Elio

With a heavy swing of his Battle Axe, Elio knocked to Boar Pup several feet backwards before it was hit with a shock wave from the blow. This second hit drained the last bit of the pup's health, causing it to burst into particles with a loud squeal. The mother boar jerked her head up towards Elio. Oh no.

With a loud squealing noise, the mother boar rushed the player. The remaining two pups ran the opposite direction as fast as their tiny legs could take them. Elio froze in fear as the mother boar drew closer, tusks lowered, squealing like mad. Is this it for me? Am I really about to be killed in my first real fight?

"Aghhhhhhh!" Elio yelled, preparing another Sword Skill as his axe starting glowing with energy. "I'm not going down like this! Not to a freaking boar!" It was upon him now, ready to strike.

3 hours ago, Lessa said:

Welcome back! :)

Thank you!

Elio watched nervously as spawn particles appeared against the dark horizon. A black shape appeared not too far away, not yet locked on to Elio. Gulping, he stepped closer, trying to make out what type of creature it might be. Some sort of extension was visible... what was it? Tusks, he realized. It's a boar!

Suddenly, smaller spawn particles appeared near the boar, spawning in three locations near, but not next to, the boar. One stood about two dozen feet from Elio. These must be the boar pups... meaning the bigger one is their mother. I can't let the mother see me... that could be an issue. I need to make sure I only fight one of these guys at a time, too, or else I'll get swarmed.

The novice player decided he couldn't think about what he was about to do. He had to charge! Quietly as he could, Elio rushed the nearest Boar Pup.

Muttering under his breath, Elio exited the shop and started on his way towards Floor 1's plains. He had seen monsters before, but never fought one. This will certainly be an experience. I guess this is the deciding factor on whether I keep doing these dumb Quests. If I end up hating the combat mechanics, well... may as well stay here on Floor 1 until the front-liners clear the game. If all goes well... I guess we'll see.

The town seemed sinister at night. Few players roamed around here at these hours, most preferring to either stay inside or head out grinding the nighttime monsters. Elio took a breath as he arrived at the gates leading to the plains area. Time to see what this game is all about. A shiver ran down his spine as he stepped from the town's cobblestone onto the grass of the wild monster territory.

"Now, since you've caused me so much trouble, you're going to go fetch me some items, ya hear? I want you back quickly, now! Do you have any idea how many weapon orders I've got to complete? You're going to keep me up all night with your lollygagging!  Now get to it!"

To Elio's surprise, a Quest GUI opened before him. Another one? Is this some sort of chain Questline, I wonder?  After a brief pause, Elio pressed Accept, and the NPC resumed his ranting.

"Good! Now, you're gonna go fight some boars, got it? Lucky for you, I only need ya to kill some little ones. They should be out in the fields. At this time of night, though..." The blacksmith glanced out the window, a hint of concern visible in his expression. "Just be careful about other creatures out there. It's not exactly the safest at night." He turned back to glare at Elio. "But it's yer own fault! Now get going! Three Boar Pup Tusks! Bring 'em here pronto!"

"Listen here, boy! You've already made this take longer than it needed to. This here package should 'ave been here this morning!" 

Lysel stomped around the shop like an angry boar, jabbing a finger at the package Elio had brought him. "Since you were late, you oughta open it for me. Get to it!" Annoyed by the hostile NPC, Elio moved over to the package to examine it. The package itself was a wooden box. I wonder what's in this thing, anyway. It sure was heavy. Taking his axe, the boy hacked off one side of the box with a clean chop.

The blacksmith screeched in fury. "What in Aincrad do you think you're doing!? Be careful with that! You get one dent on these precious metals and I'll have ya workin' here for a month!" He rushed over to a nearby crate and grabbed some sort of towel, proceeding to clean the metals inside Elio's package. 

Attempting to redeem himself from his less-than-quality behavior, Elio stood up and stretched. Act casual!

"Sure, I don't see why not. Like he -- um, Yuriko -- said, it'd do me good to watch a higher-level player in some combat. I haven't fought too much yet. Where do you plan on going? I know there's some decent hunting spots out pretty deep in the forest, especially at night." He glanced at the sky. "It's getting close to dusk. If we wait a while, we could probably encounter some stronger mobs. Anything past Floor 1 I'm not very familiar with, but I guess I'm up for whatever."

Excitement and terror fought in Elio's gut. He was thrilled at the chance to watch a fight without having to resolve to do it himself. This would certainly be an interesting experience, and would be helpful if he decided to actually try his hand at this game. On the other hand, he had no idea who these people were. It could be an awkward situation, but Elio had made up his mind. 

May as well give this a shot at least once.

Elio winced at the ever-increasing awkwardness of the situation before him. The woman was confident, perhaps too confident. Who was she to ask two strangers not even to hunt with her, but to watch her hunt?

"Ehm," was all Elio managed to spit out. He could feel his face turning bright red as his brain scrambled for something slightly more intelligent to say. "I'm, um, Elio."

Great, he thought to himself, you're making yourself look like a fool.

Trying to hide his embarrassment, Elio grabbed at one of the cups, hoping it was something he liked, and started gulping it down, avoiding eye contact with his two new acquaintances. Luckily, the drink was a cool lemonade. Elio sheepishly realized that had he grabbed something hot and chugged it, he may have made an even bigger fool of himself. He listened as the two continued their conversation.

I've got to hurry, Elio thought, rushing out of the potion room. The Shop NPCs usually all go indoors at the same time of night. I might be too late already! This Lyle dude could be asleep before I get there.

Slowing just enough to open the town map and set a marker for Lyle's Shop, Elio sighed. Wow, I'm really getting into this, huh? I've been working on this Quest nearly all day. It is fun, I suppose, having something to do other than wander around town.

When he finally arrived to the Shop, Elio was greeted by an NPC. "Hey! That package there! That's for me, ain't it? Hand it over!" The NPC snatched the package from Elio. "You're late! Now come inside! I got somethin' I need you for!" The stranger - presumably Lyle - stepped into his Shop.

A bit dazed, Elio paused. Before he could think, a GUI opened.

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The First Few Lessons are Free

Quest Completed!

Accept

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His heart skipped a beat. "Yes! I've done it!" He clicked Accept.

The old man's eyes shone with wonder as the concoction glowed white. With a flash! the murky red of the salamander blood was changed into a vibrant red hue.

"Ha! You've done it, my boy! This is incredible! I hadn't imagined this material would work so quickly. My, my, you've really discovered something, haven't you? This might work even better than the boar tusks I've been using..." He trailed off into incoherent mumbling, fumbling through the supplies lining the shelves. Elio glanced around awkwardly. What do I do now?

"I have much testing to do!" The man roared suddenly. "Glorious! Yes! But I'm supposed to take this package to Lyle... oh, surely he wouldn't mind if I did it tomorrow. Although he did say it was important. Hm..." He paused shuffling through his supplies long enough to spot Elio. "Ah! You there, boy! Take this to Lyle Tealeaf at his Blacksmith Shop! I've got work to do!" A package was tossed in Elio's general vicinity, and Elio barely caught it.

"Ehm, alright, then... Nice meeting you?"

A low hisssssss noise replaced the high-pitched scream as the steam slowed and the flashes came to a halt.

"I don't know what your crab was eating," the man chuckled, "but that shows ya why I asked you for more than one material! We can never count on these things working! Well... at least, not when an amateur is the one gathering supplies." Elio glared at him, but he hardly seemed to notice as he started shaking another beaker of salamander blood and tossed Elio the sludgy moss he had gathered. "Now this," he said, "I haven't seen before! It might explode! It might make a legendary potion! Who knows!" He laughed, pounding the shaken beaker onto te table with an audible thud. "This time, I want you to squeeze that goop into our beaker here! Go on, boy!"

Elio, at this point extremely concerned for his safety, obliged, squeezing the moss and letting the slime slurp down into the blood.

Contorting his face from the vile smell of salamander blood , Elio nauseously grabbed the knife and the shell, holding them above the beaker. The old man looked on with pure excitement, hardly able to keep still.

"What are you waiting for, boy? Go ahead! Scrape it!"

Elio swallowed down the rising bile in his throat and proceeded the scrape the crab shell with the knife. A fine dust fell from the shell as the knife slowly broke it down. "There, you've got it! Keep going just like that, and the potion should turn a bright red for ya."

Elio glanced down at the beaker. The mixture inside was flashing oddly. Smoke started coming out of the top and a high pitched noise, almost like a tea kettle, could be heard faintly. Fast as lightning, the elderly brewer grabbed a flask of blue liquid and poured it into Elio's smoking red mixture.

"Now, my boy, the first part of any good potion, is, of course... the beaker!" A glass beaker spawned onto the table in the center of the messy, overstocked room. The man poured in some sort of reddish liquid. "Salamander blood works quite well for the potion I'm showing you today. It's so common, too! You want to see how much I've got in the back?"

"No, no! That's, ehm, that's quite alright. Um, thanks for the offer."

"Have it your way! Now, we need to make sure it's well-shaken." The old man screwed a black cap onto the beaker and proceeded to shake it violently. "Got to get all of the imperfections out of the blood, you see! I always shake with vigor!"

With a clink! the man, practically slammed the beaker back onto the table. Elio flinched, half expecting the glass to break. "Now, the hardest part!" The old man pushed Elo's crab shell toward him, as well as a long knife. "This shell will do fine. I want you to scrape it, son! Get all that good crab dust into the blood!"

A sigh escaped his lips as he stepped onto the cobblestone of the town, followed by a rush of excitement. I did it! My first Quest... He rushed to find the workshop of Zakariah.

When he arrived, the NPC was opening his door, appearing to be going in for the night. "Wait!" Elio called, breaking into a sprint. "Hold on, old man, I've got your dumb materials!" Zakariah turned to face him.

"Great work, my boy! I knew you could do it. Now, this does remind me of the good old days! Come come, I must show you the fine art of potion-making."

An alert notified Elio that the Quest items had been transferred to Zakariah. The old man grinned as the items spawned into his arms. Elio groaned. It's not over yet!? The elderly man turned and walked into a small shack next to the main part of the house. Rolling his eyes, Elio followed.

Dusk was setting in on Aincrad. The forest grew dark quickly, with little moonlight able to shine through the branches of the thick swabs of trees. Elio drew his axe nervously, wondering if anything spawned in the forest at night. Leaves and branches crunched underneath his feet, and then something hard met his toe.

"Ow!" He screeched, falling with a thud to the forest floor. Looking behind him, he realized it had only been a tree root, overgrown and thick. "Idiot tree! I just want to be done with this!"

Rising to his feet, the man swept off the messy brush stuck to his armor, glad he hadn't fallen onto the blade of his drawn axe. He continued on his way towards the village. Soon enough, lights were visible from the walls, and he broke into a sprint, ready to be back in the safety of the Town of Beginnings.

Cautiously, Elio trotted over to the tree and studied the crab. It sure looked dead. One of its legs was bent awkwardly, and the creature was lying on its back.

"Shouldn't it despawn if it's dead?" Elio wondered aloud. "Maybe the shell is a resource that can be gathered... so it won't despawn until it's shell is gone. Yeah... that sounds right... doesn't it?" He nervously reached towards the wounded creature.

A cautious poke proved the crab to be dead indeed, or at least knocked out. Elio grabbed his Battle Axe and used the head to pry the shell off of the creature. That was apparently too much for the poor animal, as it despawned as the shell as removed. Elio breathed a sigh of relief. "That could have gone a lot worse. Looks like I've got everything I need now. Let's get this Quest done with, eh? The old man will be happy to see me."

Plunging his hand into the stream, Elio felt for rocks. Feeling something hard, he grabbed and pulled.

With the water now looking slightly greener and his hand looking much less so, Elio studied his find. It appeared to be some sort of shell, slightly scuffed and marked by its journey across the river. "This thing has probably been battered and smashed up a bit... the river isn't all that gentle." Judging by the size, some small creature may have once lived inside the shell, but now it was just an empty case. "Yeah, this is dumb. Just give me another material, river, and let me get back to town." He stuck his hand into the flow once again.

Elio was only half surprised when he felt his finger pinched hard. With a shriek, he flung his arm backwards and watched a crab fly off his hand and smack into a tree. "Well, that's unfortunate. I wonder if I can use it, though..."

As he bent down to pick one of the strange mushrooms, a putrid smell filled his nostrils. "Egh! That's awful!" Using one hand to squeeze his nose shut, he plucked a mushroom.

Apparently the pressure of his grip was too much for the sickly mushroom. As his fingers closed upon it, the mushroom burst into green slime, coating his hand in the goop. "Why! Oh, come on!" Elio moaned, shaking his hand in an attempt to shake off the muck. It was sticky, though, and his shaking proved unsuccessful. He glared at his hand, getting more frustrated by the minute. "I'd quit now if I weren't already halfway done with this idiot Quest."

Seething, he traced his steps back towards the stream. "I'll wash off this crap and just find a couple more rocks or whatever. I'm done with this." The stream gurgled in response, its frothy waters promising a swift wash for Elio's green hand.

As he got closer, he realized it wasn't the tree that was glowing, but some sort of moss which nearly covered its trunk. The moss was a bright shade of green, looking almost slimy as it shimmered and glowed. Not knowing if it was safe to touch, Elio cautiously reached towards the moss.

To his surprise, the moss wasn't very plant-like at all. Rather than a rough thistle-like texture, this moss was coated in some sort of slimy substance. Some of it oozed onto Elio's hand as he held it. Grimacing, he quickly transferred the moss into his inventory. "That better not be poisonous."

At the base of the odd mossy tree, Elio spotted several mushrooms, brown at the base and dotted with green spots at the head. "May as well grab one of these, too."

"Okay, what about... this one?" Elio spotted a bright blue flower with small yellow bell-like center blooms. "Yeah, I'm sure this will be some sort of legendary material." He rolled his eyes, having no idea what he was supposed to gather.

He grabbed at the flower, unintentionally ripping off half the head. The rest of the flower despawned into a million glittering crystals. Elio angrily kicked at the dirt, sending a spray of dust and grass into the air. "Freaking flowers, man! Am I stressed out or what?" Mumbling under his breath, he continued on through the forest, glancing around at everything it had to offer him. "Would a tree branch be useful? Maybe some sort of grass type? I have no idea what I'm doing. Should have just stayed in the dumb village."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tree glowing faintly. What? He stepped closer to examine the oddity.

"Maybe there's some sort of legendary flower out here." He walked towards a clearing in the forest as a breeze passed, making his hair sway gently. The weather was perfect today. Elio thought back to when he first joined the game, curious about the world's first VRMMORPG. The graphics truly were exquisite, and the way the Nervegear could send feelings to the brain was incredible. He shivered before continuing towards the patch of land.

Various flowers spotted the grass. The hues were much more exaggerated than they would be in the real world. Heck, if flowers looked like this in real life, I might become a florist myself. But this game didn't allow for idealistic goals and passions. This was a game of death, a number game where no one was really living, only surviving. Elio shook his head and chose a flower at random.

Elio didn't register what he was doing until after the flower was picked. The one he had gone for was gray and sickly, with the stem starting to turn a nasty shade of brown. Well, this won't do anyone any good. He threw the flower aside, annoyed.

Elio transferred the rock into his inventory, peering around for other interesting objects. What counts as a "material," anyway? Maybe... a leaf?

Looking above him, the player spotted several different kinds of leaves hanging down. There were some large, oddly-colored ones a few feet above his head. If he jumped high enough, he might be able to snag one from a branch without ripping it in half. "Here goes nothing, I guess..."

He jumped up high and, to his surprise, nabbed the stem of the leaf, tearing it off the branch cleanly. He smiled. "That was easier than I thought. Hopefully the old man can use a leaf and a rock... What did he need them for, again? Maybe I should have paid a bit more attention." Continuing to walk through the woods, he thought about what the man had said. "Maybe he was making some sort of food item, was that it? Or perhaps a potion?" He shook his head. "I don't know. I guess I'll see when I get back. Hope he likes my random forest items."

The forest wasn't far from one of the town gates, but by the time Elio reached his destination, he was out of breath. Whether it was from the running or the nerves, he wasn't sure.

"We'll see how this goes," he said. "Maybe this will be my first and last quest. This is just for fun... just something to do."

He looked around the area, scouting for something that could be useful. Seeing a stream, he walked over to it. The water moved swiftly, foaming everywhere. Maybe there's a good rock or something at the bottom of this. What makes a good rock? I guess I wouldn't know. He plunged his hand into the water.

"That's cold!" Elio gasped, grabbing onto something and yanking it out quickly. It was a smooth rock, white as could be. Perhaps the constant stream of water had worn away its rough edges over time.

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The First Few Lessons are Free

Go fetch five(5) Tier one materials and give them to Zakariah.

Accept                                                                                          Deny

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"Seems simple enough," Elio murmured. "Looks like I don't even have to fight anything. What a classic move, an RPG starting out with a simple fetch Quest. At least it won't take long."

After adjusting his hair nervously, he held his finger over the accept button, closed his eyes, and pressed it. With a ding! the menu vanished and the Quest was added to Elio's Quest Log.

There. I did it.

"I knew I could count on you! My, my, how you remind me of my youth! When I was a boy, I would..."

The old man's words trailed off as Elio jogged out of earshot. Thinking of the area around the Town of Beginnings, he assumed the best spot to find materials would be in the woods just outside town. He had been there a few times before to get away from the masses of players and NPCs in the town itself. As this was the first floor, not many mobs spawned in the woods, and when they did, they were pretty low-leveled.
 

He almost turned around and walked back to the cafe he typically hung out in to grab a nice, warm cup of cocoa. Almost. However much his brain screamed for him to stop and turn back, he couldn't force himself to. Something in him wanted this. Something in him needed this. Closing his eyes for two seconds and then reopening them, Elio walked up to the NPC.

"Greetings, traveler!" The NPC looked at Elio and began its introduction. 

Let's just get this over with.

"My name is Zackariah, and I make potions for players here. I remember when I was a young boy. I used to love going into the forest and gathering materials every day..."

Elio's eyes glazed over as he felt his mind zone out. In classic RPG fashion, he thought,  they've put a text-wall in front of the only thing I actually care about. Just tell me what I need to know, old man. He shifted his gaze to some nearby pottery until suddenly a menu popped up in front of his face. Slightly startled, he began to read.