Marius

To say that this elderly old man had been surprised by what had been happening would have been major understatement. To start, the clash of thunder that had erupted from the tree line itself was enough to cause Marius to throw clutch the shaft of his war-hammer while bracing for the impact that had felt as though it would undoubtedly come. What had followed afterward was far more worrying to him though! It was almost as though his eyes had been deceiving him.. Had there been a.... "D-d-d-dragon?!" Not wanting to be swept away by the bestial form that had been falling straight towards him, Marius would immediately run off to the side. He knew that there was no way that he could survive the recoil from the brunt of that thing slamming into him. That said, he so clearly couldn't just jump to the side of it. He was only but a man after all. A lowly, low-leveled man.

Once the impact of the dragon had hit the ground, the old man would go as far as to stop his running and brace himself against the shockwave that had briefly fluttered into existence upon the creature having hit the ground. Thankfully it would go on to disperse into a bout of fractal shards but... It seemed to have left something behind? Something inky black and almost foreboding had been left in its place. If this was a creature that was capable of taking down a dragon than did he really want to try and fight it...? He would have stood no chance of survival. That much was clear to him.

Completely transfixed by what had just transpired, Marius would find himself left standing there. He had wanted to run from the scene but his legs weren't permitting him to leave. He hadn't even known that there were dragons on this floor and now there was one that had simply... died to something far more horrifying. What had follow even that was something that Marius just hadn't been expecting. The arrival of a man in black traveling leathers that seemed to be tied to this horrific creature. What had he done wrong in life to deserve such a fate? Was it all going to come to an end here, despite having just started?

"Don't mind her. She only eats field bosses and quest objectives.  You don't look like either, though you're in the right area to accidentally stumble into one."

Marius couldn't believe what was transpiring at this moment and honestly hadn't been quite sure on how to respond to really any of it. He couldn't just stand there doing nothing though. Sure it would take him a moment to fully recover his bearings but he had to make some sort of attempt at a response for now. The alternative was to stand there. The green crystal that had resided over the mans head was enough to ease his worries at least a bit but that fear had still be laced throughout him. "I... er, right! No minding her here! She's just an inky horror that had managed to kill off a dragon is all! Completely normal..." Overall, Marius had more than likely come off as a bit rude but it wasn't something that he had intended. He had still been trying to push past the trembling in his voice and the fear that had riled him up and he simply wasn't quite all there yet. "I... Where did you guys come from?!" It was rather strange for Marius to be acting this out of place but he had never been as horrified for his life as he had just a moment ago so it was to be expected.

     Cheeks tinged red with embarrassment, Marius would slowly turn his head to face Zackariah. He had been expecting to be berated for this blunder, much like when he had been working back in the real world,  but there wasn't any sort of discouraging look upon the NPCs face. It was almost... surprising to the elderly gentleman. Was he truly not upset about what had just happened? Perhaps this was due to the fact that he was dealing with an NPC and not a human.  "There is no need to worry about your failure here, my friend. When you don't succeed, you can always try again." Reaching into his robe, Zackariah would produce several more materials and place them down beside the brewing set. "Go ahead and try again. I'm sure that you'll be surprised at what comes next."

     Although admittedly a little unsure of what it was that Zackariah had meant, he had come to understand that he had another attempt prepared for him. Hoping that things would work better for him at this point, Marius would redo the process that he had completed earlier on and would await an appropriate response from the machine. It was just as the beaker would begin to glow that Marius would take yet another baited breath. What would the result be this time? Would he fail again? No! He had manged to come out on top this time with not just a typical healing potion but with one of rare quality! It was astounding that he had succeeded in this attempt with just a little coaxing from the NPC. Was this planned? Of course not but at least it had worked out! 

     After successfully crafting the potions, Zackariah holds them up, examining your work. "You did a fantastic job," he finally declares, offering you the items. "Now, was there anything else?" Having almost forgotten something so important himself, Marius would immediately fill him in on why he had initially come out here. This had prompted for Zackariah to chuckle and shakes his head. "Leave it to Dorian to forget something so important. No, I'm afraid it wasn't me that borrowed the col. You might try Lyle, the blacksmith. I've seen him talking with the mayor frequently the past month or so, and he's just up the road. I wish you luck!"

     Yet another pop-up menu would appear before Marius' eyes as he looks over the potion in which he had just created. It was the quest rewards page and ultimately the signifier that he had completed the quest. Despite how long it had taken him to accomplish it, this mission had been worth it. 

Quest Rewards:

450 Experience Points
500 Col
(5) T1 Uncommon Health Potions: Heals 5% of Maximum HP.
(1) T1 Uncommon Damage Potion: +1 DMG for an entire thread.
(1) T1 Uncommon Overhealth Potion: Adds 5% of Maximum HP to users Maximum HP for a thread.
(1) T1 Rare Health Potion: Heals 10% of Maximum HP.
Unlock <<The Second Lesson>> Quest

A singular eyebrow would raise as Marius had read the final quest reward. There had been a second part of the quest? That wasn't something that he had been anticipating from the beginning but it was something that he was certainly looking forward to. He had learned his lesson today and with that being the case, he was going to be prepared. "Well... I suppose that I'll just need to head off to complete the other quests now." Feeling quite appreciative of the words that Zackariah had given him, Marius would nod his head to him and than head on off. There were things to do after all but for now... Dinner.

     Having finally made his way back to Zackariah's shop, Marius would push the door open and head on inside. "Right, Zackariah, I have finally returned. Shall I take it that you intend to show me how to do this or will our paths end here? And... I suppose it's just me that is going to be running through this part of the quest..." It was after these things were said that Zackariah would turn about and begin to face Marius. "I said that I would be willing to show you how to do it yourself and as such, I shall." Zackariah would than run through the motions of instructing Marius on what exactly he had to do to craft a potion with the materials that he had required. It was a fairly simple process that really just required utilizing the proper tools while fiddling with the crafting menu. Thankfully this was something that he was able to do with relative ease overall. The understanding what to do part. It had still remained to be seen on whether or not he could successfully craft a healing potion.

     Figuring that he had this whole crafting thing down pat, Marius would walk on over to a brewing set and place the materials that he had acquired directly within it. From there he would fiddle with the pop-up menu and would watch at the brewing set had begun to boil down the materials placed within. Following the trail of the materials until they had finally hit a beaker at the other end, Marius would wait with baited breath to find the outcome of his potion... And it had been a complete and utter failure. So much so  that even the resources that were utilized for it couldn't be salvaged. Overall it was a rather embarrassing thing to have happen in front of the NPC. Good thing that his grandson wasn't here to witness such a thing.

     Not wishing to continue this delve into the abyss of the forest, Marius had decided to head back to the forefront of the forest. It was there that he had continuously managed to succeed in finding the materials that he was after, after all. To no one surprise at this point, as he had begun to head back out towards the outer rim of the forest, Marius had managed to come across the final piece that he was after. It had happened to be about a good fifteen feet into the outer rim which was more or less what Marius had been predicting. This was knowledge that he was going to need to bare in mind in the future if he were to ever do this sort of thing again. Remain in the outer rim for materials and push ever onward into the depths of the forest if you wish to encounter NPCs. It only made sense that this was how things had turned out, given his luck. "And that's that! Now I just need to traverse back to the <<Town of Beginnings>> and hope that I can make it back before it grows too dark out." From there he would make his way back towards the <<Town of Beginnings>> in hopes of completing this quest.

     "While I may be wrong about quite a few things, I am most assuredly proving my own point from earlier on. This hypothesis on finding the materials really only on the outer rim of each forest on the first floor must be proving to be true. I wonder if anyone other than myself ever has this issue or if it's just a me thing? Is my hypothesis actually true or am I just having exponentially poor luck? I'll have to be sure to ask around and get a sufficient answer from a few others once all is said and done. Maybe I can even ask someone while out getting dinner for tonight!" Things had been shaping up to prove him true as of late but there was no guarantee that he was actually correct. Sometimes bad luck just happens. He would come to find out the truth behind all of this in the future though. Regardless, his time had been more or less well spent. Sure he hadn't managed to find the material that he was looking for but knowing that he was probably right about the mechanics of the game had always been something that Marius could enjoy.

     Just as before, this old man had nothing to do other than continue on with his work. He was going to need to get used to this kind of work eventually, considering how he had wanted to get into the profession game but... That was something that he could always find ways around. A familiar could be gained with some effort and said familiar might be able to be trained to aid him on his journey. And being as this was a game, there were all kinds of mechanical benefits that he could theoretically find to assist him with it when that time had come. That was all in the future though. He couldn't just stop what he was doing and acquire all of this help and than restart the mission. It doesn't exactly work that way. Trying not to worry about it all too much, Marius would just keep moving forward. While he hadn't managed to succeed in finding the last material, he had succeeding in passing the time until he could go back and see his grandson again. Kind of, anyways.

     Having more or less proved his hypothesis to a certain extent, Marius had decided to push onward. This was naturally going to end up being one of those multi-step hypothesis'. If he were to find nothing within the center of the forest than his point would be proven but if he had indeed found things in the center than his hypothesis would have been moot. As with all things in life, there was but one way to find out. The elderly gentleman had begun to proceed towards the center of the forest as he would realize how late it was slowly starting to become. If he had left earlier in the day than things might have been easier for him to stay out late but he was going to need to get back to Erebus at some point. "It's only one more piece so it shouldn't be too much trouble to find. Once I get all of this done, maybe I can even take the two of us out for dinner or something. Ensure that we manage to get some food into us." He had mostly been speaking aloud to himself but there was also a small part of him that was speaking to Erebus, despite him not actually having been physically present with him. To no surprise, there was no materials to be found during this attempt.

     Figuring that he would attempt at least one last look around in the area surrounding the outer layer of the forest before heading further in, Marius had pushed ever onward. A multitude of trees, plants and vegetation had been encountered along the way but there hadn't seemed to have been any mobs or materials that could be seen. A lot of this was just the typical stuff that one would find in a forest. It was both a relief and a bit of an annoyance. Mairus had honestly just about been prepared to give up on the outer rim of the forest when he had stumbled over a root sticking out of the ground. As he had begun to tumble forward and towards the ground, he would immediately remove his weapon from its holster and prepare for any sort of encounter that might have been about to occur. Turning around the moment that he had hit the ground, Marius would come to see that there hadn't been any sort of beastie to combat at present. There had however been a gnarly looking root sticking out of the ground. Upon further inspection, said root had seemed to be gatherable. It was admittedly a strange one for him to be adding to his collection but it was needed either way. "Alrighty. Just one more to go and we should hopefully be set after that. Than I'll just need to head on back to meet up with Zackariah and see what else he needs. If there is anything else to do for this quest, that is."

     Hoping to test this method of only finding materials near the front of each forest, Marius would begin to scout out the area surrounding the outer layer. It didn't seem to be proving all that useful at first but he had only just begun. There was still further evidence to attempt to gather so he would continue to do so while digging around for actual materials. "While I may not have come across anything as of yet, I am sure that I will encounter something to prove my point eventually. Of course if I can't manage to do so than that just means that I'll have to head further into the forest. I suppose that this warrants investigation though. Just like work back in the old days, before this death game, huh? Ahahaha." It was a little surprising that he hadn't encountered any of the mobs up to this point though. They must have been just missing one another time and time again. Or perhaps there just weren't any mobs to encounter straight away thanks to the other players. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what was going on there.

     Having meandered from out of the forest and back out into <<The Stone Valley>>, Marius had begun to let out a slightly relieved sigh. If he had stayed in that forest for much longer than he was likely to go stir crazy. "I... suppose that most of that forest has been tapped for resources for the time being. Maybe it'll naturally restock itself later on or just happens to be one of those locations that is very limited in what it has to offer." With a slight shrug, the elderly man would push on towards another nearby forest. Thankfully there had been one not all that far away. Even with how large each floor seemed to be, things had seemingly been situated in an appropriate distance of one another.

     Eventually Marius would find himself entering woods of another forest. The immediate surroundings didn't seem to be all that special but that didn't mean that there wasn't anything more interesting farther in. It was with this mentality that he had pushed deeper into the forest. Maybe about another twenty five feet in and he had managed to spot a flower that stood out amongst the weeds of the area. Leaning down to give it a look, he would double tap the item and a pop-up menu item would appear. This had been it! Another material that he could acquire for the quest had finally shown itself to him! Without further ado, Marius would accept the item into his inventory and proceed onward. "Maybe the gatherable herbs are all near the entrances of these places? It would be a weird way to have designed this floor but I suppose that it is always an option."

     In an attempt to try and shroud his mind from those perturbed invading thoughts, the elderly gentleman would begin to whistle a relatively jaunty tune. The very action itself was likely going to attract the attention of anything in the immediate vicinity but that wasn't even something that he had been considering at the moment. A few more instances of searching would take place as he would meander about through the pines surrounding him, his hand idly double tapping every other tree that he had been close enough to brush up against. Unsurprisingly, none of them had been what he had been there for. It was almost starting to feel as though there wasn't much to be found out here. Perhaps another forest in and of itself would serve as a better source of materials? It was entirely possible that that would be the case. With that thought in mind, rather than sticking it out and wandering about again, Marius was head for one of the many exits out of the forest.

     While continuing to shake their head from side to side, despite the obvious lurking threats, Marius had decided to continue on with their trek deeper into the forest. Sooner or later he would come across what he was looking for. Until that moment, all that he could really do is look about and hope that something works out for him. Every now and then he would take a moment to peruse a chunk of his immediate surroundings, hoping to track down what he had set out for, but it never had really ever led to anything. That was okay though. Time was passing and with each passing moment, his chances had increased. "Oh little plants... I know that you are hiding from me and I can almost understand why but sooner or later, you shall be in my clutches. All that I can say to you about this is... be warned."

     By this point, it had honestly begun to feel as though fighting against the mobs of the first floor might have been of better assistance to the man. Sure it was dangerous but the more that he had thought about it, the more that he had realized that he could have managed to have acquired some loot from said monsters. Those mobs might have been able to drop a material or two, surely. Not like he was capable of finding a mob on his own in this thick canopied forest. It would have to be something in which they found him. Again, this was the kind of thing that would have been far easier for the monster themselves. After all, with how loud the clanking of his armor had been, it wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if they were to come across him. For now though, no mobs had managed to find him and he had yet to find another material, yet again.

     With each search, the old man would begin to grow more tired. It had felt as though he had been wandering about on this quest for hours upon hours but at most it had only been about an hour of searching with maybe forty minutes worth of traveling. At least it wasn't dark out quite yet. It was only a matter of time before things would end up like that for him though so hopefully he could find what he was looking for before that happens. "Well... If I am going to be stuck in a situation like this than I might as well try and make the most out of it in the meantime. That being said, I wonder what kind of profession I should try and take up in the future. I'm thinking something that would ensure that I can aid both myself and others. I was hoping to maybe be a blacksmith but I believe that that market is practically overrun by a singular faction at this point. Maybe... a performer? From what I can remember, they seem to be kind of missing from the market at the moment. I'll have to look more into it when I get back from this quest."

     As unfortunate as it was overall, Marius was having quite a bit of a difficult time tracking down the appropriate materials. Sure there had been all kinds of plants and the like surrounding him but that honestly just kind of made things more difficult for him. "Was it... a bad idea for me to have come out here like this? Alone and in an area that I haven't really explored before. It's honestly not too reassuring but I suppose that it should be okay. The key word there being should." Idly shaking his head from side to side, he would continue to search about in vain. There was nothing that he could gather within the immediate area. Really just things that seemed to be for decoration. It was troubling but it was what it was. Hopefully he would be able to come across someone or something eventually that might be able to help him. He was really going to need to try and find a way to make these kinds of things easier on himself.

     Not quite sure whether or not he will be able to find things with a sense of ease while out and about in this forest, Marius would decide to just try and ignore the bad thoughts while continuing on. A few more minutes had been spent while searching in the immediate area but to no avail. Hoping that another spot would contain something of use, the old man would push past that spot and proceed deeper into the forest. More than anything else, more so than not completing this quest even, Marius had feared encountering something deep in the forest that he wouldn't be capable of fighting. Given his proficiency with his armor and the likes, he was almost certain that he could withstand a few blows. The main issue here was that he had no real way of injuring any monster that dared to show its face to him. Hopefully nothing like that would occur while he was out and about... Of course it was thoughts like these that were impeding on his progress of tracking down anything in particular.

     "I'm sure that things will be a lot easier for me now that I am physically in a forest. Or at least easier than things would have been back out in the plains." A simple nod would occur as Marius had thought on this fact. He had been feeling a bit more confident when it had coming to this gathering mission for the most part but that was when the doubt had begun to creep in. "Than again, it is entirely likely that this will make things much harder than they had been back out in the plains. Here, where everything is a flower or a plant of some type... It might just end up having me encounter some kind of plant type monster or running into things that are purely decorative."

     The doubt that was creeping in would only continue to grow stronger as he had meandered about through the forest. It was something that had concerned him overall, given that it was likely that he might have just sentenced himself to death by coming out here, but it hadn't completely crushed his spirit. Not as of yet. "I'll just try and focus on the task at hand and hope that it can keep me aware of my surroundings enough to not get into any sort of trouble."

     It may have taken far more time for Marius to get to <<The Stone Valley>> than he had anticipated but that was alright. It was but a brief moment in the grand scheme of things, really. Especially considering the fact that he was likely going to have a higher chance of finding the kind of materials that he was going to need out here than back out in the <<Plains>>. "Although I don't know all that much about that medicine quest that was supposedly out here at some point, I am  aware of the fact that there are entire forests out here. It honestly would have been an easier time for me overall if I would have started out here but I was just trying to play it safe. For Erebus' sake." 

     Now that he had actually found himself walking about within one of the many forests that had inhabited this valley, Marius would take the time to search about for any sort of materials that would be useful for his grand venture. It was maybe about ten minutes into this search that he had come across a very beautiful tree that stood out from the rest. It was almost peculiar in a sense and for a moment, Marius was really beginning to hope that it wasn't a monster of some kind. After some poking and prodding at the tree though, he would come to discover that it wasn't something that had needed to be worried about. It was just a typical tree from the looks of it. Such a claim was easily confirmed by tapping at the tree and obtaining a pop-up menu. Not only was this a normal tree... It had happened to contain a rare type of wood that could easily be used for the quest that he was on! Without even a second thought, Marius would acquire the lumber for himself and prepare himself for the next three materials that had needed to be gathered.

     As disappointing as it was for him to have to admit, this whole gathering materials thing had really been far more difficult that Marius had anticipated. It didn't really feel like it should have been this difficult overall but... maybe it just was this way? Not too sure on what to really do here, Marius would take a moment to make a mental note on how he was going to be needing to acquire some kind of way to make things easier for himself in the future. Maybe they had something along those lines in a shop? An item that could increase the drop rates of any such items that may or may not be acquired. Honestly, only time would really tell if he could acquire such a thing. 

    That wasn't really the thing that he would need to be focused on at the moment though. More and more time would be spent on his journey across the <<Plains>> as he would continue to search for any sort of indicator of where to go but unfortunately there just wasn't really anything here that could help him at the moment. Perhaps he should attempt a journey out towards <<The Stone Valley>> and hope to find something out there? It was a more dangerous place to be for sure but that didn't exactly steer this old man away. If anything it had left him feeling encouraged to venture forth and overcome this trial. "It may be called the Stone Valley but I'm sure that I can find something out there. Maybe some rare herbs or woods. That is supposedly the primary location for a quest about medicine, after all." 

     Having come to the realization of the fact that he had been drifting off into his subconsciousness a bit, Marius would stumble a bit. "W-wait... What was I just doing? I shouldn't be dwelling on such things and spacing out while out in a field such as this! This isn't a safe zone and if I had been caught unawares... Even with my proficiency in heavy armor, things could have seriously ended in a rather terrifying manner. I'm glad that I managed to catch myself before something like that could happen." Trying to shake off that worry that had slowly begun to creep up his shoulders, the old man would continue on.
    With things being as they were at the moment, Marius was going to need to focus a bit more on the task at hand. He couldn't risk getting killed off and having his grandson face this world on his own. Or leave anyone to such a task, really. That said, any time that he had come across any sort of flower in the next several minutes, Marius would immediately kneel down and try to gather it as material for the quest. It's too bad that those flowers were more so for visuals than for anything else.

     Several more minutes would pass as this old man had traversed across the <<Plains>>. As he had done so, he would not only be keeping an eye out for the materials that were needed for the quest but on the players that had joined him in this death game. It never should have turned out the way that it had but it ultimately wasn't something that he could have known was going to happen. Even if he could have stopped all of this from happening, how would he have gone about it? Not that it mattered at this point. No... While he couldn't have changed anything before all of this had happened, he could most assuredly go out of his way to work on ensuring the safety of those that still live. Become a support character in a sense. Yes, that was what he was going to do. It wouldn't be easy but those were his overall plans for the future. The only question than is how is he planning on doing this? Well, it would come to him eventually. Of course it is thanks to these very thoughts that Marius finds himself a tad too distracted and doesn't end up realizing that he had already crossed several possible materials. Unfortunately, in this moment of time, he just doesn't acquire what he had set out for.

     Figuring that he would perhaps have a bit of an easier time when it comes to this whole gathering thing, Marius would walk around for a bit longer while searching for any particular flowers that had stood out. It wasn't the easiest task in the world given how many flowers had actually existed in the <<Plains>> themselves but one had to do what they had to do. Sooner or later they would come across another flower that could be gathered for this quest. It just wasn't going to be at this very moment. Despite having found a suitable material in the first instance of him searching with relative ease, Marius was now having a bit of trouble finding anything that would work out for him here. Every time that he had thought that he had found himself one such thing, another player would come along and pick it for themselves. A completely understandable action given that everyone here had wanted to survive. "No need to let this get you down old chum. We'll find ourselves all of the needed materials in due time."

     A good twenty minutes or so would pass as Marius had wandered about the <<Plains>>while trying to find any sort of suitable material. He had more than likely encountered several instances of materials up to this point but had walked straight passed them, given that he really wasn't quite sure what to look out for. Flowers, herbs, rare woods, and thinks of that manner? That could have been anything really. "I suppose that I should probably just try and see if one of these flowers that are out and about in the <<Plains>> are just decorative or if they are materials, right? So I should just..." From there, he would simply kneel down in this heavy armor and attempt to click on the flower. He was hoping for a menu to appear before him and offer him any sort of interaction. The real question here was... would he really be able to get what he was looking for with this?
     To the old mans surprise, as he had knelt down and attempted to find some sort of pop-up menu, one would appear as he had tried to tap upon the flower! "Oh! So this is all that I really have to do, huh?  If this is the case than I should be able to be done with this in no time!" Thankfully the flower that he had knelt down to fiddle with had happened to be one of the kinds of flowers that would be helpful for a quest like this. Did he perhaps have a knack for this sort of thing? Only time would tell.

     Having received his instructions from the NPC, Marius had begun to head on out of the shop. Not just that but he would take the time to worm his way out of the <<Town of Beginnings>> itself. From what he had understood, it would have been safest to attempt to acquire the required materials in the Plains just outside of town. It wasn't too far away from civilization so he shouldn't get lost and it was said to contain the lowest leveled monsters, which would assist him in certain developments given that his main specialty at the moment had been his armor.  "Alrighty. Now I am just going to have to try and dig up some flowers and herbs and the like. That shouldn't be too difficult to find out here, right? It... likely would have gone a bit easier if I had some company but that is alright. I will just have to try and be enough to protect the both of us." Slightly and uncomfortably patting himself on the back, Marius would nod to himself. "You've got this."

     A few moments had passed as Marius had awaited an appropriate response from his grandson. He was hoping that his grandson was accept the quest given that they were in a party together. Unfortunately, it didn't quite seem as though his grandson had much to say in the matter. If anything, it had almost seemed as though his grandson had suddenly become.. disinterested(?) in the matter entirely. In what had seemed like no time at all, his grandson had gone on to leave the party and would end up heading on out. "A-are you sure that this is what you want to d-" The door to the shop would close shut before Marius could finish his thoughts. His grandson was now gone and he was left standing there, alone, with a pop-up menu now awaiting his response. 

     The entire ordeal had been rather embarrassing overall and honestly, Marius had been worried that he had done something to upset him. Unfortunately there just wasn't anything that he could really do to stop his grandson at this point. That being said, Marius had wanted to ensure that the duo could survive in this death game and as such, he was going to need to kick things off on his own. He would accept the quest, the pop-up menu would disappear, and than he would turn back towards Zackariah. "I... suppose that I'll be the only one taking on your quest. Consider those materials to be gathered." From there, the old man would head on out of the shop.