Merlin

Backing away from from the area with the boar, Aden set his course towards Horunka Village. Taking a nearby path, his demeanor relaxed as he continued on the familiar road. The light shining through the trees took on a orange tint, bathing the forest floor in amber.

Breathing in the cool air, Aden let his gaze wander between the canopy and the side of the path. Though he wasnt looking very hard, a plant stood out of the foilage which caught his eyes. A orchid with a lunar glow. Drawing his knife once more, he gently grasped the flower and prepared to cut.

Then a grunt pierced through the peaceful atmosphere. Surprised, he almost broke the plant in two, but held back. He was so close, and he was beginning to get greedy. Activating his searching skill, he realized that the boar, while close, was actually behind some foliage. Realizing he hasn't drawn aggro yet, he finished up and continued on, carefully backing away.

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104244

LD: 10 (+1) = 11 [Success]

[Quest Material #: 3]

Aden was in a pretty good mood, the quest was making good progress and he was pretty happy to be back in the place where he took his first step into Aincrad. Then, he saw them. Creatures of no soul, and devils in their own right. A snort reached him, and he shivered. It was the boar. Yet, beyond the foul beast, was a beautiful tulip with iridescent petals.

Taking his time, he slowly inched around the beast, taking care with his every foot step. This vile creature, licks its lips, perhaps thinking of all who they have slaughtered. It may be giving Aden a bored look right now, but he knew, that it would stab him in the back using his bloodied hoof...

He did eventually circle around boar, but as he cut into the tulip, he constantly looked over his shoulder. The boar still gave him a bored look, and began to sniff the grass. By the time his attention returned to the flower, it was already broken into the wind.

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104243

LD: 9 (+1) = 10 [Fail]

Footsteps echoing between the trees, Aden was plodding along, trying to find something that would catch his eye. Then, at the base of a ancient tree, was a odd flower under the sun light. It's stem was similar to a orchid's, however its bulb was translucent, and in the middle of it glowed a warm green light.

Intrigued, he moved forward and began to play with the flower. First, he covered up the bulb from the sun, and to his surprise the light under it dimmed. He poked the bulb, and it felt sticky to the touch, which he rubbed off on a nearby leaf.

Slowly sawing at the base of the flower, Aden took his time. There were no mobs nearby, and there was little reason to hurry. After steadily cutting through, the item was successfully obtained, and he placed it into his inventory with a grin. Wondering, he began to leave the trunk.

"I wonder if they liked my song..."

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104240

LD: 17 (+1) = 18 [Success]

[Quest Material #: 2]

A bit tired of the mushrooms and flowers of the fields, Aden pushed into the deciduous forest of floor one. Nostalgia flooded him as he took in the familiar surroundings. Taking in the atmosphere, Aden began to hum a Celtic tune.

His voice rang through the light green leaves, the branches swaying in the wind. The light of the sun was mellowed by the tall oaks granting the forest it's shade. Relaxing, Aden began to walk to the beat of his tune, not caring of the monsters that hid in the shadows.

Getting really into it, his hums developed into singing, his song floating alongside the wind. Safe to say, he was distracted. And while distracted, he felt a crunch under his boots, and his blissful expression had a sour tone to it as he saw shimmering particles float into the sky. Rolling his eyes, his smile still remained.

"I really am back."

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104239

LD: 5 (+1) = 6 [Fail]

With a reluctant expression, Aden made his way over to the mushroom. Admittedly, this one didn't look to bad. It had black spots on it with a blue cap, and a white stalk. It looked like a stereotypical mushroom, instead of red though, it was blue.

Hesitantly, he leaned in and gave the mushroom a sniff. Oddly enough, it didn't smell like anything surrounding it. Aden got closer, and he began to relax around this mushroom, and a small smile appeared on his lips. He grew curious, and started to run his hand over it's cap, curious about the small bumps that wrapped around its cap.

He leaned down and began to cut efficiently into the mushroom. He was slowly sawing away at the stalk, and he began to hum a little tune. Then, without any interruption, the mushroom came cleanly off and dissipated into his inventory. 

"Maybe all mushrooms aren't that bad."

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104235

LD: 18 (+1) = 19 [Success]

[Quest Material #: 1]

A grimace still lingered on him as he continued to step in and out of mob's aggro range, and while the smell dissipated, in his mind it still rang loudly in his memories. He took another glance at his target, another flower. While there was another mushroom easier to get too, he remained a bit shell shocked from the previous incident.

Sighing in relief as no odor of any kind hit him, he began to feel over the flower. This was harder to spot, as it was a green rose hidden in the grasses, but he could make it out from its red stalk.

"A colored swapped rose..."

He treated it delicately, slowly sawing away with his dagger. But his reluctance to go for the new mushroom and instead go for this one backfired, as a mob began to inch closer into range.

Realizing that perhaps the protection sigil isn't working today, he abandoned the rose and began to dance out of the mobs aggro. During this time, Aden heard his plant fragment into dust.

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104234

LD: 2 (+1) = 3 [Fail]

His next target was not a flower, instead it looked like coral growing on land. However, Aden could guess it was a mushroom by its stalk like base, just one with a weird, coral like cap. Yet when got close, he had a sudden urge to puke. The smell was putrid, and even monsters did not linger long.

Eyes watery, he took a glance around his surroundings for another item to loot, but they were all surrounded by mobs, and it would take them a while to move out of his way. Taking in a deep breath (and gagging afterwards), he resigned himself to this smelly, weird, mushroom.

The rotten stench distracted him greatly, and instead of making precise, firm cuts, Aden found himself rushing through the process. Applying too much pressure and not paying attention to where his hand lay, he crushed the cap of the mushroom, making it shatter into the wind.

Admittedly, Aden was glad. Any spell or potion that required that thing had to be evil.

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104232

LD: 6 (+1) = 7 [Fail]

He decided to go towards a plant that had the least amount of mobs surrounding it. Dancing around aggro and backing out whenever he spotted a hint of aggression, he made it unscathed through the field. Kneeling down, he took a closer look at his objective.

It was a flower, orchid like, with a white tint that seemed to glow. Delicately, he felt the petals of the flower, silky to the touch. And when he placed his thumb into it's yellow center, the flower emanated a low glow, and a sweet scent was released into the air.

Fairly certain that this was a material, he drew his knife from it's sheathe, and began to delicately slice at it's stalk. Yet it's appearance did not match with it's durability, the knife struggling to find purchase even with the assistance of Merlin's skill of gathering. Aden began to hum a mantra, yet he got distracted, added to much pressure, and snapped the flower, shattering it into the breeze.

Sighing, he began to weave around the mobs once more to find his next chance.

[Quest Material Gathering]

ID: 104231

LD: 9 (+1) = 10 [Fail]

Aden accepted the quest without further motivation, smiling all the way through. He took a step towards the alchemy table, prompting Zackariah to wave him off.

"Go and grab your materials and then we'll talk. They are out on the fields, you can't miss them."

His pulse quickening, and his heart pounding, he rushed out of the door way. The sprint took it's toll on him quickly. Pushing as hard as he could, he stumbled through the gate and into the fields. Breath harsh and legs aching, Aden crashed into soft grasses of Aincrad.

Attention skyward, his eyes held wonder in them. It was mid day on floor one. Warmth seeping into his bones, his breath calmed and he started to relax. Shifting himself into a sitting position, he observed his surrounding area.

A sea of green dotted by the occasional wolf and (much to his distaste) boar. But what drew his eyes was not monsters, it was the plants that stood out in the brush. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, but Aden pushed himself up and moved forward, letting out a whisper as he walked.

"I am back... May the spirits watch over me."

"I've become known in these parts as a teacher of sorts, a beginners first step into the world of Aincrad. I essentially give them knowledge and a lesson in alchemy in return for materials, something I can't retrieve with how my body is now a days..."

Zackariah chuckles, and looks straight at Aden.

"Would you like to do a old man a favor? It'll mean alot to me."

A quest notification appeared in front of Aden, spooking and making him take a step backwards. It was fairly strange to Aden, who's only seen the store screen of NPC's. He looked up only to be faced with Zackariah's grin. 

"Just grab me five materials from this floor. They don't have to be anything special, just anything that stands out from the foliage will do."

Fairly confident, Aden relaxed and smiled at the old man. He felt like he had something learn here, even if he wasn't sure what.

"What's this, and that and this and that and that this and this and-"

Aden finds himself within an mid evil chemist's lab, complete with bottles, weird and foreign ingrediants, with the right amount of homeyness and mad alchemist elements to make our redhead relax completely. Aden was in heaven, all of these things are so beautiful and amazing and cool and MAGIC RELATED!!!

"Hmm?"

The old man, who was working over something, heard the now turned his attention towards him

"Who are you?"

With a chuckle, he gives Aden a grin.

"Sorry bout that boy, age is getting to me. I used to go by many names, but it seems you younglings prefer to call me Zackariah, so Zackariah I shall be."

Under the gaze of the old man, Aden panics a little, still excited.

"I just wanted to know what all of this is..."

Zackariah gives him a odd look, then starts to appraise Aden.

"You didn't come here knowing?"

When Aden shook his head, the man gave a sigh and started to explain...

"Ugh, what did I expect?"

In the town of beginnings, our wanna be wizard is currently sitting on the steps of a shop, with the sun beating down on him. His sweat is pouring and he seems a little dehydrated.

"I mean, what should I have expected? It's that time of year again and I wish it would just cool down... Maybe a spell would help?"

Pulling out a piece of chalk, he starts to draw on the ground, just for a pop up of <<Immortal Object>> to shatter any plans for a witch circle to bring a everlasting winter upon them...

"Dang it... Why did I come here again?"

Seemingly delirious, he looks up to the sky and starts to mumble.

"You can do it little cloud, I believe in you..."

"You there, boy..."

Jumping up, then immediately regretting it and curling up in pain, he looks up to an old man staring down at him...

"Do you need anything?"

"... Meep."

Then, something amazing happens...

The sun sets and then the moon appears with all of its glory, reminding him of his beginning, on why he was here in the forest.

He wants to learn magic.

He wants to cast spells, no matter what shape they may be in.

Its his dream, his hopes, and his passion.

The forest, glows with fireflies and with the moonlight at his side, Aden finally begins to stop hesitating and continue moving forward...

"I will return to this forest... After, of course, I can fling some sort of elemental magic, er hopefully not fire. So thank you!"

He spun around and faced the forest once more...

"Forest Spirits for watching me this whole time! Thank you for guiding and keeping me safe in your arms. I will forever remember your love and care, so please, watch over me... Cause..."

His voice becomes a small whisper...

"I will forever love you as well..."

He turns back to the village, with tears in his eyes, he goes towards the town... Towards his next adventure.

Hopefully, the next one doesn't take a year.

SUMMARY:

Aden :

400 Col 

1 SP

1 T1 Crafting Material

The sun is setting once more upon the horizon, and as the forest slowly drifts into slumber, Aden continues to walk forward with light wrapping him up in a blanket of warmth...

He takes every step with care and with hesitation...

He enjoys every moment like it's his last...

He silently hopes in his heart that he doesn't have to leave...

And for the first time in his life... He felt hesitation to continue forward...

Why not stay here, where he could live his life in hope and harmony with the forest?

The boars may annoy him but he was never injured by them, and for the flowers, he'll be able to gather them eventually...

So why?

His steps start to falter when he see's the town up ahead, on where he'll use the path to finally depart...

"Fine! I give up!"

Throw his hands in the air, he starts to trudge his way towards the town.

"I mean I just wanted some materials to like, survive to see the spells... Meh..."

His shoulders slumps and his gaze starts to wander, upon another flower...

At first he wants to stab it again... Then he sighs, and walks up to the flower...

"Fine, one last time..."

When he starts making the cuts, he slowly relaxes and smiles softly.

"Even if it fails... At least when it shatters, it's pretty..."

As soon as he says that, the flower does what he says it would do, and he grins.

"See? Pretty. Besides, gathering these flowers gives me an excuse to come back..."

In a much better mood, he continues to walk towards the town, at a much slower pace, slowly enjoying every single moment he has left in the forest...

ID : 78787

LD : 8 (+1) = 9 [FAILED]

"Before I go from this forest I want at least two materials to call my own!"

He starts to mumble crazily to himself, his past ways slowly crawling back from whatever pit they were hiding from. And then, this raving madman spotted his nemesis.

Angered at it's mere presence, he shouts out.

"I shall cast a hex upon you, a hex!"

Drawing upon the spirit of the forest, he starts to chant.

"Is Heil ons ros los fos, Is Heil ons ros los fos, IS HEIL ONS ROS LOS FOS, IS HEIL ONS ROS LOS FOS!!!"

He dashes forward with his blade held low, and with a slice... The flower perishes...

"... Probably shouldn't have done that..."

ID : 78785

LD : 3 (+1) = 4 [FAILED]

(Why are my rolls slowly getting worse?)

With a huff, and a puff, he runs into the flower once more...

"We meet again, Flower of the Impure...

You will not escape my knife again!"

Brandishing his knife, he begins his assault upon the flower, slicing with precision and intent...

The battle of wits began, as the flower attempted to dance along the wind to dodge Aden's blade but to no avail, his cuts landing true.

It seems like the battle has been lost for the flower, and Aden knows it...

Until of course.

A grunt was heard...

"Nope."

And he's off.

ID : 78784

LD : 5 (+1) =6

It's kinda sad thinking about the physical limit of Aden at times, which is currently a half a day of walking and two escapes. Well, it's that time of day again and now he slumps against a tree, exhausted.

"Sometimes i'm kinda annoyed at my poor athletic ability, and honestly it's kinda frustrating to see other players move around like the wind, and duel against these boars... I'm starting to see why people would pay so much for this actual game and not magic..."

Seemingly a little down, he slides to the bottom of the forest floor and pulls out some odds and ends and starts working on a trinket of some sort.

"I mean, this is a movement game at heart and I realize that, maybe I should have read the title before buying into the fantasy aspect of the game and throwing my hopes and dreams into it..."

Aden sighs, finishes up whatever he's making, and then proceeds to continue walking to the nearest low hanging branch, and sets the small trinket on it...

"Please continue to give me the energy I require, spirits of the forest... The sun still doesn't like me much..."

And he then continues to move forward.

Aden is still enjoying his small hike, even if his legs are starting to hurt, and while smiling he starts singing a little tune

"Through bolts of fire and lightning,

we'll see to another tale.

As blades dance in the air,

I cast another flare.

Fighting and casting I will survive,

And make sure the others burn bright..."

His singing was then reduced to a hum as he found a suitable material... The same flower that has been so delicate all this time... 

A bit too fragile, though for most, including Aden.

"La da da, dum dum, la da da da DUM-"

As another failed flower litters the ground, Aden cries a small tear...

"Though I wish..."

A small tear falls down from his face...

 ... I had a spell, to make sure so that this flower would go to he-"

Then he coughed for a little bit

ID : 78723

LD : 9 (+1) = 10 [FAILED]

It's a beautiful day outside, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming...

On day's like this, people like Aden...

Should be...

Burning...

Materials...

Anyways.

He continues hum along and relish his final day in the forest. He stops to see the birds flying overhead, stops to smell the roses, and generally take a very casual walk, knowing that he won't have another in a long time...

A small part of Aden want's to continue staying in the forest, living off the materials, selling it to the same guy for the same food, sleeping outside and barely escaping when a boar finds him. He wishes for that... But all the materials he could use for magic, is sadly elsewhere.

The only reason why he even decided go out of the forest was because he heard rumors of crystals, manifestation's of spells he so desired. He even saw one in action, or at least he assumes so. Maybe, he might be able to spell craft, in a very odd way, but still, to spell craft within this game, and he couldn't resist...

So, he now gathers materials on his second homeland, and leisurely identifies items...

That would probably explain why this happened...

"Alright, same flower, same objective. So we... Cut here, ok, good. Now another cut he-... Dang it..."

ID :78713

LD : 7 (+1) = 8 [FAILED]

"Now then!" 

He claps his hands and grins

"I've gotten everything I need for spell crafting for my journey for a month so we're good on that department... Just uh... Everything else..."

He sighs as he pulls out his inventory screen, the first game like thing he's done so far.

Of course, when he reads it...

[Inventory]

• 1 T1 Crafting Material

"... I don't think I have enough materials to even feed me for a week... Well, time to spend my final day here gathering materials..."

And so, he heads off with a goal and many spells upon his soul, whether there doing anything, er... That's for you to decide.

Soon, our... Hero? Magician? Idiot? Perhaps a combination of all three? Whatever, the guy recovers slowly yet surely, till it's the beginning of night, and the moon shines upon the world. Aden looks up to the moon and smiles a little.

"Thank you for saving me in the beginning, I wouldn't have made it without your care and protection that faithful night. So, let me thank you."

He pulls out the clover, a small, shining orb like plant, and a piece of string. Tying up the clover to the orb like plant he starts to mutter...

May your power be forever interwoven into mine, and for luck to be with both of us..."

Closing his eyes, he holds the small item within his palms, and goes to sleep with the moon watching over him...

And when he woke up, the tied up clover and orb we're gone, much to the delight of Aden, and with re energized motions he continues to make preparations to leave the forest, by first, of course, recasting everything he needs to make it through the day by many rituals and drawings and things that can be misjudged by a onlooker...

Some things never change.

"... Well that sucks."

He groans a little as he picks himself back up, sweat starting to form up on his head.

"I'm still not used to all this traveling around, even after all this time. Seriously, this forest makes me wish I can get that warp rune to work correct... I even spent a week gathering the materials for it..."

As Aden tears up a little remembering all that wasted effort, those same old grunts started to voice there thoughts on how much they "cared" on how much he wasted on that circle... Or want to nibble on him, either one.

Not even pausing for a second, he dashes away with surprising speed for his build, as the grunts get closer, and closer....

Then farther, then farther.

Panting like a dog, he slumps against a nearby tree with his tears being indistinguishable from his sweat.

"One thing"

He takes a gasp of air as he continues to ramble on.

 "I'm not going to miss are those-"

Another cough reminds him of his rather poor physique as he continues to rant.

 "dang boars! Wish my, ugh, hex would work on em..."

He trails on ahead, with a skip in his step.

"After years within the forest, I'm going on ahead to see what this world holds for me." He says to no one in particular, probably a side effect of being so distant from civilization for so long...

A sigh escapes his lips, and taps his leg thoughtfully."

"It's been awhile since I've gathered materials... Uh, should probably do that, spells don't run off air... Most of the time... And besides, I think having the only material I don't trade in for food is the material I first got isn't such a good idea... Probably. Now that I think about it, I think all that time in the forest kinda calmed me down... Even if it's side effect did sorta make me talk to myself... Out loud..."

Aden groans a little, then spot's something out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh look, distraction, I guess that luck spell is kicking in today as well..."

A delicate blue flower sticks out among all the grasses and shrubbery, and was essentially broadcasting it's existence to players as a material to gather, and to take home and use for the good of the world... The problem is...

"Lets see here, a cut and... oh no."

Gathering is still, even after all this time, not Aden's Forte.

ID:   78710

LD : 11 (+1) = 12 [FAILED]

Leaves, grasses, and flowers all softly swaying in the wind to a beat that no one can hear and a crimson sun set to give the landscape one last goodbye is the scenery which covers the landscape. Among the critters and the tree's was a ginger with amber eyes to match. From where we last saw him he's technically in better shape, but not by much.

His eyes wanders the forest with intent, looking for something that may fit the description on whatever he may be seeking.

Then, a grin floats up to his face, eyes flickering like flame in excitement as he walks over to his target.

There, on a small patch of grass, are clovers, and with quick hands he plucks one out of the ground.

"Hmm, it'll work..."

Satisfied, turns away, and chant's a few words, with the clovers still dancing to the same, unheard beat.