Randal

Tree A to Tree B didn’t take very long to run considering the distance between them wasn’t even really that far, but it still took Randal a lot of concentration just to get through.

3/5 Ingredients Found

Immediately after he reach Tree B, Randal took a quick break to look around and catch his breath and spotted a bush of spicy fruits dangling from them, the fact they were spicy totally was something he knew before he ate them. Quickly and quietly pocketing the pretty spicy Chili, Randal looked back to Tree A and got ready his standard running stance.

And off he went sprinting as normally as he could towards Tree A while counting, it was pretty clear that this was something that Randal could do as easily as breathing but trying to maintain the concentration to count every second exactly was way too difficult for Randal to feel comfortable.

44 minutes ago, NIGHT said:

Need some help? You look... really lost. Floor 3's not really a place someone like you would want to be in."

Randal really didn’t want to say he was lost, but you know...sometimes you really just got to admit when you’re wrong and know when to move past things.

”Of course I’m not lost” Randal replies with a smile while accepting help standing up. 

”I’m here visiting a relative!” He said, uncertainly.

”Also did you just see my stats? How did you do that?” He asked.

But before Randal could get an answer a gruff and rude sounding voice boomed from behind him. 

Towering above the decently averaged height Randal, a looming blacksmith by the name Griswold said “Relative?! I ain’t got no wet behind the ears, three legged milk drinking relative like you.” 

Brandishing his mighty hammer like a popular superhero back in the real world, Griswold commanded “Who are you and whaddya want?”

With a sheepish grin, he looked at <<Night>> and then back at the great smith and replied.

”Sir Griswold! I saw your shop in the area and was looking to make some light armour leather boots with a bonus to damage, think you could do that for me?”

”Yea sure, and what about you lassy?” Griswold proffered.

@NIGHT

Dashing through the forest, Randal wondered if the things in the anime and manga of his old reality was accurate. So before embarrassing himself in front of potential eyewitnesses, he ensured that no one was around and then proceeded to bend his body in a ninety degree angle. He then adjusted his hands slowly one at a time until they were both angled slightly above his body in a V shape if you were looking from the top down.

He then proceeded to start running while trying his best to look forwards. Truth be told this was an incredibly difficult feat to pull off, the strain on the back and neck as well as the triceps made this running stance incredible tiring.

Unfortunately it was only at this moment after, that Randal realised that he didn’t do a control run originally so he couldn’t actually determine which was faster. So he quickly measured how fast he was when running from Tree A to Tree B.

Truly without making mistakes one might never learn, this was why introspection was so important to Randal. Since he was young he could never wrap his head around ideas in theory, well, he did know what his mistakes would mean logically, that doing a certain thing could possibly result in harms for himself, but he never learned until one day those harms really presented themselves.

The first thing he did was learn from his mistakes, to stop doing that particular thing because Randal did not want to keep hurting himself. The second thing he realised was that if he could only learn from making mistakes then there was something wrong with his mentality. Some mistakes were not worth making for a lesson. And Randal was willing learn only through mistakes, so through thinking through introspectively and making mistakes, Randal could identify his baseline of what he was willing to tolerate and otherwise.

As he was rubbing the dirt with his feet during this introspection session, he realised he was standing atop a bunch of truffles!

2/5 Ingredients Found

Carrying on his way, Randal walked in a curved fashion ensuring that all time he could see the walls of the Town of Beginners that separated danger from safety. He continued to maintain such a distance that he was never too far away from the wall. 

As he journeyed through the perimeter of the forest, he avoided the possibility of running into any monsters by ensuring that he checked all the guidelines he was slowly building up in this world.

1. Check your blind spots.

2. Watch where you’re going.

3. Avoid noisy footpaths.

Behind each lesson was a story and behind each story was something embarrassing so Randal would keep this news to himself.

As Randal looked around and at his feet, checking behind him and ensuring that at no single moment, would he be blindsided by a random enemy. But he definitely forgot to look up at the mushrooms that were growing on a tree branch about 30 feet behind him.

Randal exited the town in the direction that Maggie had set him towards, north west was the way for him. He could sort of tell that this was the north western region of the Town of Beginners when he exited and saw a dense forestry with canopies that ranged drastically from towering giants to small saplings.

Incredible light rays would cascade from the crown of the trees through steaks of light that would light up the forest floor to show wild animals just loitering around the front.

Not willing to go very far from safety to collect his materials, Randal started wandering around a safe perimeter to scout around when he noticed lying on the floor a beautiful acorn.

1/5 Ingredients Found

Admiring his find, he noticed how the light rays would reflect of the beautful shell of the acorn. Filling Randal with the feeling of Nature’s prosperity and leaving his throughly revelling in Nature.

After Randal definitely found his way there in an extremely short amount of time, he was brutally greeted by a sheer beast of a woman who practically leaped for a joy if only any amount of force could life her into the air long enough to be considered a jump.

”Hi” Randal greeted back, “I am here to learn how to be a c—!!!”. 

She incredibly swiftly sheathed her kitchen knife and reached out her Iron Lady-like hands before grabbing me by my hand wraps and dragging me into the building.

”I knew from the start you were an aspiring cook!” She gleefully said with crescent moon eyes and deep crinkles around the side of the mouth.

”Oh darn!” She cursed before coming to such a forceful stop that Randal’s body could do nothing but rag doll right into M’am Maggie’s folds before sliding back out.

”We seem to be out of ingredients... I tell you what, every Chef must learn to brave the dangers of the outside world in order to reach and experience lands that hold amazing types of ingredients and condiments! Go forth and bring back 5 ingredients from the wild and we’ll teach you how to cook yea?”. She said and quickly ushered Randal out by pointing him in the right direction.

Without a doubt in his mind, and certainly without checking his map, Randal set off.

Randal remembers his past life fondly, the days of spending time with his girlfriend and working as a good nutritionist we’re important memories that he treasured, he knows that it will be a nearly never ending fight to the get out of this death game but he is not willing to stop trying.

Randal also knows from the guide that if one were to head over to a particular set of places, one would be able to learn a skill set that could use to improve or entertain their lives.

Thinking that he could definitely use a special something to spice up his life, Randal got to reading. He was not clear on how long he had been reading, but he was certainly assured of why he wanted to do now.

He had to see Maggie Spatulin! She was a very renowned Chef that could be located somewhere on the first floor. She was described as very strong and very eager in the reviews of the guide. All things Randal thought was worth visiting.

Cooking again and handling food might just be the closest thing to home right now.

Randal was actually really really really lost...he had just visited a shop called “The Crusty Bahrnacle”, placed an order some hand wraps and left, he was pretty certain that the exit was just around the corner when there was a flash of blue and the whole place changed...

Not really knowing what happened, Randal certainly didn’t pay it no mind, with a confident step clearly showing he knew where he was going he spotted another shop that sold equipment, maybe this owner would be in.

As Randal started walked towards the shop, he noticed a figure headed in the same direction as him. Not knowing if he should strike up a conversation, he just resolved to walk faster.

As he quickened his pace, he realised so did the to other person, clearly they were also trying to avoid conversation. As a favour to them, he slowed down to let the other go ahead.

To his amusement, so did the other person! Clearly they were very like-minded people. Though Randal knew that in a game like this just being like-minded didn’t mean you should start chatting.

Without even realising that there was a ledge before the door to the shop, Randal fell face first and did a quick roll before stopping.

Truly the moral of the story must be to watch where you were going.

@NIGHT

Equipped Gear
Neptune's Tidings | Claw | Tier 3 | DMG 3
Cloth Trousers | Cloth Armor | Tier 3 | EVA 3
Ladybug Earrings | Accessory | Tier 3 | LD 3

Broader Inventory

Weapons

Randal had no idea how he had arrived at this part of town, at this moment he was pretty sure that he was looking for the exit to the Town of Beginners when he stumbled through the dark and dirty alleyways, the only odd respite in the area would be the shop with bright as heck red letters spelling “The Crusty Barnacle”.

Randal thought to himself that it’s not a particularly good name but certainly would not let anyone else know that that was what he thought.

Entering the shop as a form of respite from the uncertainty of the outside and the safety of the inside. 

The interior of the shop was extremely homely, in fact an incredibly far cry from the run down outside.

Admiring the the wares, he called for owner and waited, if he could, he would definitely want to buy some hand-wraps for himself, glancing at the equipment he resolve to purchase some. After his last battle with the Red Bee, Randal vowed to get better gear. Glancing at his meagre amount of Materials to trade for...he sighed in his heart and waited

He noticed the request form and knew exactly what he wanted.

- 9 T1 Materials

- 1,500 Col

THREAD SUMMARY
Quest Objective
-Go fetch five(5) Tier one materials and give them to Zakariah (Completed)

-Help Zakariah in his workshop by crafting a Healing Potion. (Completed)

-Zakariah asks you to deliver a package to Lyle Tealeaf, a local Blacksmith (Completed)

Quest Rewards

1. - 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. 2 Additional Skill Points

Additional Rewards

1. 1 Additional Skill Points (1 page of RP)

2. 400 Col (1 page of RP)

3. 50 Col (combat)

4. 2 T1 Materials (Combat)

5. 1 Unidentified Rare Trinket

Randal felt even more excited at the prospect of meeting another mentor who could guide him. To a large extent, the package that Zackariah gave him wasn’t heavy at all and felt very thin.

Even the name Tealeaf and the previous contents of the quest were any indications of any sort, Randal began to suppose the that the package he was meant to deliver were the dried version of the the Victory Tulips which he had retrieved for Sir Zackariah.

As Randal wandered through the Town of Beginners with package at hand, he began thinking about the guide given out to him, it spoke of some other quests which might net him maybe a pet that could aid in battle or the skills needed to open up Shop and start making items.

Randal also decided that before he took on anymore quests he would purchase some new equipment and items when he could.

After a good half hour of definitely not being lost, Randal finally found himself standing in front of shop which seemed to come alive with breaths of warm air, the scent of iron piercing the area.

”Sir Tealeaf? Is there a Sir Tealeaf here?”

”What is it?” A gruff beard popped out the window to see, face covered in soot.

”Well I was tasked by Sir Zackariah to deliver this package.” Randal replied.

With a crash resounding form within the smithy. Lyle Tealeaf appeared immaculate in front of Randal and quickly picked up the delivery.

”Thank you young man!” Smiled Sir Tealeaf.

With his mouth agape, Zackariah stood there as still as a rock, still unsure of what he had just seen and definitely not prepared to have witnessed someone with such a talent at alchemy. It took him some time before he started to rationalism the fact that this is was most certainly without a doubt a fluke. It had to be a fluke, it’s simply not possible for a New Player to simply be gifted at concocting potions.

With a few deep breaths to clear his mind and exhaust the feeling that had suddenly welled up in his chest. He spoke. 

”You have done amazing for a beginner, you must remember what you have done today, and internalise the actions you took. One day if you decide to become an Alchemist, I am sure the world will know your name.”

”Until then I have something for your hard work and another task if you so desire.”

Randal put down the beaker on Zackariah’s table and received the item that the old man handed him.

“Yes Sir, you’ve been a great help to me and I’ve learned a lot under your care, how may I help you?”

“Please deliver this package to Lyle Tealeaf on my behalf, come here and I’ll give you the directions.”

“Ahem, well as thanks for helping me get these flowers, would you like me to give you a few pointers on how to craft a potion?” Zackariah proffered.

Looking at his raised brow, Randal knew that this would be his chance to learn from an expert, even if he don’t intend to become an alchemist, this would be a valuable experience in the future.

”Yes Sir, would you kindly teach me?” Randal quickly claimed and took the old man on his offer.

”Hahaha, very well, come over here and follow the instructions written inside this book here, I want to see if you have the aptitude or talent to do this in the first place.” Zackariah said, as he brought out a leather bounded book.

Randal moved as he read. Digesting every bit of information that came his way, eventually he felt like he was in some kind of zone, a zone that moved his body before he read, like he was possessed by some ghost of alchemy.

From the lifeless words in the book, he danced and weaved with beakers and fire until a “Ding!” sounded and brought him back to his senses.

In his hand a beaker with a beautiful red liquid contained within.

Heading back into town with a backpack full of flowers made Randal feel accomplished.

”Thud Thud” “Hello? Sir Zackariah?” Randal called as he peered through the gap in the door that he had opened.

The heavy smell of herbs and medicinal concoctions wafting around the room vying for dominance.

See the absence of even a single person in the room, Randal took a seat on an empty chair and started fiddling with some fire and beakers.

It was going so well until the entrance to the shop creaked open and a startled Zackariah shouted.

The volume of which shocked Randal and he quickly put the beaker down and put out the fire.

“You shouldn’t be touching things that don’t belong to you!” Zackariah said angrily.

”Sorry Sir, I was merely curious about how you make your potions, I have the Vitality Tulips for you Sir, are they part of your ingredients?” Randal suggested.

Seeing the flowers instantly flipped the old man’s mood as he quickly took them from me and went to the room at the back of the shop.

When he came out, there were a distinct lack of flower’s on his person.

Collecting all the floors caused Randal some amount of mental distress but the feeling of completing the first phase of the quest was coursing through his system. Certain that he had everything he needed and positive that he needed to upgrade his skills and abilities, Randal started to head back towards town.

With a final glance towards the centerpiece of this area, the pristine lake and although there were some players nearer to the lakeside trying to catch fishes and other things that might lurk in the lake, he decided it would be better to head into town to collect his rewards, he rotated a few times to orientate his forward location towards the south-west and started heading in that direction.

Soon Randal was at the clearing and just as he was leaving the forest he turned behind one last time to see if he could forage anything....

Although he didn’t manage to find any kind of material to use before leaving, he knew that he could always come back to this specific location that he would definitely be able to find again to look for them thanks to the distinct lack of monsters around the area...besides that one bee, he had a decently peaceful time and so he jovially headed back to towards Zackariah’s apothecary.

Randal wasn’t bored at all just sitting here beside this beautiful lake and admiring the scenery while waiting for the flower to spawn. 

His memories of the past and interesting historical facts he could remember were keeping him greatly entertained in spite of the fact that nothing about waiting mundanely was supposed to be entertaining.

Randal was well aware that through the power of introspection and imagination, he was able to learn a lot from his memories if he took the time to digest what he had read in the past, filled with regret, he could only keep trying to recall what he knew and come up with new ideas by himself.

 There was no internet here, which was something Randal had yet to get used to.

Maybe the best thing he could do was to think about the things he did have and contemplate where to go from here. As another 5 minutes passed, a flower actually bloomed.

5/5 Vitality Tulips Found

In the battle of ChangPin, two great armies from different factions had been warring for over three years. And the aggressive faction had never been able to overtake or overcome the massive encampments and military bases that the defensive faction had. 

One day an aspiring war leader from the aggressive faction finally managed to gather what he believed was a number of troops and forces that was guaranteed to be able to overrun the enemy.

And he was right....up to a point. In his courage and infinite wisdom, he managed to beat back the defensive faction to their last line of defence but in his eagerness to chase them down and defeat them, he attacked too fast for his supply lines to catch up.

An equally great tactician managed to manoeuvre a cavalry force around the aggressive forces and cut off and killed the supply team, suffocating the aggressive army through insufficient food and water.

 Just like the great failure at Changpin, Randal didn’t find another flower.

Randal decided to wait just a little bit longer in this spot, after all even if he had been fully capable of defeating one mob at a time, taking on a whole armada of them would end his career.

Fortunately he wasn’t wrong as a flower was heard spawning right behind him.

4/5 Vitality Tulips Found 

There were many men in history whom had let their overconfidence in little victories cost them their caution and made them careless in their tactics.

Allowing their enemies to pull the wool over their eyes and utilise an advantage over them. In this case, Randal was afraid to let a swarm of enemies gather around him for fear that he would not be able to escape. Not to mention the possibility of a larger more dangerous mode being pulled over by accident.

He remembered a few things that he had read on the internet awhile ago, like the Battle of ChangPin in old China.

Randal was fairly sure that walking around in circles aimlessly was not going to do him any real good, after all he only got up to check this one safe area every like what...5 minutes? So it’s fairly unsurprising to not see any more flowers until the respawn, Randal just really didn’t expect them to take a figurative forever to respawn.

Randal’s mind started to wander again, he thought about whether he should try to venture out further than this one area for a higher chance of finding the flowers that this quest demanded.

Looking down at his fists and examining his legs, he knew he was wholly capable of taking down another mob, but would dread the whole situation and struggle until he at least got a bit stronger than he currently was. 

No damage buffs and no sword arts makes combat extremely difficult to sustain because of how long the fights tend to drag out for.

Those pioneers also experienced extremely harsh situations where they might go on days without food or water due to unfavourable conditions like the locale being unsuitable for setting up camp and forcing them away from a resource or there being no resources to be gathered all together..

Thinking back there was no guarantee that they would be able to find and forage anything to eat nor that they would be able to find an animal small and easy enough to kill when the hunger had weakened them.

It was certainly only following the the constant failures and strengths of this lifestyle did a branch and separation of ideologies take place in these men and women.

After all, to transition from a life of someone who travelled a whole lot to find food to that of someone who cultivated a single plot of land required a lot of mental gymnastics as to think up what logistical planning they would require as well as the mental foresight to predict other factors.

Randal was pleasantly surprised of course when he spotted the beautiful red flower blooming beside the a tree, this time to avoid detection he went around corners that he could first ascertain were clear before proceeding to approach the flower.

Upon reaching the flower, Randal simple bent down and picked it up, thinking back to the farmers back in his old world, he thought that this was actually quite an experience that he would never have had otherwise. 

3/5 Vitality Tulips Found

Hunting/Gathering of course was something that only people in the past did because they had no concept of localised farming. Those people merely roamed the lands that they inhabited with their tribes or families and lived off what they were lucky enough to find and smart enough to avoid.

These people would take their time to pray to gods of lands and fertility to bless them with good finds and pray to gods of the hunt for safe travels. Most of the time they thrived by journeying onto uncontaminated lands and being the pioneers.

Following the end of the battle, the exhilaration and adrenaline was slowly wearing off from Randal’s mind and even though that felt like it took forever, Randal knew he could stay down.

Picking himself up, he looked around the clearing where he was fighting to reorientate himself, after the running, falling and fighting, he didn’t exactly pay attention to where he was.

Glancing at his map and spinning in circles, Randal finally figured out which direction was south-west back to the Town of Beginners and started pacing back towards where he came from.

He was looking around for anything that seemed out of the ordinary because he knew that if he were lucky he could find more loot just laying around. But he didn’t.

However, he didn’t give up hope that he will one day in the future and hummed a tune from the real world to lift his spirits. Randal has no reason to feel down since he had only been out in the wild for about an hour.

Sitting right next to each other in deep contemplation and agony, Randal and his enemy, the bee, knew that they would have to end this encounter here, for going on much longer would be too much for either to withstand.

Using what was left of its energy the bee moved fast than it had ever moved before, its final burst of firepower in an attempt to at least go down with a fight, the bee’s stinger impaled Randal’s chest and thrashed around to cause as much damage as possible.

However, to its dismay, unlike its expectations for Randal to knocked to the floor, it felt two strong arms wrap around its body.

Randal held tightly onto the insect, pulling it deep into his chest and with what strength he had, used his biceps and forearms to relentlessly crush the insect.

The brutality of his actions almost as if to say that he wasn’t going to cower anymore and that he was resolved to get stronger even if it meant fighting and killing his way there.

As the exoskeleton creaked and cracked under the weight of the pressure, the internal juices of the mob started to spray onto Randal before disintegrating into digital nothingness.

In its place was 50 Col, some materials from the bee and a trinket which would have to be brought to a merchant according to the guide.