Bongartz

I just nod my head, though internally I’m groaning. Inventory for the first job? Well, better do the worst thing first, I suppose, and he does have a point about stock. As I look around the store now, rather than seeing a bunch of useful items, such as healing potions and crystals, all I see is a bunch of numbers and work. I grab the sheet he held out to me, listing all the items in the store, from left to right. I start to work, counting and double checking all the numbers as I traversed the store. After a few long hours, with people coming in and out having me recount some of the items, Oscar approaches me, with a smile.

“You’ve been hard at work, and without a single complaint. I’m actually impressed by your dedication, so let’s call break, I’ve some food upstairs for the both of us.”

He turns to head behind the counter, to the door to his personal rooms, and I follow, making sure I keep the now finished inventory log on me.

I bow as I make my request, hoping this was an NPC, and that this was the place to get the quest. The young man smiled again, and merely asked;

“You sure? It’s not anything fancy ya know, and kinda boring. But if you’re sure, I can train you, no problem.”

With that, the pop up for the Quest <Earning a Living> appears, and I breathe a sigh of relief, this was the right place! I accept the Quest, to which the young man speaks again, almost immediately;

“Good to have you aboard. Since I’ll be training ya, we should know each other’s names, mine’s Oscar. Pleased to meet you.”

“My name is Bongartz, and likewise. What would you have me do first?”

“Well, a good merchant always knows what’s in his store, and how much of it. So, to start with, I’ll have you count inventory. It’s boring, and takes forever, but it needs to be done, so you know when to get more, or when to pull things off of the shelves. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll finish.”

I made up my mind: today is the day I will become a Merchant! Now, if one wanted to be a blacksmith, they would go to a blacksmith. Same for a tailor or cook. So to be a merchant, I should go to a shop, probably a general goods store. There should be quite a few in the Town, so I should be able to find one quickly, so the faster I start, the faster I’ll finish. I start to travel through the town, trying to find an actual general goods store, not just a random stand in the streets, and after some time, I finally find one.

*Well, here goes nothing, let’s see if I can get this quest.*

I walk through the door, to see a young man behind the counter, giving me a greeting smile;

“Good morning, haven’t seen you around before. Take your time and look what we’ve got, and if you need something in particular, just ask.”

I smile back at the young man, and take a deep breath, hoping I was right to come here;

“Good morning, and I do need something, that maybe you could help with? I wish to become a Merchant, please, will you train me?”

As I glance around, hoping for another glimmer of red, and out of the corner of my eye, I see something and go to get it, but to my dismay it was only a flower.

*Dang, I got excited for nothing. Aw well, I guess I'll just chalk it up to bad luck.*

"Sorry, I saw red, but it was only a flower. Seems going in a bit is unavoidable now."

I walk back over to Percy as he mentions needing to be careful, and nod grimly.

"Unfortunately, I must agree, I was hoping we wouldn't need to go in much at all, but it seems we must. Let's try not to go in too far, and avoid the lake. Just trust me on that."

As I go to turn around again to walk the path, I was lost in thought and walked into a tree, wincing.

"Need to stop thinking so much, pay me no mind. Let's just continue, shall we?"

I turn around, and by a tree not even 20 paces away, was yet another mushroom, which I easily make my way over to pick up.

"Good area indeed. Now, we've got 3 of the 10 we need total, we might just finish this before either one of us thought. The entrance area of the forest seems to hide them the most, which is good for us. I really don't want to go deeper into the forest, just the two of us."

I continue to look around, hoping to see more red mushrooms nearby, without needing to go deeper.

*I don't know Percy well, but we both are relatively new, and Ourian was a more experienced fighter than the both of us. If he and I together had a hard time with a Boar, some of the other creatures of the forest would take down the two of us without too much an issue.*

I shake my head, to try to shake off the pessimistic thoughts, for they would serve us no good. Bad thoughts tend to lead to bad actions, and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

I nod to Percy, realizing my hope for a fight was not needed this time.

"My apologies, still kinda running high from my fights the other day. Though, I will admit I want to see that warhammer of yours in action, there will always be another day. Let's hope for an easy and relaxing gathering quest."

*There's no need to fight everything. That boar should have told you that you can't win them all, either. Things played out well, but it could have been a very different situation.*

"I suppose you're right, if there's nothing here. If it was that easy, it wouldn't be a quest."

I gaze around the area as well, and over by a little clump of rocks I happen to see a small red sliver.

"Wait, over there by the rocks, there's some red. Perhaps one of the mushrooms?"

I run over to the rocks, and upon a re-examination of them, I see a Red Capped Mushroom, one of the quest items we need. 

"Ha-ha, score! That's one down, and 9 more to find. Let's hope we can do this quickly, we shouldn't be here for too long. The forest is home to some big bads, that I wouldn't want to try to fight, if it can be avoided."

I follow Percy outside, closing the door behind us.

"Doesn't seem to bad, though I'm curious about your last gather quest. But at least that helps explain the warhammer, doesn't really look like a cheap weapon, so I was curious how you got it. But yes, the forest seems the best bet for some mushrooms, maybe we'll even find a wolf or two. Kinda wanna see how you fight."

I start to follow you through the town, to the gates, where I smile at the now empty threshold where we met.

"Funny how places can sometimes be full of people, or completely empty, depending on the time. At any rate, we should try to find the mushrooms quickly, I wouldn't want to spend an entire day looking for them."

As we continue the path to the forest, I take small glances around, to see if there's a creature, or by chance, a random mushroom before the forest, but without any luck.

*Aw well, sooner or later we'll be in combat together. I wanna see what that warhammer of his can do. That pun though.*

Upon the thoughts, I start to lightly chuckle, that name won't be forgotten anytime soon, and I plan on getting some jokes in about it eventually.

When Percy says the name of his new warhammer, I start cracking up;

"Alakaslam? You enjoy puns, don't you?"

I follow Percy inside the little house, looking around all the materials upon the shelves.

"Anyway, yea, went out training with another player, got a Tier One crafting material, just need to figure out how I want to use it. I'm thinking about becoming a Merchant, but haven't really decided yet. As for my day, I was thinking about coming here anyway, heard it's a good quest to get started, learn some of the basics."

As I gaze around, I see an old man come around a corner, who seems to recognize Percy, then turns to me;

"Ahh, hello again. Is this a friend of yours, come to assist you? My name is Zackariah, and, as I'm sure Percival told you, I am running low on materials. If you two could get me 5 Red Capped Mushrooms each, I could make it worth your time."

As the pop-up appears asking if I want to accept, I do so smiling without hesitation.

"Of course I'll help, it'll be my pleasure. We'll be back soon with the mushrooms."

With that, I nod to Percy, and turn to the door, holding it open for Percy to lead the way.

I wake up stretching, thinking what I wanted to do today.

*Yesterday was well worth my time, those fights were awesome. I did get a material for a craft, but I need to actually get one first. I'm thinking Merchant to pair with my Treasure Hunting, but where would I get that quest?*

As I'm lost in thought, I get a notification from my inbox, someone sent me a message? I quickly open up my menu to see what it was, and it's from Percy? He wants to do a quest with me? I quickly reply to his message, saying I'll be right there and thanks for the invite. I make sure I have my full gear equipped and start running to the Co-ordinates that Percy sent me, finally appearing before a small house, where Percy was waiting outside.

"Hey, Percy, sorry it took so long. I was on the other side of town, and in my rush, made a wrong turn a bit back."

Upon looking at him, I notice his warhammer looks significantly different than it did before, and it draws my attention.

"Nice new weapon, seems you've been quite busy."

I smile back, giving Ourian the fistbump, while accepting the Friend Request.

"You bet, and I understand, you'll have to keep training as well, wouldn't want me to surpass you now, would ya?" I tease back jokingly, glad to have made a good first impression on my new teacher. My first day of finally deciding to fight, and I made a few friends, along with some very powerful people now looking at me to see how I improve.  I made a lot of first impressions on people today, so I need to make sure I live up to everyone's expectations, especially my own.

*Well done Jordan, you're first day was quite a success. But today was just the first, and who knows what's waiting for you come the morning. Take what you learned today to heart, soon it'll be on an even grander scale.*

As we approach the gates to the town, we go our separate ways, and as I continue on my path, I realize a lot of things will now change for me. All I know is I gotta keep my head up high, and my sword at the ready, though perhaps I'll become a Merchant in the coming days, but not just yet.

(OoC: To any Admin that goes over this, I give Ourian permission to Summarize/Close this thread.)

Watching the boar shatter, I smile, knowing I just helped take down a hard enemy, and we both walked away from it, almost unscathed.  I take the loot sphere as it's offered, as I sheathe my own weapon.

"That was a hard boar. Thank you, for everything today. I learned much, and I know I can fight here now, as long as I pay attention."

I start to follow Ourian as he leads the way back to town, exhausted myself now, and ready to get some sleep. I smile slightly as he praises my fighting.

*Heh, looks like you did well Jordan. Things may have been bad at the start, but now things are looking up. There's still time to catch up to the Frontliners, and you may just be a force to be reckoned with. Don't let this victory go to your head though, you still have much to learn, and a long way to go before you're ready.*

"Hey, Ourian, would you mind if I sent you a Friend Request? I'll get stronger, and perhaps together, we can face the higher floors, as a team."

I go to step forward, to stab downward to finish the boar off, once and for all, but it was merely foxing, and easily evaded my blow. It looks directly at Ourian, and it's obvious it's not going down until we can finish it completely.

*Seriously, doesn't it know it's defeated? There's no point in it trying to fight anymore, but it is just a program, despite how real it looks, I suppose. Still, my adrenaline is fading, this fight needs to just end already.*

I jump back, seeing it back on it's feet and ready to keep the fight going, and merely sigh.

"Ourian, be careful, there's still some fight left in this guy."

I ready my sword, prepared to go in again if need be, but feeling drained myself now that the majority of the combat is over, I hope Ourian has enough energy in him to land the final blow, I don't even really mind if he gets the loot, he did do all this just to teach me anyway, it'd be fair.

I saw Ourian use a Sword Art to knock the boar slightly in the air, and knew what I could do. I jump up and charge my own Sword Art to bring the boar crashing into the ground.

*Hmm, I haven't really tried a Sword Art yet, but it can't be that difficult. Ourian seems to call out the names of them when he uses them, so I suppose I should do the same.*

"Vertical Slash!" I yelled as my Sword started to glow red, and I slammed the blade across the boar, bringing it down to it's knees and as it started to stand back up, I jumped backward, readying my blade once more.

"Well, that was definitely something new, I like these Sword Skills, and I think the red matches my outfit pretty well. Now then, though, it shouldn't take much more to finish this off, it's hp is almost gone. Let's end it mercifully.

I attempt to slash at the boar again, but this time it anticipated the swing, and easily side stepped it, making me hit only empty air.

*Dang it, I need this fight needs to end swiftly, we can't play with this thing.*

I nod at Ourian, as what he says made sense, there's no point in risking our lives to that extent, and if we need to retreat, we'd need to run quickly. I don't know much of the layout, as I haven't really looked at the maps, so I can only hope there's a town or safe place nearby that can provide us shelter.

"Very well, though let's hope we kill it sooner rather than later."

Taking Ourian's advice, I merely ready my blade, and hold my stance, watching the movements of the boar, so I can make sure I hit with my next attack. I refuse to let this thing best us in combat, even if I need to take some heat myself.

"I understand, Ourian, 

As I speak, Ourian darts forward to attack, and as he backs away, slightly injured from the tusk, I quickly slash at it's hind legs, truly enjoying the red slash on the monster telling me I struck true this time. I watch it's HP drop into the yellow zone, and smile at Ourian, allowing myself a slight chuckle.

*It's about time, and it seems as if I dealt some good damage to the thing, just hope it's anger causes it to make mistakes, like in the real world.*

"I know it's still early in the fight to be laughing, but now I've hit it, and took it's HP into the yellow zone, I feel a little better about my initial mistake, though I still don't want to repeat it. Let's finish this quickly, night is almost upon us."

I step back once more, readying my blade for my next attack, enjoying this fight even more.

*Finally, he hit, it's time for me to go in, and I'm going to go in running.*

I charge forward towards the combat, glad to finally participate, my sword trailing behind me in my hands as I attempt to make a wide slash in front of me to hit the boar, when, to my dismay, I misjudged the distance and swung a tad early, in my excitement. I jump back away, and get into a defensive fighting stance, to see what it will do next, and where it's weak point might be.

*Dang, too soon. Revealed myself and failed to make the first attack matter. Very well, I won't let it happen again.*

"My apologies, Ourian, I got too impatient and excited. Not a fan of sitting on the sidelines, and I let it get to me. Let's finish it off together, now."

Now, the boar in between the two of us, it would have to choose who to charge, and who to leave it's flank open to. With the Hate in place, it should target Ourian, allowing me a decent chance to hit it this time, I shouldn't misjudge the distance here, at this range.

As I continue to watch, I place my sword back into the ground, sighing. Ourian had the advantage at first with the Sneak Attack, but now they can't seem to land a hit on each other, so it's only a matter of time until something happens. Sighing, I just continue to watch, though, trying to decide if, irregardless of the next attack hitting or missing, if I want to come in anyway, just to try to finish this thing quick, but if I do, I could die. Decisions need to be made, and I may need to make a big one here soon.

*They keep going back and forth. If Ourian fails one more time to connect, I'm charging in, maybe I can break this impasse. If Ourian happens to make his next attack land, well, that would merely be great as I would have his permission to charge in at that time, instead of being impatient. This is taking too long, we need to kill this thing now! I can't risk Ourian falling here on a fight I chose to pick.*

Gripping the hilt tightly, I prepare myself to charge in, I will make every blow count, and I will take this thing down!

Gripping my sword in anticipation, I watch the Boar and Ourian continue to fight, just waiting for the next attack from Ourian to hit. I almost dart forward as Ourian's blade connects with the boar's tusk, but I stop myself as I see the hp bar hasn't moved, meaning the blow wasn't a damaging one, which might not affect Hate, nor has Ourian called out to me to enter the fray.

*Come on, come on. Ourian, land a hit on the bloody thing, I want to come in, we can't be out here for too much longer, and I want to fight, I hate sitting on the sidelines.*

I quickly shake my head against my thoughts, taking a deep breathe to calm myself.

*Jordan, calm down. Getting antsy isn't going to help either of you take this thing out, it'll only lead to problems. Keep a clear head, and don't let yourself be overcome by your emotions.*

I continue to watch the combat, hand tightly wrapped around the sword, just waiting for the right moment to run to assistant.

I smile to myself, as I watch Ourian's Sword Skill take down almost a quarter of the Boar's HP, and lightly chuckle. After watching him demolish that wolf a little while ago, I had no fear that he would really be hurt this encounter, especially after this opening blow.

*The boar may hit hard, but if it doesn't connect, it's damage is a moot point. I may not need to even really wait for the 3 Hate, but I really don't want to go in and deviate from the plan, he had a sneak attack, but now it's a fair fight. Let's wait and see how things continue. The next attack Ourian lands, is when I jump in. Don't miss.*

As I continue to watch, I grab the hilt of my blade, now in the ground, and pull it back out, just waiting now to run forward at the Boar's flank, to try to hurt it as much as possible. We need to kill this thing before it gets too much later, but I must restrain for now.

I unsheathe my sword, and place it in the ground in front of me, taking a deep breath. 

*This is it Jordan, that wolf was practice, now here is your test. Don't screw this up, both of our lives are on the line here.*

"Very well, I'll stay behind the boulder, and at 3 Hate, I'll jump in with my own attacks. Let's make quick work of this thing, I don't want to be caught out at night. Try not to take too much damage, it may take longer for it to kill you, but the longer the fight drags on, the more chances it has. On your ready."

The fire of determination burns in my eyes, and I speak without hesitation or fear. I made this choice, so now it's my own to claim, and I can't let myself doubt or have second thoughts. It's time to fight to keep my promise, and I can't lose, not with what all is at stake.

I take a deep breathe and think over the situation, A wolf or normal boar I wouldn't be too worried of with Ourian here, but a Rare Spawn? It would be difficult and nowhere near easy, but I could really test myself as long as he thinks we could handle it.

"If you're sure we have a chance at taking this thing down, I'm wanting to give it a shot. You have my word that I'll obey your instructions, no matter what happens. Though this will be difficult, I'm sure together this thing won't be too much an issue, considering that wolf died quickly against your Sword Skill. If I can pull one off, it should be pretty decent itself."

I place a hand on my hilt, for the battle know here before us, not what we were expecting, but perhaps what we needed. As I look into the darkening sky again, I can only hope that the battle is over quickly, I don't want to be caught out after night falls, or it would be one of the longest nights of my life.

I nod at Ourian as he explains the danger of being caught out at nightfall, caught off guard when he mentions his level isn't all that high.

*I wonder what level he is then, he seemed able to take down that wolf fast enough. No matter, we don't have much time, so I won't ask until we're back at town, if I remember.*

"I had a feeling that nightfall might be an issue, most games have the dark as the cue for all the big and bads to spawn, and you do not want to be caught in it. To the lake then, for a quick combat, then we'll return to the Town for the night. If you'll lead the way, as I'm not completely sure where the lake is?"

I step to the side slightly, so whichever way we need to go, I'm not in Ourian's path, and I can quickly follow, now with a determined expression not to get us caught out, or taken by surprise.

I merely watch in awe as Ourian slices up the wolf, and sheathe my own blade as it disappears, defeated. I look down at my feet though, as Ourian criticizes me for my big mouth.

"Yes, sir. I underestimated the ears of the wolf, it won't happen again. But if it's alright with you, I'd like to continue the training, as this was more of a demonstration on your part. All I did was get it's attention."

*Even though I didn't do much, I still learned much just by watching Ourian, if I can actually get into the fight next time, without needing him to instantly kill the monster, I might just be able to learn even more.*

I look into the sky, and realize how late it's getting, maybe only one or two hours until nightfall.

"We should have daylight for a little longer, albeit not much though, so if anything, it would be just one more battle before we should head back."

The wolf lunged at Ourian before either of us saw it coming, but thankfully, I had my hilt already in hand, unsheathing it and slicing towards the wolf as Ourian was already yelling at me to attack it.

*Damn it Jordan, you really need to learn to shut up sometimes, your own ineptitude just got the guy training you injured. Stab it now, while at least it's still.* I think quickly, wanting to apologize to Ourian while at the same time, not be distracted by the thought, so I say what the first thing was that came to mind.*

"Damn, my big mouth. Now, you let go of him with yours!"
With the wolf not really going far while attached to Ourian, I'm able to stab at it's side, but it merely turns to me and snarls, as I just made myself the bigger threat and it's new enemy. I hold my sword at the ready, while the wolf looks at me and prepares it's next strike, and I pray that the injury I inflicted is more than the mere scratch I fear it to be.

As soon as Ourian spots the wolf, I grab the hilt of my own sword and await the order. As he plans the attack combination, I stare intently at the wolf, just in case it happened to spot us and attack before we could.

"You mean a lot of players here are real life fighters as well?"

*I shake my head, realizing that this isn't the time or place for that particular question.

"Forget that for now. Attention elsewhere but on the combat is asking for trouble. Alright, on your go, I'm ready."

Adrenaline starts pumping through my body, as I realize I'm about to participate in my first combat in this death game, and I only hope I can prove myself to my Trainer.

*This is it Jordan, it's time to make good on your promise, and your wish. You wanted to be the strongest, so now go prove that you have what it takes! No more holding back, no more fear, the time to strike is now!*