Nicklaus

As the boat began to pick up speed in the sea, Nicklaus thought this would be perfect time to explore this ship. He did not expect it to have much in terms of amenities. However, he knew that he would not likely have the energy to do this on his return trip. Therefore, he began walking around. He knew he should not bug the individuals who were off rowing the boat as that could cause them to become stuck in the ocean. Therefore, he looked around. There was not much but finally he did find the Nympth who was sitting there as his escort to today's quest. He decided to approach the NPC and ask her a few questions.

"Hello, do you know how much longer it will take to arrive?" Nicklaus inquired. He wanted to ask more about today's challenge but he wanted to slip that into a normal conversation, so he wanted to start the conversation about something else instead.

"We will be there in another half an hour." The Nympth responded.

"Do you know what is the challenge that I will have to complete in?" Nicklaus asked.

The Nympth waited a few seconds, thinking about what she could say, and responded, "You will need to catch a certain number of fish within 2 hours. If you reach that number, you will pass. We will not reveal you the number." She responded.

That was interesting. He had to catch as many fish as he possibly could within 2 hours without knowing the exact amount. This meant that it would be a stressful 2 hours coming up. He got back to his seat and began to think of a plan while waiting for the boat to arrive.

As Nicklaus stepped onto the boat, he could realized this was one of the old boats, in particular, a trireme. He was not a history expert, but he knew that these boats were very familiar back in the day. These were amazing boats for their era, a massive ancient warship that was going to carry him to his destination. These boats were made for quick travel, it had a giant sail, but most importantly, there were three sets of rows for oars. This meant that it was propelled by a lot of individuals.

Nicklaus had hoped that it was ready to leave given it had just arrived in the harbour. He walked over to the gangplank on the vessel, where a young lady was waiting for him. "Hello, I am here for the Olympius quest." Nicklaus said confidently.

He had waited for a few seconds before he received the response, "Welcome fishmonger. I am here to escort you to your destination today. Once you are ready, please board the vessel. It will take about an hour to arrive." The Nympth responded.

Nicklaus had nothing else planned for today and knew that it was best to get this over as soon as possible. He took a step onto the boat and waited for it to sail out of the harbour. He was lucky that he could save his energy as he was not expected to help out with rowing the boat to the destination. He was surprised by the number of people it took to transport him and the Nympth on this boat. This was not an efficient method of traveling but he was not complaining.

As Nicklaus made it over to the harbour, he was looking for the exact ship that would take him to the destination. He looked back at its quest log, and all it said was visiting the harbour. He would have to go search every single boat before he could arrive at his destination. It would take a lot of work but he knew he had saw it sail into the harbour while he was eating breakfast.

As he continue to walk along the dock, he could see there were a lot of NPC fisherman selling their freshly caught fish to the players and NPCs who would wonder into the harbour. There were a lot of good seafood however, he did not learn the cooking skill. He would have to find her sister one day to help him out. As he kept walking, he eventually came across the boat. There was a young pretty Nymph, who would take him to his destination.

They would be sailing on a boat to reach Olympus. This was a change, her sister had mentioned something about walking up a mountain, twice. However, he was not surprised. He knew that these areas are often off limit to regular players, and they often have several ways to arrive at his destination. He was not going to complain, he get to sit and relax on a boat while her sister had to hike up to the location. He was going to save his energy and perhaps try to talk to the Nymph to find out more about his challenge that he was about to partake in.

As Nicklaus sat down at a local restaurant overlooking the beautiful harbour, he knew that he was procrastinating from starting this quest today. He knew that he should instead try to get this done as soon as possible so he could take advantage of his upgraded fishing skills. Nicklaus looked around at the menu, and decided to get some classic greek food. He settled with the greek fried eggs served over potatoes and feta cheese. He then decided to order a drink, nothing alcoholic this early in the morning. Therefore, he decided to get some coffee.

Nicklaus continue to watch ships enter and exit the harbour. Finally, as he was watching, he finally noticed the boat that was going to transport him to Olympus arriving finally. Now that he knew where he had to go, he would finish his breakfast before making his way onto the boat.

Finally, at last, Nicklaus' food had finally arrived, and the server gave him his food. He was not a big fan of cheese but decided to try it today as it was a staple in the local cuisine. Her sister had taught her in their last outing to go and visit the various floors and try out the different types of food. He was surprised all the flavours had blended in together very well. He was going to let her sister know about this restaurant as she had never explored Athenaia much in the past. After he finish his food, Nicklaus was finally heading towards his destination.

This was the first time he had stepped foot at Athenaia. It was stunning, unlike any place he had ever visited so far in Aincrad. The architecture on the floor had an ancient greece flavour to the style of the buildings. As he walked around, he saw the temples with the distinct columns which must have taken a lot of time to build. Once he got here, it was now time to look for his escort to the quest. He was wondering where he could find the nympth who would then escort him to where he needed to visit today.

As Nicklaus began to aimless wonder around, he decided to look back at the quest log once again to see where he would need to go. It was a long shot given it was the first time he had visited this floor. As he continue reading, it had told him to go visit the harbour where all the boats are located. This would make sense as he was going to visit Olympus and he knew that his challenge today would involve some sort of fishing activity. However, he was already lost in the town, so he went to visit the nearest restaurant.

He was also hungry having skipped having breakfast until now, so it would be a good time for him to try to eat something before he took on this difficult and interesting challenge. He had a lot of time today, so he decided to sit down for a full meal rather than ordering take out.

Based on the recommendation of her younger sister, Nicklaus was highly encouraged to get this over with and done today. He had received a brand new quest the other day, and he decided to do it today. He had still not fully recovered from his fishing trip with her sister yesterday. While fishing out in the cold was never a good idea, he had managed to earn three treasure chest, which allowed him to reach level two to qualify for this quest today.

Therefore, while his body was still tired, he had forced himself out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to get dressed and more important awake. Perhaps a shower in the morning would be very helpful as this will help him stay awake. As he finished his shower, he went in to grab some coffee. He would need it today as it was part of his morning routine. Once he had gotten everything out of the way, it was finally time for him to make his way towards the teleportation gate.

Nicklaus would be visiting floor seventeen for the very first time. He had never been there before but was excited to get the time to explore. All he knew was that this was a safe quest where he would not run into any danger out in the wild. However, this was a challenging quest but the rewards would definitely be worth it. It was going to help him with fishing in the future, so it was not a difficult decision to start right now, so he could have it before the next time he went fishing again.

After learning how to identify five items earlier this week, Nicklaus began to get to work to identify the remaining six items that he had owned. He had hoped this will be enough to get him past to the second rank of the appraiser profession, which will allow him access and the ability to try to get the quest. He wanted to take the quest as it would allow him to gain some much more valuable experience points and make his crafting a lot easier. However, he knew that it may take some time before he would reach the final level, rank five.

5/29/2022

Link

Appraiser: Rank 1

Identifying Items | attempt allowance: 5/6 (5 Base+1 Guild)
| Tier 2 Weapon | Rare (4)
| Tier 2 Consumable | Rare (1)
| cost = (4 x 800) + (1 x 400) = 3,600 Col

Salvage = (3 x 500) + (1 x 250) = 1,750 Col

Requesting 1,750 Col Refund. Paid 3,600 Col instead of Net difference.

This was the first time Nicklaus was attempting this appraisal thing for the first time. He had just collected his hard earn rewards from fishing and would attempt to identify the items that he had collected for the first time. He was hoping that this would be good enough as he can finally upgrade his item and armour after today. It would allow him to grow stronger and feel a lot more confident before he started to appraise the list of items that her younger sister, Rebekah had sent him. He did not want to mess up just yet so he wanted to do his first.

Now that he finally gotten what he had came out here for, it was time to pack and leave. Rebekah had asked him for help while she was doing the dishes. He happily obliged and got to work. After all, all he had been doing was sitting on a comfortable chair and sat there to fish all day long. He had done nothing useful yet, and it would be time to help her sister out so they could finally leave. He was excited to go identify the equipment that he had found, and it would also be time for him to return indoors back to someplace a lot warmer. He had enough of the cold for today.

While that was happening, her younger sister had asked him if he wanted to take the olympus quest. He did not know what he was talking about and decided to go through his quest log. There it was, it had shown up just as he reached level two. He quickly saw the rewards, and knew that was a great reward. He was going to do this first thing tomorrow morning. "Thank you for letting me know. I am planning on doing this. Do you know if this also exists for the merchant profession?" Nicklaus asked.

As Rebekah responded, she had put out the rest of the fire and now they were making their way back to Snowfrost town. It did not take him long to finally reach the teleportation gate so he can finally go home back to floor one to recover. He was on such a high from today that he would worry about the quests and the items the next day.

His younger sister wanted a promise that he will try to stay safe. He knew that she had essentially manipulated this conversation into forcing a promise out of him. However, he had no other alternatives that he can say right now. He had to agree. Nicklaus responded, "Yes, I will promise you I will try to stay safe." He knew just as well as anyone it was impossible to stay safe in this game, however, what he could do is not get himself into tricky situations that he would have no way of getting out of. That was for sure.

After he responded, Rebekah decided not to force him to say anything more. She had handled him a bowl of her freshly cooked food from the pot above the campfire that she had built out here in the fourth floor. It tasted delicious as expected of her. She was always the best cook in the family, having picked up the skill at a very young age. He could taste the freshness of the fish that he had caught today, and that was the star of the dish that he had cooked.

Once they were finishing eating, Rebekah got to work on looking for water to clean the dishes, so he turned his focus back to the fishing rod. He would be very happy if he was able to catch a third treasure chest today, as it would allow him to finish the day on a high note. He knew there was not much time left before it was time to leave so he would have to do it quickly.

ID = 209356 | CD = 11 | LD = 19
Fishing R1 = 54/49 EXP (+8+1) --> R2 = 54/149 EXP
+ 1 Mat + 1 Treasure Chest

ID = 209357 | LD = 4
Treasure Chest = 2 T2 Rare Armour/Shield, 1 T2 Trinket

That was something he had not considered. Yes, he had always did things without thinking about the full consequences, but it never really hit home how family members would be worried about that. That was a true point. He suppose her sister just wanted to see him safely reach level thirty two before he started picking fights with others. This was her way of keeping her eye on himself. While he did not need anyone to babysit him, he knew that this gave Rebekah some peace of mind. Besides, he knew that if he could gain some important and valuable lessons from her younger sister, he would listen.

He looked at the stew that she was cooking today. He can smell the aroma that was coming from the pot. Nicklaus as starting to get hungry now, and she was doing this at the perfect time. "I seen the names on the memorial on the first floor. I am not going to be an idiot and make you worry." He reassured her younger sister. He knew his limitations and the last thing he wanted to do was to end up on that list.

He then turn his focus back towards the fishing line, as he had been fishing all day. He knew that he had picked some lucky bait today since his line was actually working for once. It was rare for him to have such a good fishing trip, but perhaps it had something to do with the food he had ate earlier on this floor.

ID = 209354 | CD = 5 | LD = 4
Fishing R1 = 46/49 EXP (+3+1)
(failed)

Nicklaus was surprised to find out that he had already found two treasure chest, containing a total of eight items to identify. Today was definitely going well, he knew that he would need to continue to get better at fishing, he would eventually find more and better items. Currently, all of his items that he had found are tier 2 which is a lot stronger than what he had at the moment. He would be very happy to trade it in and switch to a stronger and better equipment. Now, all he needed was either another trinket or a defensive item such as armour or shields. That would help him a lot in his ability to survive in this game.

So far, he had been living the easy life in Aincrad, and he knew it would soon get a lot tougher. He had wondered why her sister was spending so much time trying to get him to level up and help him out with the early levels. He decided to finally ask this question, "Why are you spending so much time helping me level up?" Nicklaus had asked. He knew that she was busy person and she had constantly taken the time out of her day to ensure his development and help him level from the very beginning until now. He knew that being her only family member in the game must play a small role in this, but there must be some other alternative motive for her to do this. He did not think she was doing this for everyone.

ID = 209352 | CD = 12 | LD = 11
Fishing R1 = 42/49 EXP (+5+1)
+ 1 Mat

As the campsite came to life, Nicklaus knew that it was his job to continue to fish. He was looking to try to reach level two by the end of the trip. He also knew that he was not very useful in these settings. The least he could do was to make sure they had enough food to survive for the trip. He passed the fish that he had caught to Rebekah who would then cook them out here in the cold. He was wondering what type of food her sister would make. He knew he wanted something warm out here on the fourth floor.

It was just the type of thing that would make the time go pass by a lot easier. While her sister was constantly moving, she was easily able to stay warm. He, on the other hand, was sitting down on a chair here. While it was comfortable, it was also quite cold as he was not moving around to keep his body warm. Luckily, the fire nearby made it a lot warmer, and the shelter that Rebekah had set up was able to block out a lot of the cold wind chill from hitting them. It was tolerable, not cold enough to give him frostbite but just enough to let him know that he was outside in the elements.

As he watched the fishing line, waiting for the next fish to arrive, he wondered if Rebekah had finished setting up everything yet.

ID = 209349 | CD = 10 | LD = 16
Fishing R1 = 36/49 EXP (+8+1)
+ 1 Mat + 1 Treasure Chest

ID = 209350 | LD = 9
Treasure Chest = 2 T2 Rare Weapons, 2 T2 Rare Consumables

Now that her sister had been getting most of the essentials set up, Nicklaus decided it was time to focus back at fishing. While he was at it, he could feel the excitement of finally succeeding for the first time. After all, he had seen her sister's success previously at foraging for materials, but he had always wondered was being a fisherman a waste of time. He finally received the answer, and knew that it would help him out in the long run. He was a merchant, and his first treasure chest would help him as he needed to stock up on items to identify. Now that he had four, he was tempted to look for more.

The warmth of the fire that her sister built made it a lot more bearable. He does not know how her sister was able to move efficiently in the snow, he was having a lot of trouble. Perhaps, it was related to their experiences so far. She had spent a lot of her time on this floor and would be acclimatized to the weather. For someone such as himself, being stuck on floor one was no help at all for him especially since he had never faced any different weather. Floor one was perfect in that way, the weather was not too bad for anyone who stayed there.

As he looked at his line, he wondered if he should help out a bit more, but realized, his job today was to catch fish for food. It did not take too long but Nicklaus already had caught two fish.

ID = 209347 | CD = 11 | LD = 9
Fishing R1 = 27/49 EXP (+5+1)
+ 1 Mat

While her sister was busy starting to build some type of shelter to protect them from the elements. Nicklaus decided it was time to start digging a hole to begin ice fishing. One of the things they would need is food. Rebekah had previously told her when they were setting up this trip was that she would bring food but it would be helpful if he was able to catch some fish. This would allow Rebekah to save some of her emergency rations instead of using them up on this trip.

Therefore, he got to work digging a hole. He was not an expert at fire making so he decided to leave that part to her younger sister. He had the topics memorized in his head, the most important things for survival was shelter, water and fire. Currently, her sister was setting up shelter, and once fire is done, water would become very easy. So, it was time to move on to the second tier of important items which was food.

So far, he had not successfully caught a single fish since he had obtained the fishing profession, so this would be a good time for him to start to learn. This was going to be a challenge and he was not going to stop until he caught something today. Last time, Nicklaus had gave up far too easily.

This time, Nicklaus had finally caught something when his line had pulled immediately.

ID = 209344 | CD = 11 | LD = 12
Fishing R1 = 21/49 EXP (+8+1)
+1 Mat + 1 Treasure Chest

ID = 209345 | LD = 8
Treasure Chest = 2 T2 Rare Weapons, 2 T2 Rare Consumables

As soon as Nicklaus had walked into the wilderness and on to the Frostbite lake, he was stunned. The scenery was amazing. The developers of Aincrad must have spent a lot of time recreating the feeling of a winter wonderland here on the fourth floor. He was amazed by every little detail that he could see. He followed her sister, as they made their way onto the lake. They were going to find a place to set up a camp so they could preform some ice fishing.

It was his first time ice fishing on the lake, so he was excited for this opportunity. He knew that it was not everyday that he got to experience something like this. Rebekah had been meaning to show him around the floor that she had lived in and it was everything as she described.

After walking for a while, her sister finally decided it was time to stop and set up their base here. Instantly, her sister pressed a button and a lot of things had showed up. It was now time for him to help her out. The first thing they needed to do was to build a campfire on the lake so they can keep themselves warm. In addition, she had set up a shelter while they were at it. It would help keep them warm enough from the elements. It was not that cold outside yet, but this would help them survive the weather.

Nicklaus had finally entered Rebekah's cafe for the first time. It was a cozy place, a mix between a place where one can buy boutique and amazing pastries as well as meals. Rebekah had handed one of her signature pastries to Nicklaus to try. He had not had a beaver tail in quite a while and it tasted delicious. He looked up and saw that he had been granted a gathering buff for the rest of today. Hopefully, that will come in handy for today's adventure.

Nicklaus looked around and saw that her sister was packed and ready to head out for today's adventure. It was finally time to leave behind the cozy town, but before they went anywhere, Rebekah wanted to show him around the fourth floor, especially Snowfrost Town. She had mentioned something about going to The Frosty Cafe to get some hot drinks before they left. It was a floor four specialty, and the lines are generally packed throughout the day.

However, being a local of the fourth floor, Rebekah had told him the best times to go before the line went out the door. They went and it was lucky, they did not have to wait long for them to begin ordering their hot drinks. Rebekah had ordered the signature drink for both of them, the hot chocolate. Nicklaus took one sip of the drink and it tasted delicious. It was the best hot chocolate he had since he was stuck here in Aincrad for the last few years.

Nicklaus consumes Beaver Tail 203916-2 (Ambition)

Nicklaus had woken up this morning by an alarm notification. Today was the day her sister was going to show him around Snowfrost town, and go on a camping adventure on the frozen Frostbite Lake. It was the first time he will visit the cold fourth floor and he was excited. He had received direct instructions for him to go to the teleportation gate and to stop by Rebekah's cafe on the fourth floor while he was at it. She had a few things to do in her shop this morning before she would join him on this journey.

At first, he was hesitant to spend a lot of time on a cold floor, but her sister's ultimate persistence had worn on him after a long time. He had finally agreed. In addition, she was going to show him how to catch fish on the ice, which was something that he wanted to try for the first time. Therefore, there were a lot to do and it was time to get going. He dressed warmly and made his way to the teleportation gate. He would arrive on floor four at any moment now.

He then walked over to Rebekah's shop. She had provided directions to get here. It was going to be very important for him to know where this place was located as he would know where he can find his sister. That reminded him, he would have to work on getting his own merchant shop up and running eventually.

After a long detour, the pair of them have finally made it back to Lyle's shop. It was not a place where Nicklaus wanted to stay for long given that the last time he was here this morning, the blacksmith was very rude to both of them. However, he was here to trade in his materials that he had collected for the quest rewards. As he stepped into the shop, he told the shopkeeper, "I have returned with the materials that you have requested." Nicklaus hands over the three boar tusks to Lyle.

Lyle inspects the items then tells him to pick an item from the pile of poorly designed items in the garbage bin. Nicklaus pulls out a straight sword and leaves the shop. he did not want to be in there for any longer than he had to be. The pair of them began walking towards the teleportation gate of the first floor. Even though he was hungry, he had other plans that he needed to attend to and was unable to have lunch with her younger sister today. Perhaps, they can have lunch on another day at a restaurant.

Thread Summary:
6,310 Words / 10 = 631

Rebekah:
631 x 5 x 70% = 2,208 EXP
2,208 x 15% = 331 + 3,000 = 3,331 Col
6 Materials

Nicklaus:
631 x 70% = 441 + 475 (Quest) = 916 EXP
1 Page = 400 + 500 (Quest) = 900 Col
Boar Jerky (T1 Consumable) DMG II | MIT I
Tearleaf Blade (T1 Straight Sword) DMG I

Nicklaus had almost finish packing up everything and was about to store everything in his inventory by pressing the button in front of him in his user display when a snowy white owl had flown over and knocked over his neatly pile of equipment. It was her sister's owl, Snowball.

"Why do you have to do this Snowball? Bad Snowball, bad owl." Nicklaus berated at the owl. He was not happy at the owl's behaviour as he believed the owl had done this on purpose. This was no accident. However, Snowball, had immediately gotten back on its feet after the collision and attempted to apologize to Nicklaus. The owl then began helping him clean up this mess.

Perhaps this was a mistake after all. Snowball the owl had just flown without watching where it was flying. He decided to accept the apology by petting the owl on its head. Snowball hooted. Nicklaus was not one with a lot of words but he wanted to say sorry for blaming the owl for something that was not done intentionally. "I am sorry for blaming you, Snowball. I hope we can get along." Nicklaus spoke.

The owl agreed. It was time that two of them started to get along and stop fighting and arguing over every little thing in the future. He knew that he would see a lot more of Snowball given her sister had already chosen a familiar to join her on difficult quests.

Nicklaus was getting tired of fishing in the river. He had not been successful today and knew that it was time to leave soon. If he was lucky, he would have entertained the idea staying longer. However, he desperately needed to finish that quest so he can gain a few more levels. Therefore, he was going to see if he could find something for the final time before they made their way back to the town of beginnings.

There was only so much he could think about. It was a good learning experience today, and the best thing to help cap off today would be the ability to catch something with his brand new fishing skill. He wondered, whether or not he was lucky enough and if not, he would have to prepare for another fishing trip with Rebekah next time.

"Do you want to take me fishing on floor four?" Nicklaus had asked. He knew that her sister had spent the majority of her time on the fourth floor, and he had never gone camping in the snow. Perhaps this was the idea, they should go camping in the wilderness one day. Nicklaus waited for a few more minutes and decided to pull his fishing rod. He just wanted to get out of here since it had been a long day for both of them.

He had found nothing today, so he decided to tell Rebekah it is time to pack up and head out to finally finish this quest.

ID = 209041 | CD = 7 | LD = 3
Fishing-R1: 15/49 EXP (+3)
(failed)

Now that Rebekah was the first person to explain to him the nuisances between the two very important skills, Nicklaus knew that these were three of the most important skills to max out as early as possible. This would require at least ninety skill points, which will take him up to level eighteen to achieve this. He also knew that there were additional bonuses add on skills that he will need, so Nicklaus would have to quickly find a way to grind to gain as much experience as possible in the shortest time frame available.

There was only one question he had while Nicklaus continued to wait for his fishing line. Rebekah had already found materials twice today but each time, they were a special drop which included additional materials and col. "I notice that you have chosen heavy armour. Can you give me a reason why you believe heavy armour is better or why you chose this over the cloth or light armour options?" Nicklaus asked.

He knew that her sister must have thought about this idea a whole lot and knew there must be an answer somewhere. All he needed to do was ask. He was starting to believe that this river did not contain a lot of fish since his own fishing line should have been pulled already. There was only one way to find out, he would have to wait and see. There was not a whole lot in his control while he was fishing.

Nothing was going right today during fishing. He wondered what he was doing wrong.

ID = 209039 | CD = 4 | LD = 5
Fishing-R1: 12/49 EXP (+3)
(failed)

Nicklaus had just listened to her sister discuss three critical skills. So far, he had only maxed out the damage skill given he knew he would not be able to avoid fighting in the earlier levels. He had also heard that being able to fight is very important in any type of game like Sword Art Online. It was essential since he cannot be in a situation where he has to depend on others to fight. Even as a tank, being able to specialize in some damage early either is very helpful to any party.

"Since I have maxed out my weapon skill, which skill should I go for next?" Nicklaus asked. He knew that both battle healing and mitigation was important. However, he did not know the interaction between the two skills. He wanted to hear Rebekah continue to explain high level concepts as he continued to wait for any fish to be reeled in.

This was not a lucky place to catch anything for either of them. Rebekah has not been able to find anything since she has arrived, and he has not been able to catch any fish yet. He knew that it should not be this difficult but maybe this was an unlucky area.

ID = 209023 | CD = 1 | LD = 8
Fishing-R1: 9/49 EXP (+3)
(failed)