Ivory Lotus

The wind blew through the grasses, making a strangle rustling noise. It was a strange, but peaceful kind of noise. With some boar enemies in the distance she could almost make herself believe that this was the real world, not a video game, and that she was in the middle of some expanse of grassland somewhere in the wild. She started to hum again, quieter this time. She had spent so much time just chilling, trying not to stress that it came naturally to her. It was very different from the kind of person she had been before this game. She had had the opposite kind of problem, but this game had given her a chance to just relax. She just wanted a peaceful life with fun people who supported her and who she could support. She didnt want to deal with drama, or fighting, or any of that stressful stuff. She just wanted everyone to be happy and healthy and to enjoy themselves. She leaned down, picking a herb out of the grasses near her feet. Easy.

+1 mat (5/5 for Quest)

That had been a lucky find. Now she was only one material off of the next part of this quest. She hoped the actual crafting portion wouldn't be too hard. She continued to kick at the pebble she had found before eventually losing it somewhere in the grasses in the field. She sighed, sitting down on a nearby rock and just looking out over the expanse of the field she was in. It was a beautiful landscape, but one that she would rather experience with friends. That was another problem. She really needed to meet new people, maybe join a guild or form a party. She was a very social person, and she found it strange that she had so many friends but so few of them ever acknowledged her. It was a weird world, but she was sure eventually she would have so many friends she wouldn't know what to do with them all. That was the dream.

No Mat found

She had only ever really met one frontliner, and honestly she had found him to be intimidating and not very friendly. Maybe it was just first impressions, she would try to keep an open mind. She twirled locks of her hair through her fingers humming to herself quietly and haphazardly touching things as she walked. Bush... boop Rock... boop Tree... boop. She didnt know why she was doing it, but it helped the time to go by just a little bit faster. Wandering with a purpose was a little boring, especially when she didn't really know what she was doing. Maybe it was silly to have a quest that was just: go find materials; and then expect you to know what it was talking about. Her humming got a little bit louder as the wind around her picked up, until it was like she was battling the wind with her voice. Ah, another herb. She leaned down and picked it up.

+1 Mat (4/5 for quest)

She had hoped to graduate from school, get a good job, maybe meet a cute boy. That would have made her parents happy. They had always said that she didn't spend enough time on herself; it was the whole reason they had gifted her the game in the first place. She hoped that they didn't feel guilty about anything. She started to kick a rock around as she walked. what had she accomplished in this game in all of her time here? Nothing really, and that bothered her a lot. She wanted to help people but people were dying and there was nothing she could do about it, at least not in her current state. Maybe she couldn't fight, but she could get stronger in other ways and help people and save lives in that way. There was a long road ahead of her, but her goals were certainly achievable. The fact that she couldnt hurt enemies was a bit of a bump in the road, but that just meant that she needed to make friends who could help her that way.

No Mat Found

The healer hummed to herself as she continued to scour the ground around her looking for materials. In a way the work reminded her of her time as a medical student, except way less interesting and actually not similar at all. She hadn't gotten very far in that venture unfortunately before this sword art online thing had happened to her. It was just supposed to be something to do to relax every now and then, not something she was stuck in for years. She wondered what would happen when they managed to get out, if the place she had been interning would let her back in. Probably not, and to be completely honest she couldn't really remember a whole lot about what she had learned. All of that time studying hadn't really amounted to much had it. It wasnt really her fault, but the fact that this search for materials wasn't amounting to much definitely felt like her fault. She kept getting distracted with her own thoughts.

No Mat found

Ivory took a step back and gave Randal a little smile. "Maybe. I'm not really great at dancing though, its something you have to practice, right?" She asked slowly glancing around, enjoying their surroundings. It hadn't been a bad experience, but now it felt like something a couple would do and she felt kind of awkward about it, especially since he had mentioned earlier having a girlfriend outside of the game. "I'm not really hungry right now, but thank you for offering." She responded, accepting the coupon anyway. She smiled at how tasty the food looked, thinking back to her time before the game and all of the fifty cent ramen she had eaten because she was too busy to cook for herself and too poor to afford to order anything. "I'll take this as a raincheck though. We can hang out sometime later and just enjoy ourselves." She offered, brandishing the ticket he had given her. 

A girl could dream though. Maybe a secret cave with glowing crystals, or a light blue lake with a beach of white sand. If she managed to somehow find the latter she was definitely going barefoot, that was for sure. She looked around her, noting that she could only barely see the starting city, also noting a group of enemies a little ways off to her right. She frowned and changed direction, heading to her left further out, checking the ground for herbs, bushes for berries, etcetera. She even checked some boulders, although after doing so she felt really dumb. you weren't going to find resources on a boulder of all places. Ivory was starting to get a bit lonely, so she started humming again as she continued her search. She took a moment to kneel next to a white wildflower, leaning down to smell its sweet fragrance with a contented smile on her face.

+1 Mat (3/5 for quest)

She then noticed what appeared to be a small inconspicuous herb nearby, picking it and depositing it in her inventory. 

Ivory kicked at the ground aimlessly, humming random notes to herself and twirling as she walked, not sure what direction she was going, but she didn't much care. She would get wherever she was supposed to be going eventually, that was just how fate worked. Her thoughts drifted to the people she had met recently and the stuff they had done. Not much really. There was that one guy who she hadnt really liked, although they hadnt really talked all that much. She had a bad feeling about him and wasn't sure if she should avoid him or not. She would let fate handle it, that was how life worked after all. What happened happened, and it happened for a reason. She smiled to herself, wondering if she might be able to find some secret grove or other strange and beautiful place as she wandered. That would be fun, but she wasnt generally lucky enough to stumble on something like that when she was by herself.

No Mat found

She twirled in place, her cloak flying out around her and she meandered further out of the safe zone in search of more materials for the quest. This was the kind of thing that she had been doing for most of her time in sword art online, minus the gathering materials. Now she wondered if maybe she should have been keeping an eye out all of those times that she had just been wandering around aimlessly enjoying herself. The enemies on this floor didnt pose any sort of threat to her with her high health and mitigation, so she was pretty much free to roam as she wished, trying to avoid enemies and feeling the breeze on her face. She wanted to go barefoot honestly, and feel the grass on her bare feet, but something, maybe her common sense, stopped her.

+1 Mat (2/5 for Quest)

She spotted another herb of some kind, making her way over to pick it and storing it in her inventory. Only three more to go and she could attempt to find her way back to the potions shop.

She laughed. It was a little weird, and a little quirky, but she liked it. Although she really didn't know how to dance she figured she'd give it her best shot. She reached out her delicate hand, entwining it in his as he helped her to her feet. "I'd love to. I have no idea how though, so you lead." She looked made eye contact with him, cocking her head slightly to the side with a sheepish grin, a light blush in her cheeks. Whether from the cold, embarrassment, or something else, who knew. She leaned in a little closer, humming along to the whistling of the wind as she closed her eyes momentarily, a peaceful look coming over her face. She was generally very comfortable being physically close to others, so she wasn't uncomfortable with how close they were at all. She squeezed his hand encouragingly before opening her eyes again, looking up and giving him another small but warm smile.

She reached out, her gloved hand resting on his knee as she turned her head to face him, giving him a warm smile. "I think its easier if you try to live your life without regrets. I guess try not to leave things unfinished and if you have problems with someone try to resolve them quickly so if the time does come you can go without worrying about the messes you might leave behind." She gently squeezed his leg before withdrawing her hand, folding her hands together in her lap and enjoying the dazzling view in the company of her new friend. She knew how hard it probably was to admit something like that, and she hoped that her advice would help somehow even though it wasn't something that was easy to do.

1 Mat found

Ivory started to hum to herself, glancing down and realizing that there was a little piece of what seemed to be silver next to her. She scooped it up, still humming and held it out to Randal. She grinned playfully, her greyish-purple eyes twinkling in the sunlight. "This is pretty much the extent of how I can help, but even doing something small like this can be all it takes to change someone's fate for the better."

Ivory gives Randal 1 Mat

The young woman took a moment to ponder why people enjoyed doing this kind of thing. It occurred to her that it was sort of like picking flower except instead of a bouquet at the end you got stuff to increase your stats with. That was kind of lame. Ivory would much rather have the flowers than a potion or weapon. Now armor was another story. If it was cute she was all for it. She started to imagine the kind of armor she would commission when she had money or materials to spend and then realized that she didn't really understand what the options were for kinds of heavy armor. Did it have to be like heavy plate steel or something? Cause that would be lame too.

No Mats found

She glanced around the plain, her eyes narrowed and keeping an eye out for materials. She wasn't able to spot any though, unsurprisingly. It wasn't as though she had any clue what she was looking for in the first place.

Randal definitely seemed to be a kindred spirit to her, although he probably didn't hold the same beliefs in not hurting mobs. She had been stuck on the lower floors as well for quite a while and the people she had met seemed to be too busy all the time to talk to her or anything. That was fine though, she understood that people had their own things going on. She stopped walking, sitting down on a nearby rock with a sigh. They had been walking for quite some time and she felt like she needed a break. She patted the rock next to her, motioning for Randal to come join her. They were fairly high up, and the path dropped off rather sharply on the other side, lending them a peek at the beautiful expanse of floor seven. From where they sat you could even see the noon sunlight glimmering off of the peaks of the other distant mountaintops. "Cooped up you say... Are you planning on changing that any time soon? There's a lot to see and do and people to meet and form new bonds with. I want to make it to the frontlines and try to help those people. Even if most of them are selfish, I don't want to sit by while they risk their lives."

The healer definitely approved of not being rude to the Minotaurs, although she really wished that they didn't have to kill them for the quest. She didn't want anyone or anything to have to suffer. She shifted awkwardly as the man with the red eyes looked over each of them in turn, seeming to be analyzing something. It was awkward because she had absolutely no equipment and imagined that she looked fairly helpless. Ivory could for the life of her remember what had happened to it. Maybe she misplaced it, or gave it away or something dumb like that. She tended to do those kinds of things without thinking. She smiled to the other two girls, a friendly smile. "Its really nice to meet you both, I'm Ivory. I hope we can all be friends." She stated hopefully.

She glanced around the labyrinth, already lost even though they had just entered. Not wanting to discourage the others or embarrass herself she decided to keep this fact to herself and let the man who had invited her take the lead. He really seemed to know what he was doing, unlike her. She kicked a rock in front of her absentmindedly, caught up in her thoughts. She wasn't sure why but she found cloaked man to be very intimidating and for once in her life she wasn't talking anyone's ear off excitedly.

[Labyrinth search 2/5]

She shrugged. "What happens happens." They had reached a significantly higher altitude at this point, and he breath was starting to condense into a fine mist in front of her. She shivered. "If some magical beast shows up I'll try to tame it, if fate would have it that way." She glanced around, her eyes narrowing a bit as she seemed to be searching for something. This was probably about where they would find the white owls, or maybe a bit higher up, but she was trying to keep her eyes open for signs of one. She didn't see any though, and she wasn't all that surprised. She was the kind of person who spent twenty to thirty minutes trying to find the exit to a city, or 2 hours trying to find a potion shop that was right in front of her. It wasn't all that surprising that she didn't see any sign of what she was searching for. She turned her attention back to Pebbles. "Thats awful." She said softly, seeming a little sad for the first time since they had met. "At least he has you now." It was obvious that her opinion of him had risen slightly, not it had been at all bad before.

LD requirement changed to 12+

She thought about it for a moment. "Every person is an opportunity to make a new friend. You are a very nice person, there's no reason not to enjoy the company of others." She paused the black gloved finger making its way back up to her lips as she cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "It seems to me if you don't enjoy someone's company and you don't speak up isn't that just wasting everyone's time? And if you aren't true to yourself and to others how can you expect them to be true to you?" She wasnt sure if that made any sense, having already forgotten the start of what she had said; a fairly common occurrence. Her eyes drifted upwards and to the right as she continued to think, this time about potential familiars as Randal had brought up. "That seems like something special, you cant really tame it I don't think. Plus, I'm not a special person, I would feel weird having some extravagant or abnormal familiar. I just want to snuggle with it and relax, not worry about what others think."

Thankfully it only too her 20 minutes to find the exit to the starting city. One might ask why she didn't just keep teleport crystals on her and teleport places. The answer was simple. And that one who asked was probably an idiot. Teleport crystals didnt grown on trees, and Ivory was one hundred and ten percent broke. She wasn't sure if shed had money before and then lost it somehow, but she knew for sure that her bank account said 0 col. She stepped out into the plains, making sure to avoid any mobs as she looked around for some kind of material. 

+1 Mat

Her efforts were not in vain as she managed to stumble upon what seemed to be some kind of herb. With a smile she plucked it, depositing it in her inventory with a flourish. Now, for four more and then on to whatever else this quest had in store for her.

"Maybe they cant feel, but maybe they can. Maybe its a small chance, but its enough that I don't want any part of it. Maybe it needs to happen for us to progress and get out of here, and that's okay, but I don't want to do any of it myself." She smiled wryly. "I know thats selfish, but I cant help that."  She paused for a moment as they continued their trek up the path, the crunching of gravel beneath their feet filling the silence. She just wanted everyone to be happy, even the AI mobs. She raised one of her delicate, gloved hands up, brushing her hair behind her ear again as she climbed over a rock that had fallen in the middle of the path, carefully hopping down the other side back onto the gravel. She laughed at his question. "I dunno, they look cute. And a dog or a cat is kind of lame for a fantasy game, right?" The comment was followed by another giggle as she led the way hopefully towards where they were supposed to be going, but who really knew. She definitely didnt.

Light came into the man's dark eyes, a lightbulb going off to signify a brilliant idea. “Would you gather a few materials for me? Flowers, herbs, rare woods, whatever you can find outside the city walls. I promise I’ll help you fill your order as soon as you return. In fact, I would be willing to show you how to do it yourself.” 

She had honestly been worried at first, the mans dead eyes had been depressing. She didnt want anyone to be sad, even a random NPC. Luckily he seemed to have some kind of great idea involving her going and getting stuff for him, and then doing the work that she wanted done herself. Which was some insane nonsense. That was like ordering from a pizza place and them telling you to go pick the tomatoes and make the cheese and pepperoni and stuff, and then telling you to just make it yourself.

The idea was funny to her, and despite how silly of a premise this was, she was honestly happy to do it anyway. It was just a silly video game quest that about... finding things. Wait a second... She started counting the things she was bad at on her fingers before giving up as she ran out of room to count. she was sure that was one of the things she was really bad at. This was going to be an interesting quest.

Ivory smiled as Randal wove a picture with his words of exploration and excitement. And it didn't involve combat at all, which made her like it even more. A light flush came to her cheeks as her eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of seeing beautiful places and things. Granted that was basically how she spent her time outside of the safe zones anyway, but the prospect still made her smile. Her lips curled upwards a little more. "I have." She responded succinctly, but there was definitely some passion in her voice. "Exploring with others makes it even better, having someone to share all of that with. Sometimes I like to imagine I have someone with me."

She quickly moved to explain. "I have lots of friends, but they don't do things with me and they don't really talk to me, but I know that they really like me." She nodded, looking very sure of herself and what she had just said. she then raised the sword and smacked it on the side of the mountain with a loud clang. 

"Swords are just tools, we should use them however we like. And if it doesn't involve hurting others... that a plus, right?"

Ivory finds 1 Mat

It took her literally 2 hours to find her way to the shop, which she realized had been right in front of her most of the time and she had been walking in a circle for the last 20 minutes. She wasnt upset though, life took you where you were supposed to be, so she must have been destined to get lost for an hour and 30 minutes... An hour and 40 minutes? Math wasnt her strong suit and she wasnt going to stress that either. The point was destiny had caused her to get lost and it was for a reason. She entered the shop, noting the shelves everywhere filled with all kinds of potions and jars. It was honestly a little overwhelming.

 “Oh, hello," Came the distracted greeting from behind the counter. A man with a long, snow-white beard glances up from a bubbling cup of sweet-smelling purple liquid. "Are you here to order something? I’m sorry, but I am currently swamped with orders, and I’m running out of supplies.” 

Ivory smiled at the man, but honestly she was seriously questioning if that was really true with all of the shelves filled with potions. Swamped with orders, but with so many unsold potions? They must either be useless and for decoration, or he was making stuff up.

"My name is Dorian, and I am the mayor of this town. As part of those mayoral duties, I issued a small loan to a member of the community a few months ago. Well, the time to collect had come around and I-" Flustered, Dorian systematically ran his fingers over his perfect mustache. "You see, I've forgotten who it was I loaned the money to. Terribly embarrassing, I know, but I am a very busy man, and I cannot keep track of everything that happens. I'm sure you understand." 

Ivory definitely understood. She was the absentminded sort herself, constantly getting lost, losing things, forgetting stuff. She nodded to him encouragingly.

With a wave of his hand, Dorian continued, "Should you be willing to track down the loan recipient for me, and collect the col, I would be eternally grateful. Just, maybe don't let anyone else know I forgot who the loan went to?"

She giggled, glad to finally have a quest that wasnt combat based. "Of course, I would be happy to help you Mr. Dorian." She responded with a little bow. She wished that she had friends to do this quest with, but despite that fact that she was certain that everyone she knew loved her, she rarely saw them. She raised her hand, pressing the blue accept button on the screen in front of her. It wasn't worth worrying about, she was constantly making new friends anyway.

Dorian nodded. "Excellent, I knew I could count on you! You might start with Zackariah, the alchemist. He's often doing projects for the town, so it may have been him that borrowed the money." 

She raised her finger to her lips thoughtfully. That presented a bit of a minor challenge for the young woman. She wasnt entirely sure where this Zackariah NPC was, and with her sense of direction it might take her forever to even find him. "huh." She said to herself after a moment of thinking. Thinking was too hard and took too long, it was time for action! she picked a random direction and started walking. Zackariah couldn't hide from her for long!

It was just another day on floor one. The sun was shining, and the NPCs were doing their own thing. A lot of players had cleared out of this place since unlocking other floors, but there were still quite a few stragglers that refused to leave. Their lives were more important than escape, and Ivory could respect that. Personally, Ivory preferred to avoid conflict. She wasnt even that big of a gamer either, and this wasnt really her type of game. It had interested her enough that she was in this mess though. 

"You there! Stop, please!" A man approached her with long, purposeful strides. "Pardon me, but I am in need of some assistance, and you appear quite capable." 

Ivory didnt quite know about that one, but she didnt interrupt him. she had played enough of this game to know the start of a quest when she saw one. She was just happy to have something out of the ordinary to do. Hopefully not involving combat. She didnt have anywhere near the damage for that kind of quests, thats why she brought friends.

 Stats:
 

"Well, I'm sure if we follow one of these paths we'll eventually get to a higher elevation." She remarked, not seeming to care particularly where they ended up. She look around them at all of the mountain peaks that they weren't even close to. A hike was definitely in order. she opened her inventory, pulling out a one handed straight sword and proceeding to use it as a walking stick, the tip of the blade sinking into the dirt with every step. 

"You mentioned that you wanted to explore this floor, is that something you do often? Exploring that is." Ivory herself tended to stick to the cities trying to make friends, but occasionally she liked to sightsee some of the nicer floors. This wasn't really her sort of game, with all of the monsters and fighting and stuff. The wind continued to blow steadily as they made their way down the path, the plants and grasses swaying in the breeze. She buttoned up her cloak in response, pulling the hood up to keep her hair from flying everywhere and obscuring her vision. She turned around to face Randal, now walking backwards with a surprising nimbleness to continue their conversation.

Ivory frowned, reaching up to try to pat the mans head consolingly. "You should believe in her just as much as you want her to believe in you. If even you doubt that she's waiting for you..." She trailed off. She took a step back, smiling at Randal, a lock of hair falling down in front of her face. She pursed her lips, attempting to blow it out of her face. It worked momentarily but then fell right back in front of her eye. 

"Sure I can guide you, my sense of direction is impeccable!" She exclaimed, practically dripping with confidence and charisma. As long as they weren't trying to go anywhere in particular she could get them there, she was certain of that. The gravel crunched underneath her feet as she took the first few steps down the path away from Nimbus. "I'm hoping to tame one of those cute white owls, although they're probably napping at this time of the day. In the meantime we can explore though. Maybe find some wildflowers or something." She grinned at the idea of a bouquet of wildflowers.