[F1-SP] <<Earning a Living: Blacksmith>> {Ronin} (COMPLETED)

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Ronin kept to himself as he walked through the streets of the Town of Beginnings. "It's only been a day, I can make it through this game. Everyone else is weak, but I'll rise to the top and become the strongest", he thought. He had slept out on the streets the day before, when he and everyone else were told it was impossible to log out. He had sat down to contemplate the information he had heard, trying to get over the shock. He ended up falling asleep, but now that he was awake, Ronin was determined to get stronger. He stopped. "I suppose the best way to start would be to find a quest to complete". He swiped down with his left hand and navigated the menu, pausing when he found the list of quests that were available to him at his level. 

"This one looks pretty good", he muttered, looking at the first quest he had selected. He glanced at the location. "The merchant district? That's really close by". 

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by DivineChaosZ
Quest Completed

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Ronin weaved through the streets of the merchant district. After a few minutes, he saw a large man pounding an anvil with a smithing hammer. Ronin smiled to himself and approached. As he got closer, large green text appeared over the man's head, "Cerdic Leighton". Ronin stopped in front of Cerdic, at which point Cerdic looked up curiously. A sense of fear washed over Ronin. "I've played MMORPG's before", he thought, "but this is a VRMMORPG. On my computer I would normally press a button and the NPC would talk to me. What should I do here?"

Ronin cleared his throat. He relaxed and said "Hello, I am Ronin. I've come to be a blacksmith". As Cerdic launched into what Ronin presumed to be the designated dialogue that served to be the precursor to the quest, Ronin was excited. "Finally", he thought. "My first quest. That wasn't so hard". He thanked Cerdic after accepting the quest and left the large man to his banging once again.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Ronin made his way through town and found the south exit. He paused. "5 pieces of ore in the caves past the southern forest. No problem". As he stepped out of the Town of Beginnings and into the wilderness, Ronin was amazed at what he saw. This was his first time leaving town, and although he had seen pictures from the beta, it wasn't the same as looking at the vast plains before him with his own eyes. The sky was a clear blue, the grass was healthy, and a long dirt path stretched as far as he could see. He saw boars grazing, and the feeling of sunlight hitting his face and the wind blowing past him energized him. He had allergies in the real world, and thus couldn't enjoy nature as much as he wanted to. But here, none of that ailed him. The landscape was beautiful, and he was reminded of why he had fought so hard to get a copy of this game.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

If Ronin was excited before, he was ecstatic now. Feeling energized by his new experience, he dashed down the dirt path as fast as his virtual legs could take him. "Just you watch, world. I'll be the strongest. Here I come", he thought, and he smiled confidently. After a few minutes, Ronin could see the forest in the distance. "There it is", he thought. "Just like Cerdic said". He was still in awe of what just happened today in such a short amount of time. Interactive NPC's and beautiful landscapes? Ronin was having the time of his life. Of course he feared death, but he also knew that there was no logical reason he should be afraid at the beginning of the game. "Of course, the early game is easy", he reminded himself. "Though this game could be different now that I think about it". Ronin knew easy early games were meant to hook audiences in at the start, except SAO didn't need to worry about its playerbase quitting, they were trapped. "I hope Kayaba was at least merciful enough to make me feel safe on Floor 1", he thought.

He ran through the forest just like the Blacksmith had told him to. On the other end of the forest were plains again, with caves this time. Ronin stopped and caught his breath. "Time to get to work", he said, looking around. He looked down and walked around slowly, trying to find the ore that Cerdic had talked about.

Spoiler

ID: 101843

LD: 3 - Fail

 

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101844

LD: 9 - Fail

Ronin kept looking. He wasn't discouraged at not being able to find the ore instantly. "If I want to be the best, I need to forge on and do what others aren't willing to do", he thought. "Hah, forge. Get it? Shut up Riley, get back on task". As Ronin calmed down from the excitement and running that he had done earlier, he once again could feel the presence of the nature around him. As a cool breeze brushed past him, he smiled. He loved the wind in real life, but it made him sneeze because of all the pollen it carried. He looked at the dirt with renewed interest and picked a handful up. He let it all fall slowly from his hand, staring in awe at the detail the game had. Even the dirt looked so beautiful he could eat it. In real life he had to worry about washing his hands or clothes after playing with dirt, and there was always the possibility that he might get sick. "What a shame that the greatest game ever created has to be one with an evil creator who wants everyone dead", he thought, growing angry. "You think someone would've investigated this more to make sure it was completely safe".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101845

LD: 4 - Fail

It was easy for Ronin to absorb himself in his own thoughts as he continued searching for the precious ore the Blacksmith wanted. "Well it's your own fault for rushing to get a copy so quickly. Convincing your parents to move to Tokyo, memorizing the release date, camping out the night before in front of the store. The attitude that is making you rush ahead of other players right now is the same one that got you here in the first place", he thought. Ronin's negative thoughts often took the form of someone talking to him, which helps him separate the good thoughts from the bad ones.

"But this attitude isn't all bad right? At least I can get stuff done, unlike all the other lazy idiots. So maybe this time I just got unlucky. Big deal. Other people got themselves trapped in here too and you don't see them working as hard as I am".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101846

LD: 14 - Fail

Ronin began to become increasingly frustrated. It didn't help that his negative thoughts were pouring out of his mind, locking him into a battle with himself over who he was and who he should've been. He wasn't having any luck with the ore, and began to think that the blacksmith had made finding the ore easier than it actually was. "Well I guess he did say I may find some half-buried in the dirt, not that it would be easy", he thought. With zero success so far, Ronin started doubting himself, and was even more cautious when checking the dirt, sometimes even back tracking to double check. "This is such a huge waste of time, I bet other people who found easier quests are becoming stronger than me while I set here looking at dirt like some kind of bird searching for a meal. I should've looked at the other options I had before selecting this one".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101847

LD: 8 - Fail

Ronin began to consider his options. "Maybe I'd have better luck in the caves. Cerdic did mention the ores were in caves, and I can see a few from where I am", he thought. "What if I need gathering tools like a pickaxe to mine it though? I don't have anything like that. I have a sword, which I doubt would help against solid rock. And who knows what monsters I might find in those caves. NPC's are designed to give you quests, not to keep you from avoiding traps. As a level one player, I might have trouble if it turns out the monsters that spawn in the caves are higher level than I am, which could very well lead to my death". 

Ronin decided that going into caves would be too risky, and pushed the thought as far away as he could. But he knew, with his impatience, it was only a matter of time before he would reconsider.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101848

LD: 6 - Fail

Ronin could feel it. The switch from breathing with his stomach to with his chest. His breaths were shorter and quicker. He grew restless, shifting his weight from foot to foot. The urge to return to the blacksmith and show him what steel tasted like. A part of him felt exhausted and wanted to stop while the other told him he must be close, and so he would tiredly carry on.  "Progress", he thought. "I want progress. Where is the progress? There is no progress". Doubt took advantage of his impatience, and Ronin began double checking the areas he had already walked through. "There's no way that through all of that ground I just covered there wouldn't be a single ore, right? Jeez, who makes a beginner quest this difficult? Most beginner quests are killing 5-10 monsters, with a guaranteed drop per kill. I'm not even learning anything new or improving at the game".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101849

LD: 13 - Fail

As much as he wanted to get down on his hands and knees and dig, there was one thing stopping Ronin. His instinct was to never play with dirt in real life. Even when he went to the beach, he hated the sand. There was nothing more annoying about getting it into his socks and shoes, and thus had to walk slower across it to avoid such a situation. He hated the beach, and he was starting to hate Sword Art Online. 

"I can't get sick from it", he told himself. "I don't have to clean myself up afterward, and I don't have to worry about my allergies acting up either". With a reluctant sigh, Ronin got down and began digging through the soil with his bare hands. "That blacksmith said they would be half-buried, what are you doing? Half-buried does not equal digging", he projected his negative thoughts. "Ya, but he said 'you may even find'. That implies that it'd be rare to see one sticking out of the ground like that".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101850

LD: 10 - Fail

Ronin didn't know where he was digging, or how he should be digging in general. When he first started, he was merely rubbing off the top layer of dirt. "If I want to find this ore", he thought, "I need to stop digging layer by layer and just dig a hole in one spot". He focused on the ground in front of him and began to dig as deep as he could. As he plunged his hands deeper into the soil, he felt something solid. Ronin's heart raced. Could this finally be the ore he was looking for? He grabbed the solid object and forcefully pulled it from the earth. A rock, nothing more. 

Ronin's excitement faded. He grew even more frustrated that the game would tug at his heartstrings like that. He kept digging, but halfheartedly this time. He didn't care anymore, he just wanted it to be over, to find another quest that would hopefully be more engaging than this one.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101852

LD: 15 - Success

As the hole Ronin dug grew larger and larger, he felt even more discouraged. It had widened more than it had deepened, because Ronin had hit a layer of dirt too strong for his fingers to dig through. Minutes passed, and Ronin’s pace slowed. “Maybe I should try the caves”, he thought, continuing his steady pace of digging. He had calmed down into accepting that the quest was going to take awhile and that there was nothing he could do about it if he wanted to complete it. "I can't give up here", he reminded himself. "I have a goal, I will be the strongest, and right now I'm going too slow". Feeling rejuvenated by his own thoughts, Ronin dug furiously. 

Suddenly he felt his hand hit something. Ronin's eyes widened as he grasped the object hidden beneath the dirt. Raising his arm out of the ground, his face lit up as he realized what he had just discovered.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101859

LD: 15 - Success

"Yes!" Ronin screamed. "Finally", he thought. "A piece of ore! After all this time, it does exist!" He laid down and raised the ore to the sky. "It took so long to get this. It's beautiful just like the environment around me. Except its shine is worth more to me right now than anything else. I'm holding my hard work in my hand". 

"Still though, I can't rest for too long, I need to work faster. This piece was everything I needed to encourage me". He stored the item in his inventory and sat up, ready to excavate some more. Just then, he noticed a faint glimmer in the same spot where he had found the first piece of ore. "No way", Ronin thought. As energized as he was, the thought of finding two pieces in the same spot right on top of one another was too shocking, and he slowly reached into the dirt and pulled out a second piece of ore.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101860

LD: 10 - Fail

Ronin stared at the second piece he held in his hand. Just minutes ago, he had nothing. Now he was two-fifths of the way to completing the quest. As he stored the piece in his inventory along with the first piece, he smiled to himself. "My luck is finally changing. Time to get to work", he thought. As he dug furiously, he could imagine his success already. Gathering the last 3 pieces of ore by digging in the same way he had for the first two pieces, and running back to Cerdic to complete the quest. He imagined Cerdic's smile as Ronin handed him the ore, and the rewards for the quest that held the key for Ronin to become stronger. He couldn't help it, he loved setting goals, and part of that was because he wanted the rewards so badly. Now that he had made progress, he was very hyped up to quickly finish the quest.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101861

LD: 19 - Success

If anyone had passed by without knowing the context of the situation, they would've thought Ronin was insane. He had dug himself into a very wide but shallow hole, and Ronin himself was planted in the middle, still digging. "Come on game", he coaxed. "Give me another one". "Yeah right Riley", he thought. "It took you that long to find the first two, there's no way a third one is just gonna show up all of a sudden. You're gonna have to work for it". With another toss of dirt behind his back, Ronin uncovered another piece of ore. "You were saying?" he challenged. "Perhaps I was just really unlucky before". 

Ronin didn't believe in superstitions, but when he was alone, tired, and bored like this, he tried to find the patterns behind the events in his life. "Is there something I did to trigger the game's generosity or something?", he reflected.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101864

LD: 3 - Fail

Ronin returned to digging and found himself aware of his own movements than before. "Stop trying to find the pattern", he told himself. "It's all luck". Still, he wasn't completely convinced, and continued to remain aware of his actions. "I was turning clockwise last ti-", he cut himself off. "NO! It's all calculated with a bunch of numbers. There is a set chance to find the ore. Calm down". 

He had been sweating for awhile now, but he was used to it from all the workouts he did on his school's track team. However, as the hours passed into the afternoon, the heat was starting to bother him more and more. "Is there a way to take off my armor?" he wondered. "I mean, it's pretty impressive that I was able to keep the weight of my clothing on me this whole time, but I guess now that I'm in a virtual world I might as well make things easier for myself since I can't gain extra strength points for wearing heavy clothing".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101883

LD: 1 - Fail

Ronin swiped down to open the menu. "Let's see", he thought, looking at the different tabs of the menu. "If I was looking for a way to change equipment, it would probably be in 'Items'". He opened the items tab and clicked on the "Equipment" tab. A list of all equipment in his inventory appeared. "Nope, not that one". He went back and instead of the "Equipment" tab, he clicked on "Avatar". "Here we go". A list of his clothing items appeared, but when he tapped on them, a new tab would pop up that would only give him a description of the item. "Yeesh, what a confusing menu. Couldn't you have designed this better Kayaba?" He went back to main list of tabs, and clicked on "Status" instead of "Items". "Ah this has to be it", he thought. Ronin tapped the tab labeled "Player Equipment". A new window popped up showing his avatar and all his clothing equipped in their respective spots.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101884

LD: 8 - Fail

"Finally", Ronin thought. He removed his chestplate and shirt. He instantly felt better. A wave of relief washed over him as the weight of the clothing items disappeared and his body was exposed to the elements. He sighed as a cool breeze brushed past him. He could feel himself cooling down. "Phew! That takes off a load. Alright, time to get back to work". He looked down at his stomach. "Huh, at least they kept my abs, even though it likely means nothing here". And so, once again, Ronin stuffed his hands into the soil and began the long process of excavating.

"Today hasn't been so bad, I guess", he thought. "I've made decent progress, and I should expect to complete this quest by the end of the day. Next time I'm choosing a combat quest for sure". He thought about his sword, which was still sheathed and attached to his belt. He hadn't gotten a chance to learn to fight yet, but he always had an interest in the real world for sword fighting.

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101885

LD: 20 - Success

Ronin hardly batted an eye when he found his fourth piece of ore. He simply stored it in his inventory and thought "Four down, one to go", and kept on digging. He was too busy engrossed in the thoughts about his sword, which he had been neglecting upon his arrival in the game. "How ironic that the game is called Sword Art Online, and I haven't even killed a single monster with my sword yet". He could feel his heart start to pound harder from fear as he thought about the consequences of not knowing how to use his weapon yet. "I guess I'll just have to wing it and hope I can survive". This thought didn't comfort him, he imagined dying to the boars in the plains because he didn't know how to fight.  "No Riley, you're better than that", he assured himself. "You're athletic, and you've played video games before. Your reaction time should be good enough for attacking and defending. You just have to learn the form, just like in Track".

[Ronin Dragoon 0]

Spoiler

ID: 101886

LD: 12 - Fail

Ronin suddenly realized that he was going to become a Blacksmith upon the completion of his quest. "Wow, I forgot about that. I don't even know what I would do as a Blacksmith. I'm not one for crafting items in other MMORPG's. Yeah, that's probably what I'll do. Just ignore it and keep fighting", he thought. He stopped digging and looked around. "This hole is really wide now, I should probably move somewhere else for a better chance of finding another piece of ore". With that, Ronin picked himself up and began walking again.  "Come to think of it, I never really explored this area. I just sort of arrived and got to searching as soon as I could". As he walked, he could see some boars grazing in the distance, a lake, and a few caves nearby. "Maybe I should try my luck at searching in the caves. Then again, there could be monsters in there".