure thanks to its shine or a nice suit of armor if he wanted to use it for such a thing. After spending a moment admiring his material he dematerialized it and continued on his way.

[ID# 30586][LD: 17+1=18]

+1 Material

Edited September 6, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

He happily looked up around while humming a tune from an RPG he loved, one of many. If there was one thing supremely frustrating about being trapped in this game, it was that he was missing game announcements and releases. Kayaba had locked them out entirely from any form of outside communication like a magazine or something of the sort. It would be a pain and a half catching up... If he even had possessions still! "Sunnava!" He only now realized! Dead in his steps he remembered he couldn't pay his rent! He had stuff in his room! His computer! The archive of images and information he had collected throughout all his years could very well have been pawned off in his absence! "No... No no nonononono!" He grabs his greatsword tight in his hand and says "Gragh! Even if I get worked up I can do anything about it! There is no way I can blitz up to floor 100 in time!" He lifts the blade high over his head with an angered grunt and slams it down hard into the virtual ground in front of him, a buff of dust rising as a result of the heavy mass of metal colliding with the dirt. He pulls the blade from the dirt and sighs dramatically now that he had vented a bit of his frustration, noting something shining in the blade shaped crater. Reaching down he raised a brow as he found what looked like a crystal, but unrefined. "Hm... Well, such things have uses!" He adds it to his little collection. He was about half way to the town by now he figured.

[ID# 30672][LD: 19+1=20]\

+1 Material

Edited September 7, 2015 by Kalesh

[Kalesh 0]

Having regained his self control he continued along the path he had been travelling until now, but a bit more glum than he was before, dragging his feet as well as his sword. "Maaaaan... This suuuuucks... Tch, probably going to lose my savefiles too..." He blinked in realization and put a hand over his heart. He had recently upgraded to a different operating system so he backed up his collections on a cloud storage site. Provided he didn't go insane and forget his three default passwords he should be fine. "... Still sucks none of it came here." He groaned dramatically and said "... such things can be fixed with time." He grins mischievously to himself, too lost in thought to even bother searching for materials.

[Kalesh 0]

With his devilish thoughts going through his mind he barely registered that the town was in view and getting closer. He smiled though, somewhat happy that he could get to bed and get to scheming. His little crystal could prove useful after all! It all depended on how he applied it of course. He'd need at least two types of crystals he figured. The combat and non-combat varieties both had his interest at the moment so he simply smiled and hummed to himself as he waltzed into the newbie town, finally dematerializing his sword as it held no use as anything but an anchor once in a safe zone. He momentarily gauged his laziness before deciding he would worry about the crystals later and get a nap instead. He was not too lazy to at least get himself to the teleport plaza and end up on the correct floor.