Iron_Lion

[Name]: Iron_Lion
[Your profession]: Alchemist
[Your Rank]: 1
[Roll ID]: 153359
[Roll Result]: CD: 12
[Item Type]: Salve
[Tier]: 1
[Quality]: Perfect
[Enhancements]: Toxic Venom (3 slots)
[Description]: A small tray the size of an adult's palm containing a simple dark green salve which becomes toxic when applied to weapons. The salve is a bone meal paste with the petals of green petal daisy's mixed into it.
[Post Link]: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/19601-f-r1-iron_lions-alchemy-tent-private/?do=findComment&comment=611492

"Alright Akio, day two. Come on, you can do this man." It's been about a full hour since Akio had put up the tent. He'd been reading up on different materials, but didn't have time to write them all down just yet. He'd need to get out and find more materials too. Not just so that he had enough to make salves out of, but so that he'd have a lot of variety and options to make potions and stuff out of.... What? He wanted to have fun with this, that wasn't a crime. At any rate, he closed his lorebook and sent it into his inventory once again. Pulling out an apple, he began to munch on it as he walked over to his table with ingredients and pulled out two green petal daisies. The first one he grabbed was the leftovers of the flower he had managed to salvage. The second was just a full green petal daisy. That left one green petal daisy in the flower jar. He was going to need to harvest a few more of them it would seem. Taking a deep breath and sighing, he turned and headed over to the workplace. Maybe he'd take on the 'Nature's Treasure' quest. According to it's description, it was designed to make material gathering less of a chore.

But for now, he had to focus on his work. He placed the full flower on the left side of his empty table space, and the dismembered flower on the right side of his empty table space. The dismembered flower was missing half of it's petals, as Akio wanted to try attempting a potion with only half of the petals. It was an experiment, to see if he needed the entire thing, or if he could get away with something else. The stem was still whole of course, meaning that he could save that for another day. Akio took the loose petals on his right side, and dropped them into the mortar. He began to grind and mash them until they were finely ground to a mash. He poured the contents into the boiler and let it dissolve the petals. Once it did he turned a knob and the liquid began to be sucked into a tube, up into the glass funnel. Akio thought it would be more fun if he made the process more automated, and it kind of was! He watched as the liquid dripped into the filter, and the refined liquid dripped down onto the bone meal below. He took two spoons and mixed the bone meal and liquid very finely until it was finally the perfect texture. That's when the experience points hit home.

"I, did it?" His face lit up and he jumped in the air. "I did it!!! I crafted my first perfect item!! This is so awesome!" He grinned as he looked at it. The paste was green, and although Akio knew it was toxic venom, he also knew the system only activated it's properties when it was applied to an item. Until then, he put a cap on it and placed it with the other salve of his. Grinning with excitement he went to use the other material up. He did the same process as last time. He carefully plucked the petals off, though something about the petals seemed, off to Akio. He then put them in the mortar and started to grind them. For some reason they ended up a bit more mushed than ground... It was probably nothing. He put it in the cauldron and that's when it happened. Sparks flew, the liquid splashed everywhere and smoke poofed into the air. Akio looked at the ground and saw he missed a petal. He picked it up and inspected it closely. "...Black splotches? You mean it was bad?" He sighed before he noticed that the stem was still intact. After examining it, he confirmed that it was still fresh and returned it to his inventory.

".....Right, I'm done for the day."

[ID# 153359] [CD: 12] [Result: Perfect Item Crafted] [+8 EXP] [-1 Green Petal Daisy]
[ID# 153360] [CD: 9; LD: 17] [Result: Failed/Salvaged] [+2 EXP]

[-1 Material, +1 Perfect {T1 Toxic Venom Salve}, +10 EXP]

[Lv. 10; HP 200; EN 20; R2 Dagger; 6 DMG; Hidden Blade {3 DMG}; Assassin's Armor {3 EVA}; Strange Sigil {3 ACC}, Inspection Lense {3 LD}; x1 TP Crystal; x1 T1 HP Potion {+40 HP}]
[Buffs: +1 Overhealth Boost {+50 Total Health = 250 HP} -1 Overhealth Boost]

Today, Akio was going to go out and get more materials. But he wasn't just gonna be doing that, no siree. He was also going to attempt to take on some monsters who were his level! He wanted to try and get some materials from them, but also some col, and maybe even some of their drops as well! He wondered what kind of gear they'd drop. He went ahead and consumed the overhealth potion he'd been carrying since forever, since he'd be fighting monsters for real. He really didn't want to take unnecessary risks. Though given the area he was going to, he didn't think it would be too dangerous. After drinking the potion he went ahead and finished his loaf of bread before standing up and dusting himself off. Today he had decided to take on a quest called Nature's Treasure. It was a quest that increased your chances to gain materials from all resources. Searching for materials, taking them off of monsters, even.. Fishing for them, which he still couldn't believe was a legitimate skill. At any rate, using this quest would definitely help him get the materials he needed! It would even make up for the lack of a gatherer skill. He still didn't think he'd be getting that skill anytime soon. He checked his gear and made sure he was fine before he nodded and walked out to get moving. "HEY YOU!! GET BACK HERE!!" Akio turned to see a guard running over him, others beginning to follow suit. Akio just grinned under his hood and bolted for an alleyway.

Akio needed to get to the roof, that's how he'd been evading these guards as of late. He'd been thinking about what Kaya had told him about how she just pushed to run and she ran fast. She was right. Even without the acrobatics mod, if he focused on just what he was doing, he could still do parkour. Likely the mod would make it easier, and it would certainly remove the fall damage penalty if he rolled, but right now the fall damage was still a factor. At any rate, Akio saw that one wall had a window sill big enough to grasp, but it was too high. Not a problem he thought, as he ran up the wall opposite to the window by three steps, pushing off with the third step towards the other wall, launching himself high enough to grab the window sill. From there he pulled himself up and found more places to climb with until he reached the roof. He didn't stop either as he quickly ran in the direction of the town gate. When he reached the edge of the roof he leaped to the other building, making sure to keep his legs tucked in to reduce drag and ensure he reached the other building. When he landed he rolled, ignoring the damage he recei- oh wait. Immortal object, right. He reached a street and just grinned as he ran across a wooden beam, and jumped from it to the wooden beam against the opposite building from him.

He continued to maneuver over the guards until he got near the gate. He saw the guards blocking his way, which was ironic since they wanted him out. He wasn't concerned however. There were wooden beams below the arc of the gate. Akio reached the last building and lunged for those wooden beams. He grasped the first one and swung himself to the next. He grabbed that, keeping his hands in the shape of a hook to keep his momentum going as he swung from beam to beam. When he reached the last one, he swung off and rolled on the ground, receiving the appropriate fall damage, but standing up proud and with a smirk. "Better luck next time!" He said before running off laughing towards his destination.

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (20/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

@Assassin

After some steady breathing, Akio was able to push some of the anxiety down a bit, calming his shaking down enough to speak again. "...Heh... I guess, it's my turn. To wonder, if you're gonna be scared, or angry at me-" His eyes widened with utter shock as he saw Mari lunge at him. The defensive part of his mind told him that she was trying to assault him, and he was already pulling his arm out to counter with his hidden dagger. He already knew that it wasn't going to do anything however, it was just a knee jerk reaction to defend himself. Before he could activate it however, she embraced him... And yanked him down to the floor with her where she hugged him more tightly than he'd ever been hugged before. It was a good thing players didn't need to actually breath, save for when they were underwater. Still overcome with shock and confusion, he heard her talk. He heard her empathy towards him. And how no one should expect him to murder someone else.

She talked to him, like the child he was. The scarred, scared, lonely boy, paranoid that he can't trust anyone. Scared that he will have to live his life alone forever in this cruel, calculating world. His eyes started to tear up, and when he spoke, his voice was rough and somewhat cracked. "But.. But I... I have to stay alive, right? I can't.. I can't just, let myself die, I need to..." He sniffed. "I have to get back home.... I didn't want to kill him, but I had to... I had to I had to, he would have killed me!" His tears started to turn into sobbing, as all the emotions he'd pushed down burst forward. "I don't wanna die! I don't, I don't wanna die! I want to see my mom again, I wanna go home! Why can't we just go home?" After that, he couldn't form anymore words. He just lay there in her arms and cried.

He cried in pain. He cried in sorrow. He cried in terror. He cried in loneliness.

He cried, as a young boy separated from his mother in a strange world with seemingly no mercy.

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

@Mari

When she looked to him, to see if he would leave. She'd notice that he wasn't looking at her anymore, but neither did he show any fear or anger. In fact, his face was that of someone deep in thought. He'd heard everything she said, and was now, essentially, cross examining it with his mother's creed. Once he was satisfied that nothing Mari had said was going against the creed, he'd look at Mari again. "...My mom, was in the military." He said simply. "She was a sniper. Killed lots of people. Sometimes, when I heard her cry, I'd hear her stories. Their expression when they died. How sometimes they were just, innocent people caught up in the moment. I'm not gonna run away Mari." Then he smiled. "In fact, I can't think of anywhere safer. You're clearly strong, and it's pretty obvious that you really don't like killing. And.. Well you're the first person besides my mom and my teachers who's been nice to me. Why would I run away from you?" He left out of course, that his mother was an assassin now. He didn't exactly want to scare her in turn after all. But seeing as how she couldn't get past her PTSD, and what with all of her skills geared towards combat, it was kind of a given. Especially since it paid well.

When she mentioned the monument of life however, that got his curiosity up. "...What, monument? I don't get it." When he heard what the monument of life was, his face paled and his eyes widened. '...Well I was gonna tell her later, but... I don't want her finding out the wrong way.' He took a loooooooong chug from his hot chocolate until it was completely drained and didn't look back at her. "...Guess it's my turn to share something huh? Well, it will help you understand one of the reasons I'm alone anyway. See um.." Now it was his turn to grip his cup tightly. "I lied when I told you I got my cursor from theft. I mean, I stole but.. I first got it when I, took a life myself."

He was quiet for a moment, his breath shaky. This was not only the first time he killed someone, but the first time he'd ever confessed to it. And he honestly could say, it terrified him. "I was attacked by a green player who wanted protection from a pker guild. I was level one, just started. He chased me until I found a Fae Flower, they attract high level monsters called gray boars. So I um.. Well I called out to the boars, they came to the flower which I put in the guy's pocket. He finished most of them off, but he was almost dead. And, to keep him from chasing me down later, or getting the player killers to find me I... Well I sort of... Finished him off." He closed his eyes, and for the first time repeated one of the lines of his mother's creed to someone else. "Survival is top priority. When surrounded by enemies and people you cannot trust, keep your identity hidden. Ensure there are no witnesses save for trusted allies." After he finished, he exhaled and loosened his grip. He was still shaking but... It, felt better to tell someone. To finally let it out.

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

@Mari

Akio grimaced and shivered at the thought of having to live in heat that intense. He'd never be able to handle or tolerate that. In fact, he might have dragged his mother out of the country himself if he could. Not that he'd ever be able to beat her at anything. She was awesome. "Yeah, I'd hate that kind of place too. I don't mind the cozi heat though, like your kotatsu."

As he sat down however, he could see the concern growing on her face. Suddenly shifting from one mood to the other. Well, randomly changing moods was expected of someone his age, but still. He watched her face and could tell she was being completely honest to him when she told him that she didn't have many questions, other than one which seemed like an obvious one. He nodded before sipping his hot chocolate. "Ok.. Well, yeah. I do have a couple of questions. The first one being..." He drifted off for a moment. He realized the dangers of asking this. He was in her home, and she was a very powerful player. If she wanted she could just kidnap him and keep him here, or track him down if he used a teleport crystal. Even still, he really needed to know this. "...Um, so. Please don't feel offended or anything, but. I wanted to ask." He pointed above her head. "How did you get your cursor color?" There wasn't much fear in his eyes at all. Curiosity, caution, alertness, but not much concern. At least, no immediate concern. Even if she could track him, he could still try and find other high level players to protect him. All he needed to do was use a teleport crystal, promise all the col in the world to an info broker for where a trustworthy player was, and run there. However there should always be a tiny bit of fear in dangerous situations, as it kept your senses sharp and alert.

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

@Mari

Akio backed up after he placed the very last item and smiled with glee. "All done!  Took longer than expected, but I found a process that works!" When he was given the choice of choosing the type of shop he wanted, he chose to have a large tent. One of the best things about this game, was that he could just select an item and pull up it's personal menu, allowing the player to pull it into his or her inventory in an instant. No hassle of tearing everything down, folding things up, and struggling to get it to fit in a bag wondering how it was put in there in the first place. But what was even better, was he didn't have to set it up either! All he had to do was select the area he wanted to place an item, then hit 'remove from inventory' and it materialized! Just like that, he could place his tent, tables, shelves, tools, materials and items! It was a thing of beauty! Of course, making sure he was placing everything in the correct area, as well as navigating the menu, was a chore, resulting in his setup/tear down being about thirty minutes but it was better than hours. He wondered if he could find menu shortcuts...

"And now... To craft my first craft!...Outside, of um... That quest that is." He looked at the salve he crafted for healing wounds. It was a rare item, not a perfect, so it wasn't likely to be purchased by players since most would shoot for perfect in quality. Well, he supposed he could hold onto it and use it when he needed it. At any rate, that craft unfortunately didn't count to his experience gain, though he did gain 'actual knowledge experience' as a result. He learned that materials can have multiple properties. Some obvious some not, and that some parts of a material would be compatible with the other parts, but not always. For example: The green petal daisy couldn't be crushed and ground together. The petals and stem had to be separated or else it would result in a failure.

Today, he'd be trying to make a new salve. He couldn't make potions yet, so crafter's respite was out of the question. And he had several healing potions he hadn't needed just yet, so he didn't need more healing salves. So Toxic Venom it was!!! Akio walked over to his work station and pulled out his mortar and pestle, as well as the scissors. He clipped the stem off of the top half of the flower, resulting in the stem shattering and vanishing. First he poured some water into the boiler and started a tiny fire under it so that it would begin to boil. Then he dropped the flower head into the mortar and began to grind it until it was shredded and fine. Once finished, he dropped the concoction into the boiler to dissolve the materials. Once dissolved, he poured it into a glass funnel which connected to a tube, leading the liquid to a special strainer which separated most of the water from the dissolved material, resulting in a fine powder he could use to apply it to the paste. He pulled out some bone meal and poured the powder into it. While he was mixing it however, there was a few sparks of warning before a small explosion of smoke poofed into his face. Waving it away he groaned. "What did I do this time?"

He thought about how he had cut the stem off. That should have done it right? He repeated the process, only this time he noted every detail. In fact, he realized something: The petals had to be one hundred percent by themselves. In other words, he couldn't use the section where the pollen was, nor where the petals connected to and/or rested on. It had to be straight petals. He pulled each petal off and this time the material didn't shatter. He decided to test this with only half the flower petals, and once again he failed, though this time he believed it was because he didn't let it dissolve long enough. Timing was key with Alchemy it seemed. He checked and he still had some materials left over, so at least there was that. Sighing, he knew he couldn't make anything now, and decided to just do some more studying on these materials before going to sleep.

[ID# 153251] [CD: 1] [Result: Critical Failure] [+1 EXP, -1 MAT]
[ID# 153252] [CD: 9; LD: 14] [Result: Failure] [+2 EXP]

[-1 Material; +3 EXP]

~NOTICE FOR PLAYERS~
_______________________________________________________________________________

Akio has gained his profession primarily for himself and for his extremely close allies. If you're in great need of items, first check to see his stock and then please message either @Iron_Lion on site or message @Itzal on discord. Once in contact, please speak with me about what you're needing and we can try making it work in roleplay. In other words: PLEASE MESSAGE ME BEFORE MAKING A POST ON THIS THREAD. The reason for this is both IC reasons and RL reasons. IC reason is that Akio does not trust most people and prefers to operate alone or with close allies only. RL reason is that I can be busy sometimes and thus I'm not going to be a constant/reliable source for consumables, so come to me if you have no one else to go to, or if you need something right away (hence the 'look at my stock first' note).

~List of Enhancements~
_______________________________________________________________________________

[Default Enhancements]

~Current Stock~
_______________________________________________________________________________

[Materials on Hand]

[Tier 1 Items]

[Tier 2 Items]

[Tier 3 Items]

~Request Form~
_______________________________________________________________________________

Remember to please message @Iron_Lion on site or @Itzal on discord first!

For those who know Akio and are given permission to place an item request, he has two forms available nailed against the entrance's post. The forms are hidden under the flaps to prevent random people from making requests anyways. The first request is for items he has in stock, while the other is for custom forms.

[ITEM PRICES]

[Purchasing Item in Stock]

[Name]: Your Username
[Number of Items]: Total of items being bought
[Desired Items]: Name the items you desire to purchase
[Payment]: Write down the total balance

[Custom Request Form]

[Name]: Item's Name
[Your profession]: Alchemist
[Your Rank]: 1
[Customer's Name]: {Enter your username}
[Roll ID]: {Leave Blank}
[Roll Result]: {Leave Blank}
[Item Type]: Salve
[Tier]: 1
[Quality]: {Uncommon, Rare, Perfect}
[Enhancements]: {Look & Enhancement List}
[Description]: {Describe your item!~}
[Post Link]: {Leave Blank}

Akio after obtaining the Alchemy profession, Akio was given options as to what kind of shop he wanted to have. There was only one problem: He didn't want to start selling potions to players. In fact, the only reason he got this profession in the first place was so that he wouldn't have to rely on other players for consumables. In fact, he hadn't even considered sharing with his allies until just recently. The tent is of a large size, ranging about twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. Inside the tent is an incredibly, and impressively, complex setup. To the left and right of the entrance of the tent are two large chests filled with supplies such as replacement flasks and vials, firewood, coal, etc. The right and left sides of the tent are both lined with long tables. The left tables all have shelving units placed on top of them, each filled with materials categorized into 'animal drop, mob drop, humanoid drop, plant, fungus, other, man-made', each with a label and it's properties. To see the full list of materials, check Iron_Lion's Loremaster in the signature. The right table has a rather complex setup of alchemy alembics, vials and flasks, tubes, boilers, as well as a collection of various tools such as mortar and stone, scissors, clippers, scalpels, knives, pliers, tweezers, toothpicks, ladles, spoons, skewers, stirring stick and many more such tools. Most of the alembics, vials and boilers appear to be connected to one another via tubes, and it's rather hard to follow which one leads to which until they're actually being used. In the center of the room is a cauldron with a fireplace below it.

And finally, a collection of potions with labels on them have been set up on a massive shelving unit against the back of the tent. However there are more potions, crystals and salves than just the default selection of enhancements provided by Sword Art Online. Through experimentation and research, Akio has discovered multiple recipes to create a cosmetic effect for players. Complete list of cosmetic enhancements and what they do can be found below. And finally, a simple bedroll can be found in the corner of the tent with a simple pillow.

[RANK, GEAR & STATS]

][Name: Iron_Lion]
[Your Profession: Alchemist]
[Your Rank: 1]
[Roll ID: 153216]
[Roll Result: CD: 11]
[Item Type: Salve]
[Tier: 1]
[Quality: Rare]
[Enhancements: 2 HP Recover {+40 HP}]
[Description: A small tray the size of an adult's palm containing a simple lime green salve which cures wounds when applied. The salve is a bone meal paste with the stem of green petal daisy's mixed into it.]
[Post Link:  http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/19598-pp-f1-an-assassins-craft/?do=findComment&comment=611391]

Akio was surprised that she was giving him all of her materials, but all the same he smiled and nodded. He'd take anything if it was being offered. "Thank you Kaya! This will really help give me a head start!" Now he just had to get himself a tool to use to increase his experience points when crafting. Once he did that, he should be good to go! When she talked about how there weren't many people their age he nodded in agreement. "Yeah. With you being the exception, everyone I've met in here who was my age has been either too scared to leave the town's protection, too weak, or.. Well, some bad stuff too. So, I'm glad that I found someone who's my age to hang out with! We gotta do it again sometime!" They continued to walk until they reached the tent at last. He walked inside and showed the woman the materials. "I've got plenty of them! Can I make my first item now?" The woman nodded with a smile. "Why of course young man~ Come over here to the alembic, and we'll get started."

She began to instruct him on how the alembic worked and where to put certain items. She showed him the mortar and stone he could use to grind the plants he picked up and turn them into a paste. She then handed him some bone meal which he smeared the newly ground plant into. "Now then, you'll want to be careful when handling these plants. Some parts of the plant isn't compatible with the rest of it. For instance, the petals of the flower are used for a terrible poison, while the stem is used for healing wounds." Akio, who was in the middle of mixing the paste with the ground plant, opened his eyes wide and turned to look at her. "Wait wha-" A loud pop and bang was heard as a chemical reaction occurred in the bowl he was holding, causing sparks to go off and smoke blow into his face. He didn't bother coughing as he didn't have any real lungs, but he had to fan the smoke away. "...Why didn't you tell me that sooner?!"

He jumped right back into it, tuning the woman out at this point as she was starting to repeat the same basic instructions. He was experimenting however. He found that making the toxic venom was proving to be more difficult than he believed it should. Maybe it wouldn't let him make something that deadly his first time around. So, on his fourth attempt, he managed to craft a rare salve for the HP recovery instead. He sighed as they left the tent, watching his experience points increase until he hit level ten. "Yes! Only three levels away from you now Kaya! We'll be even pretty soon."

[ID# 153213] [CD: 1] [Result: Failure; -1 Material]
[ID# 153214] [CD: 2] [Result: Failure; -1 Material]
[ID# 153215] [CD: 9] [LD: 20] [Result: Failure]
[ID# 153216] [CD: 11] [Result: +1 Rare Salve - HP Recovery]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Objective Completed]
[New Objective: Craft 1 Salve]

[Items Obtained This Thread]
[4 Material]

@Assassin

"Well, there are some cons to going to other player's shops to get stuff." Akio said while he looked eagerly for the final material. "The first one that I've noticed, is that other players aren't really that reliable. Sure they can master their craft and have the best chances, but then you have to wait for them to actually make them. I heard stories of event bosses and even raids being put on hold because people weren't making stuff fast enough. I'd feel better knowing that I can make whatever I need at any time, rather than waiting around for someone else to even start my order, let alone finish it." Then he grinned. "And there's more to it than just important enhancements. See, I found out that there are cosmetic effects as well. I've only discovered two so far though. The first is sparkle, which when applied, causes a whole bunch of sparkle particles to appear around the player. The other one causes the player to glow. And there might be a whole bunch of other stuff too! Like, what if there's one for making you leave snow behind? Or making a potion that fires a firework? How cool would that be!" He giggled at how fun that would be. "But since everyone is so serious here, nobody really makes that kind of stuff. So I thought, why not make it for myself? I'd use it to have fun, and maybe help other people have fun too!"

Akio, at the end of his explanation he noticed another material. His face lit up, picked it up, and showed it to her with a face full of glee and excitement. "I FOUND ONE! I WIN! YEEEAAAH!" He jumped up and down a few times before putting it in his inventory and grinning to her. "That was a lot of fun! The most fun I've had since coming to this game actually. So, thank you Kaya. Thanks for hanging out with me today!"

[ID# 153209] [LD: 19+3=22] [Result: +1 Material {Green Petal Daisy}]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 5/5 Materials]
[Objective Completed]
[New Objective: Return 5 Materials to Evangeline]

[Items Obtained This Thread]
[8 Material]

@Assassin

His excitement once again fell down again. "Really? Man, you're hard to beat." Even as he said that, his smile returned again. It wasn't often he was challenged like this. Only his mom could ever get the best of him before. Sure his tutors always had the edge at first, but eventually Akio would outmatch them. And now he had fresh, skilled competition once again. When she pulled the green petal daisy away from her familiar he breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, good call. It's a material used to make toxic venom, so it would have been poisonous. Definitely not a good treat for familiars... Unless you had like, a toxic goo monster. That would be a weird, but cool familiar."

When she told him she didn't care, he expected an explanation and reason to follow... When it didn't happen, he smiled softly. "..Fair enough.. Well, for what it's worth." He said as he moved around her so that they could look each other in the eyes. "Thank you." He said with a smile. After that, he continued his race for more materials. He quickly found another one and added it to his inventory. "Alright we're tied again! That means the next person to find one is the winner! Ready? Go!"

[ID# 153203] [LD: 19+3=22] [Result: +1 Material {Green Petal Daisy}]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 4/5 Materials]
[Items Obtained This Thread]
[8 Material]

@Assassin

"Huh? Aw man!" He didn't want them to keep tying like this, but at the same time he didn't want to lose to her. This was not going well for him so far. If this kept up she'd win for sure. And he was NOT gonna let that happen. 'Focus, but don't focus too hard. Stress out enough and you'll weaken your chances rather than increase them.' Right. Even though this was a competition, it was a friendly competition. He smiled again. "I'll find another one soon enough! You watch out!" He continued to look for materials and paused when she talked about strength and bullies. When she started talking he slowed down, and by the time she finished talking he'd stopped again. "...Bully the bullies huh?..." 'That... Doesn't, sound half bad actually. I want to become an assassin anyways. I might as well use my skills to get rid of serial killers. I'm sure people would pay me loads of col to keep this server safe.' "...I'll definitely keep that in mind... Freshly in mind."

He continued to look through the bushes and eventually found yet another green petal daisy. He smiled and showed it proudly. "Tied again! And this time, I'll be the tie breaker!" He immediately jumped back into material searching, only this time. He was the one who reignited the conversation. "...Can I ask you... Why haven't you asked about my cursor yet? Everyone else I've met, it's pretty much the first thing they ask. So why haven't you?"

[ID# Rolling]

[ID# 153190] [LD: 15+3=18] [Result: +1 Material {Green Petal Daisy}]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 3/5 Materials]
[Items Obtained This Thread]
[6 Material]

@Assassin

He listened to her answers with great interest and responded accordingly. He giggled when she explained what his name meant though. "I know what it means, I'm Japanese too silly!" He listened as Kaya shared more about her familiar, eagerly soaking in all the information she gave him. "That's so cool that she can track people like that! Bet that trait of hers comes in handy huh? Makes you wonder what other creatures have those skills. As well as what other skills can familiars get?" He grinned with eyes of wonder, excitement and anticipation. "I wonder what kind of familiar I'll bet myself.." The second she said he could pet the leopard, he did just that. And the more he pet her, the more he felt like he was in a dream. He smiled contently and closed his eyes. "Mmmmmmm, so fluffy~ I'm so jealous~" He giggled some more as he continued to pet and stroke the leopard, and even rubbed his cheek against her fer at one point. When she handed him another material however he stood up at attention and lightly smacked his cheeks to 'wake himself up' from his trance. "Right! I won't lose no matter what!" He added the green petal daisy into his inventory before he continued to look.

He was distracted however, when she started talking about her time in the Orphanage. Halting all movement, he listened carefully to what she said. How she was bullied because of how her face looked. And how the caretakers were always nice to her. He wore a frown for a while before he forced a smile, despite his eyes looking dead. "...I was, a little bit of a bully back then. I'm not proud of it. I didn't do it to make fun of others, but rather. To get back at them for the way they talked to me. The way they treated me. Bullying the bullies kinda. The caretakers, weren't really gentle with me..." '...Why am I telling her this? Is it because she went through that hell hole too? Or maybe because I feel guilty about bullying when I'm talking to a victim of it?' Either way, he didn't want to keep traversing this path down memory lane.

Trying to focus on finding materials again, he slowly scanned the nearby bushes with his goggles before he found one. Grinning he picked it up and held it out to show her. "Found another! We're tied again!"

[ID# 153184] [LD: 20] [Result: +1 Material {Green Petal Daisy}]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 2/5 Materials]
[Items Obtained This Thread]
[4 Material]

@Assassin

Akio was a bit quiet at first upon her remark, but nodded after a moment. "Yeah it kinda is. In most games, materials are usually easy to get your hands on. And they're really easy to find what with the game highlighting most everything, or just stating that nearly anything can be used as a material. But because of the difficulty they give it, I've discovered that most players only buy stuff from each other with materials. Or at least, in shops they do. It's kind of stupid. Materials of all things, are what broke the col system."  That may not be what she was thinking, nor it may not have been what she wanted to hear if anything, but those were his thoughts on the matter. If he wanted to find a stable way to sustain himself economic wise, he needed to be able to not only understand how the economics of this game worked, but he also had to master it. 'If you can't comprehend how the currency and economics of a foreign country run, you may as well call yourself a beggar. No matter what profession you handle.' "Personally however, I'd rather be able to craft my own stuff because. Well I don't like the idea of relying on someone else."

When she mentioned how she got her nerve gear however, he stopped moving and just stared at her. It wasn't the fact that she stole something that bothered him. It was that she was in an orphanage. "...So you were in one too huh?" His fist tightened at the thought of the place. He hated the orphanage. He didn't like anyone there and they didn't like me. He didn't flinch at her mentioning thievery there, because he pretty much stole from others too while he was there. The people in charge put him in an isolated room by himself so many times for bullying, stealing, and other stuff like that. It was only after his mom came back to take him home when he started changing for the better. His dark mood lifted immediately however when he heard her talk again. That's when he saw the snow leopard. "Wooooaaah! Is that your familiar?!" His eyes lit up and a wide smile filed his face. "Wow! What's it's name? Is it a girl or boy? Can it keep up with you when you run? Where did you meet it? Is it shy or grumpy or energetic?" He spent a while looking at the creature before he paused and asked: "Can I pet it?"

After he'd interacted with the fluffy familiar enough to be satisfied.. For now.. He continued to scan the area for more materials before he noticed something odd in the tall grass. He flipped a lens or two, getting the hang of this, and noticed another green petal daisy. He smiled. "Found one! Hey I have an idea. Let's see who can find the most materials! You in?" He asked as he added the material to his inventory. Grinning as the counter went from zero to one out of five.

[ID# 153182] [LD: 17+3=20] [Result: +1 Material {Green Petal Daisy}]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 1/5 Materials]
[Items Obtained This Thread]
[2 Material]

@Assassin

Now he cocked his head in confusion. "Wait, you don't like your username? Why is that?" Why would she pick a username she didn't like? Or maybe she picked it as a joke before she made a new account, and then found out she was stuck with it? He wasn't entirely sure to be completely honest. But whatever the reason, she was giving him something else to call him. Or rather, a suggestion. But before he could re-greet her she changed her mind again. This time, giving him her real name: Kaya. He nodded. "Kaya... Alright then! Nice to meet you Kaya!" He thought about Mari's warning of not to give his real name so lightly... But, he honestly didn't think much damage would come from Kaya. And like she said, if you didn't give a middle or last name, it was kind of difficult to locate you in the real world anyways. When she said she was level thirteen, he nodded. "Four levels apart huh? Damn.." He only started doing stuff recently. For most of his time in Aincrad he just sat doing nothing but cry in... In that place. He shook his head, shaking the thought from his head. "Alright. I'll catch up to you soon enough don't you worry! Maybe then I'll be more of a match for you in terms of speed!" Somehow he doubted that would happen, but it would be a good experiment to see just how big a deal it was to increase your levels.

When she handed him a material he blinked. She was really good at this. He opened the item's information box. "Green Petal Daisy huh? Let's see... Can be used in salves... Primary property is.. Toxic venom huh?" He'd need to write that down. He'd be making many toxic venom items as soon as he could. When he added it to his inventory he checked his quest status but frowned. "Hmm.. It looks like only materials I collect will count towards the quest total. But, if you're still willing to get me some materials, I could make you a salve in return." With that, he went ahead and pulled out his Inspection Lens and put them on. They looked like steampunk goggles, with the left lens having multiple smaller lenses on top of it, which he could slide away and into place at will. However, this being his first time using it... "...Maybe I should have practiced with these before taking them out into the field." He said, trying to flip the different lenses and get the right magnification working.

[ID# 153175] [LD: 8+3=11] [Result: Failure]

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]
[Items Obtained This Thread]
[1 Material]

@Assassin

His mouth opened with mild surprise before he face palmed himself. "Agh damnit, I didn't tell you did I? Alright." He lowered his hand again. "Apologies for the late introductions Assassin. My name's Akio~ Nice to meet you!" He didn't react to her sarcasm, but it was evidently clear that there was an intelligent mind behind that 'goofy kid' personality. Kind of like him now that he thought about it. He liked to goof off and be a kid, but when it came down to it, he could be as serious and as skilled as anyone in this digital death world. So, the primary question then, would be: What was her primary goal in this world? If it was to survive, he doubted he'd need to worry about her too much. She didn't have an orange cursor, so he didn't anticipate her entering a pker guild anytime soon, despite her username. And she seemed like the happy go lucky kind of person, so he didn't see why she'd go killing people anyway... Unless she was crazy, but she didn't seem crazy to him. Then there was- His train of thought was interrupted when she just told him that she simply trained her avatar under certain conditions. He nodded thoughtfully, but refrained from asking what conditions. She might just tell him something obvious again like: 'running over and over again'.

When she accepted his deal he gave a firm nod with a smile. "Alright, I'll hold you to your word then Assassin. And to answer your previous question, I'm level nine right now. I want to take down quests and get my skills higher as quickly as possible though." Despite the fact that he needed to get the stealth skill and mod, he needed to increase his damage output for when he finally reached the combat quests...

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]

@Assassin

His excitement was swapped with mild confusion. "Well yeah, you can surpass it's limits, but usually not without a glitch or something like that. That's weird... You sure there's not anything you use?" It, could be that the system calculated her physical capabilities, and translated that into adult terms. So, despite the fact that she was just a kid, it treated her speed as if she had long legs. Was that how it treated him too? And if that was possible, what would happen when she gained speed stats??? He kind of, was afraid of how freaking fast that would put her at. But then. That would mean your maximum speed output depended on how agile you were in the real world, right? Akio REALLY lucked out then. And she was the super lucky one. When she shared who Nee-Chan was, he honestly couldn't help but chuckle. "Har har. I meant could you describe them for me? Username would be ideal, but if you know how tall they are, eye and hair color, what kind of armor they wear, and even if they have a familiar, that would really help me out." It would be interesting to see how she felt about the person. Whoever they were. Since they were kids they had a different perspective than others.

When she showed some excitement in learning parkour he smiled. "Well... I've never taught anyone before, but I could show you what I know. But you should know, with parkour you need to be focused and without any doubts or fears. It's not like running in a straight line after all, you have to calculate the best path to take." He held his hand out to shake. "Alright then. I'll make you a deal: Help me with this quest, and I'll teach you the basics of parkour. Deal?"

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]

@Assassin

He watched her finally stop, but he was so focused on his speed that he was having a hard time slowing down. As a result, he tried to force himself to slow by ending in a roll before he let himself fall flat on his back as he panted desperately for air. "That was... By far... The most... Exhausting run... I've ever made..." He continued to pant as she talked, and only replied when his lungs weren't feeling like they were on fire... Or at least, that's what his ghost pain felt. "I practiced parkour in the real world... Mom wanted to make sure I could stay safe... Pretty handy skill to have in a death game right?... And who the hell is Nee-Chan???" Was there another kid she knew? Or did she just see everyone as a kid? That would be a weird way to look at people. Odd naming methods aside, he was definitely intrigued in who this 'Nee-Chan' was since they were on the frontlines. He wanted to learn everything he could about them after all. That was when he smiled and started giving a short breathed laugh. "Yeah well, you can join me on one condition." He kicked his feet into the air, launching himself up and onto his feet as he turned to her, pulling his hood off at this point and revealing his excited sparkling eyes and smile.

"You HAVE to tell me how you cheated the system and how you got so FAST! Are you just a super high level with crazy speed stats? Did you find a glitch? Is it an item?"

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]

@Assassin

"Hey I'm not boring! But." 'Survival is first and top priority. All else comes after.' "I just. I can't take risks that could get me killed is all." Well this was quite the time wasn't it? He finally found someone his age and he was already blowing any and all chances to hang out with them. Who knows? Maybe this was someone he could actually have fun with. Eventually she spoke again, and he blinked at the nickname. "Shadow Chan?" He resisted the temptation to touch his silvery gray hair under his hood when she made her joke. If she only knew he thought. "Um. Where did you come up with-" He never had the chance to finish however as she suddenly blurted out that she wanted to race him to the safe zone barrier. His eyes widened. "Wait wha-" And just like that she was gone. His wide shocked eyes followed her as she dashed across the field with incredible speed. He stood there dumbfounded for a moment before his face lit up with excitement. "HEY WAIT UP!!!" He ran as fast as he could after her. This was where all of his exercising to get his stamina back was being paid in full. In the real world his mother had him be trained by a parkour tutor, so he was already as fit as he could for his age. And with his stamina back up to how he used to be, he was able to keep up with Assassin. Well, more like he did everything he could to keep up with her.

It became clear to him that she had found some kind of in game method to cheat the system and increase her mobility and speed. How she did it was a mystery to him, but he really wanted to find out. And that determination gave him newfound strength as he pushed harder to catch up to her. He wanted to win, but he knew that was impossible. So he'd see just how close he could get to her before they hit the safe zone. He didn't even care if they ran into the safe zone itself, he'd dodge all the guards he needed to if it meant keeping up with her.

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]

@Assassin

Fun huh? He blinked. "Alchemy can be fun even with logic applied you know. What if there's a fire flower out there that makes you and your weapon super hot so you burn your enemies? As for the rock thing..." He put a hand to his chin as he thought. "Maybe not straight normal rocks, that's just too straightforward. Maybe instead of that, things like glowstones? Take those, grind them into a powder, and put that in a potion. That might create an interesting effect... I'd better write that down to experiment later." He wondered, would it have some sort of cosmetic effect? Like your avatar glows for a set duration or something? Ooooh, what if you made it a potion and splashed it onto your opponents? Would they glow? That would be awesome! And a lot easier to target them in the dark. When she mentioned the quest and how it sounded boring, he was about to agree with her when something popped up on his menu.

[Pending Party Invite: {Assassin} Invites you into her party]

Akio blinked before looking back at her, a bit taken by surprise by this. Sure she was a kid like him, but she had some sense right? "...No offense but... I don't know you. I just met you and so I can't trust you enough to enter a party with you yet." He hit the 'reject' button and continued. "And I'd rather not let anyone have access to my username either. Too many people would take advantage of that information. Even if I could trust you not to attempt something against me, what's to say you won't slip up and mention my username to someone else? Any slip up could easily ruin me. Anyone with the tracking skill can track down players with nothing more than a username after all... If you want to help me with the quest, you still can. If you really want to. I just can't accept a party invite."

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]

@Assassin

Akio fell silent upon hearing another voice suddenly appear. He turned to look at who had just arrived, his upper features concealed behind his hood as per usual. The first thing he noticed was: 'Wait, she's around my age?' Frankly he hadn't really met anyone who was young like him outside the towns. He wasn't really sure how to feel about it, but it proved that she was at least skilled enough to survive. The second thing he noticed was her cursor. Green? Well that gave her an immediate advantage over her, though he honestly couldn't blame her for it. The scars were the third thing he noticed. 'This game heals pretty much everything from what I've heard. From physical disorders and missing limbs, to mental disorders and even things like blindness... That means she got those scars in the real world. Was she assaulted or something?' He decided not to get too much into it. That information wouldn't really be relevant or helpful to him anyhow. Better to be ready for anything really. She had what seemed like a cloak on, so she could easily be wielding a dagger. He quickly assumed a stance that would let him defend himself at any second, but his face remained calm and with a soft expression. He didn't want to hurt someone his own age after all. Let alone a girl.

"N-no, I was.. The system tends to be vague about what materials you need. It doesn't exactly specify. I haven't been able to field test it yet, since I haven't obtained the alchemy profession just yet, but I very much doubt that you can do crazy, non-logical stuff like that." He looked between her and the npc. "...Are you... Are you here for the quest too?" If someone had somehow tracked him down this fast, then that was bad news... And it would surprise him that someone kept track of who killed who on the monument, which he only found out about a few days ago... He really needed to get the stealth skill and it's mod as fast as possible.

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

[Obtained: 0/5 Materials]

@Assassin

[Lv. 9; HP: 180; EN: 18; DMG: 6; Hidden Dagger {3 DMG}; Assassin's Armor {3 EVA}; Strange Sigil {3 ACC}; Inspection Lens {3 LD}; 1 TP Crystal, 1 T1 Potion {40 HP}]

Today was the day. Today, he was going to take on a quest. That was NOT the stupid tutorial quests. It would make sense if every quest was different, and taught you something new about the game, but it wasn't. The first just taught you about gathering materials and the basic crafting system. The second quest had introduced combat, but not by much. It just introduced the default combat and obtaining item drops. The third quest combined the two previous quests, requiring him to obtain one item as well as face a boss. And the fourth quest was.... Basically go fight a boss. Granted, you had to fish it out, but fishing shouldn't be such a vital part of this world. If anything, the quest could have introduced the concept of dungeons and bosses with minions. The world's weakest dungeon of course, but a dungeon nonetheless. At least then he'd learn more useful information. Akio sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Well at any rate, that's all over now. Now I can start a new quest, which will be fun and enjoyable!"

Of course, that was assuming the quest had some sort of enjoyable properties. The quest he wanted to tackle today was earning a living so that he could actually start crafting his own stuff. Right now he was heading over to the quest giver for becoming an alchemist. This npc lived in a tent outside, which was PERFECT for someone with an orange cursor like Akio. The young player had been walking a while trying to find it when the icon appeared on his map. He was so glad this was an MMO, since those kind of games helped show you different available quests everywhere. He jogged down to the tent and peaked inside. There really wasn't much to be honest. A bed, a desk to work with and a small alembic. Very simplistic. Almost as if the game devs wanted to copy and paste and get this quest made already. The npc, Evangeline Calora, was a woman who looked like she was in her mid forties. In her hand was a rainbow colored potion of some sort. He didn't even know you could make potions multiple different colors. That was cool! "Hello Dear, I see you are in need of a profession, may I interest you in Alchemy?" She smiled sweetly and was going to leave her tent, but since he walked in she stopped halfway. "Now, I know it may seem very sciencey and scary, but I believe you can do it! And I hope you feel the same way." '...I mean, I came here to learn alchemy, so, like. Even for an NPC that should be obvious by now.' "Now, I can teach you all about it sweety, but I seem to have run out of some of my precious materials to give you a how-to on crafting. Would you be a dear and run off to get me some? I think all I need is five, and I can help you on your way!" "Wait what, this again? Ok fine, what materials?" She didn't respond. Akio sighed. "Oh come OOOOON! What the hell? What materials? You want me to shove rocks in it?!"

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 9]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (180/180)
EN:  [                    ] (18/18)
XP:  [                    ] (032)

[Objective Obtained: Gather 5 Materials]

"Woooooooaaaaaah!" He looked at the craftsmanship with awe and then looked at her with a grin, though his eyes were hidden by his hood of course. "Wow! You're awesome! I was right to try coming here, ha ha!" He pulled out his set of goggles and began fitting the pieces in. He examined the finished product before giving a firm nod, a wide smile on his face. He went ahead and put it into his inventory. When she gave him something to clean the glass he looked shocked. "Wait seriously? On the house? That's awesome thank you!" Adding it to his inventory he nodded when she said he could come here for repairs. "Understood! Thank you ma'am!" He said before he ran out the door.

+1 Inspection Lens