[OP-F01] <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>> Whatever It Takes

[DeadGhost37 0]

 It had been a month since the incident. After Kayaba had shown up and efficiently ruined everyone's lives by trapping them in the newly released Sword Art Online and revealed what everyone really looked like,Mizuki hadn't been the same since. All he ever wanted was tp have a chance to play one of the most highly anticipated games ever,and to play it with his best friends. But Katana had taken that waya from them and turned the fun game into a game of life and death. After all of that,Mizuki couln't take it anymore. He just...broke down. When things cooled off as much as possible,he didn't do much of anything for the past month. Sure he took some quests to fight mobs out on the fields,But that was just to build up a reasonable stash of Col. He separated from his best friends and avoided answering their messages as he wanted to be left alone for the time being. To recollect and try to recover from the shock of the announcement. So far,almost 4,000 people died in the first month alone. Most of which through murder and suicide. Mizuki feared that if he went out on the frontlines to fight,he would have gotten himself killed and done his friends an injustice so he decided to stay put until he was in a better frame of mind. 

9 AM. Mizuki,or Koura as he was known as in this world,sat up on his bed and sighed. It was a bright sunny morning and the streets of Floor 01 was bustling with activity. He was in a room he payed for in an inn a couple weeks back after he had amassed enough Col to pay for a month's rent. He wasted away in the inn,occasionally coming down to find out what is going on from the players that occasionally stopped by for a drink. Sometimes he came down and had a meal every now in then along with whatever alcohol they had. Granted,It wasn't the kind of stuff back in the real world,and if he did something like this in real life,he would have been kicked out hellla fast seeing as he was underage. And besides,this is a game world. The beer he drinks here,wouldn't affect his real body at all. Koura got out of the bed and groggily moved over to the wash stand and dunk his head into it. He pulled his head out and shook the water out of his long black hair as much as he could,and dried it with a towel he pulled off from a hook located next to the stand. He placed it back on afterwards and equipped the armor he had started out with in the beginning. He did the same with his one handed long sword and then opened the door to leave his room. 

After closing the door,he went down the stairs to the inn. He greeted the pretty female bartender with a smile and a wave. She just have him a look and went back to her customers. She was one of the NPCs,and that was a shame because she looked like his type. Of course,Koura looked much like a girl himself. Especially to the point that most guys would ask him out whenever they got a chance to being alone with him. Even when they know full well that he was a guy. And some girls who were jealous of his feminine beauty thought he was a girl as well and had called him a lesbian when he tried flirting with another girl in his class. Of course,that was back in the real world. He didn't have to put up with that kind of [censored] no more! He went out side into the bustling streets of The Town Of Beginnings and went searching. He heard about a questline that was designed for beginners and seeing as he was still very much new to the game,he needed some training. He also needed to level up some if he wanted to join the frontlines and make the push to beat the game. Maybe join a powerful guild too. 

Edited September 11, 2017 by DeadGhost37

[Ichi 0]

Meanwhile, Ichi is sitting in the middle of the square, drinking a glass, no, a glass bottle of iced green tea, which he bought from some Japanese restaurant somewhere in the Starting City. It has been a couple of weeks since he is stuck here, but that word is no longer appropriate for his current situation. He is home now. He enjoys this. Yet, there is no one to fight or kill, since...well, the population of Aincrad ain't as much as on Earth, and plus he will be marked as a killer, something he rather not do in order to stay in towns and maintaining his shop.

After finishing the tea as tapping his foot like a rabbit, Ichi decides to just walk around and maybe look for somebody he can help complete their own quest, as long as they are low levels. Standing up, he dons his armor briefly before looking and walking around the square like a roundabout.

@DeadGhost37

[DeadGhost37 0]

 Koura wandered the streets of The Town Of Beginnings looking for that elusive quest giver. From the people he "interrogated" he knows that the quest giver is an old man with greying hair. The players he talked to called him by the name of "Zacharia". He kept going and stopped for a minute. Maybe he should look for a mysterious and foreboding building? He started moving again,not wanting to be stopped by an NPC who wanted to sell him his wares. He found what he was looking for and thought,"How the hell did I miss that?" It was the building with the Zacharia NPC and looked like a potion shop. He walked up to the building and peeked inside. There were tables covered in herbs and potions were strewn every which way. They were different colors. Blue,red,green. Whenever he played fantasy games that used different kinds of potions,they normally had different colors to let you know what kind of potion they are. In fact,red was often associated with HP and green was associated with stamina. Blue was also magic,but then again,there is no magic in SAO. So he could very well be wrong. It wasn't the first time. 

Koura entered the building and saw the old man sitting at a table. He was holding up and studying a red bottle and the green bottle is in his other hand. Koura looked around. It looked pretty much the same as when he looked into the place from the outside. He sighed again and perked up. He needed to be positive today. He opened his mouth and said,"G'morning old man! How are you today? Name's Koura and I heard you were looking for help! What do you need?" The old man took a minute to register what he said. Koura thought it must have been the computer trying to choose the right response. Even then,the NPC looked so realistic,it was hard to believe that Zach was an NPC at all. The old man replied,"Oh yes! My name is Zacharia. I need help with getting materials for my potions. I need them for an order of potions and I seem to be running out of those certain materials. Mmm....5 should suffice. Don't worry. You'll get something good out of it." Koura took a minute to think. Huh. A gathering quest? Ok. It would probably be boring as [censored],but at least he would be able to kill some boars. Koura looked at the very realistic old man and nodded,smiling. "Understood,sir! I'll take the job." A window popped up in front of him showing him the quest title and a blue and red circle. He pressed the blue button to accept the quest and walked out the door. Ok. He's going to need a partner. Hopefully he'll get along with him or her. 

[Ichi 0]

Walking towards the building where Zacharia is, he decides that he should just do a quest alone, at least he can get potions and if the game permits, maybe he can put some in his shop for sale. The building is quite recognizable with that large, alchemic logo with the letters ZACH below it. It is probably the first quest related area new players would go due to its relatively easy, yet rewarding job. 

Like you, he almost misses the building since the logo is beside the door, except it doesn't really stand out like a third dimensional object. As soon as he finds it, he is about to reach for the doorknob when the door itself is suddenly opened by someone else. You of course.

Initially surprised at your appearance, he looks at you as he thinks whether you had finished the quest or just received it. Finally, an opportunity to ask for your service. Gulping a little out of nervousness, he asks, "H..hello? Do you want me to help you with your quest? I want a fair share of these potions too."

@DeadGhost37

[DeadGhost37 0]

 Koura blinked twice in surprise when he saw another man in front of him.  He looked to be in his early 20s,and he doesn't seem to be much intimidating. Which was surprisng,seeing as the man was much bigger than him. What took him aback was that he had offered to help him out with the quest he just received. Huh. He also mentioned that he wanted a fair share of the potions. If Koura went along with this,he's going to have to split things equally with the bigger man. "Hm. Sure. I don't really mind. If we're going to do this quest together,I suggest that we party up." Koura finished speaking and moved passed him to go outside. Instead of leaving the man in the dust,Koura kept his feet firmly planted as he turned to face the man and opened his menu. He sent the other player a party invite. "I may be a total noob at this game,but I do know my way around MMOs,having played a lot of them a couple years back." 

Koura wouldn't move until the man had joined the party. Even then,Koura would want to take the time to get to the place they needed to go because he was curious about the bigger man. Maybe find out why he wanted to play SAO in the first place. 

[Ichi 0]

"Don't worry about that. I can help you should you need it," says Ichi as he smiles at the acceptance of his request for your service. Of course, that cannot simply just go away. Almost immediately after he replies to your statement, he sees a pop up appearing at his face, mentioning the invitation to your party. Without hesitation, he accepts it, now ready for an adventure with you. And he doesn't really need to ask about the quest since he knows anyway.

Walking out of the Starting City, Ichi begins walking around the field with you as he looks out for any boars that may suddenly ambush both of them. Those are nasty cretins in terms of surprise attacks, and sometimes stronger boars appear here too, though uncommon.

"So, what's your name? I'm Ichi Kakihara," he says, seeing that it ain't hurt to introduce himself to you. What other reason can he think of to be friendly anyway? He just wants to get along with people if he wants to, otherwise he would just leave them be.

@DeadGhost37

Edited September 11, 2017 by Ichi

[DeadGhost37 0]

Koura wandered around the field. He had his sword out and kept an eye out for any annoying mobs. Sure,there was the big man there who looked like he could easily handle a 3 or more boars,but was just as capable of doing so even at his level. He still needed to look for his friends,the ones who had showed him the ropes of the game as they had more knowledge of it then he did. When he first launched the game and dived into the world,to Koura,It would have been considered a blind Let's Play. 

Koura knelt down and looked at the ground and scanned for materials. While he was searching,the man had spoken and Koura barely made out what he said. The thing is,he was busy looking for stuff to get this quest over with. From what Koura made out,the man had introduced himself by the name of Ichi Kakihara. Huh. He was using his real name? Koura thought for a moment and considered on using his username instead of his real name but thought better of it. The man,no. Ichi,was being polite after all. Koura cleared his throat,turned to look at him and returned the favor. "So. You're Ichi Kakihara? My name's Mizuki Komoura. It's nice to meet you,"and promptly turned back to searching for materials. Koura wasn't used to talking to people he didn't know personally. But he was determined to try to make something out of it. 

ID#88481

Loot:5 -> nothing found

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by DeadGhost37

[Ichi 0]

 

Mizuki Komoura. Sounds nice, Ichi thinks to himself as he notices that you are looking for materials, which he thinks that it isn't really worth finding in the vast fields. Should be searching in certain locations like mines, forests or whatnot. Speaking of materials, Ichi feels that he needs to gather some as well, since he hasn't run his shop for a few days due to a lack of materials.

As Ichi keeps looking around for any sort of mob, he hears something running from a distance and turns around to see a boar snorting aggressively while charging its tusks towards him. Where in the world does he come from? S**t, he's close.

Drawing out his sword, Ichi focuses on the boar as he intends to use a Sword Art against it. Hopefully he succeeds on the first try, and if that really happens, he would allow you to finish it off, just to get the sense of killing.

Spoiler

Enemy Stats

Boar: HP 13/13; DMG 4; MIT 0

ID: 88496

BD: 2

MD: 9

Ichi: HP 59/60

Boar: HP 13/13

Nope. The tusk gets him instead, hitting Ichi's pauldrons as he stumbles briefly before both he and the boar turn to face each other. Looks like you will get to fight it now instead of delivering the killing blow.

@DeadGhost37

Edited September 18, 2017 by Ichi