Prisma

How much did a shield cost, anyways? She’d have to check. If it was more than she could afford… maybe she could grind some Col from enemies…? She was starting to feel like that was viable. Bored, she browsed through the menu. If only she had something to do. She pulled out some juice to have and sipped it while watching the field. Maybe she’d try again after this. She felt a little better, anyways. At least she hadn’t taken any damage yet. Unfortunately, this still meant that she didn’t know how she’d react when she eventually did take damage. She’d been hoping to find out now and get it over with. Teach herself how to react and heal herself and stuff like that. She finished her juice and chucked the bottle on the ground to watch it shatter. It was ridiculous, but she liked doing that. Finished with an item? Throw the rest away and watch it despawn!

She backed away from the Boar Pups and headed back towards town. Dodging enemies, she pulled up to the safe zone around the wall and moved over to sit down next to it. She browsed her inventory. So, so far, one Tusk. She needed two more. Her first one had dropped it. The second one hadn’t. Who knew what the drop rate was. Probably relatively high? It WAS a beginner quest, but then again, it had taken her forever just to find those Red Potion Flowers. She flicked through the guidebook to the quest, just in case. Nothing, really. Rewards, one weapon or one armor. Did that include a shield? Was a shield a type of armor? She hoped so. She closed the menu and stared out over the field,then immediately opened it again to send a message to herself.Buy Shield if quest doesn’t give one, she typed. Send. Good.

Prisma took a deep breath, then ran at the Boar Pup. Not as fast as before, since that had made her miss, but just enough to get in there quickly. She stabbed it. The remaining chip of HP drained, and just as before the monster was coated with a blue grid before exploding into light. She waited, but no drop screen appeared this time. Disappointing. Prisma frowned.

At least there was literally no risk in fighting these things. At least, as far as she knew. She’d only taken one hit so far, and it hadn’t done her any damage at all. And with luck, she’d soon get everything she needed and gain the rewards of the quest. Any amount of being harder to kill was good. She hoped she could get a shield from this quest.

She decided to take a break. Fighting was tiring, she wasn’t that used to it yet. She needed to recover a bit before going on.

Prisma circled the Boar Pup, which snorted at her, ears flicking. Well, at least they were nice and slow on the attack speed. She tried for another Pierce, letting her spear lunge out with a bright blue light to strike the creature squarely. Its health dropped to almost empty. So it was just above what she could manage. Still, she should try to land a Pierce for her first hit from now on, in case she critted. She backed away from the monster just in time for it to snort, paw the ground, and charge her again. She jumped aside and had to back further out of the way in order to avoid getting hit. She turned to face it, getting ready to try to just hit it once, without a Sword Art. Just one more hit and she could kill it. And just two more drops and she could finish this quest.

Prisma approached her target. She took a deep breath, then tried running at it to strike first. She charged up Pierce and launched it at her enemy.

And missed.

She stumbled past, startled when the charge of the Sword Art plunged her past the Boar Pup. Behind her, it snorted, and she heard it paw the ground. She attempted to slow herself and twisted to try and look at it, just in time to see it bunch up and charge. It smacked into her stomach, knocking the breath out of her. She rolled across the ground. It was fortunately less painful than it would have been in real life, but still disorienting. She scrambled to her feet, dazed, and holding her spear out in front of her defensively. Her eyes flashed to her health bar frantically. Full? Wait- It was full. She hadn’t taken any damage. These things were weaker than her armor?

Prisma drew back her spear with the appropriate motion input, and waited. When she felt her spear start to shake, she let it jump forward and connect with the Boar Pup with a brilliant blue light. The Boar Pup squealed, its HP draining to empty. Prisma watched, fascinated, as a blue grid pattern coated its hide, and then it exploded into blue, shimmering fragments. A screen popped up in front of her, startling her. “Boar Pup Tusk,” she read. Perfect! She clicked the OK button.

She’d survived a fight without even taking a hit. Not too bad, so far. She still needed to be careful. She didn’t know what kind of damage these dealt- though her armor was good, and she did have these health potions. She flipped open and reached inside the bag at her waist, just to prove to herself that she could quickly pull out a potion if needed. Good. She picked out her next target.

Prisma approached a Boar Pup that seemed isolated enough to attack safely. It snorted loudly (loudly enough to be obvious that it was now in combat), and turned to face her. Having seen what an adult did, Prisma waited to see how it might attack. This one too pawed the ground, then bunched its muscles and charged. Prisma jumped out of the way, dancing backwards as the monster swept past. “Ha!” she exclaimed. She dodged it! Take that! Oh, right-

Prisma ran after it to stab it with her spear. Its health went down to a bit over half. So they weren’t that tough. Weak enemies for a beginner quest. Fair, but she wondered just how much weaker they were than ordinary enemies. Would normal enemies be just a little worse, or a lot worse? She should try a Sword Skill next. Prisma backed up away from the Boar Pup, holding her spear out horizontally.

“The Boar Pups are in the fields outside of town,” said Lyle. “They’re relatively weak, and shouldn’t give you too much trouble. I need three of their tusks.”

Prisma nodded.

“Does this sound like something you can do?” he asked.

Oh, right. Accepting the quest. “Yes, I can do that for you,” said Prisma, giving him a solid answer.

“Great!”Quest Log Updated. “Just get some of those for me. Three is all I need.”

“I got it,” she said. “I’ll go do that now.”

“I’ll see you after you’re done,” said Lyle, smiling. Prisma turned away.

She moved down Market Street, passing Zackariah’s shop, and headed out into the field. She surveyed the plains, and spotted a section off to the right where the boars were small in size. As she approached, she noticed a yellow line around the color cursors of the little boars, and each was labeled Boar Pup. Well. Alright. Prisma drew her spear.

Prisma looked at Lyle Tealeaf’s blacksmith shop. She took a deep breath. It’s not like she didn’t know how to fight. She’d learned a little bit on Day 1 before the announcement. She was just a bit terrified of it.But if she wanted to start participating in this game, she did need to get used to fighting, learn more about it, and learn how to do it safely. Prisma took a deep, slow breath, then approached the shop.

“Hello,” she called. The blacksmith replied, “With you in a moment!” She watched as he concluded his current animation, then turned towards her. “Oh, it’s you!” he said. “How can I help you?”

“I want to help you like you said,” said Prisma. Was that enough? Was that clear enough to activate the next quest?

“Ah, excellent! I have just the thing.” Lyle approached her. “I need you to get me some Boar Pup Tusks.”

Prisma decided to stick around and watch Lyle at the forge for a bit. She quickly determined that he was mostly doing flavor animations, although they did go in order. He was making nails, “cutting” iron off of a thin rod and shaping it.Probably actual player blacksmithing would be different. What would nails even be used for by a player? After watching him for a while, Prisma set off down Market Street to check out some of the other shops. An artisan, a restaurant. Accessory stores and item stores. She opened her inventory to check out her rewards from the quest. Healing potions were always good, and- whoa! She’d leveled up TWICE?! Wow. Still not enough SP to spend on a new skill, though.

She pulled out and opened the guide book. The next quest… Oh no. Combat. But it was supposed to give equipment as a reward, and it was a beginner quest… fighting reduced-difficulty mobs? Okay. Prisma took a deep breath. She did need to get used to fighting. She would take her break first and get mentally prepared for that. She closed the guide book and set off.

Thread Summary

Collected 5 materials
Crafted potion
Delivered package to Lyle

Quest Rewards:

• 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)
• 2 Additional Skill Points

Page Rewards:

• 1 Skill Point
• 400 Col

“Hmm,” he said, then started taking things out of the box. He divided them into two groups, then brought over a half-dozen potions. “These are for you,” he said. “Zackariah said they’re your reward for doing him some favors.”

A screen popped up in front of Prisma, detailing the items. Healing, damage, over-health. “Ah, that’s great,” she said, pleased, and closed the screen. The potions vanished from Lyle’s hands. “Now then,” he said. “Since you’ve been such a help to my good friend Zackariah, perhaps I can find something for you to do as well. It’ll be helpful to you. No need to answer now, but when you want to help, just let me know.”

Quest Complete!

So that was how they handled quest chains. When she didn’t respond immediately, Lyle nodded at her and turned back to his forge. Prisma thought a break was in order now after all that item gathering.

The blacksmith’s shop was more of a stall. A good portion of the front was open to the air, just gated off so nobody would wander in. The NPC Lyle Tealeaf was working on something by an anvil, and blacksmithing tools littered the area. He inspected his work on a rod of metal and stuck it back in the furnace.

“Lyle Tealeaf?” Prisma called. She could see his name clearly, of course.

“Yes!” he said. He removed his gloves and approached the front of the forge area. “What can I do for you?”

“I have a package for you from Zackariah.” Prisma opened her inventory to get it. Lyle waited as though the conversation were merely paused until she held it out to him. “Ah, thank you!” he said. “Let me see what Zackariah has sent me.”

He turned away to open the package on a nearby table. Prisma watched him hold up a potion, then inspect the rest of the box. He pulled out a sheet of paper and began reading it.

“Thank you,” said Prisma, moving towards the door.

“No, thank you,” said Zackariah. “Lyle may have something for you to do as well. He’ll make it worth your while. Do you need help finding his shop?”

“Maybe,” she said, turning back towards him. “Where is it?”

“Go left. It’s down the street, on the right side, just before the corner. Thanks again!”

The conversation routines of the NPCs were relatively natural, but then, Prisma had been deliberately trying to “hit buttons” with her questions and answers. Sometimes when you said something to an NPC, they just wouldn’t respond, as though they hadn’t heard it. And they didn’t respond to any of the system mechanics, either, just behaved as though things were proceeding without any sort of game systems. You couldn’t use game terms around them, really.

She headed down Market Street. Close to the corner… on the right… there. Blacksmith.

Prisma grinned. Zackariah smiled at her and put it away. As he did, she asked, “What was that, with the water moving up?”

“This? It’s a siphon brewer,” he responded. “Very useful for alchemy, and cooking, too. Good for making things like coffee and certain kinds of broth. Cooking and alchemy are related, you know.”

“I see. Do you have anything else for me to do?” asked Prisma. The quest still hadn’t completed. “Yes,” said Zackariah. “Now that you’ve helped me make this potion, I want you to take this package to Lyle Tealeaf, the blacksmith.” He set a box wrapped in brown paper and string on the counter. Prisma headed back around the counter to pick it up. She debated over whether she was supposed to physically pick it up, then just put it in her inventory. Zackariah nodded. “You’ve been a great help. There’s something in that package for you too,” he said, winking. “Lyle will give it to you after you deliver it.”

Dice ID: 112340 - CD: 5

Prisma headed around the counter and entered the space behind it. Zackariah moved aside, revealing a small crafting station with a mortar and pestle, and burners with glass instruments above them. He turned, and from a nearby shelf, he pulled out a small red fruit.

“Here,” he said. “First grind the ingredient.”

She took the fruit from him, placed it in the mortar, and no sooner had she tapped it with the pestle than it turned into a fine red paste. Zackariah nodded. “Good, good,” he said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Now, turn on the burner.”

The burner had two glasses above it. The bottom one was filled with water, and as Prisma turned the burner on, the water began to boil. Too quickly, but it WAS a videogame. Suddenly, the water began to move upwards. Prisma stared in amazement as the water moved to fill the upper glass. “Put the paste in the water,” said Zackariah. Prisma fumbled, then quickly picked up the mortar and scraped the paste from it into the water, then at his instructions, stirred it in.

She turned the burner off and watched as the water filtered back down from above, now a vivid red. Zackariah took the top glass off the burner and removed the bottom glass, which she now recognized as a potion bottle. He inspected it. “Not bad,” he said. “It was successful. Not perfect, but well done.”

Prisma headed through Market Street to Zackariah’s workshop. Opening the door, the bell rang again. Zackariah looked surprised and pleased to see her. “Oh, you’re back!” he said. “Do you have the flowers?”
“Yes,” she replied, approaching.

“Great! Could you place them on the counter for me, please?”

Prisma navigated through the menus in order to withdraw the items from her inventory. She placed them all on the counter in a bunch. Zackariah nodded and swept them off the counter into a basket, which he put away. “Now then,” he said. “I would like your help with another task. This will teach you something too!”

“What is it?” Prisma asked, but she’d already noticed that the quest hadn’t completed.

“I would like you to help me make a potion. No need to be shy, it’s a very basic one, something even a beginner could make.”

“Oh, um, okay,” said Prisma.

“Great! Over here,” said Zackariah, gesturing for her to join him behind the counter.

Dice ID: 112339 - LD: 18

There! Prisma practically sprinted for the final flower, picked it up and added it to her inventory. Well, this was certainly the MMO experience here. She picked her way back through the field, past the boars, and opened her menu to confirm that the five flowers were in her inventory and the quest log had updated. And she hadn’t even gotten into a fight. Not so bad. She needed to take a break after this though. Dodging mobs for that long was exhausting.

She headed back into town. On the way, she opened her messages and started writing one to herself. Get shield. Make friend.Maybe not in that order, but she couldn’t play this game forever by herself. In most MMOs, maybe, but in most MMOs you could afford to die. In any case, pleased with the written reminder, she sent it to herself (and then marked it read immediately). Taking a deep breath, she proceeded back towards Zackariah’s shop.

Dice ID: 112328 LD: 11

Finished with her bread, Prisma took out her spear again and braved the field.She circled the general area where she’d found the other three, and spotted red in the distance as a boar moved out of the way.

She found her fourth flower perched proudly atop a hill, easy to see from afar. Pleased, she stashed it. She wondered if she might actually get some Col out of this. How much? Could she buy some good food with it? Maybe some better gear? She’d been too spooked to spend anything but tiny amounts of Col on anything without proper income. A shield… a shield would be good. A spear to keep them away and a shield to defend herself. Perfect.Maybe she could get a shield from the next quest in the chain. She’d have to check the guide…

A boar snorted nearby, making her jump. It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t being targeted- it was just an idle noise, but still, the monster was a bit too close. She backed away from it, checking behind her for others, and then stood on her tiptoes to try and peer around for another flower.

Dice ID: 112327 - LD: 10

Once closer to town, she wandered around again, but wasn’t having any luck. Damn, who decided that you would need to actually look for these sorts of things? To be sure,the kind of MMO design where the enemies were packed tight and all the quest items were within five feet of each other and the only challenge was fighting off the enemies while you grabbed the items was tiresome and outdated. Having to look made it actually challenging, which was cool, but this was hard! And spending time in the field constantly dodging these monsters was making her anxious.

She pulled back over to the wall to take another break, this time for food. Some plain bread for a snack. Once she finished this quest, maybe she’d have some Col to get some better food. Right now, she could only get food that was cheap or free. Granted, there were several places in the Town of Beginnings where that was possible for new or inexpert players who had mismanaged their cash.

Dice ID: 112326 - LD: 12

She grabbed the second flower and put it away in her inventory. Then she stood and surveyed the surrounding area. Once again, no immediate luck, but at least now she knew she was in the right place. As she moved, she hefted her spear in her hands. Around the bend of a tiny hill, she spotted another flower, and with no enemies nearby or in the way she ran straight at it to collect it. She picked it up, toying with the petals. Somehow they’d managed to capture that silky feeling of flower petals. Interesting.

Well, that was three. With the third securely away in her inventory, she stood and climbed atop the little hill, watching the boars around her moving. Eventually she moved off because one was getting too close. She decided to move back a little closer to town. She still wasn’t ready to fight and didn’t want to get caught very far from the safe boundary by the walls.

Dice ID: 112325 - LD: 14 ((yessss))

Prisma proceeded out into the field again, heading for about the same spot as before. No flower where she’d originally found one, but after a glance back at the town to orient herself, she started weaving back and forth over the general area where she’d found the first. Internally, she began working out a plan for if the movements of the mobs left her with no path or if she got pinned between them. If there’s no way to avoid getting targeted… I’ll stab them with my spear and sprint past. They’re not faster than me. She reached over her shoulder for her spear and pulled it out, tightening her grip on it.

A glimpse of red. Prisma squinted at it, then glanced around to consider how to reach it. There. Approaching, she saw that it was indeed a Red Potion Flower, and knelt to collect it. Two down, three to go. It just took forever to find a second one. She rolled her eyes.

Dice ID: 112324 - LD: 10 ((so close))

Prisma bent over and panted. For the second time in 5 minutes she sat down next to the wall. This time, she curled herself into a ball, frozen with fear. After checking several times that no, no boars were actually coming close to the walls, she closed her eyes and breathed, waiting. Four seconds in, eight seconds out. Just wait.

After sitting there for several minutes, the fear was slowly receding. Prisma opened her eyes and blinked out at the field. The mobs were still in their normal movement patterns. Well, what have we learned? she asked herself. That’s what the aggro range is. Just… just don’t get that close again. Right.

She stood and took a few normal deep breaths. Okay. She set herself to looking around again. Best to go out that way, then head over… Okay. Just like before. She was doing so well before, right? Just… just more practice. Now she knew how close was too close.

Dice ID: 112323 - LD: 1 ((noooo))

Prisma drained the last of her water and poked in front of what was now an Empty Bottle to put it away. She stood and stretched. She squinted out at the monsters. She’d headed… thatway, when first heading out, right? The boars there were a bit close… but maybe she could make it, she didn’t know what the aggro range was in this game. Prisma watched to see if they’d move apart, then just went for it. Unfortunately…

Reeee! She yelped as one of them let out an angry squeal and turned to face her, pawing the ground and snorting. “No, no no no,” she gasped, stumbling to a halt. It bunched its muscles, and she processed what it was about to do just before it charged at her. She shrieked and sprinted back towards the walls. She heard heavy footfalls behind her for a few terrifying seconds before she got back within range of the walls and it stopped pursuit.

Dice ID: 112322 - LD: 6 ((kdjdfdsjd))

She slowed herself to a walk as she arrived at the walls and turned back the way she came. She looked out into the field as she walked, trying to keep an eye out for any flowers. With no luck by the time she arrived back at the gates, she decided to sit down. Jogging had been kind of tiring. She needed a drink. Prisma swiped with her hand to pull open the menu and headed to her inventory. There, Bottled Water. Free to refill at any water source. It materialized in front of her and she grabbed it, opened it, and took a few gulps. She watched the boars in the field move between swallows. It seemed like relatively standard idle monster AI. They moved a few steps, stopped, then moved again in a random direction. They had some nice idle animations like grazing and sniffing around, but their eyes had a malicious gleam to them. Prisma shuddered and kept drinking her water.