Amira

They spent the rest of the day working in the shop. It didnt take Manta long to learn all of the little nuances that alchemy required. She stayed in the shop for the rest of the day to help out anyway though. She covered the front desk for the lady and took commisions from people and passed them on to the woman. Finally the day was over and she left to go see about finding a place she could set up shop in.

The time finally arrives and she grabbed a peice of bread on her way out, nibbling on it all the way to the store. She got there a few minutes later and the door was open and the sign said open. She entered the shop and the woman sat up from where she had been sitting, slumped on the counter. "I was wondering when you would get here. We opened an hour ago." It appeared Manta had been wrong about the times.

The next day Manta woke up very early. It was much earlier then the shops generally opened, so she entsrtained herself by trying to do acrobatics with her sword. She stopped when she cut a gash in her arm. Time seemed to go by like a sloth  and she thought she would go crazy. She just wanted to get this over with so that she could start her own shop.

The shop was closing in ten minutes, so  Manta waved to the sgop owner and left, the woman shooing her out to come back the next day. She made her way home and got herself something to eat before getting ready for bed. Her dreams that night were filled with random cauldrons mortars and pestles, floating around at random. It was a restless sleep, but it was sleep none the less.

 She cranked the heat up and then dumped the ground up material in before stirrying it frantically for a few seconds. The she took the caldron and placed it on top of some ice, cooling down both the mixture inside of the cauldron and the caldron itself. The mixture inside gathered together to create a beautiful healing crystal. Apparently Crystals were harder to make than potions.

The woman came back into the room and this time went immediately over to a chest in the corner. She pulled out some materials, and then made her way over to what appered to be a mortar and pestle. She tossed an ingredient in and started to grind it up. Eventully it turned to dust and the woman brought it over to the cauldron.

The woman picked the potion up out of the cauldron and went out into the front room. She placed it in the glass display case. "This is my fee for teaching you how to do this." Manta nodded, but thought that maybe it was a bit unfair. Really all she had been taught to do was to plop a material into a cauldron and stir it. She walked back into the back room and waited for the woman to come back to teach her more about alchemy. She was sure it wasnt all just stirring things in pots.

Rolled a 15 on the d20 (loot) dice.

"It's a piece of gold ore... I didn't think you could get them outside of mines, but apparently they randomly spawn too..." She lowered her eyes to the ground in a way that mad her look embarrased, but in reality she was just looking around to see if there were anymore lying around on the ground. She spotted one under a bush and got down on her knees to pry it up. It was quite strange how it appeared to just be lying around. Maybe there was some sort of trick. Like pull the wrong one up and you get a spike to the head. Or it summons some crazy powerful field boss. She didn't mention her suspicions to Pyro though, instead just saying, "Be careful picking those up..."

Rolled a 17 on the d20 (loot) dice.

Manta chuckled at Pyro's disappointment about getting no loot. It was funny because all kills gave a material, no matter what. She must have skipped over it. or maybe Manta had gotten it. She had done more damage after all. She checked her inventory, and sure enough there was a new material there. She tapped it and sent it to Pyro. "Here's the loot. It must have gone to me because I did more damage or something." She grinned and headed off to find another. She was on her way when she noticed a piece of gold colored metal sticking up from the ground. She went over to it and pried it out of the ground with her sword. It shimmered and appeared in her inventory. Apparently materials could be found all over the place!

• Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice.
• Rolled a 8 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 3 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 11 on the d20 (loot) dice.

"What do you want to do? We could go around and clear the area of MOBs..." She pulled her sword out and moved towards the boar, her weapon at the ready. She charged at the last moment and sliced down with her sword. This one appeared to be a bit tougher than the last one, as it didn't die. It's health was in the red though, and one more hit would definitely do the trick. She decided to give Pyro a chance. "He's all yours Pyro!" She said, inviting her to finish the fight.

Manta: 9/9

Boar: 1/5 (Critical hit, -4)

4232

CD: 11/12

Manta walked up to the cauldron and grabbed herself a long spoon to stir with. She dropped the plant she had cut up into the cauldron and started to stir. Ten stirs later, nothing had happened and she was starting to get very nervous. Finally, on her twentieth stir it changed into something. A rare healing potion! She grinned. Maybe she had some talent after all!

The woman walked over to what seemed to be a cauldron. Manta followed and watched as the woman dropped the piece of sea weed in and started to stir it with a nearby spoon. After about six stirs, something started to form in the bottom of the cauldron. After 3 more stirs it formed into a health potion. "See? Now it's your turn." The woman said to Manta.

"I know the feeling. Not too well though. I spend most of my time out here hunting for materials. It gets kind of lonely." She smiled despite the unhappy words she was speaking. "Anyways, I hope to be more social once I get my shop set up." She was planning on being an alchemist. Her main goal for SAO wasn't to escape like most other people. It was to start up an alchemy shop that was famous and everyone wanted buy from. "Im just collecting materials until then. Want to join me!" Manta smiled broadly, her eyes twinkling.

Manta turned around just before she was going to engage the boar. She stopped and backed off so that it wouldnt attack her. She grinned at the woman that was heading over and waved once. It was actually very cute the way they were blushing, but still acting casual. "Hello! and sure!" It was just then that she noticed the  screen floating in front of her. It read: <<Level Up>>. She smiled and swiped it away. She wondered how she hadnt seen that before.

It didn't take long for her to get back to the starting city, where she made her way back to the shop immediately. She entered it, holding up the two materials she had gotten. "I got the materials!" She went up to the counter and knocked on it to try to get the attention of the shop owner. The woman rushed out, this time holding a healing potion. Manta handed over the materials and they made their way back into the workshop.

• Rolled a 6 on the d10 (battle) dice.
• Rolled a 1 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 5 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 15 on the d20 (loot) dice.

Manta pulled her sword out and grabbed the plant by the stem. It was a brownish plant, but a light brown, almost puke colored. It had a flower however, and that flower was bright pink and yellow, and the pattern of colors made it seem like it was glowing from the inside. She sawed at it with the sword until it cut off. And there she had it, another material. That was all she needed. She turned around and started to head back to the alchemy shop.

Well, that was one material down. Only one more to go. She sheathed her sword and hurried on her way to the bog. She reached it without incident a few minutes later and immediately went over to the nearest plant to see if she could harvest it somehow. She decided that she could probably just cut it off with her sword. That actually made a lot of sense, as her sword was curved, almost like a scythe. And a scythe was really just a tool used for harvesting plants.

• Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice.
• Rolled a 4 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 9 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 17 on the d20 (loot) dice.

She smiled at it before deciding to taunt it, just because she could. "Hey... Greeny!" Her voice trailed off. What could you call a giant piece of seaweed with claws? She thought for a moment as she dodged its next swipe before finally giving up and raising her sword once again. She dodged its next attack and got in close before stabbing it in the stomach. It burst into blue colored shards, granting her a material.

Manta: 7/7

Seaweed: 0/4 (+1 material)

BD:9

Manta took a step back as the Seawees swiped a clawed arm at her. She ducked under it and stabbed it in the face. She pulled back and retreated again, grinning. Unlike most people Manta new the secret to this game. And that secret was that this game was still a game. So you should have fun while playing it.

Manta: 7/7

Seaweed: 1/4

Manta left the shop quickly, determined to get the quest done quickly, before the day ended. She checked her map and headed towards the bog. If she met a monster on the way she would kill it and that would material number one taken care of. The bog wasnt too far from the city, and she was halfway there when a monster spawned right in front of her. It was green, and covered with what appeared to be seaweed. It looked manageable. She unsheathed her sword and swung it at the monster, but missed.

Bd:1

Manta: 7/7

Seaweed: 4/4

A young woman, about her age came out from the back room, still holding what appeared to be a newly crafted crystal. She smiled at Manta and said "Sure. All righty then... First things first... You need a material... Mights as well make that two materials. There's a bog near here with some plants you can harvest. Or you can go kill some monsters. Its your choice. Come back here when you get them!" The girl waved cheerily, and after depositing the crystal in the display case she went back into the back room.

Manta glanced around her as she exited the shop, looking for another alchemy place. She finaly found one and made her way inside. This on was much like the other shop, except that it was slightly larger. She went over to the counter and knocked on it to try to get the attention of the owner. "Hello. Id like to learn alchemy if your willing to teach me."

Moments later there was a loud thump, and all of a sudden an old wrinkled lady jumped out, wearing a welding mask with the front tipped up. Her hair was smaking and some of the ends looked scorched. "Wwattya neyd sonnee garl!" Manta decided to go find somewhere else. She rudely left without saying  word at all.

She approached the first one she saw. It was a nice small place, but that didn't put her off at all. In fact, it had that homey feel to it that probably attracted lots of customers. She made her way inside and was surprised to see that it was empty of customers. She walked over to the counter and rang the little bell that was there. "Hello? Im here to learn Alchemy if youll teach me..." She waited for a reply patiently.

(Going for Alchemist ;) )

Manta walked through the starting city on her way to find an alchemist. She was curious as to how potions and crystals were made, and was very interested in both making and selling them herself. She would have been interested in blacksmithing, but she didnt want to learn that for two reasons. First off, everyone and their brother was a blacksmith, and secondly, how do you prank people with heavy peices of metal? With a potion you could make someone turn blue or something...