Row

As a treasure hunter, the most important thing was to find treasure. To do that, you needed the best gear available. How do you get the best gear? You roll the wheel of hope and pray that you get what you want. However, the wheel of hope can only get you so far. Even worst, the wheel of hope does not work on accessories. This left Row no choice but to venture out and look for an Artisan. It did not take long as she only had to look through the first floor. Bluebird's Workshop. It had such a pretty name so Row as forced to enter. "Hello, anyone home?" It did not take long for the girl to find a stack of forms. She did not mind filling it out as she waited for service. "Lets see... Teru Teru Bozo Row, and it will be a lucky charm. I hope the Artisan knows what a Teru Teru Bozu is... they are so adorable!" Now that her form was done, she placed it up on the counter and waited for service.

Name: Teru Teru Bozu Row
Profession: Artisan
Rank: 6
ID:
Roll:
Item Type: Lucky Charm
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +3 LD
Description: A little Teru Teru Bozu charm that resembles the player Row.

"Come in. Thank you. Do you think you would have time to help an old man out?"  In the center of the room was an elderly man with hair as white as snow. He looked like an antique surrounded by relics which needed tender care of a house cleaning service. The first words that came to the girl's mind was old and muscular. Sure the man had a receding hairline and a beard that would put jolly old saint Nick to shame. If you put a box over his head though, you would see a body of a young adult. Could the elderly even get that big? Whether it comes from his genes, some unknown magic, a healthy diet, or just a love of weight lifting, this man had guns. What made his body show out more was his peaceful voice. If he were to stand behind a wall, one would confuse him for a weak yet peaceful old man.

Quest Completed:

Row Obtains:
400 Col
3 sp (1 thread + 2 Quest)
5 Tier One Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP)
1 Tier One Damage Potion. (+1 Damage)
1 Tier One Over-Health Potion (+50 Temp. HP)

Well it was very difficult. Row kept reading the quest long over and over looking for clues. She checked the merchants market. She checked the alchemy market. She check the fountain. This man was nowhere to be seen. She did not want to ask a noob about the location because she had her pride. She choose not to listen to the man. Now she was suffering for it. Finally she returned to his shop and sat down on the porch. She let out a sigh only to look up and see this big old sign that read, "Lyle's Workshop." It was right in front of her the whole time and she just missed it. She banged her head on the wall and took one damage. She walked across the street to the mans shop. "Deleiver for Lyle-sama," 

A voice much weaker then Zakariah greeted her, "Come in. Thank you. Do you think you would have time to help an old man out?" 

"That is great little adventurer. Now before you I just need you to do one last thing for me." Row nearly fainted. To think this man would want Row to do more task so he could hear himself talk. She had to decline, but she really wanted to finish the quest. "See, a friend of mine ask me for some supplies and I am much too busy to just go over there myself." Row's eyes lit up with hope. "Ok I will do it!" The quest updated in her quest log and she swiped the package. She was so happy that she did not have to hear the man spew more nonsense and useless information. She quickly left the building and started running around town. Her quest log mentioned she had to find a guy named Lyle's work shop. Without knowing what kind of shop it was, this task could become very difficult. Maybe this was one of those times where she should have listen to the man. Everything was fine though, for she was a treasure hunter. She could find anything and everything if she put her mind to it.

"Sorry about that little kid. It is just amazing how talented you are." He gave a smile that could melt the coldest heart. "Yeah and its amazing how much you can talk," responded Row under her breath. "I'm sorry kid, my ears are old, if you have a question please speak up." he finished with another chuckle, unaware of the fact that the comment was making fun of him. "Oh uhh nothing. I learned a lot Zakariah-sensei." The man patted Row's head before turning around back to the table. he picked up the potion and studied it. "I can surely see, I will keep this for now." Yet again, Row's hard work with just end up being free labor for the man. Her soul cried as the item was forever free from her inventory. She did not care much about the alchemy itself, but that hard work. She really hoped this quest would reward her efforts soon.

Before she could read the results, she felt strong arms grab her. She was hoisted into the air, "GOOD JOB. You made a perfect potion on your first try, you really have a knack for this. Do you want to be an alchemist?"

Absolute terror ran through her body, forcing her to tremble in fear. She did not light it when people just grabbed her and she hated it more when people just randomly picked her up. "Alchemy can be a very scary thing so I understand if you want to make your decision later. Just remember, once you pick something, you can never change it again." Well, thank you so much for your help. If you have any questions about anything we went over please ask now. Row giggle awkwardly before finally opening her mouth, "Can... you... you know... put me down?" The man let out a hardy laugh before lowering the girl.

Given what happened the first time she failed at gathering, she knew she had one chance to get out of this without hearing the man give extra speeches. She had to successfully craft a potion. If the man was not a walking word minigun, she would probably take this a little more seriously. She opened the quest to review the requirements one more time. All she had to do was successfully make a potion. It did not matter what kind, as long as it was a success. She grabbed the mats and threw them on the table. She the grabbed the bottle and poor some water inside. She threw the flower mesh inside the bottle and spun it with p-jazz. Finally she set it down and watched it glow. It was working! The game recognized her attempt to craft and was constructing the potion. Then it stopped glowing and a window popped up reading success.

All she could do was accepted it and wait for him to stop talking. Given how much she cared about the profession, she only got the bare basics required to complete the quest. Normally a player had a limited about of crafting attempts a day and each attempt used up one mat. Since he was teaching her, she would have an unlimited number of attempts in order to practice and get use to the system. In this system, there are varying degrees of success and the better your success, the better the item crafted. It took like a whole 10 minutes for this man to say all of this because he kept trying to be all friendly and tell stories. Time was money and he was wasting all of it. Pretty soon, she would have a birthday at the rate this quest was going. He eventually guided her to the crafting table and asked her to make a potion.

She let out a sigh and then opened her inventory. Selecting the material out of her inventory, it just appeared in her hand. The man grabbed the bag and inspected thoroughly. It took a good 30 seconds tops. Row knew this because she wanted to count every second that the man did not talk. She would not dare interrupt him either. Finally, he finished and smiled. A thumbs up went into the air. "Good job adventurer, these are some of the finest specimens of flowers material I have ever seen. Now we can start practicing crafting. We will use Alchemy because it is very simple and useful." Row tried to interject because she did not want to be an Alchemist but the man just kept going. Row just accepted the fact that she was going to be at this man’s whim. Nothing she says will matter because this is a beginner quest for the most newbiest of newb.

As she walked back to the town, she realized a flaw in her logic from earlier. Sure if she failed she might have had to listen to the man, but she was sure to have to listen to a speech had she succeeded. She groaned as she walked to the gate. She groaned as she walked through the streets. She groaned as she walked up to his door. Lastly she groaned as he randomly just opened the door like some sort of horror movie. The only thing that was missing was rain, clouds, and some random lightning strikes. "Oh you finished the quest very quickly. You must be a very lucky kid. Well, let me see the materials you collected. Gotta make sure you grabbed the right stuff." Wait, he was going to make her turn in the materials? Her heart broke in two. To think she did all this hard flower picking for nothing.

She picked the white rose like flower. Sweat ran down her face. Despite being a beginner question, she could feel the despair of failure. Whenever she was fighting a boar, the creature would magically become a dodging expert. The same could possible happen with the flower. Well, the flower would not dodge her but it could fail to be harvest. Every second went by like the hours in the day. Each day ends eventually though and so does every quest. The window popped up signaling that she was done with the mission. She cheered and dance as the beginner quest was finally complete. She was able to learn a new feature in the game and she was also able to pick flowers. Well, the picking of flowers was meh but for free experience, she would do it every day. Now all she needed to do was report back to the talking man and receive her reward.

Row tried to think of the best way to describe the song. "Well... I think its just a song, but there a dance that goes with it and the lyrics tells you the steps." As she thought about the song more, she realize how pointless it was. The only way that knowing that dance would be useful is if they played it, which she doubted they would. None of that would matter as Dom had already crafted a plan. "Slow dancing? Well if it fits with the music..." The name did not give it the feeling of excitement but then again, the music playing was not exciting. She followed his instructions, putting her right hand on his shoulder and allowing him to but his hand behind her waist. She did not like the idea of a random boy grabbing her, but she would not protest since Dom was a real monk. She tilted her head down to hide her blush. "If you grab my butt... I will kick yours!" she whispered, in order to hide the fact that she was nervous. Finally, she grabbed his hand and then looked up.

@Dominion

Had the two familiars not appear out of nowhere, Row would be able to take a more active role with interacting with this new girl. Her attention remained split though, taking only small bits of the woman and Dom's conversation. It did not take long for the most important information to bubble up. Her name was Keres. Row did not know why she cared. Pointless bouts like these were bad business. Still, she could not help but not like the girl. Row wanted to sigh, disappointed in herself for being jealous but it would be for not as Dom started to give her the attention she deserve. "Y...Yes!" Row responded to Dom offer. Her face became fluster as well, matching her date's. She quickly finished her drink and grabbed his arm. She allowed him to take her to the dance floor. When Keres turned around, Row stuck out her tongue in an effort to rub her victory in. Turning back to Dom, she returned to her delighted bubbly smiling self. "Dance, Dance, Dance. Have you ever dance before? All I know is that one old American song."

@Dominion
@Domarus
 

Row giggled at the silly question. Since Dom was her friend though, she still answered it. "It wouldn't be a lie if I was 20." She took another sip of her drink after Dom tasted the red liquid. It was no surprise that he enjoyed it. Punch was suppose to be a great party drink and worth the money. It was also really cheap. "Yep, punch is the best. Did you know it comes an a bunch of different colors and flavors? Its like the ultimate drink!" Shortly after she finished her cup, Dom answered her question. She smiled, happy she was able to predict the future. Sure it was obvious but it did not change the fact that she did it. "Well, if you every need help, you know who to call! While familiars are not technically treasure, I think it would still be fun to look for them. "

As reward, Row went to poor herself more punch when she heard a female voice speaking to Dom. She quickly spun around and saw this girl asking about her. What was she trying to do? Row tighten her grip around her cup for some reason but did not drop her smile. Was this jealously? Row had no reason to be jealous. She was not Dom's girlfriend so he had the right to speak to other girls. However, he did ask her to come to this dance and they have not even did one dance. At least Dom could give her that one experience before trying to win over another girl. She started drinking more punch to prevent herself from overreacting while hoping he would not ditch her.

Meanwhile, another creature found its way into the area and dived onto the bear. She nearly coughed out the punch when she noticed it was a dragon. In light of past events, her first instinct was to just sidestep away from the possible anime battle and that is exactly what she did.

@Dominion
@Domarus
@Itzal

Like a bad movie pun, the bear known as chewy ducked behind Row as if hiding from something. Row tried to ignore it as she did not want to get trapped into being forced to feed the creature. She still remember that horrible day when it ate her cake. She kept looking at Dom waiting for his answer when a stranger appeared. He asked her to pardon him while he made peace with the bear. Row sighed and took a step to the side. She really did not want to get involved with the bear but it seemed like she was going to have no choice. She took another sip of her punch as she moved next to Dom and watch as the man took a piece of fish from his plate and held it up for the bear to eat. It really seemed like a bad idea to her but who was she to judge. She did try to pick up the creature only to fall from lack of balance. She totally did not fall because of her lack of strength, at least that was what she kept telling herself. 

@Dominion
@Shield
@Mack

"I think enlightenment is about inner peace and being one with everything. That or growing out 4 extra arms, going bald, and becoming a golden statue." She giggled at her joke. Given his uncertainty of the word, she doubt the monk would be offended. However, she nearly felt offended when Dom asked his question. "What do you mean, 'What is a VRMMORPG'?" She immediately sat up think she was dreaming but she was not. The guy really did not know. "VRMMORPG is an acronym, Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It is a genre of video games. Did you not read about it before playing?" When Dom mentioned America and Middle east, more questions popped up in her head, but that would come later because his finally question was the ultimate proof that he was a true newb in video games. "How do you not know these things and yet be trapped in here. Did you not go to public schools at all?" She covered her face one one hand while getting up. "Young grasshopper, you have much to learn."

Row grabbed two cups and poured some of the delicious red juice into both of them. Then she turn to Dom, handing him one. "Tea is great for ceremonies and gatherins but punch is where the parties at! Or at least that is what I read... Parties like these are expensive so I never hosted or been to one." She took a sip not waiting for Dom to join her or not. The liquid was cool despite not having ice which was good. Ice only lowered the amount of juice was left and when it melted, it deluded the sweet goodness, not to mention water is normally free anyway. Ice was probably the greatest rip off for any food resort. When Dom asked about alcohol, Row smiled. "Nope... Like I said, I don't really go to parties. I just figure since this is a game, it would be nice to try it out. Its not like it will affect us in the real world." She turned to a table that had a group of adult players drinking a non punch like liquid. "I don't think they would me drink any if I ask. I am too small and cute! They would never believe me if I lied and said I was 20." After sighing, Dom changed the subject to something entirely different. She folded her arms when he assume she liked the bear. "That bear wished I liked him. He was heavy and a walking ball of an endless food bill. If all familiars were like that, then I would never get one. Still, I heard you had to be really lucky to find one so you know I will eventually get one." She chuckled with confidence before taking another sip of her punch. "What about you, Do you plan on getting one soon?" 

@Dominion

It did not take long for Dom to read the situation and Row was thankful for that, for now. She did not feel comfortable answering his question until she was safely away from her business partner. "I don't..." She paused mid sentence. Even though she knew Dom knew something was up, she was not ready to just opening admit anything was wrong. "Punch... They should have that right?" She slowly relaxed as they put more and more distant between them and Vargus. Finally she giggled when Dom mention there being no green tea. "Green tea is not very party like. Hey, do you think they will let us try some of the alcohol." She turned around to grab a cup, scanning the room for Varus as she moved. "Monk's can drink right?" In real life she never really cared for little things like that in the real world as it did really make clean money, but since this was a game, she was interested in trying new things.

@Dominion

Row rolled back onto her back and giggled. "Treasure hunter in real life... Sounds like the ultimate fantasy life for a geek like me." She smiled though she did not move around much from her position. She slightly open her eyes to get a glimpse at the sky hoping it would give her some advice on how to explain her story. She was nowhere near as interesting as a traveling monk. She lived in a normal Japanese family and had a somewhat normal Japanese life, for a nerd. If she could describe her aspirations in life in one word, it would be money. Though it was a very raw way to cut it, it was not exactly wrong. "When I was little I did collect things like buttons and trading cards but I wouldn't compare that to treasure hunting. Its also a hobby that I grew out of very fast." She decided to end her story there. She knew her sin very well and it was one that kept very few friends. It was a trait that most guys did not find qualitative in a girl but it was her. She believed her only saving grace was her lack of desire for expensive things which she used as an excuse not to change. "Still, to think I would meet a real life monk in a video game. These are the treasures that are the most worth wild." Too bad you can sell them.  "How does one who seek enlightenment find their selves in something like a VRMMORPG?"  

When Dom offered his hand, Row hesitated a little bit as she reached out. Relax, he is not going to bite you. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly. It took all her mental energy loosened up to match his grip so she was unable to properly take in the scene until they were already inside. Her face was as warm as it was pink, so she tried her best to not look in Dom direction. When she finally did look around, she did not see anyone she knew which was typical due to her solo play style. While one or two faces reminded her of the raid she partook in, not of them were people she was overly friendly with. Being around total strangers ironically was putting her at ease, well until she eventually picked out a familiar face. "Vargas!" To think he was here too. Did he have a date? She hasn't seen much of him lately outside of the raid event, even around the shop. That wasn't the issue though. She squeezed Dom's hand, worried what the man might say after seeing her. She wasn't in love with the man, but he did have a way with making her heart beat, for better or for worst. She also hasn't forgiven herself for nearly getting the man killed. "Dom... I" She released his hand and moved to the other side of him as to stay out of Vargas line of sight. "I am thirsty, can we go get a drink." She hoped that her anxiety was not overly showing but given the redness of her face and her stuttering quiet voice, it would take a miracles for anyone not to notice something up.

@Vargas

@Dominion

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After Dom sat next to Row, Row opened one of her eyes. She grin when she noticed the guy mediating. Since this was a video game, there would be some people who roleplayed out their characters. She just never met anyone who did. Mediation was a uncommon practice, so she could not help but wonder if he was doing this because he was pretending to be a monk or if he really believed in that stuff. She for sure did not believe as her favorite method for relaxing was counting money. She closed her eyes and rolled to the side so she was facing him. "You are really into this monk theme. Does your family own a shrine or temple?" She rarely if ever visited places like that given the type of people who reside there. They are all about living life for enlightenment or helping others. Neither idea is bad. They both just don't rake in the big yen.