zero_lost04

Zero could feel his annoyance continuing to grow, without being able to find any of the Juniper Berries, this could take a lot longer than it should have.  He had assumed that the respawn rate of these items would be pretty high and it was possible that they were and he was just having a run of bad luck or was perhaps too close behind another player, but he could feel himself getting a bit impatience.  He had to continue reminding himself that with the level that he was at right now, plus being alone, going off to far off the beaten path could get him killed.  He didn't buy this whole "die in the game, die in real life" garbage that he had heard, but he also didn't feel the need to press his luck any more than he already had.  He wanted to see just how far he could take this character and what his limits were and he needed to survive as long as possible in order for that to come to pass.  

"Alright, I'll keep searching for just a bit longer, but if I don't come across some more items shortly, then I will just have to bite the bullet and push my luck.  Doing so has served me well in the past; after all, nothing ventured nothing gained."  Zero calmed his nerves and continued to head along the path, keeping his eyes open for any kinds of bushes, hoping that maybe by widening his search a little bit, he could still find some more items and get this quest finished.

Roll ID - 80180

Loot Dice - 3 (Failure)

Quest Items Gathered - 2/5

While he was still quite impressed with the visual and tactile uniquness of the game, something that he was aware could only be done thanks to the neural input and feedback that this game provided, he couldn't help be feel himself getting a little annoyed now.  This happened almost all the time to him in MMOs.  While he was a pretty friendly person and would do quests with people, for the most part he almost always kept to himself so that he could see just how far his own strength could take him.  In this case, it might have been something that could lead to a good bit of annoyance.  Since he was looking for items, having an extra pair of eyes would make this infinitely easier and make things go significantly faster.  

"Welp, I knew that this was a possiblity when I decided to break from my normal habits and give a beginning quest a try.  I'm sure that it will be worth it in the end, but right now its a really big annoyance.  If things keep going this way, I might have to venture out of the safe zone a little ways and try my luck out there.  While I would be putting myself into a bit more danger, I would also be more likely to find some spawn points that haven't been picked clean by other players."  Zero mumbles to himself as he once again adjusts his broadsword on his back.  It was starting to become a nervous tick that he did when he was bored.  Setting his sights a little farther on down the road, Zero continued on his mini-quest to find some more Juniper Berries for the old man.

Roll ID - 80178

LD - 2 (Failure)

Quest Items Gathered - 2/5

For being a game where death could, supposedly, extend to the real world, everything about this quest and this locatioin was actually quite relaxing.  He figured that he could take some time, relax, and just explore the world in all its glory and figure out how everything worked.  So far things had been going pretty smoothly for him, he had been wandering through the safe zone where the Juniper Berries could be found and while he hadn't come across one in a little while, he knew that he just needed to keep himself calm and that he would find what he needed easily enough.

Almost as if on cue, Zero comes across another small pile of bushes and starts looking through the bushes for his next quest item.  At first he couldn't seem to find any in the bush, thinking that it would be a repeat of the last few that he checked, but just before he was about to give up on this set of bushes and move on, he locates one of the Juniper Berry quest items.  With a pleased smile, Zero takes the berry and puts it in his inventory, taking his second quest item.  If things continued to go this easily, he might have to try to do a little something extra just to spice up the quest, while there was nothing wrong with an easy Quest, Zero was determined to make sure that his character grew as quickly as possible so that he could continue to push himself and see what he was made of now.  Popping his shoulders and adjusting the broadsword on his back, Zero heads farther on down the road to continue searching for items.

Roll ID - 80176

LD - 13 (Sucess)

Quest Items Gathered - 2/5

The path was pretty quiet and uneventful, pretty much what any player should expect in the opening areas of the game.  It wasn't disappointing for Zero to notice, it was just something that stuck out in his mind.  The basics of video games rarely changed and iin order to give players a chance at surival, even in notriously difficult games, there had to be a learning curve that allowed from some adjustsments so that the player could get used to the mechanics and how everything worked in relative safety.  He course believed that he needed to get in some combat practice as well, but he was sure that if would venture just slightly off the beaten path, he should be able to find his way to an monster for him to get some practice in with.  He just needed to take his time and be prepared for anything that he could find.

Not long after entering the forest area around the town, Zero found what appeared to be the bushes that the old man Zackariah had described.  Almost immediately he found a Juniper Berry and he immediately added it to his inventory, gaining the first of the five materials that he needed in o order to complete the quest.  He had hoped that because this was a beginner quest, the items would respawn relatively quickly so that as many new players as possible could take on this quest without the players getting in each other's way or fighting or materials.    Fairly pleased with the relative with which he was making progress right now, Zero smiles and continues on down the path, keeping his eyes peeled for the next set of bushes that he could hopefully loot.

Roll ID: 80128

LD: 16 (Success)

Quest Items Gathered 1/5

Zero sighes as he adjusts the weight of his heavy blade on his back to make it more comfortable.  He had been told to meet with an NPC called Zackariah was supposed to be the giver of this games version of the Tutorial Quests.  He always found these quests so annoying, which was why he had kind of put it off for a tiny bit of time.  Most of the games that he had played in the past made the begining quests extremely simple and easy, they were boring and filled with way too much hand holding.  While he definitely understand the importance of learning how a game's mechanics were functioning and from what he was told the quest line actually had some decent rewards for a new player, but he considered them more of an annoyance than anything.  Considering that he seemingly could log out, he also found it annoying to deal with things like that while the more important task was to grow his skills, gain signifcant levels and grow as quickly as he possibly could.  He didn't buy into this whole "if you die in the game, you die in real life" garbage either, while it was true that the game was able to acheive an unprecedented level of realism thanks to the neural feedback system that the game played with, for the game to literally be able to kill him it would have to apply a fairly signifancant amount of electricity directly into this brain and he was convinced that such a thing was impossible for the technology.  He even had a theory on how time passed in the game world versus that of the real world, but in a few moments of down time, he would need to talk with someone who had been stuck in this game for a significant period of time in order to verify his theory.  While lost in his thoughts, Zero almost walks directly into an old man with white hair.

"Oh hello there young man.  My name is Zackariah and I was hoping that you would be able to help me out.  You see, I'm getting on up in years and it is difficult for me to gather the materials that I need to craft potions these days.  If you would be so kind to help me out, I would be more than happy to teach you how to craft potions with me and I might even have a few spare potions lying around that you can have as a reward to help you start your adventure."  The old man quickly rattled off his script.  Zero noticed a little floating sign appear in front of him, asking him if he accepted the quest or not.  Reaching out, he pushes that he accepts that quest then turns his attention back to the NPC.

"Splendid!  I need you to collect 5 Juniper Berries and then return here with them.  They shouldn't be too hard to find, they grow in areas that are pretty safe and largely devoid of monsters, but you should still keep your guard up, just in case."  The old man finishes talking and Zero was actually quite impressed with how little information the quest giver gave out for the beginnger quests.  Maybe this wouldn't be so annoying after all and he could figure out how things worked more on his on so that he could develop his skills on his own.  Thanking Zackariah, Zero turns and leaves the quest giver and quickly makes his way out of the Town of Beginnings and into the forest's nearby.

Within moments of introductions and travel, the group found itself in front of what appeared to be a very powerful boar.  Zero hadn't quite figured out the mechanics of the monster spawn system yet, so he wasn't sure if it was set for a spawn against himself, Hydra or Mist.  Two more smaller boars quicly appeared, creating a monster trio to meet there own.  Hydra quickly leapt into action, attacking the larger of the three boars with a powerful sword art technique while getting the attention of the other two as well.  The fact that the big one didn't immediately die despite what was pretty clearly a powerful hit, told Zero that the black-tusked boar at the very least was way out of his league.  That, hopefully, meant that the other two were spawned to be more in line with his and Mist's levels.  Taking a deep breath, Zero looses his two-handed straight sword from his back and places the flat of the blade on his shoulders.

"I definitely didn't come this far on  my first adventure to be scared away by some boars.  If I don't go now, I won't be any use for the rest of the quest and that is unacceptable to me."  Zero says as he takes off in a dash towards one of the brown tusked boars.  rather than putting all of his physical strength into this first strike he decided he wanted to play it a bit safe and go with a simple attack.  Leaping up slightly and heaving off with his shoulders, Zero brought the blade up and then let gravity bring it down, using gravity and the weight of the blade to generate the power the attack instead of his own muscles.  This actually proved to be a poor decision, as without as much extra speed, the boar was able to dodge the attack and get out of the way, causing Zero's blade to embed itself into the ground.  Thinking quickly, Zero used the stuck blade as a pivot, swinging his body, hopefully, out of harms way, while using his body weight to pull the blade from the dirt and ready himself.

"I can't mess up like that again.  If I'm going to get stronger, I have to be smarter about the way that I attack."

ID #80015

Battle: 1 (critical miss)

[H:1] Hydra - 755/755 | 13 Damage (16/wskills) | 66 MIT | 3 Accuracy | 63/74 Energy [-11EN]

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

[H:0] @zero_lost04 - 20/20 | 3 Damage | 1/2 Energy

---------

Black-Tusked Boar - 242/370 | 111 Damage (Next turn stun)

Brown-Tusked Boar - 8/8 | 5 Damage

Brown-Tusked Boar - 8/8 | 5 Damage

Zero was actually a bit taken aback by first words that Hydra said to him.  He'd make a good frontliner?  Well that might be the case one day, but right now he knew that was miles away from being anything close to that.  Before he could even entertain thoughts like that, he would actually need to put some of the theory into practice and see how things went.  Still, such a compliment was one that he didn't take lightly, while he was intent on one day getting to that level and hopefully being a pretty well known and powerful player, today wasn't the day to dream of things like that, he needed to remain grounded in the here and now.  After all, while the dragon hatchling they were going to be going after likely wouldn't give Hydra much trouble, if Zero was to somehow generate just enough hate to become the primary target, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to stand up to even a single blow from the dragon baby.  Just as they were about to depart, a girl runs up to the two of them, she was carrying a spear that was massively oversized for her character.  It was appearant almost instantly that she was a friend of Hydra's, though there was a look of confusion on his face as though he hadn't expected her to arrive.  She turned and bowed and introduced herself as Mist.  While he saw her almost immediately refocus on Hydra, Zero still decided to extent her the same courtesy that she had extended him and he puts his left arm over his midsection as he bows slightly.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Mist.  I use the handle zero_lost04, but for simplicity's sake you can refer to me however you like, though most just typically refer to me as Zero.  As for the details of the quest, I think that the full details would be better for Hydra to detail to you.  I'm just here to offer whatever help I can."  Zero introduced himself and then allowed himself to turn back to the postion that he was before.  Hydra then pointed out a boar on the brow of a nearby hill.  He supposed it was a good idea to start with something a bit easier to deal with than going straight into combat with a dragon baby and then finding out that his theories on how combat worked in the game meant nothing.  It would be good for him to get some real combat experience before jumping into such a big fight.

"Well, whenever you two are ready, I am more than happy to get started, a boar seems like an excellent opponent for me to get my first taste of combat in the game, it should be a good bit of practice for me before we get started on our real target for the quest."

Zero nodded at Hydra's decision to just call him Zero.  It was what he prefered anyway, though he knew that Zero was a pretty common name in online games.  He had to let out a little bit of a sigh and changed his nod to a no when he was asked if he had had an opportunity to try out the combat system in the game yet.  He truthfully hadn't wanted to mention because he was worried that if it came out, the other player would turn down his help, however meager it would be, but his own personal code of honor prevented him from not speaking up when asked directly about it.

"While I haven't had any experience directly with the combat system with this game, I did do a lot of research on the topic before I logged in.  Unlike most MMO that use a standard controller, because this game uses a nueral feedback system, it allows for a greater range of motion and more complex movements and strategies than simply Press X to attack.  In the real world, you would allow the weight of the blade to generate the momentum for the attack, allowing gravity and the basic laws of motion to bring the power behind the blows, while I would be more of a guiding force behind the blows, directing them where I wanted them to go.  This is all theoretical to me of course as I have yet to engage in combat, if I am to be completely honest with you, this is actually the first thing I've done in the game, I haven't even bothered with the Beginner Quests yet.  Still, if we happen to run into some enemies on the way to the dragon nest, I wouldn't be opposed to trying out my blade and seeing what I am actually capable of in this game."  Zero realized that he was being a bit long winded, likely saying things that the veteran player already knew.  Once he realized what he was doing, he tried to wrap it up quickly and add in a bit more truth about his own situation so that he could be honest with Hydra about his level of skill when it came to this game.  Before he had left the starting area to meet up with Hydra, Zero had made sure that his starter equipment was indeed equipped in the right spots so that he could at least have a little bit of attack and defense ready to go.  He stepped up near Hydra, though just slightly behind and to the right of him, acknowledging that Hydra was the join to lead on this little adventure, especially since Zero had no idea where to go anway.

Upon speaking to the other player, he appeared to be surprised, almost as though he was jarred awake suddenly from sleeping.  Zero didn't think he was that late to arrive to the area, but then again, he had a sneaking suspicion that due to the nueral interface that this game used, that the perception of time was extremely different between here and the real world.   He noted the friendliness in the man's words as he introduced himself as Hydra.  It didn't take long for Zero to notice the orange cursor above the man's head.  Having read up on the game extensively before logging in for the first time, he was well aware that an orange cursor was the indication of a Pker.  It was nice of the game to give players an indication of that, though Zero decided that he would wait a moment and see if the man said anything before he made a decision on that.

Hydra actually brought that point up, unprovoked and explained the significance of the orange cursor but also why he had it.  He claimed that he had only killed an NPC, whether or not that was true because it would seem odd for a game to assign the same level of indication for killing an NPC and killing a PC, but ultimately Zero decided that he didn't care.  Hydra was under no obligation to explain the Orange Cursor and if this was a PKer's trap, it didn't serve his purposes to openly admit to it and say why he had it.  Zero closed his eyes for a moment and nodded his head before responding.

"I had read up a little bit on that, seeing an orange cursor was supposed to be an indication of a PK'er.  While that might worry some, I'm not one to have a concern about it.  Your reasons for having that orange cursor are your own.  You asked for someone to accompany you on this quest, I wanted to get some real experience in the game, not the weak, hand holding beginner quests, but a true understanding of how things work here.  Regardless, I am quite ready to get started on this quest if you are.  Oh, before I forget, I have chosen the handle zero_lost04 for this game, but you can refer to me however you would like."  Zero took several steps forward and extended his hand for a handshake as he introduced himself.  He truly wasn't that uncomfortable, he personally did find it a little funny that the first actual PC he met in the game was tagged as a Pk'er.  Others might have considered that a sign of ill fortune, but Zero decided that it was a good omen, that his adventures here would be quite exciting and interesting to behold.

"Starter heavy blade,check, starter iron breastplate, check.  Blue shirt, black pants, silver hair, everything seems to be checking out correctly.  I suppose now is as good a time as any to get started."  Zero took a deep breath as he headed along the path to meeting place.  Even though he had just started the game, he had decided to answer the call of a higher leveled player who made mention that it was something to do with dragons or maybe a baby dragon.  Either way, Zero knew that this was an absolutely foolish idea overall.  A literal brand new character in a game with only starting equipment, agreeing to hunt a dragon, even a baby one, was not a sane decision for th emost part.  Still this was how he had always played games, there was little reason in his mind to start out doing the easy things, beginner quests and their rewards while helpful, would remain until a later time.  In the mean time, the quickest way to determine his skill in the game and truly push himself in order to improve his skills required a real challenge and he thought that this was the best way to go about it.  That being said, there was no guarantee that this player would accept his hep, there was also always the possiblity that this was a PK player ssetting a trap, though with any luck if it was, Zero would be considered too small time to bother with and would simply be sent on his way.  The other possibility of course was that this was real and that filled him with excitement, fighting a dragon so early on would be an incredible rush.  After a while, Zero comes across a small clearing with another player, this player was lounging in front of a tree, possibly taking a nap.  That tree was the designated gathering point for anyone who wanted to take on this quest with the player, so Zero assumed that this player was the one who had put out the call.

"Excuse me, are you the one who put out the request for players to join to hunt the dragon?  Sorry if I'm a little late, I'm still pretty new to the game and I wanted to make sure that I didn't get lost."  Zero says as he quickly steps up to the other player, though making sure to start several steps away just in case.  Better to be cautious and introduce yourself than to be overly friendly and possibly pay a price.  If everything went well, this could be a lot of fun and really great way to propel him into the game and possibly help him come up with some more advanced battle strategies and techniques than most begining players got but doing those starter quests.

Profile
Username: zero_lost04
Real name: Jericho Greystone
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"

About:

Jericho stands about 5'7", with dark brown hair and light blue eyes and a fairly solid build, he works out a bit to stay in shape but isn't too much.  He had a pretty uneventful but happy childhood growing up in the southern United States.  His childhood was spent doing a lot of things outdoors, namely playing every sport one could imagine, but at the end of the day, he enjoyed playing video games and using them to unwind.  He went straight to college after high school and got a couple of degrees before getting a pretty good starting job and working his way up, working hard to eventually make a comfortable life for himself.  All the while, he continued to play video games as a hobby and used it as a way to unwind and relax from the hustle and bustle of every day life.  He had heard of a VRMMORPG called Sword Art Online that used something called "Nerve Gear VR".  He had actually put off making that kind of investment in a gaming rig because he wasn't that big on MMO's, he had a bad habit of trying to play through them completely solo and doing everything on his own.  After awhile, he decided to purchase the set up and give it a shot, at the very least it could be fun for a little bit while he was waiting for the next game he was interested in playing to come out.

Virtues:

Knowledge: Jericho has a life long love of learning, often saying "The more you learn, the more you come to understand just how little you truly know."  As such, he is always seeking to improve his mind and learn everything he can; from martial arts to physics to sword play to biology, anything that interests him, he seeks out knowledge of and learns as much as he can.

Honor: "A man is only as good as his word".  A virtue instilled in him by his grandfather.  If Jericho say something, he will do his best to stand by his words.  Therefore, he also tries to choose his words very careful, especially when it comes to how he is going to respond to something.

Self-Reliant: Growing up in a town that valued such a virtue, Jericho learned a long time how to be able to take care of himself, not just in a job but also in the event something bad happened and he found himself alone and away from civilization.  He considers this a great virtue as no matter what events come his way in life, he believes that he can overcome them.

Flaws:
Over-Estimation of himself:  Due to him being in good shape, having had some training in various martial arts and having learned as much as he can, Jericho tends to over-estimate his abilities and is prone to biting off a bit more than he can chew, especially considering his penchant for wandering off alone in MMOs and trying to find areas that he shouldn't be in this early in the game.  He hasn't tempered this for this game because he doesn't believe that the nerual feedback could possibly actually cause death, that it would take a tremendous amount of energy in order to be physically possible, but that it is merely either a marketing gimmick or overblown creepypastas.

Blunt:  While not outspoken, unless he is considering giving his word on something, Jericho calls it like he see's it and doesn't really care much about the emotions of others that he is talking to in this regards.  He doesn't go out of his way to be overtly mean or cruel to anyone, his personal code of honor prevents him from just being a jerk, but if he thinks you are being stupid, he isn't going to sugar coat it and will just call you stupid and move on.

Expects a lot of others:  Because he was raised to be self-reliant, Jericho has little use for or need for people who he feels like can't take care of themselves.  As such, if he comes across someone that he feels is being over emotionaly over something or being soft, he may just walk away from the situation entirely.  While he standards for others is high, the standard that he holds himself to is significantly higher.

Profession: (Leave blank until the Earning a Living quest has been completed.)

Skills
Non-combat:
»

Passive:
»

Combat:
Two-Handed Straight Sword (3 Ranks)

Heavy Armor (2 Rank)

Weapon skills:
»


Inventory
Weapons/Tools:
Two Handed Straight Sword of The Fallen (+2 Damage, +1 Acc)

Obsidian Guard (+2 Mit, +1 Regan) (-5 Tier 1 Mats)

Gentleman's Cufflinks (+1 Acc) (-200 Col)

The Seeker's Clothing (Vanity) (-130 Col) (ID: 83649)

Steel Breastplate (Stored - +1 Mit)

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 Tale Thus Far

The First Few Lessons Are Free: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/14489-f1-sp-zero_lost04-completed/ (430 Col)

The Second Lesson is Also Free: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/14618-sp-f1the-second-lesson-is-also-free-completed/ (1,250 Col) (5 Tier 1 Materials)

Hello there, I go by zero_lost04 but I've had many names in the years that I've been rping. I'm an old friend of Erroneous, though I always knew him by the name Edan back in the day. I saw that he is working on getting Intergrability back up and wanted somewhere to RP and get my skills back sharpened. After watching some conversations in the Sao discord chat, I decided to join here and give it a go. I'm looking forward to getting into the RP swing of things and hope to play with you all soon.