Benjamin Bookworm

"Hello!" Ben cried cheerily as he walked in the store.  "Wow, this is a cool place- I guess the merchants around here are well stocked."

With a smile and a spin to take another look around, he turned to Shield to ask him a question.  "Um, those blank dungeon maps you have- do you have a limit to how many I can buy at once?  It's kinda silly, but I like to explore and find stuff, so I figure I should have a few spare in my inventory just in case.  Gathering and searching for treasure is what I'm looking to be good at!"

Ben offered a hand to Outlander, helping him back up again. 

"It's been.... pretty good so far.  I'm finally out into the fields and trying to learn how to help out other players.  I even am going to be opening my own alchemy shop, as soon as I can make a few things to sell there.  Turns out crafting has a REALLY low success chance when you start out.  Right now I can maybe get one good item every few days if I'm lucky... hopefully though my luck will change soon."

"Anyways, it's the same thing we're doing here today- keep on trying until we succeed." he said as he looked again for some materials to find, unsuccessfully.

"It's tough when we first start out, and most of what we can use for crafting will only show up when we bring it close to or HUD, but with a little experience we can figure out what will work.  Or just buy some items that would boost our chances, either way."

"I'm hoping I can make enough healing items from these to be a healer for whoever I team up with - even the first aid skill is dwarfed by what you can do by just chucking potions at people.  Hopefully once I level up I can round that out with some skills.  How about you?  What skills are you investing in?"

Ben held his breath as he began his work.  This was his first attempt at making anything in this game, and he hoped that he could make something usable.  Then he could get some stock on the shelves.  Then he could get some customers.  Then he could help people, and make some col, and upgrade his shop, and help even more people!

His first mix started out well, or at least he so hoped it had.  He just needed to make sure everything stayed at the right temperature, and consistency.  Mix, pour, mix some more, test, sniff, look, mix, test again, mix some more, and...

Daily craft rolls

I hope I'm doing this correctly :)

My shop that I am crafting for

Will do crafting attempts next post.

"Oh, you want to use your sword correctly?  Hmmm... well, there's not much around here we could use it on.  I suppose later we could go try and find something to fight, but it might be best to do the first few beginner quests for that knowledge.  I know they show you how to fight in the second one- though you have to finish them in order.  Actually, I was looking for a partner to go do them with if that would interest you."  he said as he checked around a few more trees

"Your best bet though is to level up enough that you can put more skill points into your weapon skills.  If you put the 5 SP you start with into your weapon, you should be able to do extra damage with it.  And, you gain access to the weapon's Sword Arts, which you can activate to do even more damage, or stun enemies or even hit whole groups at once.  You'd have to check your own HUD for what the curved sword has, as I picked daggers as my weapon skill."

"Oh, and why don't you try looking around for some material as well?  Even if you don't use it, a lot of shopkeepers will take payments in either col or materials, so they're good to keep around."

A small wooden cart located on the streets of floor 1.  It's sign (optimistically) shows this as the humble beginnings of Bookworm Laboratories.  The well cared for cart has areas for brewing and a small box to hold col and other miscellaneous supplies behind the counter.  There's a few half finished crafts sticking out the back as well. 

There are many slots for salves and potions for players to browse, with many extra spaces for more to be added.  There are a few different basic healing supplies shown for sale.  A foot and a half long caterpillar in a small bed sits watching over the cart. 

The sign out front reads Any players who can't afford to refill their supply of healing salves can get a few free.  Please don't go off adventuring without some healing with you!

The sign up sheet out front is waiting for anyone to place orders for the future, and most evenings you will find a smiling Benjamin working on his brews behind the cart.

Stats

Tools in use

In Stock - 40% off all listed prices for in stock items! Limited time sale!

Prices:

Ben smiled in thanks as Domarus finished his explanation.  Checking his HUD showed he had plenty of col ready, so he went over to the item he wanted.  The glow-y skull was sitting there was waiting as he put in the correct amount of col and pulled it into his inventory.  Soon, he would be able to use it to start making some potions of his own.  He had finsihed the job quest, and was ready!

"Thanks again!  I'll come back next time I need something made.  And good luck with your orders- they look fantastic.  See you next time!"

- 800 Col
+ Intellect

"Hiya Litsy!  Heya Outlander!" Ben enthusiastically replied as he waved them over.  "I'm feeling well rested and ready to take on the day.  Which... sound better than Outlander has been doing lately.  But a nice safe walk should change that!"

"So I'm glad that you guys joined up.  I figured there's not a lot of new players venturing out of the starting town each day, so it would be good to stick together.  Plus I found hiking around the woods looking for stuff to craft with was really boring on my own.  Anyways, I figured we could walk and talk.  This forest is just teeming with things to pick up, and is the safest place I've found outside of town so far."  Ben waved his hand forward as he strode over to the trees, looking around with his foraging stick.

"Well, at least most of the area around here as good stuff... but anyways, I never did get a chance yet to ask how you guys were acclimating around here.  Or how many quests you've gotten done yet.  Or what kinds of crafts you're looking at making.  Or, um, I'm probably talking too fast right now.  Sorry, I can kinda be verbose sometimes." Ben said with a smile.

Benjamin was excited.  This was the first time he had tried to organize something for Players to go on.  An outing to find extra crafting materials for everyone to craft with wasn't the most exciting thing in the world, but it would be a great chance for everyone to tmeet each other.  Hopefully even strike up some new friendships that would help through the floors ahead.

As he waited in the sunny forest on the first floor, no enemies in sight, he checked his shoulder pouch was tightened enough not to fall off.  The pouch came with a foraging stick to help pick up mushrooms, if he found any out here.  The forest should have a variety of materials in it, from minerals that blacksmiths could use to ingredients cooks would like.  It would hopefully work well for everyone. 

He checked his HUD again- it was almost time for people to arrive.  It was time to start foraging. 

@Litsy @Susan Markington @Outlander

A quick ding in his HUD showed Ben that the quest had finished successfully.  I bit of xp got put onto his character, and he could now start crafting items.  He supposed that in the end the whole ordeal was worth it.  Plus now, he could start crafting things and use them to help people he was with stay healthy and alive.  His first quest... was weird and lonely and a bit scary. 

"ah, and for your help on the quest- here is your reward" the NPC said, adding a few items and col to his inventory. 

Ben grabbed thee tea that was in front of him, gave it a bit of a sniff, and then took a long drink.  It wasn't bad.  And it was his.  Ben checked that he had all of his items with him before heading for the door... and onto the next adventure that awaits him. 

Thread Summary:

Ben smiled as the counter for the brewing ticked down it's last few seconds.  It was finally done. 

The NPC shop keepers came over as the last few bubbles finished coming up, nodding approvingly at the results.  "It looks like you did a good job.  the potion has come out exactly how it should."  Then, he began rummaging around under the table again, pulling out a pair of tall brown glasses.  He then grabbed the liquid that had just finished brewing, and started pouring an equal amount into each of the cups that were in front of him.  It steamed up for a little while, before the NPC picked up the cup nearest to him and blew on it, before taking a large sip.  "Ahhh"

Ben took a few seconds to process what happened. He spent all that effort and got himself all worked up to go get the ingredients to make a few cups of tea.  Probably because someone thought it would be a funny ending to the quest. 

Benjamin was a bit disappointed to hear that he had one less buff to choose from, but happy that the bonus experience item was still for sale.  This shopping trip was turning out better than expected.  "That sounds great.  The glow is definitely a cool effect that you made.  From what the sign says... 800 col for the item, correct?  Do I just give it too you and can pick up the item?  This is the first time I'm buying from a shop here..." he said with a bit of a blush at his inexperience.  It looked kinda creepy, but maybe that would be a good theme for a shop. 

Benjamin entered The Hanger, his eyes drifting all around to the bright rolls of fabric and cute plushies all over the place.

"Hi there! I'm Benjamin- new in town and I just started looking around shops to see what was available, since I'm starting to go out into the world to, um, help the cause as it were.  I heard you had a special for newer players so I came to look and see if I could get a scarf that would help me find more loot when I hunt for it." he said with a big smile "I also saw Mister Snuggles over there- I hadn't heard of something that could boost your crafting attempts per day before.  Is that unique, or something that I could maybe commission in the future?"

Benjamin carefully walked up the path to the artisan workshop he had heard of. He was a little trepidatious  of shops not located in a safe zone... but this shop did have a good reputation, so it was probably fine.  Besides, there were a few other players making this trip as well.

"Hello there.  I had heard that you have an item that could help out another crafter in their work for sale" he said, indicating the ambition item intellect and smiling "If it's still for sale, I would like to purchase it for it's price in col."

He stared at the potion for a while.  It... was coming along.  The HUD said that he had at least a few more minutes to wait.  Because of course when you see the end to your quest in sight, there had to be just a few more delays to get put in front of him.  Well, Ben supposed that gave him some more time to wonder.  He had a pretty large stash of materials from his starting pack, but if he kept on crafting every day he would use them all in less than half a month.  Which meant he had to get more pretty soon.  He flipped through the recipe book a while, looking to see if they had anything in it about the best places to get more material for.  Even if he didn't have the skills yet, it would be something he had to start learning how to do pretty soon. 

Or would have to if the stupid potion ever finished up.

Ben checked the book again to see what the next step in the quest.  It looked like it was just mixing some materials into the flask and letting them boil for a while.  He wondered how he would actually get it to boil for a second before realizing there was actually a burner under the table to use.  It seemed easy enough, adding the liquid to the herbs he collected.  Getting the burner up from under the table and properly set up was a bit more of a challenge, especially since Ben had never used something like this before.  And of course the NPC was standing there, smiling and unhelpful as a bump on a log the whole time. 

Finally, or at least what felt like it with the several attempts it took, he got the concoction to start brewing.  Now all he had to do was wait and see what would come out. 

Ben took a look at the book in front of him, and was surprised to find that it was actually a recipe book that popped up on his HUD. 

He decided to take a quick glance through let him start to browse the different recipes that he could make- at least eventually.  It looked like there wasn't much to choose from once he starts until he got the hang of things.  Salves were the only starting item to make, and they didn't have too much variety.  Antidotes would be good if he ran into things that did DOTs, and were cheap to make.  It'd probably be good to have a few for situational problems.  Still the healing salves would be his main choice of craft until he got to the higher level crafts.  Usually he would prefer to make things that gave mitigation and the ability to avoid damage, but the world of SAO had enough baddies who could get lucky or simply bypass defenses that being able to just toss about health potions like crazy wasn't a bad strategy. 

Still, future would be then, and crafting for this quest is now. 

The herbs moved out of Benjamin's inventory to the NPC, who, for the first time since Ben laid eyes on him, began to move to the shelves around the shop.  He started picking a few items off the shelves, probably some actions programmed to make it look like he was preparing to craft things.  Then, he moved back to the table at the center of the store and pulled a few beakers out and set them on top of the table.  Then, he followed by pulling a large, worn hardcover book with a few dogeared pages in in. 

"All right, time to put these herbs to use.  Let's start by setting the two of them into of of these mixing beakers." he said cheerily, gesturing down at the supplies that he laid out "Why don't you try it?"

Ben chuckled a bit- it was corny, but what he needed.  He approached the table and looked down at what he had to do. 

Ben arrived back at the gates of the Town of Beginnings without much fanfare.  The familiar twists and turns of the streets greeted him with the same sounds that they always had, the same familiar shops, and the same NPCs. 

And now, back to the quest given that had started today. 

Ben walked into the shop with the plain 'Alchemist' sign on it, which looked the same as it was before.  Even the NPC shopkeeper was standing there as if no time had passed at all, which was to be expected. 

"Hello again, brave adventurer.  Have you brought the good that I asked?" the NPC said. 
Ben fiddled around with his inventory a bit, still trying to figure out exactly how to give the items over.  "Um, Yes, I have them.  I guess you can just automatically grab them?  And you did it right after I said yes..." he said as the quest seemed to move forward. 

As Ben walked back towards town, he started looking for other players that were coming and going.  None were here though- they had probably moved up to higher floors to fight on long ago. Well, maybe he could coax a few of the other new players who hadn't ventured out like he did to be a bit braver.  Or at least offer them some potions so they would actually be safer if they came out.  He checked the couple of health potions by his side- the one expendable item he had.  Having a backup plan was a big boost to his confidence. 

With the gates of the city approaching, he shook off thoughts of the future.  This was the here and now, and he had to finish up this quest to start on his journey.  Just a few streets over, and there was the finish line.  Or, depending on how you pictured it, the starting line. 

The forest was quiet, he thought as he looked around.  Without the need to have animals and insects buzzing about the background, there wasn't much activity at all.  And now, as much as he really shouldn't be, Ben felt really tempted to start exploring.  Maybe he was starting to lose that permissive aura of fear that had been seeping into his bones since he first found he couldn't log out. 

After one more look back, Ben started making his way back to the main road that would lead back to the Town of Beginnings.  The walk was much quicker this time, without having to check every shrub and tree for herbs.  Soon, the dirt pathway that would lead back to town was up ahead.  No troubles again, thankfully.  If he ran into any monsters, well, he'd probably just run away.  Once he had someone else to fight beside he'd have an easier time of it.  For now, back home. 

Finally, rounding another crop of trees, Ben spotted another patch of herbs sticking out of the ground.  Success!  He did it!

Or at least half of it.  Now would come the part where he had to return to town and actually learn how the crafting system works in this game before he could make anything useful out of these parts.  But at least now he could get that NPC to teach him. 

Ben opened up his HUD to check his inventory.  Both of the herbs were in his items, safe and sound.  That meant he didn't need to hang around this area any more.  Although... bringing up his map, Ben looked over the controls.  He could mark this spot for later.  Even if he couldn't get anything outside of a quest here (which it seemed like after all this looking around) it was stil a beautiful place to relax.  Maybe once he was high enough level that being ambushed by one of the boars wouldn't scare him as much, he could come back to relax. 

Ben passed his way through the treeline again, zigging and zagging around as he looked.  He was going to enjoy this little walk by the lake at least.  Maybe it was the kind of break he needed sometimes.  After learning that everyone was trapped in the game, and that he wouldn't get out again until they beat all 100 floors, he had fallen into a deep depression. He hadn't even left his inn room for a while out of fright.  But, after hearing about how others were fighting and pushing on towards the top floor, risking their own lives for others, he knew he had to do something to help. 

And so, he was down in these trees looking around for herbs so he could open his shop up.  Another few minutes of finding nothing, and another few minutes experiencing the outside of the town.  Hopfully, it wouldn't be much longer until he finished his quest. 

Now that Ben knew what he was looking for, it should be easier to find another.  And with that in mind, he decided to circle around the treeline he found the first one at.  Maybe it was the type of trees that the herbs grew by, or maybe it was just randomly tossed about the area.  He didn't know, but he did have to find out. 

But, it seemed these trees were out of herbs at least.  But at least there were a lot of healthy looking trees nearby to check out.  At least eventually. 

Ben starred out at the lake for a few moments to collect his thoughts, again plagued by the decision to go at his first quest alone.  It would have been so much easier to find someone else to go with him, or watch his back.  As much as it felt good to succeed out here, it would be better with a group.  That's what he decided. 

Ben sighed at his bad luck so far.  Maybe there was something up on higher ground.  He knew there was fall damage in this game, so trying to climb up the rocks with his pitifully small health bar was out.  That left just walking up the incline towards the top of the falls.  He kept checking the sides of the path every few feet, hoping to get lucky as he made his way up.

Still, his mind kept wandering.  The freshness of the air, the sounds of the forest, it was all so real.  Maybe he would... get lucky! 

Ben's HUD gave a blip as he spied the first forest moss he needed.  He quickly grabbed it, smiling ear to ear.  One plant down, one to go.  Now all he had to do was keep going until he found another, and he could start putting his materials to use.  Today was looking up.