Tread

I lurk here a lot anymore, didn't even finish my first plot line which I'm kind of disappointed about,  but that's besides the point. I think this is a great idea, when I took on The First Few Lessons are Free, I wrote it as if it was my character's first day in Aincrad. It is kind of daunting starting out with no real base to start from.

Despite the gravity of the situation, the scenery is truly remarkable. Soft breezes ruffle the grass as Tread casually walked along the cobblestone path. There were players off in the distance, some fighting creatures while others appeared to be gathering materials for either quests or their own personal gain. It didn't matter, she was caught up in the beauty of this world while trying to attain her own goals. How did it go? I do, therefore I am? I could see it being easy to lose yourself in this world. To lose your sense of purpose, your will, your way of life. This world is amazing, though. It's only day one and yet, I kind of feel at home here. Have I lost my mind? Stay focused. Complacency kills, so does a wandering mind.

Once again, Tread surveyed the land around her. At this rate it'll take forever to find the quest items. That's probably the whole point of this. to learn patience and to trust your own ability. I'm probably giving that old hippy too much credit, especially since it's just an NPC. I am losing my mind after all. How ironic.Tread stepped off of the path and into the grass. At that point, she couldn't help but feel exposed. Her black armor with the backdrop of all the greenery made her stick out like a sore thumb. I might have to rethink my color scheme from here on out. Camouflage doesn't mean much here, but I can't shake the feeling of being so exposed.

 A faint glimmer caught Tread's eye. She approached the object on the ground and squatted down to get a closer look. The item name appeared over the object and sure enough, it was Earthroot. One of five ingredients for her quest objective. Maybe that old hippy does know what he's talking about.

Upon leaving Zackariah's shop, Tread found the city streets in a frenzy of players trying to find any means of escape. Some were purchasing gear from vendors, others were taking on quests that were probably way out of their league, while other ran past towards the northern gates. Maybe they had quests that Tread hadn't discovered yet, or maybe they were going to grind out on the boars and wolves, it didn't matter. She had her own mission to contend with. She took a deep breath of the temperate air, it smelled sweet, almost like a freshly mowed lawn. It could very well be the nearby forest and the calm breeze shifting the scent towards the city.

Whatever is out there, I can handle it. Or die trying. Tread headed for the nearby gates with a brisk walk. Despite the circumstances, she was calm and focused. Her enemies would die, plants would be picked, and she would return to her life. Although, this life of being whoever she wanted to be felt refreshing. Tread smirked as she marched on. The journey will be hard, but the reward at the destination is more than enough to fight for. And that's why I have to pick flowers now. Where did I go wrong in my life to deserve that? 

Tread strolled through the towering gates and found herself staring down the vast plains of floor one at sunset. It would be kind of romantic if the situation wasn't so messed up. Despite that, she immediately scanned her surroundings for any sign of the ingredients on her fetch quest. No dice, I should have figured it'd be harder than just walking outside of the walls. 

The quaint shop was easy enough to find. The building looked old, but well maintained. Green vines weave between each other on the walls and planter boxes with various flora and vegetables growing inside sat between the entrance of the alchemist's corner store. At this point, players began funneling by in greater numbers, searching for their own escape from this world. Tread watched them out of the corner of her eye remembering as many faces as possible. Perhaps a few of them will be allies in the future. Enough people watching, let's do this. 

Tread entered the building and she was immediately assaulted by the smell of plants, potions, and dusty tomes. At the center of it all was a large, old man. His silver hair went past his shoulders and he had a scraggly beard. "Hello and welcome to my humble shop!" The man's voice boomed, despite his announcement, he didn't seem so humble. "My name is Zackariah, how may I be of service?" Despite being a non-player character, he seemed so alive. It's incredible how much work was put into this twisted game. Real care was put into it to bring Aincrad to life.

"I was hoping you could give me some work." It was hard for Tread to believe she wasn't talking to a real person, would it even understand what she said?

"You seek work? Ah I may have a task for you, but first I want you to run an errand for me. You see, I need five different ingredients for a potion I'm working on, but I don't have the time to leave my shop to retrieve them. They are Peacebloom, Silverleaf, Earthroot, Bruiseweed, and Kingsblood. Can you do that for me?" 

I hate fetch quests. "Yes, I think I can manage that. Where can I find them?

"Search for them in the wild. I trust it won't take long at all for you to find them as long as you trust your instincts and leave the boars alone for now." Zackariah began swishing around a potion, signifying that he has said all that is necessary for the quest to begin. Tread would spend the better part of her time in the wilderness picking flowers and roots like some kind of wannabe hippy. The experience is worth it.   

((A lot of my starter role plays will be based in the past because I'm cliche and really want to flesh out this character's story. With that being said, here we go!))

Kelly stared at her hands. They weren't exactly hers, the lines in her palms were completely wrong, she was missing the rougher calluses from physical training, but they were roughly the same size as they should be. Her face, however, was a perfect match. Small scars she had earned over the years were reflected in great detail in this digital world. The long flowing red hair she picked out for herself was replaced by her own shorter and more functional jet black hair. Green eyes Kelly vaguely remembered had disappeared as well, the darkened eyes of a rabid dog stared back at her own reflection, the eyes of a warrior who had seen enough death and destruction. Fortunately, the mirror had vanished into thin air, and shortly after the Game Master had  also taken his leave.

Tension and panic overwhelmed the players around her. The joyous anticipation of a new game that she saw in people only an hour ago was quickly replaced by furious players who had no one to unleash their wrath on, players consumed by sorrow and despair who had all but given up on life, and then there were the players who were already on the move. What drove them? How are they truly coping with the fact that they are trapped in this game of life and death? I can't help but think that I'm going to die in this world. How many of those other people are thinking the same way as I am? How can they push themselves to leave the square after all that? At that moment it dawned on her, Kelly has a military career that she had dedicated her life to. That training alone should get her through this nightmare. The rest is up to me. I guess I'm Tread now.

At that moment, Tread made a one-eighty and headed for one of the many exits from the city center. She needed to level hard and the best way to do it would be to start questing. Thankfully, she had spotted a quest in an Alchemist's shop earlier while she explored the Town of Beginnings. It wasn't too far away from where she was at now and being in the starting zone, it should be easy enough to complete. Despite this being her first time in the world of Aincrad, this wasn't her first MMO. Chances are, she would have to kill some sort of mob and take their eyes for some sort of attack potion. I hate fetch quests. 

I like the sounds of this. I'd say it'd almost be like a heavily armored wasp, but dragging around a sword almost as big as me kinda ruins that.

I appreciate all of the input. I'll be referring back to this thread once I stop slacking on my journal!

(Thank you Takao, it's been way too long)

Hi Itzal, I greatly appreciate the information. I'll be saving this for my own personal notes so it's in my face. I'm leaning towards a heavily armored character, so I probably wouldn't go for a stealth outlook as that can be hard to justify lugging around plate armor and a sword that's almost, if not, as big as I am haha.

First of all, hello everyone! In the grand scheme of things, I'm new here, but this isn't my first account on this site. Some of you may vaguely remember Mythic. Played a bit then suddenly fell off the face of the Earth. I was in a weird place in life and I worked a lot, so I kind of lost my creativity. I have no intention of getting back in touch with that character, so I'll let it continue to collect dust. Ideally, I wanted to be done with my journal today.... Friday the 5th... but that's getting pushed back to Monday or Tuesday. I'm still trying to get a feel for the character and it's honestly the first time I've done any sort of character development... or even writing since I left here back in Novemberish. 

I digress, though. I've been reading and rereading all of the guides that currently affect me.Just like last time, it's an overwhelming amount of information so I'm sure I'm going to have a handful of questions by the time my journal is approved. With that being said, I would like some input as far as my character goes.

I know I want a damage dealing and I'm more than likely going to go the two handed straight sword route. That's all that I have though, for starters, could I get some suggestions on how to allocate my skills for that sort of build, also, what are some options for secondary skills that could either compliment that sort of build, or skills that could open up additional roles for my character, for example like a scout? I have no intention to pick up a profession, I don't see it as having a place in my character's.... character.

Thank you guys for any input.

Profile
Username: Tread
Real name: Kelly Mathias
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Height: 5'10"

About: History/personality

Kelly was born to a loving mother and father who resided in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kelly's father, Andrew, was a wildland firefighter and Miranda, her mother, is a flight attendant for a major airline. Kelly spent most of her time with her father, not because she didn't have a strong relationship with her mother, but Miranda's profession kept her away from home for long periods of time. Andrew took Kelly out camping often, he taught her many skills to survive in the wilderness like tying knots, safely building a fire and how to extinguish it, hunting small game, and identifying various fauna that is beneficial to humans and avoiding the ones that aren't.

When Kelly turned fourteen, her father died doing what he loved most, helping others. Andrew's Chief explained to Miranda and Kelly that a home had caught fire during one of California's worst wild fires in its history. Typically, the firefighters would have left it to burn so that they could utilize the time to try and save other structures that were in danger. However, an elderly couple hadn't evacuated. The home collapsed with the couple and Kelly's father inside. Kelly and her mother were devastated, but life kept moving on. Kelly's mother picked up as much overtime as she could to make ends meet, leaving Kelly to take care of herself. 

At fifteen, Kelly found herself in a deep depression, she longed for an escape, but didn't quite know what it was or how she would achieve it. She found her answer during her summer leading up to tenth grade in high school. A plane tens of thousands of feet above her soared through the sky, it looked so tiny, but hundreds of people could have been on it. Kelly couldn't help but wonder where they were going, the possibilities were limitless. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her heart was nearly set on the idea to obtain her Pilot's License. There was just one small issue, Kelly is absolutely terrified of heights and the anxiety quickly set in.

The following summer, Kelly visited a local flight school with her mother. Despite her fears, Kelly needed to know if it was something that she could do. The Chief Flight Instructor offered to take Kelly up for a test flight, hesitantly, she agreed. The plane was small, only capable of holding four passengers. It looked like a death trap. As Kelly sat in the Captain's seat, her anxiety quickly disappeared. It felt right, it felt like she belonged in that seat. The next hour was spent performing various maneuvers and getting familiarized with the controls, it all came so naturally to Kelly, she found where she was meant to be. After landing and discussing schooling with the instructor, it became very apparent that there would be no way to finance the schooling, however, the pilot was a former Royal Air Force pilot from the United Kingdom and he suggested the Air Force Academy. 

Years had passed since that day, at the age of 22, Kelly graduated from the Academy and became a 2nd Lieutenant for the United States Air Force and responsible for a multi-million dollar fighter jet. However, the young woman wouldn't see a deployment for many months. The tedium of time outside of the flight deck ate at Kelly's conscience. Stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada was nice at first, but the appeal of being so close to Las Vegas quickly diminished. An escape presented itself when a fellow officer introduced Kelly to a more popular fantasy MMO. She'd be the first to admit that she had become addicted, but it was a welcome distraction and way better than being harassed in  a city that never sleeps.

In the present day, the young woman is now a Major and is stationed in Germany. Although her days are incredibly busy, Kelly still finds time to play video games. She closely followed the development of the Nerve Gear and eagerly waited for the chance to experience a second life in a video game. Just like everyone else, she waited in a line that seemed to stretch forever in the base's Post Exchange. The one thing that surprised Kelly the most was the diversity of the crowd. From officers to the enlisted, service members from other branches, teenagers and elderly, the technology and game appealed to them all. Kelly camped out in the line for three days and yet it seemed as though others had waited significantly longer. In the end she was one of the unlucky few to receive the gear that would seal her mind away in a game of life or death that only the fittest and bravest could possibly survive.

Virtues:

Confidence: A career in the military gives a certain self satisfaction to just about anyone. No matter what you do, from administrative work or fighting on the front lines, you become confident in yourself and those who serve next to you. Being selected to pilot a versatile fighter jet boosts someone's confidence just a bit more.

Natural Leader: As an officer, Kelly is expected to lead men and women competently. The fine mentors at the Academy drilled this into her with classes and more practical duties such as managing the mess hall and armory. Despite all of that, leading a team came naturally to her at a young age, stepping up in youth sports and class projects and utilizing the people around her and their skillset efficiently.

Battle Hardened: At the very base, Kelly is a warrior trained to defeat all who oppose her. She has two confirmed kills under her belt from duels in the skies of North Korea. Because she is a warrior at heart, she is incredibly physically fit to handle the forces her body goes through in flight as well as superb reflexes to help ensure anyone will have to work incredibly hard to get the upper hand.

Flaws:

Confidence: Confidence is a double-edged sword. It is necessary to have it, but too much of it can give you an ego. An inflated ego can very well spell the death of a person fairly quickly when they bite off more than they can chew.

Pessimist: Despite her confidence, Kelly can't help but think of the worst case scenario. Death and despair go hand and hand and it sometimes haunts a person with a pessimistic outlook on life. Maybe Sword Art Online will cure her of these thoughts, or maybe it will only amplify them as time moves on.

Arachnophobia: Spiders only deserve one thing, death, preferably by fire. Kelly is creeped out by how their little, or big, legs move and their beady little eyes is evil incarnate. Or it's probably all in Kelly's mind, either way, spiders are on the no-go list.  

Profession: 

Skills

Stats

Level: 1

SP: 0/5 (11 points to next level)

Skill Slots: 2

HP: 20/20

EP: 2/2

DMG: 4

ACC: 0

MIT: 0

EVA: 0
Non-combat:
»

Passive:
»

Combat:
»

Weapon skills:
» 2H Straight Sword Rank 1: Gain +3 base damage


Inventory
Weapons/Tools:

» DPS Starter Pack: Vanity Armor resembles plate armor and is black in color, Burnished Steel Greatsword (rare) +2 DMG, 3 starter healing potions (50 HP)

» Currency: Col: 2,500 

                      Mats: T1: 10

Roleplays
The First Few Lessons are Free - Treading Water in progress


Relationships (optional)



Story Thus Far (optional)