Andromeda

"Good day," An greeted cheerfully upon entering the shop. She looked around the items on display rather impassively; weapons and armor never really did pique her interest despite being in a game where a large part of its system depended on the use and knowledge of the indicated. All she needed was a rapier - and later on, a shield to complete her build - and she trusted that with enough practice, she would eventually become accustomed to using one. Finding none that fit her level and desired enhancements, she approached the stack of request forms on the counter and quickly filled it out. 

"Here you go. Just make it light and functional; that's all I really need." She handed her completed order form to whoever was tending the shop, along with her payment in Col. "I'll be staying in this floor 'til the order's completed, so send a PM to 'Andromeda' when you're done. It's spelled the same way the constellation is. See you!"

The silver-haired player left the establishment and hummed to herself as she mentally ticked off another item on her checklist.

Dustin... Salyer. She assumed the former was his username and the latter was his surname, with the way Aris addressed him. The two didn't seem like they had planned on meeting here today but they weren't mere acquaintances either; the friendly woman called him her student and prodded him about his... love life? An giggled at his reaction, though a part of her knew she wasn't supposed to have heard any of that. "Harriette Denver, but here I go by An." Quickly changing the topic with her reintroduction, she smiled warmly as she shook the boy's hand. "...I feel bad knowing a part of your real name while you don't know mine."

He was blue. Blue hair, blue hoodie, blue handwraps. It reminded her of a certain type of jellyfish.

"So you're a teacher, Miss Aris?" An had dropped Dustin's hand and was now hyper-focused on the woman who had called him her student. Her red eyes held a spark of excitement that was usually uncommon in teenagers who'd just heard the word 'teacher.' Or anything related to school. But hey, two-something years without it kind of makes you appreciate even the most boring things. "Say, what do you specialize in? Do you still hold lessons?"

As they were conversing, Dustin silently offered her a cookie.

"Oh. For..." An cut herself off and turned a slight shade of red. Of course it was for her! Why else would he be holding it out? Still, it had been out-of-place enough for her to have questioned it. She looked at him, then at the tempting-looking treat, then decided to indulge herself without any further hesitation. "It's good~." A pause. She finished the rest of the cookie in record timing and had to hold herself back from asking for more. "Thanks! Where did you get it?"

The silver-haired player's attention wavered long enough for her to spot another patch of herbs nearby. "I'm here to take the first lesson quest. Everyone I asked said it a good starting point." An tapped her fingers on her rapier sheath thoughtfully. While she had been ready to say goodbye and skip off to finish her quest after exchanging a few niceties, she was having second thoughts. And then there was Dustin, asking to tag along. An paused to think a little more, then she nodded. "Sure, we can party up!"

Someone else approached and An quickly recognized her as the artisan who had crafted her trinket. Though she was drawn to the more vibrant person of their group, and it didn't seem like she had spotted her yet. "Heyo, Kirbs!" she greeted, remembering the artisan's player name from the PM the other had sent her. "Thanks again for that item! I'm putting it to use today."

[ooc: Tag @Hydravion. We hit the party limit, so I turned this into a PP. Thanks for joining!]

Herbs. 

Herbs, herbs, herbs. The quest giver had told her to gather some of it so it could give her a lesson on alchemy and some obligatory rewards later, but it didn't really tell her what type she should look for. An regarded the open fields spread out in front of her, brow furrowed in concentration. "...So literally anything that's an herb is okay." The NPC's explanation didn't make matters any less vague when she asked - geez, and she would've learned more about Aincrad and its environment too - and she could only attribute it to falling victim to its preset limitations which was most likely the result of game designers not wanting to over-complicate a beginner's introduction to foraging by limiting its required quest material to a single herb that could take ages to find.

But hey, in her opinion, the search made up for most of the fun. And the experienced players would have spoiled it for the lazier newbies, anyway. 

Spotting a clump of materials with her <<Detection>>, An visibly perked up. She moved over to a patch of small plants growing alongside the town wall and carefully pulled them up. Agrimony, she quickly recognized upon seeing its yellow flowers. She shook off the rock particles still clinging to the plant's roots and dismissed the material to her inventory.

One down!

That was easy. But there were four more to go and she wanted to venture out a bit further. She stood and summoned her map, chewing on her bottom lip as she decided where to go next. The low-leveled portion of the forest region was only a short walk away and she figured she had better chances at finding herbs there as compared to the lake region.

Like, duh.

She must have stood there for too long, as she heard someone call out to her. Turning her head away from the window, her red eyes fixed on the source of the voice. With her blue outfit and (probably unintentional) vocabulary in French, the woman who had approached her gave off the impression of a flight attendant - even though An had never really seen one in person before. 

An blushed at the woman's inquiry. Her cluelessness was that obvious. "A bit. I've looked over the scouting guild's map, but..." She cut off and made a small, frantic waving gesture with her hand. Then she turned a deeper shade of red. Any other day, and she would not have cared if she was new to something. That was a natural part of the learning process! But today was not any other day, and this entire SAO thing had been going on for two-something years. "But it's a lot different from actually being out here."

The woman went on to introduce herself and An, finding more comfort in a simpler topic, thought it natural to reciprocate. "I'm Harriette Denver, or Andromeda in-game. But for simplicity's sake, just call me An!" She shook the woman's hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss..."

A guy with bright blue hair and a matching hoodie arrived and called out to the blonde as An was still deciding what to call her. Hydra? If she could recall correctly, it was a Greek serpent... thing, and also the name of a villain organization in some popular movie. Not the nicest thing to be associated with.

Blue called her Aris. Aris it is!

"So, Miss Aris and... what's your name, Blue?" Once she had his attention, An brought her hand up and made a small, circular gesture with her finger, mimicking twirling her hair. It was by no means a mocking gesture. She was genuinely curious about his odd hair color. "What are you guys doing out here? Questing?"

[ooc: Keeping this open in case one more person wants to join.]

In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have spent half a year examining how NPCs interacted.

She thought they were funny things. Programmed to be nothing more than an added flavor to the fictional world of SAO or the occasional quest and exposition dump - players often saw them as less advanced constructs than they actually were. They were made up of different faces, voices, and had one of many personality types assigned which controlled how they reacted to certain prompts.

They were also programmed to have memories of some sort.

"Big sis!!" Upon exiting the old alchemist's settlement, the silver-haired player threw her hands up and laughed as a bundle of energy pounced at her legs, clinging to them and holding her in place. The small NPC smiled up at her with childish admiration and excitement gleaming in its bright eyes. "Are you going on another adventure today? Can I come? Can my brother come, too? Oh! What if we play hide and seek again? Our game from the other day was fun!"

"Sorry, sorry~. I can't today." Resting a hand on the child's soft hair, she lowered herself to its level and gave it an apologetic smile. "Big sis is heading out of town and I'm sure your mother wouldn't appreciate it if I let you tag along. Besides..." Nearby, the 'brother' it mentioned - an NPC that appearance-wise looked to be her age - glowered at her. It had been fun throwing a pebble at it when she was first gauging the extent of prompts their programming allowed for them to react to (conclusion: they were not your typical dumb NPC who would glitch out or walk past without batting an eye at an unexpected action from a player), but that had certainly earned her its disapproval and some dirty looks from a few nearby players. Not the nicest thing to do, she had to admit, but in the end, they were just programs. She was free to play with them as much as she liked. "I don't want to get in the way of your playtime. I'll just bring something back for you, alright?"

Her smug red gaze fixed on the still-glaring NPC, and she stuck her tongue out playfully as the smaller child ran back to it. And now - the same girl who had thrown a pebble at him had the affections of his little sibling. It was not something she did on purpose, but she still found it funny, watching the two walk away with one passing her suspicious glances and whispering harshly, "I keep telling you, she's a fake. She'd lure you in with her friendliness, and..."

An rolled her eyes and listened no more.

Humming a little tune to herself, she got up and headed for the opposite direction. She had grown rather attached to the pair - not in the way one would be attached to a friend, but in the way one would be attached to their favorite pillow. She continued strolling down the streets of the Starting City, deviating from the main road at one point to take a shortcut that led straight to one of the city's main exits. Equipping her leather chestpiece atop a sleeveless white blouse tucked into a short red skirt, she played with the D20 the pretty red-haired artisan had crafted for her yesterday. Covering her bare arms were the long sleeves of a mahogany-colored jacket, and she had her rapier in a sheath strapped to her belt. 

Even with the dense, confusing layout of the Town of Beginnings, she had every road and every placement of the settlement's various houses and establishments memorized. She knew the secret routes, the entrance to the sewers which apparently lacked the protection of the safe zone above it and house mobs she didn't even dare to touch, and the products often sold in markets. Not from a photographic memory of any sort, but from exploring it the same way she had explored her family garden's hedge maze.

But in her 'adventuring,' two-something years and twenty-something floors had come to pass.

Golly.

An adjusted the straps on her boots and tied her hair in a loose ponytail. She nodded to the town guards as she passed the gate - leaving the safe zone for the first time in years. Her heart skipped a beat. From anticipation, but not the fearful sort. She breathed in and smiled. The core of an MMO was its open world and the quests and adventures it offered. By fully devoting herself to exploring the safe zones - which were still interesting in their own right - she had, in a sense, limited herself to less than five percent of the overall experience.

Five percent wasn't what she came for. She wanted more.

So here she was, making her first search.

What lay in wait for her, she wondered?

[ooc: @Hazado. Tagging the account that messaged me but you can bring any of your characters, I'm not really particular to anyone. Also, I'm keeping this thread open for two more people to join! ;3
Next post from me will come either after 24 hours or after the two slots have filled. Nice to meet you all!]

"Whoaaa... so pretty~." Turning round to take in the colorful jewels and decorations that adorned her surroundings, the silver-haired player was practically starry-eyed as she voiced her amazement. "Dream Land" certainly lived up to its name, with its interior dressed in the same fanciful pastels as its exterior, and standing in the midst of it felt like she had stepped right into one of the fantasy houses she'd wished to own as a child. Approaching a display rack, An lost herself in looking through the shopkeeper's equally artistic crafts and even felt tempted to buy some of them to wear. 

But! An had decided she was going to be practical today.

"Sorry, sorry~. Am I taking too long?" Eventually, she had torn her attention from the pretty trinkets and approached the counter with a bit of embarrassment showing through her friendly smile. "This is a nice shop. Say, do the rest of the rooms in the building look the same?" She had found the shopkeeper - with her vibrant red hair and good taste in decor - enough of an approachable person to start a conversation with, though An didn't dwell on it for too long. "That aside... I have something I want crafted." Materializing a prepared order form from her inventory, she quickly double-checked the information she had written in a haste earlier before handing it to the artisan along with her payment in materials. "+3 LD, should be pretty easy. I'll be on this floor for the next few days, so just PM 'Andromeda' when you're done. It's spelled the same way the constellation is. Got that? It was nice meeting you, ma'am!"

She gave a small wave of farewell and glided out of the shop with her next destination already in mind.