Cremisius

Holding

Holding

Holding

Despite how much he had wanted to give up, there was simply no way that he could do that in this moment. Yes, he had been shy beyond belief. And yes, he had had serious issues and self doubt. However, if he was ever going to help anybody, he was going to need to stay strong. As such, after several more minutes of searching for the material, Cremisius would begin to shake his head from side to side and begin to rise from the ground completely. He would than brush the tears away before simply walking off towards the town. There wasn't any point in him searching for this singular flower when he could always just come back to the quest at another point. Why break his will any further on something that he can come back to? "I'm so stupid.. I am going to need to stop doing this.. And I'll have to figure this out.. I'm sorry everyone.. I'm sorry." The people that he would be apologizing to would be those that might need the data from his tests in order to survive, in addition to those of the SAO players. He had to stay strong.. at least until everyone had been out of this game. At least than, things would go better for the others. In fact, the others were all that were keeping him going. They had to survive and get back to their families. He, on the other hand, had no family to return to. Only death. As such, he had to be of as much use as he possibly good, before his time was up. Otherwise.. all of his life would have been for nothing.

"Why? Why why why why why why why why?!"

Tears would begin to pour down Cremisius's cheeks as he would begin to dive down into the pile of snow, where he thought that the indigo flower had been. His hands would begin find themselves within the snow, digging deeper and deeper into it. When he couldn't find the flower within one spot, he would begin to search in another spot. This would continue on for several moments until the tears had been too much for him to bare. He couldn't keep doing this. The luck that he had at this point was simply as atrocious as his life in the real world. He was simply on the verge of.. cracking. "I have searched high and low throughout various regions and yet I still can't do this? This is supposed to be an easy quest! One of the easiest ones that there are! If I can't even make my way through this quest, than how will I manage on any other?" The tears would begin to come out with a heavier flow now as he simply falls forward and lays in the snow. His body temperature would begin to drop as he lies within the snow, wishing that things would just get better.. but there was nothing waiting for him in death. No matter how much he had wanted it to come to him within this moment, he knew that he couldn't do that. It would ruin the tests that the Japanese had been running on him. It would prevent others from receiving any proper treatment from this in the future. No matter how much he had wanted it.. he had to live for the others. Whilst still crying, he would begin to rise from out of the snow and would simply continue to check for the flower, hoping to get this over with. Once he had gotten out of this game, he would be able to end the tests and finally die in peace. Hopefully that's how things would go anyways..

As Cremisius would continue on his way back home, he would find himself running into yet another stroke of bad luck. It was something that quite honestly should have happened earlier on, but it never really came about. Whilst making his way down the path home, small little flakes of snow would begin to rain down upon the young man. At first it had only been a couple of snow flakes here and there, but it would eventually become worse. An entire downfall of snow flakes would begin to land upon the white haired young man, leaving him both cold and irritated. "..why? Why do these things keep happening to me..? Why can't anything just go my way for once?!" After having suffered through the cold the night before, in addition to struggling with this quest in the way that he had, Cremisius was slowly beginning to crack. The only reason that he had even been thrown into this game was because of his atrocious health. The fact that things had been hard on him, both in the game and out had simply been leaving little scars upon Cremisius's mind here and there. If things didn't get in check soon, he quite honestly might lose it! And that was when he had spotted it. A small glowing flower with an indigo hue. One that had been reminiscent of.. a tier one material! Upon seeing this, his eyes would go wide with joy! And of course, as luck would have it, a torrent of snow would begin to flow across the field, covering the ground before him with snow stacked up high enough for him to have lost the flower. The material.. was lost.

The next day, Cremisius would slowly begin to come to. His vision had been blurred and he had something akin to that of a headache, but not necessarily one. Even if this was a game, he had still been hit with an extreme wave of exhaustion. He couldn't wait to get back home.. With a slight exhale, Cremisius would begin to push himself off of the ground, only to begin making his way back towards the 'Town of Beginnings.' How he had managed to survive the night was beyond him, but thankfully he did. Now he just needs to survive the trip back to the 'Town of Beginnings' and he can finally put an end to this quest. Whether he had to do so by purchasing the material that he was looking for or by cancelling the quest didn't matter to him. All that he had known, after falling asleep within the Lake region, was that he had to get as far away from this situation as he could, before it drove him crazy. At the very least, he had to prepare for the quest properly. He would need to spend some Col to acquire what he would need to make things easier, but it was worth it at this point. It's either spend it on things to get him ahead, or spend it on the inn so that he can remain housed for the time being. Regardless, as he would make his way back, he would continue to look for materials every now and than. It wasn't something that he had wanted to do anymore, but he figured that he might as well try, lest he lost that hope that he had finally gained after so long.

By this point, Cremisius had walked around throughout the map for so long that the sun had started to set. It was getting late and there was no way that Cremisius was going to be able to get back to the 'Town of Beginnings' in time. As much as he didn't want to, it seemed as though Cremisius was going to need to find a place to sleep outside. And he had still been within the Lake region, so that had really meant the worst for him.. If the creators of the game had taken it into account, areas surrounded by water tend to be colder once the weather cools down. Seeing as how the game had taken the majority of things into account, it was likely that they had taken that fact into account as well. Given the fact that he had no clothing for such a thing, nor a tent or anything to make camp with, Cremisius was going to need to try and make his way back home. Tired, anxious and wishing that this quest would simply end, Cremisius would begin to begrudgingly make his way back towards the 'Town of Beginnings.' It wasn't long before he would pass out though, collapsing onto the ground in the middle of the night.. Thus far, his search had bore no fruit and his time was slowly but surely being wasted. Maybe he should just die here.. Maybe he should continue on? There were no answers to be found here any longer. Nothing but the sweet embrace of sleep.

Wrong! There must have been a ton of ways to accumulate materials out in the Lake region! It was just moreso that he didn't really know how to go about doing that.. If he had invested in the fishing skill in the past, it was likely that he could have simply acquired the materials that he was looking for that way. Than again, it was entirely possible that things could have gone south that way. After all, despite the fact that he had spent the majority of the day thus far looking for materials, fishing would have taken just as long. Especially with his non-existent fishing skill. That's alright though, because there were always other ways to accumulate the materials that he had been looking for. It was just.. rather difficult for him to do at the moment. If he had held onto a few vials from Zackariah's shop, he likely could have collected some of the lake water as a material. At least, that sounds like it would make sense. However, he hadn't managed to think that far ahead, so he didn't have the proper tools for such a thing. All that he could really do was gather some of the water into a waterskin, but it would simply turn into drinking water, and that wasn't what he had been looking for. Unfortunately there weren't any materials to be found out here either.

Just as he had done before, once he had gone ahead and cleared parts of the map, Cremisius would be forced to continue out towards the rest of the first floor. In doing so, he would eventually find himself walking through the grasslands and heading out towards the northeastern section of the first floor. The further northeast that he had gone, the less of the grasslands region there would be. Bodies of water of different shapes and sizes would begin to become more and more common as he would branch out throughout the territory. Was this perhaps the Lake region that he had heard of? It had to be, right? Regardless of whether or not he had been correct, a few thoughts would begin to come across his mind. The first was a rather simple one that no one should be surprised by. It was simply him wishing that he could hurry up and get this quest over with. He honestly hoped that the other quests weren't going to be this bad. Of course, if they were, he might have to reconsider the way that he is going about learning. That was a bridge that he would have to come across once he got to it though. Speaking of bridges, for a region named the Lake region, there seemed to be very little of them. One would think that there would be more bridges within this location, after the two years that have passed thus far. And of course, even if there were bridges out here, there wasn't really any way to get materials out in these waters.. Right?

Just as Cremisius had the time to survey that of the Frenzy Boar, he would come to find himself with the time to admire that of the Dire Wolves that had resided within the grasslands. Of course, he had to be far more careful around these creatures. If he had managed to find himself in a fight with one of them, it was unlikely that he would be able to make it out alive. After all, he didn't really have any combat experience, so without proper training, it was likely that he would fail in that endeavor. Of course, he could always try and use that sword skill that he had learned.. but he hadn't really had to use it since he had managed to unlock it. Hm.. Round Accel.. I'll have to give it a try at a later date. From what I remember, it shouldn't be too difficult. Just a simple dash around the target and two slashes at the target.. Thankfully I won't have to try and use it right now, but I'll really need to practice using it at some point. Shaking his head from side to side, Cremisius would begin to brush off that thought. There wasn't any room to be thinking about such things at this time. He needed to track down that last material, whilst trying to accumulate further map data.

The longer that Cremisius had found himself stuck on this mission, the more it would appear that he would learn. Whilst keeping an eye out for any materials, despite the very low probability of finding any out in the grasslands, without killing a monster anyways, Cremisius would find himself observing the monsters that would dwell within the land. A primary example of which, would simply be that of the Frenzy Boar. It was true that he had run into one of them within the wooded area, but this opportunity to get a closer eye on them was certainly a good one. It would appear that as long as one stays out of the immediate proximity of the frenzy boars, they don't really bother coming after you. That was most certainly knowledge that Cremisius had appreciated. One never knows when they'll be faced with an unruly opponent. The next thing that he would come to realize about them is that their eyes tend to be yellow when they are in a rather peaceful state. However, once someone gets within their proximity, their eyes begin to glow red and that is when they attack. Definitely something that he would need to remember. Of course, the more that he would watch them, the more he would wish that he could just kill one of the boars for the materials that he would need. Unfortunately, this wasn't that kind of quest, so he couldn't do things that way.

Once Cremisius had finished up in Horunka, he would begin to make his way back out towards the 'Town of Beginnings.' There was still a ton of map data to accrue within his time out on the first floor, so he figured he might as well try and get that out of the way, whilst doing this quest. It was true that there weren't going to be a whole many materials out on the road, but anything was possible, right? As such, he would continue down the dirt path until he would make his way back out towards the grasslands that had surrounded the 'Town of Beginnings.' There wasn't really anything interesting out there, but from what he had heard there were all kinds of NPC's out in the grasslands. Boars, Wolves, Worms, Beatles and wasps, if he remembered correctly. Of course, he had already witnessed a couple of those monsters within the forested region, but perhaps there were other kinds of monsters out and about? The regions would have been greatly different, so it was entirely possible that they had held different kinds of monsters. Honestly, only time would tell. Regardless of what kinds of monsters would be out in the grasslands though.. There most certainly wasn't any materials. At least, not that he knew of.

More time would pass as Cremisius would continue down the path towards the town/village in the distance. In all honesty, if it wasn't for the fact that he had been so interested in the sights around him, Cremisius likely would have given up quite a bit ago. This wasn't exactly something that he enjoyed doing.. Especially not on his own. However, it was something that he needed to do. He had to strike out and get these minor quests out of the way so that he could better understand the game and become stronger. He had to. Right? Regardless of whether or not he truly had to do anything at this point, the sights that he had been witnessing up unto this point had been keeping his mind rather busy. That could be said all the more when he had finally arrived within the village, that most certainly turned out to be Horunka. The village had been rather small and had consisted of really about ten buildings, but the sight of it had been a marvel nonetheless. The fact that there had been a village surrounded by the beautiful trees of the forest, in addition to the few players that had truly inhabited this place had left him rather awestruck. Of course, it wasn't exactly for the reasoning that most would have anticipated.. It was simply because of the fact that he could enjoy his peace out here, if it had ever come down to it. Unfortunately, none of the NPC's had held the materials that he had been looking for, but the trip had ultimately been worth it.

As Cremisius would meander throughout the forested region, he would eventually come out onto a road that branched off into two directions. The first had naturally been back to the 'Town of Beginnings'. However, the other direction however had led off towards what had appeared to be a village of sorts. From where he had been standing, he wasn't entirely sure if what he had truly been seeing had been a town or a village, but he could take a simple guess as to which it had been. After all, the only other major landmarks that should be out this far had been the village of Horunka or the town of Tolbana. Although he wasn't all that close to the location off in the distance, he had still been rather sure that it had been too small to be Tolbana. That has to be Horunka.. Right? Regardless of whether or not it had truly been what he had thought it was, Cremisius would begin to head off in that direction, hoping to both find materials and gain more extensive map data.

Continuing onwards, Cremisius could only hope that things would begin to go his way. His luck seemed to be rather on and off again, but it was possible for things to get better with time, right? It's entirely possible that things might not be able to go his way.. so he figured that the least he could do was try and map out the floor to the best of his ability. After all, his own map data compared to others was rather lackluster. With that in mind, Cremisius would drag his index finger and thumb downwards, causing his menu to open up. Once he had done that, he would make his way through the settings until he would reach the map. Keeping his map open, for the time being, should help him make his way back towards the town of beginnings, hopefully. At least, back to the path that lead that way anyways. That was really as far as he would need to go to find his way back out to the other parts of the first floor. Of course, whilst doing this much, he would continue to search for any materials that he could take back with him, but to no avail.

In all honesty, the road thus far has been a rather long one. Not only that, but for Cremisius, this mission has had various ups and downs. He wasn't entirely sure what it was that he was supposed to be doing out here, other than looking for materials, and the fact that he had to do so within this vast region didn't really help any. After all, despite how large the forested region had been, there had only been limited materials. If there were more to be found, he certainly hadn't come across them by this point. Thankfully he only had but a single material left to find, so he was sure that there would be time to track down the last material. C'mon Felix.. You'll be able to get this over with in time. There isn't much point in stressing yourself out.. It'll be okay. There wasn't really much to do other than walk around in hopes of finding that last material. Hopefully he would be able to come across it on his way back to town. For the next couple of minutes though, his search would continue to start back down on that path that things seem to go for him. It was rather unfruitful for the time being.

It was a good thing that Cremisius had decided to hold onto his belief in himself, at least for a bit longer, because as he had been walking on back to the 'Town of Beginnings', he would manage to come across yet another material! This time, thankfully, he didn't need to be bullrushed by a frenzied boar to find it though. This material had been reminiscent to that of a first material that he had grabbed, and had quite honestly just been sitting out in the open, sprouting oddly from a bushel or berries. It was a strange sight to see for sure, but one that honestly shouldn't surprise him at this point. After all, ever since he had started this mission, or gotten locked away within Aincrad really, the strangest things have seemed to of happened. Thankfully, this was it. There was but one more material for him to find before he would be able to head back to Zackariah's abode and complete the mission. 

Now that Cremisius held three out of the five required materials, and his mind had begun to settle back onto the task at hand, a sudden realization would hit him. Their shouldn't have been any frenzy boars this far out into the forest! At least, that's what he believes to be true anyways. They are typically found in the plains near the 'Town of Beginnings' and not often found out into the forest. It would be understandable if he had been closer to the plains, but from what he knew, he was actually pretty far out into the forested region at the moment. Than again, it didn't really seem to matter. The creature had run off and hadn't of caused any serious damage to him. For now, it would simply need to be a matter to be discussed at a later date. Whilst shaking his head from side to side, and thinking about that lily, Cremisius would begin to try and make headway towards the 'Town of Beginnings.' It was true that he hadn't of had all of the required materials, but at least he could continue searching on his way back. The search had managed to become unfruitful once more, but that was alright. He had almost been there. As long as there weren't any serious delays, all things should be fine.

As Cremisius would continue to walk around, both deep in thought and focused on his task, he would begin to raise but a single hand above his head, resting it on the back of his skull. He would begin to rub at the back of it than, as he ponders why there might not be any materials nearby. Hm.. I mean, if I remember correctly, Horunka happens to be in this same direction. It's entirely possible that some of the NPC's that reside out there have been gathering the materials for their own shops. But than again.. Would they even need to? After all, that's what these fetch quests are for. Maybe it is because of the players than? Or.. Maybe I am just extremely bad at this sort of thing. Clearly, luck is never really on my side. A slight look of worry would than begin to take over his features as he looks down at the ground. I really hope that it's just something simple.. Like if I am just in a bad location for this sort of thing. Suddenly, without even having heard the sound creeping up upon him, a single frenzy boar would rush past him, knocking him down onto the ground with a heavy thud. Once he had realized what had happened, Cremisius would begin to push himself up off of the ground. Upon doing so, his right hand would come into contact with a single velvet lily. He would admire it for a moment before reaching down and plucking it off of the ground, hoping to take it home with him. As he would do so though, the material would de-materialize and would simply appear within his inventory as yet another material. Although disappointed at the loss of the flower, he was grateful that he had finally managed to procure yet another material.

Continuing onward, Cremisius would begin to recount his journey thus far. The fact that he had decided to start his journey both so late and alone had honestly seemed to cause more problems for him than he had anticipated. The fact that he had no one to walk about with him wasn't all that surprising, given the fact that he barely knows what to do when he is around other people, but the beginning of his journey? In all honesty, that could have started quite some time ago. Than again, depending on how one desires to look at it, the reasoning behind that could have been his reluctance to be around others. In fact, companions seem to be what helps the majority of the population get by at this point. This thought is honestly one that he knows that he should consider at some point. The only issue there lies in if he is capable of trusting anyone enough to become acquaintances with them. Even believing in himself in that matter is a bit of an issue for him. As these thoughts would continue to fester within his mind, Cremisius would continue to walk about the forest, keeping an eye out for any noteworthy materials. Yet again, for the time being, there were none to be found. 

As Cremisius would head further and further into the forest, various things would catch his eye. It was than that he would begin to realize just how vast this region had actually been. Of course he had anticipated that there were to be various oddities within the forest, in addition to things that resemble that of the real world. However, the things that he would come across, in his search for more materials, were truly exotic and unbeknownst to him. Or at least, things that he had never witnessed himself, up unto this point. A few case examples of these things would be insects of various kinds, and a few basic low leveled monsters as well. There weren't any boars to be found within the forest, but a couple of dire wolves and beetles could be found. Birds and amphibians as well! Unfortunately, no matter how hard he had looked though, he still wouldn't come across any other materials. Tons of plants and animals, yet none of which he had been looking for.

If things were to continue going the way that they had been going, the rest of this quest was going to be a breeze. At least, that is what Cremisius had been hoping for. Unfortunately, things don't ever really go the way that he wants them too. Even if he has little spouts of luck here and there, his luck usually runs out. All that he can hope for at this point is that the bad luck doesn't continue to run its streak. With a slight nod to himself, Cremisius would continue to walk about throughout the field, in hopes of finding another one of the materials that he had been searching for. He already had two out of the five that he had needed. Things should hopefully continue to run smoothly. However, as he continues to make his way throughout the field, even after rechecking it a couple of times, Cremisius ends up coming up short. His luck seems to of run out for the time being. With a slight sigh, Cremisius would begin to shake his head from side to side and he would than begin to walk on out of the pasture. The forested region was rather large in and of itself. Given that he had already managed to find a couple of materials, despite how long he had been within the forest, it was likely that he was going to eventually find some more. He couldn't give up. Not after having hit that stroke of luck.

At the moment, Cremisius had been so happy that he could have cried. It was so strange for him to actually be able to achieve something. Very rarely did he manage to succeed in life. Ever since the Leukemia had hit, his life had done nothing but go down hill. That is one of the many reasons that he had remained within the 'Town of Beginnings' for two years. However, now that a little more hope had been poured into his heart, and he had found that he is able to overcome certain obstacles, he had begun to have a bit more faith in himself. Of course he is still going to struggle with various other things in his life. Speaking with others will likely be one of those things. However, that doesn't mean that he is going to give up. At least now.. he knows that he is capable of doing something more than being a waste of space. As such, when he had continued to look around in the field, and had managed to come across yet another of the small plants, this one blue and shaped as an orchid, he had simply been overjoyed. This was by far one of the best things to ever happen to him! He could only hope that this stroke of good luck continues to go well for him.

The further into the field that Cremisius would go, the more the field would begin to grow. It was filled with vibrant yellow and slight variations here and there. Unfortunately, in some instances, these variations were just that. Slight variations. However, as Cremisius would continue to walk around, he would begin to take note of a single flower hidden within the field, withdrawn beneath several of the yellow flowers. This unique flower held a teal hue and had been distinctly shaped to mimic that of a lily. For the life of him, Cremisius couldn't figure out why this one had been so different. That is why, when he had reached down and attempted to pluck the flower from the ground, he had been amazed when it would seemingly disappear! It was as though the flower had shattered into various particles. An act that would leave Cremisius worried about what he had just done. Had he received any status ailments from that? Did something go wrong? Just than, in the center of his visual display, a notification would appear. It simply read: '+1 T1 Material Added to Inventory.' As the realization of what had happened had finally dawned upon him, a smile brighter than any other that he had worn since his time in Aincrad would begin to fall upon him. For the first time since being here, he had actually managed to achieve something. It was pretty pathetic to be honest, but to him, it meant the world. All that he could go on to think after this was simply, 'I can do this.'