zero_lost04

Zero had been checking out quite a few shops on the first floor all day.  There were quite a few of them in the town of beginnings which made shopping a bit of a chore.  Since he had finished his first quest and gotten a little bit of Col, he had hoped to maybe find an item or two within his price range that he really liked, at least until he could scrounge up some more cash to purchase some better items or, with a little luck, find them in some drops or maybe down in a dungeon.  So far his quest had been pretty fruitless, while he had seen some items that he liked, they were either out of his price range or they were being given away.  While other players might be willing to take some hand outs in order to increase their odds of survival, he wasn't going to do that.  If he could afford something, he would buy it, that was a given, but he wanted to feel like he had earned everything that he has, whether he finds it, makes it or buys it with money that he has earned, that was how he wanted to play this game.  He wanted to grow as powerful as he possibly could of course, but he had joined this game in the first place in order to see just what he was truly capable of.

Something caught Zero's attention out the of the corner of his eye.  It was an item in a glass case, the little trinkets appeard to be fairly elegant cuff links.  He wasn't sure if they had any kind of enhancements on them, but he was definitely curious about them.  While he was pretty sure that something like that would be out of his price range, just like everything else he had looked at today, he still felt like asking.

"Excuse me.  I hate to be a bother, but could you tell me anything about these cuff links here?  I really like the look of them and I was wondering if they had any kind of enhancements on them and how much you were willing to sell them for, if at all"  Zero turns to find the player that he believes is the shop keeper and talks to him, asking his question as quickly and polietly as possible.

"I have actually had the pleasure of meeting Hydra not too long ago.  For my first quest in the game, he decided to take me with him to fight "The Emerald Hatchling".  It was, a surreal experience to say the least.  I had noticed his guild marker, but I didn't know that this was the guild that he was a part of, I find that very intriguing."  Zero says before allowing himself to try to listen into as many conversations around him as he could.  He made note that the person who had just arrived shortly was not only Atzo's brother, but was also his bodyguard.  That made a lot of logical sense as a sibling would likely be more invested in the survival of his sibling than just an ordinary bodyguard and player.  Zero's mind was quickly putting together quite a lot of pieces.  While the guild might have seemed small and disorganized at first glance, it was obvious from just a few moments of conversations that this guild had a plan and they were actually making steps to implement those plans and be one of the true power players in here.  With the way they were being organized and set up, given enough time they could actually be a top tier guild and possibly give those currently on the frontlines with the assualt teams a run for there money.

"My interest is definitely piqued.  While I wasn't much of a guild person in other MMOs, I suppose that this isn't like any other MMO now is it?  I'd love to hear about the different divisions within the guild, how they are determined who is in which division, how they are run and with the general expectations of players within your guild are."  Zero asked his question but had yet to determine if he was going to commit to anything just yet.  There were a couple of players that had already made up their minds and had decided to join.  While there was something intriguing to this guild, there was something that was holding him back slightly and a part of him hoped that Atzo or the others could say something that could push him over the limit.   He knew that, in theory, he could just join and if he didn't like it just as quickly leave, however that was not how Zero planned on playing this game.  If he decided to join a Guild here, he was going to be in it for the long haul and he wanted to be absolutely sure before he made any kind of call like that.

Zero couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed with himself.  While it was true enough that this was his first fight and it was to be expected that he wouldn't do quite so well, he had expected to at least get a hit in.  This battle system didn't seem to complex on the surface and he felt like he had a decent grasp on the fundamentals of actual combat with this kind of weapon that the signals in his brain should be allowing him to attack more effecitvely.  Maybe he shouldn't have taken on something like this right away and maybe he should have gone after some of the beginner quests, at least to get himself some better gear than the basic starting equipment.  He was silently cursing himself for his arrogance and ineffectiveness as Hydra cut down all three boars at once with an effective AOE attack.  Watching Hydra do that, he actually wondered why a player of his level and skill actually wanted to have someone come along on a quest like this, surely he was strong enough to take the Emerald Hatchling out in a hit or two.  Maybe he was just bored and wanted some company?  Still, Zero knew that he needed to put that kind of thinking out of his head and focus on what was too come.

"My apologies for the lack of help that I was able to provide you in that fight.  While it is obvious that you had that well in hand, I don't like not being able to assist.  Once we reach the boss of this quest, while I know my damage won't be much and you can handle it on your own, I will do my best not to be dead weight in the fight."  Zero bows his head slightly to Hydra in apology.  While he was pretty sure that the other player didn't really think he was dead weight, Zero had always held himself to a higher standard and in a game where he could literally move and attack as his mind relayed the commads to the game, he didn't like feeling useless.  Still, he was getting a better idea of how the physics themselves worked in this game, there was a good possibility that Zero would be able to get the hang of combat in this game very soon.

@Mist @Hydra

 Zero did what he does best in situations like these, he opened his ears and listened very intently to all that was going on around, taking in names, ranks, and positions.  Solomon, head of the advisors; Aoda, head of DPS; Vargas, head of Tank; Eatos, a high ranking member of the advisors; Atzo, guild leader.  He was quickly running over names and ranks in his head, repeating them over and over again inn his mind until he had names and faces memorized.  He brought this right hand up to his mouth and placed his index finger over his chin, thinking and paying attention to everything going on around.  He was trying to keep track of multiple conversations going on around him at once, focusing in on the key details.  There was a lot to absorb and as he stayed listening, he heard several people decide to join on up with the Guild.  Clearly this event could already be considered a success for the guild leader.

Zero did notice that there was a lot more going on the organziation of the Guild then would first meet the idea.  While the expressed purpose of the Guild was to help level up new players to get the frontlines faster and gather information, the structure of the guild was set up as a Raid Team already.  Having a head leader in the guildmaster but several different squad leaders, which charged with a different function, this would allow the guild to have its hands in many pies at once while always working towards the same goal.  By speializing the divisions like this, it would also ensure once the majority of the guild was frontlines ready, they could immeidately jump into the Assualt Teams lines and be effective; since everyone in the Guild would already know their roles and how they were supposed to perform, this guild could make a very powerful impact on the frontlines in a relatively short amount of time, depending on the number of members they wound up with and how quickly they were actually able to get new players leveled up.  He wasn't sure if anyone else noticed that bit or even if it was an intentional structure set up by the Guild Leader, but Zero quickly realized how useful a guild set up like this would be for advanced raiding parties on the frontlines.

Zero couldn't help but pick up another name being said; Hydra.  That caused him to turn his head for a moment to see who had said that player's name.  Zero had actually done a quest with Hydra not too long ago, instead of taking on the beginner quests right away, he had jumped into something far more advanced with Hydra.  Another bit of interesting information with that, Zero had noticed the Guild emblem near Hydra's player name, but Zero hadn't asked about it or talked about it and Hydra hadn't brought it up.

"Interesting, so this is the guild that Hydra is a member of.  Very intersesting."  Zero says, largely to himself but forgetting that his voice could actually carry in this game just like in real life.  That was a bit of information that he definitely hadn't expected to pick up today.

If he was to be honest, the first thing that Zero made a note of was not the fact that this player was the Guildmaster or even what his stated purpose for the guild was.  No, it was the canine-like teeth in the smile that he showed.  It didn't intimidate or frighten him, but he did think that it was interesting, either this player had some very unique vanity items or there were some other ways to alter your actual appearance in this game, especially given that the "mirror" item that was loaded into everyone's inventory caused them to assume their appearance in the real world.  He didn't fail to take note of the fact that the guild's expressed purpose was to get players to the front lines as quickly as possible.  This thought did intrique Zero, he wanted to get a strong as he could so that he could survive, so that he could go out and challenge himself and push himself to his actual limits.  This was the real reason that SAO and the nerve gear had appealed to him in the first place.  

Zero silently made note of the other players that arrived.  Aside from himself, there were now eight players gathered around the spot.  From the best he could gather from what was being said, five of the people that were here were current members of the guild and the other three were not members and seemed to be interested in getting more information about the guild.  Of those that had arrived, only one other player had given the courtesy of giving his name to others around, a player named Hei who said he was some kind of game journalist in the real world.  Once again, Zero made sure to quickly take note of that in his head just in case it was ever information that he would need again in the future.  With the increased number of people gathering around, Atzo decided to help the female member of his guild and give a more detailed breakdown.  Appearently the guild focused more on activity to determine your rank than what level you were, which he thought was an interested way to do it, there were quite a few people he had given up on the idea of being a frontliner and so the guild seemed to want to cater to both sides, those that wanted to clear the game and those that wanted to form a support role so that the frontliners could function.  

The amount of people that were gathering around him did make Zero feel slightly twitchy, having this many people surrounding him that he did not know was something that could be worrisome, though in the safe zone of the town he would be fine and they wouldn't be allowed in if they had red cursors.  While the guild's purpose, at least from Zero's perspective, did seem a bit generic, he could tell by the number of people that were gathering that were members of the guild, that it had gathered a pretty decent amount of members already.  While he had almost always been a solo player and had a bad habit of ignoring guilds in other MMOs, the idea of getting to the frontlines was something that intrigued him.  

"That is a very interesting purpose and I can tell from the crowd of both interested players and current members that have gathered around us all right now that it seems like a lot of interest is being built up for the guild.  I know that this might seem a bit forward and while I understand if you don't want to talk about specifics without us joining the guild, but I am curious.  Exactly how would you go about helping us level up to the point where we can be on the frontlines as quickly as possible.  I am sorry if I came across as being a bit pessimisstic or rude, that is truly not my intention.  I only ask because in many MMOs, many guilds make similar promises and have similarly stated goals, though Sword Art Online is clearly not a typical MMO.  What exactly sets your guild apart in this regards."  Zero was hoping that he hadn't been too blunt or rude, he had been trying to work on that for years and many times he would time off as curt or laconic, but he was truly curious.  He gave Atzo and the other guildmembers a warm smile, hoping that he had asked the question in as polite a way as possible and kept his ears open, ready to make mental notes of everything that was told to him in response, regardless from whom the response or responses came from.

The day was proceeding pretty peacefully, Zero had just left Lyle Tealeaf's place, deciding not to immediately take on the second beginner quest just yet.  While he definitely knew that he would be taking it on soon, after all a quest from a blacksmith probably meant a free piece of equipment and he couldn't do much fighting in the starter equipment.  As he had learned, fighting in starter equipment was not ideal.  Sure it could be done and he could probably make it a good little ways with just the starter equipment, however getting a hold of some better equipment, possibly with some decent enchancements, could make things a lot easier for him and improve his odds of survival dramatically.  Still, he wasn't sure he much more he wanted to stay in or near the town of beginnings, he knew that if he was to grow stronger, to grow more powerful, he would need to get out of this area and fight some enemies to get some real experience.  He wasn't really paying that much attention, lost up in his own thoughts, when he overheard a bit of a conversation.  The only thing that really stuck out in his mind and which snapped him out of his own little world was the comment about paying them back for allowing her to join.  That could either mean as a party, or perhaps more likely a guild.  Zero hadn't really had much luck joining guilds in other MMOs, he had a habit of not talking in group chats and going off on his own to hunt and fight and just really didn't get too much into the whole Guild thing.  However, this game was a lot different from others, wiith the whole "can't log out" thing going on right now, he figured at the very least he could ask if they were a guild, hear them out and see where things led.  Maybe he would join, maybe not, but deep down he felt like it was worth having a conversation.  He quickly approaches the two players.

"I'm sorry to intrude and I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overhead the young lady there mention something about thanking you for allowing her to join.  Would you two happen to be a part of a guild?  Oh, how rude of me, my username here is zero_lost04, but you can call me whatever you like."  Zero says, smiling and nodding his head slightly as he asks the question and introduces himself to the two players before him.

All of the boars went straight after Hydra.  Zero quickly made a mental note of this fact and noted how aggro or hate worked in this game.  He would need a bit more information to gather all the details on how the aggro system worked in this world, but it was good to know that just because he hadn't landed an attack on the Brown Tusked Boar, there was no aggro generated which meant that he wasn't in danger of being attacked.  He was pretty sure that this wasn't always the case and that if he had generated some hate himself, in perhaps a different fight, the results could be different and he could find himself on the receiving end of an attack.  

Zero moved in to make another attack and hopefully fell the boar before it could do any more, minor, damage to Hydra.  However, Zero hadn't really been paying attention to his footing.  That was something that he had never had to do in a game before, while he was aware of what he would need to do, his brain didn't really register it and he tripped slightly, causing his attack to go wide right.  He let a small string of curse pass from his lips under his breath, quietly cursing himself.  He demanded better of himself.  If he was stuck in this game, he needed to grow stronger and the only way he could do that would be to get better at fighting.

Roll Id: 80768

Battle Dice: 4 (Miss)

2] @Hydra - 753/755 | 13 Damage (16/wskills) | 66 MIT | 3 Accuracy | 51/74 Energy 

[H:0] Mist - 20/20 | 4 Damage | 1/2 Energy

[H:0] zero_lost04- 20/20 | 4 Damage | 1/2 Energy

---------

Black-Tusked Boar - 74/370 | 111 Damage (Stunned)

Brown-Tusked Boar - 8/8 | 5 Damage

Brown-Tusked Boar - 8/8 | 5 Damage

Coming down this far was an absolutely horrible idea, one that Zero wasn't quite sure of why he decided to do it.  Sure, technically it was true that once a Floor was unlocked, you could teleport to it essentially at your leisure, but that didn't mean it was a good idea to do so.  In a game where supposedly your life could be on the line, most would think that doing something like this had to mean that he had a death wish.  Maybe it wasn't far from the truth, but Zero just had to see this area with his own eyes, understand the lay of the land and get a better feel for what was to come.  He had also hoped that maybe, just on an outside shot of luck, that he might be able to find a weapon or a piece of armor up here that he could use, and then head back down to make questing and leveling up significantly easier.  If he could kill some of those lower floor enemies in a hit or two, he could theorectically begin to level up at a much faster pace and safer for himself.

Zero blinked and looked dumbfounded for a moment.  Another player had just shouted out like he was trying to get his attention and asked if he was up for a little adventure.  With a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face, Zero points to his own chest for a second and mouths the question "Me?"  He looks all around himself because he was sure that he had to be mistaken, he had a bad habit of doing that in the real world as well, thinking people were speaking to him when they weren't.    Taking a few tentative steps forward, expecting the other player to say no at any second and move on.  When he didn't, Zero continued to step forward.

"Umm, well, while I am always up for an adventure and would never turn one down, I feel like I have to be upfront and honest with you.  I'm a level 1 player with starter equipment.  If you are looking for someone to be of help to you in battle, I'm likely not it. That being said, if after what I've just said doesn't make you change your mind, then I'm in.  If not, I completely understand."  Zero tries to get his words out as quickly and politely as he could.  He figured that once the player realized that he wouldn't be of any real use for the quest, even as a meat shield he couldn't take but a single hit here before death which would make him wildly ineffiecent at that, the player would just send him on his way.  However, there was a part of him that hoped this player didn't, he was very interested to see where this went.  

@Seul

Summary

1SP + 2 Quest SP = 3 SP Total

400 Col + 30 Col From Lootable Monster = 430 Col

5 Tier One Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40 HP)

1 Tier One Damage Potion (+1 Damage)

1 Tier 1 Over-Health Potion (+50 Temp. Hp)

The walk through the town was pretty easy going.  Being the opening area of the game, "The Town of Beginings" was almost always sure to be lively and bustling with people and NPCs.  It was the safest area to be in after all and even though logging out was not possible right now, there were certainly a lot of people who either preferred to take their time going through the game, or had decided to really take it slow going in order to grow as much as they could so that they wouldn't be at risk outside the safety of the city walls.  Zero was never a player to think like that in any game and just because the rules had changed for this place meant nothing to him, if he was going to grow stronger and get out of here, then he needed to push himself and fight as strong of enemies as he possibly could.  That would allow him to grow faster and level up.  Since he wasn't the kind of player to really ever join a guild, he also knew that would put him at a bit of a disadvantage because he wouldn't be able to powerlevel as effectively as those who would join a guild.  Still, if knew that if he could just keep his attention focused and in the target at hand, he could grow quickly and be able to take on just about anything that was thrown at him. 

The city was laid out in a pretty straight forward and direct path, it was meant to be as accomadating to new players as possible and to prevent them from getting lost.  This made the routes very easy to memorize and he was doing his best to memorize the landmarks along his path so that he could find the blacksmith's again if he ever needed to.  Once he was able to get a little bit of Col gathered together and maybe a little bit of materials, he was hoping to be able to afford some new equipment that would give him a little bit more protection and safety from some of these monsters that he would be fighting.

He found his way pretty quickly to the end of the line and located the Blacksmith shop run by Lyle.  He quickly goes into the shop and delivers the NPC the goods that he had been given by Zackariah.  There was a little bit of a pang of relief that hit Zero's heart, knowing that he had come extremely close to death, but yet had managed to survive and had probably made the quest a lot more dangerous than he needed too.

"Those goods, I'll take it that it my delivery from Zackariah?  Thank you very much for bringing this too me.  I was told to give you these items as payment for your services.  If you need a bit more work, I have a little something that I need some help with as well.  If you are willing to help me out, just say so and when you are, I will be right here waiting."  The blacksmith gives Zero his greeting and accepts the package from Zackariah, once again he felt that swelling of pride as he completed his first quest in this game.  After receiving his reward, he lowered his head to Lyle and thanked him, taking note of the next quest in the beginnger's quests line.  He would definitely be back to get it soon, but right he needed a little bit of a rest.

Zero focused on every word that Zackariah said and followed along in his menu as he talked, making sure to keep track of everything and keep his mind focused on the task at hand.  It was pretty amazing to him, things that in other games would be a joke and would be so incredibly easy to do, in this game required a lot of focus and concentration, you couldn't allow yourself to get distracted even for a singel moment.  The crafting system wasn't as complex or as confusing as he had originally thought now, it was just incredible what paying attention could accomplish.  After working on the crafting for a few moments he shouts out the work "Success" as he completes crafting the healing potion.  Zackariah claps his hands together and smiles as he confirms that Zero has done it.

"Well done my boy, well done.  That is definately a good quality item right there.  You should be quite proud of how quickly you were able to pick this up.  Now, if you don't mind, I have one last thing that I would like for you to do.  Would you please deliver this package to Lyle Tealeaf across town.  You shouldn't have any problems locating him, he is the blacksmith after all. I have instructed him to give you the payment for the delivery and it is yours to keep.  Thank you very much and I hope that you find everything well here in Aincrad!"  The old man gives Zero the package with a lot of fanfare and flourish, though a part of Zero had hoped that the quest would end right there.  Still, just delivering the item across town to get his rewards wasn't that big of a deal, plus he was going to the Blacksmith's shop and that was definitely something that he would need to know for the future.  Zero thanks Zackariah for everything and loves the area, heading through the town of beginings and towards the blacksmith's.

Roll ID - 80573

Craft Dice - 5 (Success: Good Quality)

It was a bit odd to see the NPC begin to break from talking normally and move into an explantion of menus and commands and options.  It was actually a bit overwhelming to try to hear and keep track of all the was being said.  While he was trying to keep everything together in his head, he was actually begining to think that when it came time for him to try the Profession quests, that Alchemist was very likely not to be on the list.  Maybe he would be a fisherman instead, that seemed like it would be a lot of fun.  He had loved fishing in the real world and had done it a lot; with family, friends and even by himself.  It was quite nice.  

Suddenly Zero had the realization that he hadn't been paying enough attention to what Zackariah had said about crafting and had no idea what he was doing.  Trying to use a little bit of common sense and knowledge from how other games worked, he hoped that he would be able to figure it out and get the crafting system to work.  This went extremely poorly.  Zero failed at creating the potion, the liquid that he did create puffed up an acrid black smoke that caused him and Zackariah to cough a little bit.

"Dear, dear, that wasn't quite right, but its ok, getting everything to mix just right and in the correct amounts takes some time and pratice, it is as much an art as it is a science.  Here, let me gather up some more ingredients and we will try again."  Zackariah says as he scuttles off to gather more items so that they could try to craft the potion again.  

Roll ID - 80572

Craft Dice - 1 (Critical Failure)

Zero did not allow himself to be in a hurry heading back into the town.  Mostly that was due to the fact that he still had almost no HP left and he wasn't going to force himself into any kind of sticky situations, just because he was in a town didn't mean that he didn't have to be careful and watch his step.  There were a lot of reasons not to get overconfident, though he couldn't help but feel just a tad bit smug with himself.  Sure it was just one boar, but it was the first monster he ever fought alone and he took it down, with only the starter equipement and no items.  He had a lot to be proud of for himself, at least that was what Zero thought.  

"Welcome back!  Oh my, looks like you had a bit of a rough time with you.  Were you able to get all the items that I needed?"  The old man greets Zero when he walks back into the area, the flag for his return having been triggered by returning to the area after accepting the quest.  Zero smiles a bit a nods, knowing the the NPC probably wasn't really programmed for much interaction.  So instead, Zero scrolls through his inventory and turns in the 5 Juniper Berries to the old man in order to complete the quest.

"Good, good, very good. You managed to get everything that we needed.  This should give me enough to complete the potions and just a few more so that we have some spares just in case we need you aren't able to get it correct right away."  The old man smiles and motions for Zero to follow him, as the player lowers his head and exhales a deep sigh.  He had forgotten about that part of the quest, just gathering the items didn't end this quest, he had to help Zackariah craft some potions.  Granted it would be good experience for him to get so that he could understand the crafting mechanics a bit more, but his close brush with death from the boar definitely made him want to put this quest behind him.  He follows the old man and gets ready to pay close attention to the crafting mechanics.

He could almost see the town of beginings finally coming into view and he hadn't seen any signs of animals or monsters for a while now, so he must finally be in one of the Safe Zones around the town.  With that, Zero immediately spun around and flopped on the ground, landing on his back and staring up into the sky.  He was taking deep breathes over and over again as he tried to just relax a little bit.  Fighting one boar by himself had nearly killed him, but at the same time he felt like he had learned a lot of lessons from taking on the encounter on his own.  He had heard a lot of talk in the town of beginnings, that it was suicide to go out and fight a monster alone, especially at level 1 and with only starter equipment.  They all recommended getting some slightly better equipment, getting some Mitigation effects going and highly recommended trying to get ahold of some accuracy plus items in order to help you hit enemies more easily.  If you were going to fight, those were the bare minimums that everyone seemed to recommend.

While lying in the dirt and staring up at the sky, Zero smiles heartily to himself.  Despite everyone saying all those things, he had done what was called suicide and had come back alive.  There was a lot of pride to be taken in that.  Things in this world were dangerous and deadly, even the begining mobs were to be taken seriously or else it could result in your demise.  Still, he had managed to survive and now he was almost back to the quest giver so he could get the quest reward and experience, that should help him move a lot more quickly through the game.  After his brief respite, Zero gets up off the ground and heads back into town, deciding to head on back to old man Zackariah's place so that he could finish the quest off.

Tucking his head and diving as hard as he can to his side, Zero deftly dodges out of the way of the boar's attack, only barely avoiding the tusks from the monster which would have surely been a killing blow.  He is breathing heavily, even in this virtual world, with it linked to his brain as it was, he was feeling the fatigue and adrenaline rush like he was really there.  He needed to calm down, he needed to focus.  This game, the stories that swirled around it, everything was designed to get into your head, to hurry you, to force you into making bad decisions in combat.  That's why this game was so dangerous, at least if you believed that the nerve gear could kill you, so many  couldn't relax, couldn't allow their survival instincts take charge.  He had to get out of his own head and strike in a way that worked, that would allow him to survive.

He saw his opening as he made it to one knee after his roll.  The boar had attacked and his side was open for a counter attack, an opening that would give him just what he needed to win this fight.  His two handed straight sword begins to glow as his most basic sword art begins to activate.  He was relaxed, he was focused, it was almost as if he could feel the sword art and was in tune with it.  Once it reached the moment, he brought his heavy blade down  with all the strength that he could muster and delivered a blow to the boar.  As its health bar went all the way down to zero, the boar explodes in scattering of particle effects and disappears.  Zero grabbed his ribs and took several deep breaths,  he wanted to fall over right here and now and just rest to recover his HP but his survival instincts kicked in and it allowed him to continue to think clearly.  He knew that he was not currently in a safe zone and that resting here would likely put him in the path of another monster and he was in no condition to right anything else right now.  Picking himself up off the ground, he fixes his blade to his back once again and quickly begins moving as fast as his currently unsteady legs would allow him to move back towards the main safe zones where the quest kept the players safe.

Roll ID - 80570

Battle Dice - 7 (Hit) 

Zero - 3/20 |4 Damage | 0/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 0/10 | 8 Damage |

The boar doesn't gloat or show any kind of emotion, it wasn't programmed for any of that anyway.  While a player might have gotten a little cocky or overconfident because of scoring a critical hit, the boar wasn't programmed for any of that.  Its AI was only programmed for relentless attack once its combat AI had started.  It snorts and  stomps its foot in the dirt as it prepares to attack the crouched player.  There was little space between the two of them and it was covered in a matter of moments, taking almost no time to reach the player and swing its tusks furiously at Zero.  The boar hears a deep breath taken in by the player as he quickly rolls to his right, avoiding the attack in its entirety.  The tusks barely miss his starter iron breastplate.  This fight was nearing its conclusion, there was  little bit in either the player or the boars tank, both of their HP was nearing its limit, whoever fate favored more would come out the winner.

Roll ID - 80332

Mob Dice - 3 (Miss)

Zero - 3/20 |4 Damage | 0/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 2/10 | 8 Damage |

The blow was staggering to Zero, it didn't pierce him but it knocked the wind out of him hard and dropped him to one knee.  The pain was incredible for a video game, if it wasn't hurting so much, it would be really increidble to appreciate this level of detail that the game could create for realism.  Not that he was able to appreciate it now, he could feel his head starting to swim with pain and his eye sight was going a little fuzzy, the game was really replicating the feelings that getting hit so hard could replicate.  Trying as best he could with his eye sight clouded from the blow, Zero take a swing a the creature from one knee, but being off balance and his eye sight being so cloudy, there was almost no chance of the attack actually hitting.  The blow missed wide and didn't ever even come close to hitting its mark.  Zero tried to steady himself as best he could, hoping to be able to jump out of the way of the boar's next strike.  He didn't even need to look at his HP to know what was in his heart and what he was feeling.  If the boar hit its next attack, it would be the end of this character.

Roll ID - 80331

Battle Dice - 1 (Critical Miss)

Zero - 3/20 |4 Damage | 0/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 2/10 | 8 Damage |

There was no command line in its programming for pain, even self-preservation wasn't something that was programmed into it, since it would just respawn a little while later anyway.  Therefore, when the player's skill connected and did considerable amount of damage, little was shown to reflect this fact, save for the wound that it had suffered.  The player had taken the boar down in nearly one hit but without being programmed for anything else, the boar prepared to attack again with the single minded purposefullnes of its simple programming.  As the player raised his blade up in a defense position, the boar snorted and attacked with its tusk once again, managing to find purchase just underneath his blade and ramming his tusks hard into his mid-section, scoring a pretty critical blow and doing a significant amount of damage back to the player in the process. The creature pulls its head back but doesn't really do anything other than that.  There was no plan or strategy in its movements, it was programmed as a feral beast and just attacked, nothing more and nothing less. 

Roll ID - 80329

Mob Dice - 9 (Critical Hit)

Zero - 12/20 |4 Damage | 0/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 2/10 | 8 Damage |

The wound hurt, a feeling that Zero was somewhat surprised at, but when he thought about it, it did make a lot of sense when he stopped to think about it.  The game used a neural feedback system in order to control the characters, meaning that it was using their brains to control the characters and allow for an unprecedented range of movement for the characters.  It wouldn't take a whole lot to create a situation where pain could be "copied" and make it feel real.  He still thought the idea of the game being able to kill you was absurd, but perhaps not as far fetched as he had originally thought.  Putting the philosphical questions out of his mind for a moment, Zero knew that he needed to focus on the task at hand or else he was going to find out right here and now if dying in the game caused you to die in real life.  

Zero saw his opening and pounced on it.  The Boar was stomping its hoof into the ground as it perpared to charge.  Now was his chance to attack.  Rushing forward, he activated a Sword Art and shouted the name of the skill "Straight" as he rushed forward.  As the skill activates, he thrusts the blade forward with lightning fast speed and unwavering precision.  The blade strikes the boar and cuts deeply into him, creating a pretty large gash down its left side as it takes a pretty significant amount of damage.  Zero brings his blade in close and steels himself for the moment when the boar would attack again, hoping to be able to counter and it finish it off before it did any more damage.

Roll ID: 80327

Battle Dice - 7 (Hit)

Zero - 12/20 |4 Damage | 0/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 2/10 | 8 Damage |

There was a smell in the area, one that told its AI that there was a player nearby it's territory.  It was programmed pretty simplistically, if a character entered its area then find it, attack it and kill it.  The commands were simple and it was easy to obey.  The player should be around somewhere, it shouldn't be too hard to find.  The snap of twigs and the rustle of leaves finally gave away the player's position.  As he turned his body to strike at the player, a sharp blade whistles over its head, just barely avoiding a strike from the player.  As the player moved by, the boar twisted its head and striked out with its tusk, catching the player just underneath his armor and dealing damage to him.  The boar snorts, not happy nor excited, it was simply following its programming and was preparing to do it again.  The boar stomps its right foot into the ground, stomping into the dirt and grass as hard as it could, building up a little indentation to give it something to push off of one it launched its next attack.

Roll ID - 80326

Mob Dice - 6 (Hit)

Zero - 12/20 |3 Damage | 2/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 10/10 | 8 Damage |

As Zero was heading back to town, he had the sudden realization that he was no longer in the safe zone area.  He had this realization because as he was wandering along the trail, a single boar crossed his path right in front of him.  He wasn't sure if the AI of the monster had picked up on him or not yet.  He began quickly contemplating just remaining still and waiting for the boar to leave.  After all, he had everything he needed to complete the quest and would gain some experience from just turning in the quest, there was no need to risk losing a fight and losting everything.  However, as that thought crossed into his head, he quickly shook his head, trying to shake that thought out of his head.  He grips his two handed straight sword and frees it from his back.  He hadn't picked this game to play it safe and take it easy.  If he wasn't going to take on a single boar by himself, then what would were his plans to get stronger and push himself to his limits to see what he is capable of doing.

With a deep breath, Zero rushes forward towards the solitary boar.  Pulling his blade to his left side as he ran towards the boar, he takes an almost baseball bat like swing with the blade, keeping his momentum under control to make sure that he didn't spin wildly out of control.  He had hoped that he would be able to suprise the boar and hit him right away, but at the last second it lowered its head and the attack swung harmlessly over it, avoiding damage completely.  Zero continued to step through his attack, hoping to move away from the Boar and avoid a counterattack.  He figured that he could probably take a hit, maybe two, and still be able to get away of things turned ugly, but he wanted to take it out on his own, with his own two hands.

Roll ID - 80188

Battle Dice - 2 (Miss)

Zero - 20/20 |3 Damage | 2/2 Energy

------------

Boar - 10/10 | 8 Damage |

Perhaps because he was going deeper into the woods, Zero felt like he was starting to find less and less berry bushes, but at the same time, the bushes that he was coming across seemed to have the berries where earlier ones didn't.  Maybe he had gone a bit too deep into the woods?  He thought that it might be about time to circle back and hit some of the other bushes again and hope that they had respawned at earlier places so he could just get the quest item that he still needed on his way back into town and save himself a little bit of time.  Still, there was a big part of him that wanted to go on just a little bit farther into the woods, just ot see what was here.  He hadn't really seen any signs of monsters or animals, so he felt like he was still pretty safe in this area and that he could explore without the threat being too high.  

Not too much farther into his walk down the path, Zero came across one more set off bushes, though he was aware that he was pretty deep into the forest now, he crossed his fingers and hoped that this would be the one that would allow him to end this quest.  Sticking his head into the bushesand pushing the branches around with his hands, Zero quickly finds the last Juniper Berry that he needed to complete his quest.  With a quick "Huzzah", he takes the item and places it into his inventory, doing a quick count just to make sure that he hasn't missed anything and that he really does have all the items that he needed.  Smiling to himself when he sees that he has collected all five of the items necessary, he spins around on his heel and begins heading back the way that he came so that he can return to Zackariah and finish off this quest.

Roll ID - 80187

Loot Dice - 13 (Success)

Quest Items Gathered: 5/5

He wasn't quite sure how long he had been walking, but the realization suddenly hit Zero that hadn't really been paying attention to his surrounding and in all likelihood had missed some quest items, dragging his return to gather items out longer than he had anticipated.  He was more annoyed at himself, he knew that he needed to be more careful and he was upset at himself for allowing his situational awareness to lapse like that.  If he had been farther into the game, or even just happened to wander ouf of the safety of the main path, he could have very easily been attacked and if he was surprised and attacked, he could very easily lose his character's life.  Taking a deep breath, he refocused himself on the task at hand so that he could continue moving forward and progressing in the quest.

Almost as soon as he put his mind back on the task at hand, he almost immediately found  another of the Juniper Berries.  Taking this one like the others before and putting it into his inventory, he quickly smiled as he realized that at any moment he could be done with his part of the quest.  That was probably a far to overly optimistic view to take of this quest, considering the luck that he has had thus far in the quest, but still, it was nice to look on the bright side of things.  With a smile returned to his face, Zero continued on down the path, heading deeper into the forest.

Roll ID - 80185

Loot Dice - 13 (Success)

Quest Items Gathered: 4/5

The feeling that Zero had gotten from finally finding another Berry was lasting with him a surprisingly long time.  Normally he got bored of these beginner quests, in fact in the past in other games, he had often tried to take on as many of them as he could in bulk and just roll with it, trying to get them all done as quickly as possible, get some decent starting items, then start plunging out into the world where he had no business being at his level.  While he still intended, and to a certain extent, had already been doing that, he was also quite ready to venture out on his own into the world and see the sites for himself, without other players backing him up and seeing what he was capable of as a fighter.

While contemplating heading out into the greater world and seeing what was out there and what kind of monsters he could fight and what kinds of strategies could work in real combat, Zero didn't quite realize that he was allowing his focus to drift and not really paying attention to his search going on.  There was no telling if any of the bushes that he past while walking had any berries on them, but he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that even if they did he completely missed them.

Roll ID - 80184

Loot Dice - 5 (Failure)

Quest Items Gathered: 3/5

Despite being the kind of person who almost always played MMO's by himself because he loved the grind, this was something that was starting to get a bit on his nerves.  Maybe he had just been really lucky on the first couple of searches that it had given him a false since of how easy this quest was.  After all, despite most games holding your hand and walking you through the quests, this game had done very little of that so far, perhaps one of the other things that made it the way that it was was the scarity of quest items to enhance the difficulty.  That did seem to be an entirely reasonable hypothesis and that thought did help calm Zero down a little bit.  While he was getting a bit annoyed by the length of time this was taking, he was also aware that at some point he could find another one and all of the annoyance that he felt would pass.

After a bit of time walking and searching, Zero finds another clutter of bushes.  Taking his time, he slowly goes through each branch of each bush, one by one, searching for the signs of the berries that he had found before.  Getting into nearly the middle of the bushes, he finally finds another Juniper Berry.  Once again, he took the item and immediately placed it in his inventory and extracated himself from the bushes.  He truly did feel accomplished now, maybe that was the feeling this game was really trying to create and if so, it had succeded and he felt all his past annoyance melt away.  Still, he was wondering about going after something a little bit extra, just to help liven up this quest and let him try out some other mechanics.

Roll ID - 80182

Loot Dice - 13 (Sucess)

Quest Items Gathered - 3/5