Saige

Saige drained the last of her hot chocolate thoughtfully. She dismally noted that the drink was already cold, she had taken too long in finishing it. Raising her hand, she attracted the attention of a nearby NPC waitress. "Another hot chocolate, please. The largest size," Saige told the waitress as she neared. The NPC quickly noted down the order and rushed back to the counter, almost colliding with another NPC who was holding a tray. Saige watched the NPC for a bit longer, taking in its frazzled appearance and nervous movements. It was acting like it was completely new to the job, and it was a bit amusing to her.

She refrained from making any comments in the presence of her new companion.

"Survivability's good, but I'd rather focus on 'taking up the sword and slaying the darkened' first, as you say it," Saige responded to Hestia's question. "The best defense is a good offense, as they say. Also, a good defense, as in defense in the form of mitigation, can be easily acquired through armor enhancements; unlike damage output, which needs lots of skill points and dedication." She rested her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together with a smile. She didn't mention her other reason, which was the fact that she was planning to solo most of the game's content so she would need a decent damage output to survive. "Well, that was just based on what I currently know about the game's skills and enhancements. I'm not all too acquainted with the game's system to make a final decision or anything."

From here on, the conversation took on a more serious turn. "'Being the shield that helps others rise to success,' huh? And you were taught by a front liner? You must be a pretty high level, Hestia!" Saige's expression changed into one of admiration before turning into a more serious one. "The front liners...how are things going up there? It's been a year already, and yet we're still at Floor 21. I'm not criticizing them or anything. Well, I have no right to. I-I haven't been doing my part. Heck, I'm only at level 3." Upon saying those words, she turned her gaze away from Hestia, afraid of seeing the other girl's reaction. What expression would the girl's blue eyes hold? Disdain? Disappointment? A righteous anger? Or was Hestia going to be nice? Saige wasn't sure if she deserved nice. But she kept on talking. "But I can't help but wonder how many more years we're all going to spend here. How many Christmases, birthdays, and New Years? Are we...are we even going to get out at all?"

(OOC: This is where the thread's title starts to set in. Have fun~)

The girl introduced herself as Hestia, and her familiar as Kuro. Appropriate names, Saige thought as she recalled Hestia's warm smile from earlier and Kuro's black wings. "My name's Saige," the silver-haired player began. "Spelled as 'sage' with an extra 'i' in the middle. I haven't really decided on my play style yet, but I'm leaning more on a tank-DPS hybrid. I want to be the type of player that can take as much damage as I can deal. Like the warrior class in video games!" Upon saying the words 'video games' her demeanor immediately brightened. It was evident to the other player that Saige loved playing games very much. So much that it brought her to this godforsaken world.

"I actually thing the whole title thing is cool," Saige continued enthusiastically. "I mean, I've heard about lots of players with titles and they all seemed really strong. For a low-level like me, being a high enough level to be considered strong by other players means a lot..." Being a high-leveled player was something she should have worked on one whole year ago. She shouldn't have been such a coward, she shouldn't have--"By the way, I think your familiar's really cute," she changed the topic quickly, before she got too soaked up on her thoughts. She smiled at Hestia and constantly told herself, not now. "You know, like the peculiar cute. What type of creature is he? I don't think I've ever seen a lion with wings before."

Saige was never quite good at throwing things. She played softball with a few girls from her class once and they designated her as the team's pitcher. That, coupled with her horrible aim and their lack of proper protective equipment...well, let's just say, nobody ever wanted her to play pitcher again. Or play softball, in general. (She was just glad she didn't hit anybody in the head). But even with her lack of aiming skills, she was sure that joining a snowball fight wouldn't normally have resulted in anything bad, right? Snowballs were harmless, and it didn't really matter if she hit them or not. She could just throw another snowball until she finally landed a hit. But of course, she just had to defy all the negative expectations she had with her aim, as she watched the snowball she threw hit the other player right in that...spot. 

She was screwed. She was so screwed. There were a million possible ways he could react to it, and none of them looked good. Not to mention, they were in the middle of the plaza. People had seen, and they were going to talk and spread rumors about this one silver-haired pervert who threw a snowball at a guy's crotch on Christmas Day. Just thinking about it made her face go red in embarrassment. Why did she even have to retaliate? She could've just ignored him and gone on her merry way. Maybe she could've even finished up a quest today. But she just had to go down the route where she would inevitably [censored] things up. Saige pulled up her hood again, tugging the edge down as far as it could go. Then she peeked out from under her hood and saw him rolling about the snow, obviously pained and looking up at her with an expression that said why did you do this?

She gritted her teeth and rushed up to the player, squatting down in front of him. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!Pleasedon'tgetmadatme!" Saige blurted, her voice coming out oddly high-pitched. "I have...I have a horrible aim and I swear I wasn't aiming there! It was unintentional! Purely unintentional!" While still tugging the edge of her hood down, she held out her free hand to him. "H-Here! Can you stand? Does it still hurt?" 

Due to her embarrassment and frustration, Saige completely forgot that physical pain didn't exist in SAO.

"Grinding for levels even on the day before New Year?" Saige asked with an amused smile. "Though I have to admit, I did the same thing earlier too. Anyways, since you're new here, do you mind accepting a few suggestions?" she offered. Ending the conversation at this point would be awkward, since she was planning on staying in the cafe for a bit longer. Maybe after two more orders of hot chocolate. The largest size. Or maybe she'd just wait for New Year here in the cafe...

The silver-haired player leaned over the table, just close enough to see the upside-down view of the other girl's menu. Having spent so much time in the cafe, she knew exactly where each drink's name was placed on the menu, so looking at it upside-down wasn't much of a problem. "Something warm..." she hummed thoughtfully. After a few moments of thinking, she began to speak pointing to each drink's name as she mentioned it. "Their cappuccino is way too foamy in my opinion, so you could either start with a Cafe au Lait or a Latte. Or you could always try the classical hot chocolate with marshmallows." Having finished speaking, she sat back down on her chair and sipped from her hot chocolate. She'd have to order another one soon. "Of course, those were just suggestions. You can get whatever you want, since most of the drinks they offer here are good."

The boy she had collided with stood up, and Saige cautiously inched farther away from him while maintaining a forced, polite smile. At her distance, he couldn't reach her even if he lunged, though she believed he wouldn't have much skill with the ice to do that in the first place. Still, it couldn't hurt to be cautious. She forced an awkward giggle at his response, and while remaining hyper-aware of the other player's movements, she said, "I suppose we've all made that mistake. You're not much used to the ice, are you?"

Now that she thought of it, why was he here? She could definitely eliminate ice skating or the other winter activities she'd seen the other players doing from the list (most winter activities could be done back inside the safe zone, anyway, so why risk it?). Furthermore, the lake wasn't exactly the best place to go hunting for mobs unless one had the Fishing skill, but even then, not many players were willing to sit on the cold, cold snow all day. Well, he could always be one of the exceptions. Unless he came here to kil-- Saige shivered and stepped back. She quickly decided that it was better to ask instead of drawing conclusions. "So, what brings you here? Obviously not ice skating, I presume," she added with an amused smile that came a bit more naturally than the previous ones.

Another player enters the shop, followed by a peculiar-looking familiar. Saige curiously eyes the familiar a bit: a relatively smaller-sized lion with pure white fur and black wings. It was surprisingly...cute. She wasn't sure if petting it was a very good idea though. Having settled that, she refocused on the view of the snow-covered street outside the cafe's window, remembering the day (Christmas day) she forgot her worries for a few hours and played in the snow with another player. It was fun, she appreciated the company, and she missed having snowball fights, but it could've been better if it were one of her loved ones throwing snowballs at her. Snowball fights with them were the most fun, even though she lost all the time.

She detected a pair of footsteps heading in her direction and distractedly looked in the direction of the footsteps. The same player who had entered the shop awhile ago. Saige returned to staring out the window and reminiscing about the past Christmases she had spent with her family, half-empty cup of chocolate forgotten. Then the footsteps stopped and she realized that the player--a tall girl with silver streaks running through her dark hair--had stopped in front of her table and was asking for permission to sit with her. "Of course," Saige replied with a small, polite smile. She briefly looked around the cafe and, noticing that most of the tables were full, looked back at her new companion. "You don't seem like a regular here." Then, realizing that the player could easily take offense from her previous statement, she stuttered, "I-I mean...uh, I go here often, and it's my first time seeing you here." She offered the other girl a smile, though it seemed a bit forced this time. Then as if to cover her embarrassment, she picked up her cup and sipped from it. She should really brush up on her skills in talking to strangers.

Christmas had come and gone, and along with it, the festive mood that usually accompanied the season. It was currently December 31, five hours from the start of a new year, and the Christmas lights and banners that adorned the Town of Beginning's buildings had already been taken down. A few decorations, like the ice sculptures and snowmen that some creative players had crafted for the season still remained in display.

Saige, having spent the earlier parts of the day grinding for levels, sat alone at a table for two in her favorite cafe. She looked out of the window, watching snowflakes fall from the sky, while she sipped from a cup of hot chocolate. "Five hours 'til New Year," she murmured thoughtfully, swirling the remaining hot chocolate around her cup before putting the cup back on the table and resting her chin on her hand. It's been more than a year since the day they were first trapped in SAO, and the frontliners had only cleared 21 floors. With that type of progress, how many more Christmases and New Years would she have to spend in this hellhole? Not that Saige was criticizing them, she'd barely done anything on her part. Of course, she was planning to do something to help them this time (instead of moping around in her lodge like she had done the past year), but she couldn't help but think, how far would everyone have gotten if I had decided to help them in the first place? It was hugely presumptuous of her to think someone like her would've actually made a big difference if she were in the front lines, but still... Why did I have to be such a big coward?

@Hestia

Saige was proud to say, she still remembered how to skate. She skated around the edges of the lake, lifting her skates from the ice in alternating patterns, and then focused on gradually picking up speed until she was eventually racing around the lake, the cold winter wind blowing back her hood. She passed the branch she had placed near the lake's shore once more. Lap number nine! Grinning, she bent forward and picked up speed but instantly regretted it as she noticed a brown-haired player (@Vigilon) slip on the ice and uncontrollably slide into her path. Her stomach dropped. She had heard the bushes rustling awhile ago but was too focused on her skating to examine the source. "Hey, watch out!" the silver-haired player warned. Saige stuck one skate out sideways and attempted to stop. But she had been recklessly going at full speed, and she ended up colliding against the other player and landing on her side a few paces away. 

"Urgh..." The tingly sensation had spread to both her legs and her side, and when she attempted to sit up, her hand slid under her and her head slammed against the ice. This was not how she wanted to look like in front of a complete stranger. Hopefully, he had been too focused on standing up to notice her epic failure. Taking it slower this time, she picked herself up and stood on unsteady legs. After tugging her hood back on, Saige glided over to the player, but made no move to help him. He looked just about her age, maybe a year older, but the sword at his side sparked an overwhelming sense of caution. What level are you? He didn't seem too experienced with the ice though, so if it came to it, she could use her speed to her advantage and quickly get away from him. "Um, you okay?" she asked tentatively. A small white dragon was perched on his shoulder, and it looked a bit familiar. She resisted the urge to pet it. "I'm sorry about that, should've watched where I was going."

The man who had introduced himself as @Hei seemed as friendly as he looks. Her gaze fell on the refreshments table as Hei mentioned it, and she noticed a brown-haired guy attempting to convince a small white dragon (his familiar?) from eating all the sweets on the refreshments table. Saige's lips quirked up into an amused smile as she witnessed the familiar gobble up another cookie. Maybe later. 

She turned back to the dark-haired man. "So... your name's Hei? Like...like that one character from that anime that aired around a decade ago?" Saige questioned, her voice taking on a brighter, more enthusiastic tone. If this were an anime, she would have been drawn with a starry-eyed expression on her face. There was nothing that excited her more than talking about her interests. "Hey, now that I think about it, you kinda look like them. Coincidence?"

After hearing that he was a member of the guild that was hosting the party, "Your guild, huh? No wonder most of the people here seem so close." It would be nice if she had a big group of friends like that, too. Then, recalling the party etiquette rules she had read beforehand (this was her first party in ages, and she had been nervous about how she should act), she said, "Say, I'd really love to talk more, but would you mind pointing me to the host? I suppose I should greet them before doing anything else first. It'd be rude, otherwise."

(OOC: I was planning to wait for 3 more posts or so before replying, but nobody's been posting. Hope you guys don't mind.)

Christmas parties weren't really Saige's thing. Being more of an introvert, she preferred to spend her Christmas with a small group of friends and family and if she was presented with a situation wherein all of them weren't available (or rather, her situation right now) she would much rather stay at home, binge-watching her favorite anime series and treating herself to some ice cream. But anime and movies weren't available in Aincrad, all of her favorite food stalls had long lines, and she found herself craving a little bit of human interaction (okay, now that sounded weird). And the Christmas party in floor 4 seemed like the best place to socialize.

The girl lingered outside the player-owned armory and double checked her appearance in the small pocket mirror she brought with her. She had changed out of her usual white and purple outfit into a pastel pink dress accompanied with shoes of the same color and knee-high socks. It wasn't very Christmassy, but it was the nicest outfit she had in her inventory, so it should do. She placed her pocket mirror back into her inventory, took a deep breath, and entered the armory.

The Christmas decorations were minimal, just a few banners hung around the room, and it was evident that the party was some sort of last-minute thing. Saige quietly closed the door behind her and almost immediately regretted her decision of coming to the party. This looks more like a Christmas gathering between a bunch of closely-knit players, she thought as she observed players already divided into groups, talking and laughing amongst themselves. I know they put up flyers and all, but I'm starting to feel like I'm intruding...

But she supposed it was rude to leave now. A few players had already seen her, so she forced a smile and walked up to the nearest and friendliest-looking person in the room: a man handing out Santa hats and green headbands (@Hei). "Hello," Saige greeted simply. Once prompted, she took a Santa hat and placed it on her head, tugging the edges down. "My name's Saige and...I'm not really familiar with anyone here." Uh oh. First introduction was already going south. She quickly scrambled for something, anything to say. "Hope you don't mind my joining in."

Christmas had passed, but Floor 1's wintry season stayed. Saige predicted that winter in Aincrad would last as long as it normally did in the real world, with the game's attempt to be as close as possible to reality and everything. Or maybe it would only last up 'til New Year, like what most MMORPGs did. But knowing how long the snow will last didn't matter. What mattered was that she was going to take a break from leveling and have fun in the snow today! Well, to be honest, she had been going on lots of "breaks" lately, but that didn't matter much either. It was winter, and winter only lasted for around three months. Furthermore, she was quite proud of the fact that she had been leaving her lodging for three weeks, straight. It was hard to believe that the Saige from a month ago was too scared and depressed to be out of her lodging for just one hour.

Anyways, the afternoon of December 28 found Saige standing in front of a small, frozen lake she had found outside the Town of Beginnings. It was pretty far from the safe zone, maybe a twenty minute walk away, and she came across it while chasing a retreating boar; and it was something that was pretty hard to be found, so she was fairly confident that she would be alone for the whole afternoon. If she did get any unexpected company though, she had her sword and her Level 3 stats to keep herself alive. She was wearing her usual white and purple outfit with the hood pulled up and a large sword strapped to her belt, and it wasn't enough to protect her from the cold of the winter season. She shivered slightly as a mild breeze blew past her. Note to self: buy warmer clothes for the next winter season. If we're still stuck in SAO by that time, anyway.

The silver-haired player opened her inventory, and after a few moments of scrolling, tapped on an item. A pair of ice skates fell onto her hands. She had bought it for herself last Christmas when she walked past an NPC's stall and seeing the skates displayed, thought: Why not? Saige sat down on the ground and put the skates on. Then she stepped out onto the ice and slowly glided forward (she'd tested the strength of the ice earlier, and she was 98% sure it would hold; plus, she'd never heard of players dying from hypothermia, and she was careful enough so she definitely wouldn't be the first one). Stopped in the middle of the frozen lake and looked around, taking the beauty of her wintry surroundings in. "Okay. Let's see if I still know the basics."

@Vigilon

"Now, for your last task," Generic Tutorial Guy began. Saige visibly perked up, and accepted a smaller-sized crate the NPC handed her. "I need you to deliver this package to Lyle Tealeaf. It contains the potions he ordered, so be careful with it. After you've finished making the delivery, come back here for the reward."

"Right," Saige said. She lifted the crate (heavier than expected!) and leaned on the door, pushing it open. "I'll be back later, mister Zackariah!" Then she let the door swing closed. "Okay. Time to find this Tealeaf guy."

She quickly found out that she could just place the crate in her inventory instead of carrying it around, so she did just that and pulled up her map. She approached the nearest player and showed them her map. "Hey, I'm looking for an NPC named Lyle Tealeaf. Would you mind showing me where he is?" The helpful player placed the marker on her map and from there, finding the NPC wasn't much of an issue. His forge turned out to be pretty far from Generic Tutorial Guy's house, but it wasn't much compared to the amount of walking she did awhile ago.

Once she arrived, Saige walked up to the nearest table she could find and materialized the wooden crate. Lyle Tealeaf opened the crate and checked the potions inside. "Alright, thanks for making the delivery missy! We all know how old and tired our friend Zackariah is. Say, once you're done with Zackariah, would you be interested in running a few errands for me as well? I'll offer a reward, of course. How does getting new equipment sound to ya?"

So this was the next quest in the beginner questline? Saige was tempted to jump straight into it, but after the events of the day, she felt pretty tired. "How about tomorrow?" she suggested. The NPC nodded in agreement then went back to work. After lingering in the blacksmith's forge and looking at the different types of swords on display for a few more minutes, she traveled back to Zackariah's house and claimed her reward.

Thread Summary

3 SP
400 Col
5 Tier One Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP)
1 Tier One Damage Potion. (+1 Damage)
1 Tier One Over-Health Potion (+50 Temp. HP)

"Okay...attempt number two," Saige said, looking at the materials laid out in front of her. Generic Tutorial Guy explained the process of crafting a Healing potion again and, at her request, demonstrated the procedure. "Alright, I think I get it." She told the NPC as he carefully placed the completed potion in the crate with the other potions. The NPC began crafting another potion, though he did it slowly enough so Saige could follow along. There was a tense silence as they waited for her mixture to brew, and--

Quote

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Craft successful! Perfect Quality potion crafted.

Saige could hardly believe it. A Perfect Quality item on her second try! Material gathering might not be her thing, but crafting might be. Remembering the quest, she almost reluctantly handed over her first craft to the NPC.

He perused the Healing Potion in his hands for a few moments before giving his approval. "Excellent craft," he commented as he placed the potion in the crate. He cleared the table and, with surprising strength, lifted the crate up onto the table. "Do you have any interest in becoming an alchemist? You certainly have the aptitude for it."

"I'm not really into crafting," Saige answered. Though she couldn't deny that she was starting to consider it. Maybe she could dabble in alchemy once she reached a higher level. And once she had the equipment for it.

"If you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to approach me," the NPC offered. "You see, I also serve as a mentor for future alchemists. I've already taught quite a few adventurers, actually."

"Duly noted."

After a short, uneventful walk back to the Town of Beginnings, Saige knocked on the NPC's door and let herself in. Generic Tutorial Guy was performing the same NPC actions as when she had left him awhile ago: brewing potions, pouring the freshly brewed mixtures into small glass vials, and carefully placing the vials in a crate. Sensing her entry, the quest-giver looked up from his potions and greeted her differently this time. "Hello adventurer, have you finished collecting the materials?"

Yeah, and material gathering was such a complete bitch, I'm never doing it without the right equipment ever again. "Yup. I'm done," Saige moved forward and pulled up her inventory. The five materials which took one and a half hours to gather fell onto the wooden table in front of the NPC. He looked over the materials briefly, picking one up to examine it, and then silently nodded his approval. Saige grinned, feeling a bit proud of herself. First quest objective was officially over and done with! "So, what do I have to do next?"

"If you don't mind, adventurer, help me finish crafting potions for my next delivery," the NPC responded. The phrasing made it sound like she had a choice, but unfortunately, she didn't. "Now, how much do you know about alchemy?" The NPC then proceeded to teach her the steps to crafting a potion. She listened intently, but a part of her started to wish she'd never asked. Alchemy--or rather crafting in general--just wasn't her thing. While she liked having nice equipment in video games, she normally left the crafting to other players and resorted to buying instead. So she wasn't very surprised when her first try turned out to be a failure. Expectantly, Saige looked up at Generic Tutorial Guy. Instead of reprimanding her like she expected though, the NPC smiled and said, "The first tries are always the hardest. Keep that in mind. Let me show you the steps again."

Having failed her previous material search, Saige walked deeper into the forest. Her material search pattern so far had been fail, fail, fail, success, success, fail, fail, fail, and she was growing really tired of it. But the good part was, she'd seen three consecutive failures already, so that means that her next search should be a success, right?

She stopped walking and almost instantly found a material. If she were a more emotional person, she could've cried tears of joy. Because she was finally [censored] done with the quest objective and once she turned the materials in, she only needed to do a few more things and she would have completed her first ever quest! Grinning widely, she trotted forward and gathered the material. Then she pulled up her quest progress and saw a check mark beside the objective. Saige couldn't help but cheer, "I'm finally done!" 

"Did they empty out this area, too?" Saige asked herself. Nice and friendly as that one person from the group was, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. They also hadn't mentioned how far they had searched, and she was pretty sure it was the same case with this area. Or maybe she should stop blaming everything on them. They weren't the only players she saw in the forest anyway.

"One last try, then I'll move somewhere else," the silver-haired player decided. Then she went about the same process of slowly walking around the area while looking out for both mobs and materials. She'd repeated the process so many times that she didn't need to think about it anymore. She wondered, while searching, was it a good thing or a bad thing? 

Bad thing, she instantly decided as she drew up another failure. She'd been searching for so long, maybe even too long, without much results to make up for it.

"Geez, no wonder I couldn't find anything earlier." Saige was now completely alone in the forest (not considering the presence of the mobs), which meant that she could be more vocal about her thoughts since no one was listening. So she went and grumbled about her current situation as much as she liked while still taking care to pay attention to her surroundings.  "Why did I end up gathering materials at the same time as a big group of players? My luck really is the worst."

After a few more minutes of walking, she checked her map and decided she was far enough from the areas the player had mentioned. She stopped and continued her search for materials. It wasn't long before she had to stop and mark this as 'failure number nine' though. (It was an estimate, but she was pretty sure her previous material searches amounted up to that number.)

Walking deeper into the forest, she passed a group of players heading in the opposite direction as her. She self-consciously pulled her hood up (something she had grown used to doing whenever she was feeling shy) and avoided their curious gazes. Saige passed by them without any incident. That was, until someone rested their hand on her shoulder.

The silver-haired player whipped around and sprung a few steps backward, widening the distance between herself and the player. The player was a tall dark-skinned man, way older than her, if the stubble on his chin was any indication. Her hand subtly crept up to rest on the hilt of her sword, but the player showed no signs of attacking. He raised both hands up, though he did look a bit tense. "Hey, no threat intended. Just wanted to inform you that if you're searching for materials, me and my group emptied the surrounding areas of materials already. So if I were you, I'd search in a different area." 

"Thanks." Saige replied. She didn't say anything else and consciously tugged her hood lower to obscure more of her face as the man went back to his friends. As soon as they left her field of vision though, she turned around and focused on her surroundings. As the friendly player had said, no materials in the immediate areas. She turned on her heel and traveled to a different part of the forest.

"Come on, Saige, just one more success and you're good to go," she encouraged herself. Saige ducked underneath a tree branch and searched the new area she had arrived at. Focusing on her surroundings, she slowly walked in a big circle. Her eyes narrowed as she completed the circle. Again. Maybe she just overlooked the material. But halfway through her second search with no materials in sight yet, she already knew where this was going. But she literally just had one material left to look for, and she can't fail now! She started looking harder.

But her efforts were all for nothing. Again. "I can't believe it..." she said to herself, sounding considerably dismayed. But there was only one more material left to find! No matter how bad her luck was, it won't be long before she would find that material. And then the material gathering part of the quest would be over and done with and she'd take a good long nap in her lodging before the sun sets. Hopefully. "Okay. One more time."

After a few more minutes of looking around the same area she found the material in, Saige turned up with another success. She didn't even need to check her quest progress for this one. She was just one material short from meeting the quest's first objective! But was finding two materials in a row a good sign or a bad sign? She didn't want to potentially jinx herself by thinking too much about it, so instead, she continued searching the area. She was one material away from finishing this damn quest, and she wanted to finish it quickly.

While searching, she remembered that the quest-giver, Generic Tutorial Guy, mentioned that he had "some errands" for her to do. Errands, as in plural. The beginner's guide only mentioned the material gathering portion, so she wondered what the rest of the quest objectives would be. But she shouldn't be getting ahead of herself. She was only at the first part of the quest, after all.

A bit disappointed over her previous failures, Saige continued her search with less focus than she had back when she first started the quest. Technically, only an hour had passed, but to her it seemed like she'd been searching for a day. Her feet were starting to complain and the only thing that was driving her forward was the desire to get stronger. Before this she hadn't even left her room, much less walked and searched for one hour, straight. She supposed she should be proud for coming this far in only a few hours, but right now, she was too tired to be proud. Once she finished this beginner quest line, building up her stamina would be her highest priority.

She focused on her surroundings once more, halfway ready to give up, when she noticed a faintly glowing material among a small bush's leaves. Saige blinked and rubbed her eyes. Was that...? She hesitantly stepped closer to the bush and confirmed it. It was a material. She could hardly believe that she actually found a material! Well the whole point of her searching was to find materials, but she had so many failed searches that she was starting to think that she would never find one. She gathered the material and checked her quest progress. "Two more to go."

"Where to next?" Saige asked herself. She had taken a five minute break from material searching. Half of the reason was because she grew tired of the constant material search failures. And the other half of the reason was to let the materials regenerate so there would be more when she comes back, hopefully. Would five minutes be enough, though? Saige considered adding more time, but didn't want to linger outside the safe zone for too long so she stretched her arms and legs and went back to work. "Come to think of it, I haven't searched much of the eastern forest yet."

So to the east she went. There weren't as much players and mobs here, and she hoped that was a good sign. Less players meant less people to compete for materials with, right? And less mobs meant she could focus more on searching than constantly looking out for danger. Leading to higher chances of finding materials. Feeling a bit more confident, she commenced her search. But even with all those factors taken in and even after looking in every direction and walking in circles to make sure she didn't miss anything, she came up with another material search failure.

December 25. Christmas. To be honest, Saige hadn't waited for this event with as much anticipation as she had done back in real life. Because there wasn't really a point of doing so, was there? She had no family to celebrate it with, no friends to give presents to, and grandparents and distant relatives to visit. She wondered what they were doing now, actually. It had been more than a year since she last saw them. Were they still thinking about her? Or were they going about life as if she'd never existed in the first place? If anything, Christmas just made her feel more homesick than ever.

But now that it was here, she thought she should at least have some form of celebration. Or just some way to get her mind off things. Aimlessly wandering around the Town of Beginnings, she looked for something to do. But before long, she realized that if she wanted to celebrate, she should've made some reservations first. All her favorite cafes and restaurants were filled to the brim with customers, and take-out lines even extended to outside the shop. She wanted to do something today, and waiting around definitely wasn't it.

Dismayed, she made her way to the town gates. "Back to leveling, I suppose," she said to herself glumly. The silver-haired player was halfway through the process of taking out her to-do list when an opportunity presented itself to her. An opportunity in the shape of a snowball that hit her hard in the back of her head. "Wha-!" She lost her balance and had to stumble a few steps forward before regaining it. Only then did she realize that she'd walked straight into a huge snowball fight, something  Annoyed, she pulled off her hood and turned around, instantly spotting the offender.

Well, from her angle, they seemed like the only person who could've thrown it at her. He was tall, and his dark clothes easily contrasted the snow-covered background. And he had another snowball in hand. Well, why not? A mischievous smile playing on her lips, she bent down and picked up some snow, shaping it into a ball. Then she aimed and threw the ball as hard as she could. "You are so going to regret that!"

"I'm definitely going to find something this time!" she declared. There was no one around, so might as well, right? Inspired by her own vote of confidence, she started searching the area vigorously. Heck, with the amount of rigorousness she put into searching, she was sure she'd turned over all the leaves she'd passed by. It was all for naught though, because once again, she wasn't able to find a material.

"And that makes failure number...four or five? I completely lost track." Saige backtracked to where she first entered the forest with her shoulders slumped. The next time she was going to look for materials, she would be bringing one of those equipment that gave material search bonuses. Because without those, she'd be stuck searching for who knows how long. Like right now, for example. Arriving at her destination, she brought up her menu and checked her quest progress. "And after all that, I've just gathered two materials. Who knew material gathering would be so hard?"

Saige continued aimlessly walking around the forest and searching for materials. The semi-transparent screen of the map still floated in front of her, she hadn't dismissed it 'cause didn't want to wander into the deepest parts of the forest by accident. And she made a point of scattering piles of leaves. Maybe she would get lucky and find another material again, the player thought hopefully.

But a few minutes of searching with no successful results proved otherwise. Her shoulders slumped and she groaned. "I've played lots of RPGs before, but I've never ever ever encountered one with a beginner quest as tedious as this," she grumbled. "Seriously, why can't it be something more interesting?" Then she realized that the 'interesting' she had on her mind involved combat. Or saving a town from rampaging ogres. The silver-haired player frowned. Did she just get her priorities screwed over a small set of failures? She let out a long sigh, something she had been doing a lot today. "...actually, nevermind. I can handle boring."