Ceres

Just as Ceres had predicted, the Boar charged again, this one seemed a little more advanced than the other - rather than a straight attack it began to zig-zag in its approach to her.

Ceres grit her teeth as her eyes followed its movement. Was this because she had managed to strike it first? Were mobs made with an adaptable AI system that learned? It wasn't uncommon to see such a thing in video games. Enemies would learn attack patterns and be able to counter them. Well, two could play at that game - the boar dipped its head as it reared closer toward Ceres.

Knowing that was the sign of its final lunge Ceres was able to shift to the side - it was a gamble on which side but the right side had been the...right choice. Ceres' boot shifted in the grass and she pivoted her body to strike the Boar - but it didn't stop. Instead it charged straight forward and her attack missed.

Ceres followed it, the grass was slippery and it served her well as she pivoted her body to match the Boar as it began to build up speed- running in a cirle around her. This is exactly what the first one did. So if she were to hazard a guess- it'd hopefully charge one more time - and if that attack failed - then it'd try to bite her.

Ceres had to either kill it before it bit her - or dodge that nasty bite.

She did not want to be covered in slimy drool again.

Battle Information

One boar down, and it had been successfully looted as well - Ceres knew that these sort of quests gave a higher chance of dropping the neccessary items, since they were quest items - still. It began to feel a little easier. The woman slowly felt a little more confident. Albeit her attitude toward fighting had yet to change.

Her lips curled up in disgust as Ceres kneeled down and wiped her hands on the ground. "Nasty...so very, very Nasty..."

The feeling of the slime was gone...but the knowledge that she was still so unclean did not sit well with Ceres, she'd have to finish this quest - and wash her hands at the very least before continuing to the next one. "Oh..."

The small white tusk still sat on the floor - The redheaded woman picked it up and turned it to and fro in her hand. How exactly was Lyle meant to make anything out of this? It was best not to question it. Never question game logic. Ceres placed it in her inventory and sighed, closing her eyes and allowing herself to enjoy the quiet for just a moment.

"SCHNNAAAARRRRRLLLlll"

Lilac eyes shot open, that was NOT the serene silecne she wanted - Ceres rolled out the way just in time to dodge the attack of another boar. Had it wandered over and she not noticed? That didnt sound like her- Ceres was more observant than that. This time, her attack happened on instinct, with dagger in hand she lashed out at the beast as it passed her - landing a hit. That was a good start.

Ceres clambered to her feet, lilac eyes narrowing as she sized up the Boar Pup. Same as the last one - would it charge three times then try to bite? Or would it switch up its moveset?

Battle Information

After the second chomp had whittled away just that little more damage from her health something happened...

A thick, pink, wet, tongue rolled out from its mouth and curved over her arm. It felt like a large snail was dragged across her body. "ARgh! STOP THAT!" Ceres cried as she lunge the flimsy blade into the top of the beasts head. The wet sensation of being gnawed on dissipated in a flurry of red data. No more Boar Pup...No more gross chewing...in its place sat a small boar tusk.

"I...I did it!?"

Ceres stared at her own two hands, dirtied- and shaking. One dripped with a thick white ooze, but she did her best to ignore that. She was ok...she was perfectly ok. Even her health...despite taking multiple hits, it felt like she had barely lost anything. "I don't get it..."

Her Stats...

Ceres had been so busy worrying about her armour and weapon - and counting inventory that she completely forgot to check the stats after receiving the firsts quests rewards. Her eyes widened. "Wait..." She was level 4? Just one quest, a boring, stupid...fetching quest - had allowed her to jump up 3 whole levels. So then...

Ceres started to count on her hands. "By the time I finish this quest...I should be at least....level six? Damn...I should have sucked it up and did these quests a long while ago...I feel a little silly now..."

Battle Information

"Pleaaase...." Ceres muttered. "I'm so sick of missing, especially when its both of us." She spoke exasperated, running a hand through tousled crimson hair. Who'd have thunk battling would be annoying, rather than scary? The boar grunted in response. Of Course it wasn't going to reply. "How about -instead of charging at the same time..." She paused and stressed the word. "Again... we just take....you know...turns?"

Like the creature would actually listen to her. It screeched its horrid screech and charged at her. is that all these things knew how to do? Charge? Was there a certain moveset - yanno - like Pokeemon?

The boar yowled, beady flashing eyes absolutely furious, foam forming at the edges of it's mouth. It was probably upset because it was so close to dying. "Well if you JUST let me take your stupid tusks without - GAarghhh"

The Boar Pup opened up it's muzzled maw and clamped down on Ceres, that same tingling sensation shot up her arm, but it wasn't a bother - what was worse was the terrible sensation of thick...wet....warm drool oozing over her forearm. Her entire body shivered at the nasty sensation. She'd rather it just have rammed her into the ground again.

The normally aloof woman in that moment, broke - dancing from one foot to the other as she feebly tried to pull her hand away from the beast, whilst it so happily munched on her arm. "Eew. Eew. Eew. Eeew. Eeww. I'm not a damn snack!"

Battle Information

It was just the same damn thing...over and over again.... The boar would back away then charge, she'd dodge and try to attack. Rinse. Repeat. Was this what battling was? All it was? Where was the variation? The different move sets? Why were people so hell bent on battling when this was all it was? She'd much, much rather be sitting in a tavern somewhere eating a moist cake with a nice creamy coffee, with the sun warming her back. Not this.

This?

Was stupid.

The Boar wanted to charge? FINE So would she!

The two charged head first at each other, beast vs woman - just as the boar lowered its head - she rose her dagger. Both ready to strike each other at the dire moment of impact...

But there was no impact...both had run head on toward each other, and both had...completely and utterly missed.

Battle Information

"Fighting like this takes...more finesse than I thought..." Ceres said as her lilac eyes watched the boar with caution. It was easy to gauge distance on a screen, there were indicators of the area of attack - and you could move the mouse around to change your point of view. This? This was like fighting something in real life, and Ceres was not physically inclined. Not that she was unfit...but she most definitely didn't hit the gym or take up any sort of sports or martial arts.

This was the first Boar...it was a test subject - yeh. That's it. This was her 'rough draft' of a fight. All she had to do was trial and error - and eventually she'd have it.

Another loud snarl - this signaled the beginning of its charge - well - at least she had a visual and audio cue. Side-stepping the next charge was easy enough. This time instead of backing away and keeping her distance Ceres pressed forward - and with a single swipe she managed to whittle it's health down a little more.

"Ok...Slowly...Surely...getting there..."

Battle Information

This wasn't so hard...yeh...this was fine... Ceres had more health than she realized- and she even managed to hit the stupid beast. The creatures hair bristled, and with a few stomps of its hooves the Boar Pup began to charge.

This? Again? The hell?

Was it just repeating the same move over an over? Did it have a pattern? Ceres wasn't sure but she wasn't going to stand around like an idiot and let it hit her again. Ceres stood her ground, she wasn't going to uselessly flail her dagger around this time, this time - she was going to keep her eyes open and hit it. The fear she had earlier was gone - seeing just how much HP she had.

Closer....

Closer...

There! Ceres side-stepped away from its charge just as the boar lowered its head to ram into her side again. The woman took a few steps back to try and put space between her and the beast then swung.

And swung again...

Ceres hit nothing but thin air - she'd stepped too far back from the Boar and completely missed her chance to retaliate.  The Boar was already on the move, it hard easily dodged her attack and began to run around in a semi circle to the front of her. So it was going to charge again.  Ceres just had to get over the concern of being hit - and damage the damn thing.

Battle Information

They... didn't look like babies.

Babies were cute they were fluffy and they did not have mother f**king glowing red eyes and gleaming white tusks that looked like they could tear clear through the skin of an ELEPHANT - let alone some flimsy newbie starter armour. Ceres took another step forward and the boars cursor changed - then half a second later it charged, straight at her.

"Well...sh*t." Ceres said as the so called 'boar pup' gave a slobbery, snarly sequel then charged at her. Ceres wasn't sure what she was supposed to do? Duck? Dip? Duck? Dive? or Dodge?

-WHAM-

During her indecision the beast had rammed head on into her. Ceres felt the wind get knocked out of her as she was forced back a few feet, and she felt a very strange tingle - as though someone had given her a static shock, but that was it.

Huh...

There wasn't any pain. There wasn't any real trouble... a quick glance at her health bar and...wait - why did it hurt her so little? Did the other quest cause her to level up? Maybe Ceres should have double checked her stats before entering the battle - but that was definitely more HP than what she felt like she had when she started these quests.

The boar circled round and went to attack her again, there was no time for her to worry about that - especially when it was a positive. Ceres was inept, for lack of better words - at battling. It's why she didn't want to focus on such a build so when the boar came around she grabbed her dagger and flailed it helplessly in front of her, and somehow - it managed to land a blow.

The Boar pup gave a grunt of discomfort and stopped its charge. Snorting as it began to circle her again. "D-did I do it?" She asked. Her eyes shifted to its health bar... it wasn't much but she did. She managed to actually attack something.

Battle Information

"This will be fine...you have a decent amount of health - and there is no way you'll use 10 health potions..."

Ceres was amping herself up as she walked through the city streets. "You got that potion that will help you raise your health if you need... and if you aren't landing any hits - or the boars are stronger than you think you also have that potion that increases your damage..." Ceres gave herself a nod of affirmation.

"Right. Take them on one at a time - they're babies they probably can barely even walk let alone maul someone with their tusks and if they did hit me it's not like it'd really hurt - just a little tickle like a static shock. So this should be fine. It's a beginner quest on a beginner floor. If you can talk your way up into getting a code for this stupid game Ceres, you can do this. What kind of gamer are you?"

Talking helped.

....

Even if it did make her look insane to everyone around her.

Ceres took the last few steps out of town and back into the wilds for the second time that day. If there were a third part to this quest, she wasn't sure she'd be able to accomplish it before sunset, or before she wore herself out. Her stomach growled.  Ah. There was also that, she'd need to eat at some point too.

Lilac eyes glanced to the map, the quest marker was smack bang in the middle of a herd of red dots. Luckily, the dots were spaced out - it meant she could pick them off, one by one.

"Good."

The first boar was just a few feet away.

Ceres paused and took a deep breath.

This is it.

This would be her first battle on Aincrad.

No one really died to boars, right?

Ceres leaned against the cobblestone wall of the store - before she headed out - she needed to make sure she had at least something equipped. "I should have bought some form of armour... just to be on the safe side...but I did have something right? Didn't the game give me some sort of...." Her mumbles trailed off into unspoken thoughts as Ceres browsed through her inventory - she really didn't have much at all. So much for having a legacy. Normally she'd hoard every item she could get her hands on in games - and struggled with things like being over encombered or running out of inventory space. At least that wasn't an issue here.

"Leather chestplate...+1 evasion... So the mob would be less likely to land a hit on me - I mean...it's better than wearing nothing..." Ceres equipped the chest place and grimaced as it materialized on her form. The armour was light, but it still didn't feel very...nice. It didn't look very nice either. It was made out of a light leather, and was of poor quality. There were scuff marks and scratches in it, and the leather ties at the side were loose and coming apart.

"This isn't exactly my aesthetic..." Ceres mumbled. She preferred freedom and flowey clothes to this.

Still...It fit snugly on her form. And it would protect her.

"Ok...that's literally the only piece of armour I own, and now..."

Some more scrolling lead her to the only weapon in her inventory. Upon equipping it, it appeared at her side, snugly in a small holster around her waist. A dagger. A small dagger that gave +1 damage. It was nothing, heck - maybe it'd be better if she just used her fists.

"This is going to be a long...long day..." Ceres sighed as she turned to head to the south exit of The Town of Beginnings.

"S-Sure thing!" Ceres said, attempting to hide the nerves that suddenly bubbled up within her. The fear of actually fighting was quite real for her - she knew logically that she'd be able to handle such a thing as baby boars - heck- she had easily outrun them numerous times. Their area of aggression was practically non-existent as long as you didn't engage in combat. In part, she was thankful she didn't throw away the flimsy dagger she received when entering the game. It had sat collecting dust in the recesses of her inventory.

"Aye, let me mark where the youngin's are fer ya' lass."  A few moments passed before a cursor appeared on her map, somewhere southwest of the Town. This should be easy, right? The level recommendation was one - and she had a bunch of various potions from the previous quest. So there was no issue whatsoever with this. Rationalizing it made Ceres feel better, only slightly.

"I'll be back soon." Ceres said with a wave as she turned to leave from the Blacksmith's storefront.

A hearty laugh followed her, along with a joke - which Ceres didn't find the least bit funny. "Aye lass! Don't come back dead now ya here?"

"How would I come back if I was dead?" Ceres muttered as she kicked a rock. Less eager to finish this quest than the last. Still... she had to get it out of the way. These sort of questlines had what, 3 to 5 parts at most. And this was the second. All she had to do was continue to push forward.

No stupid little boar weaklings would stop her.

3 Boar pup tusks....

"Three...Boar pup tusks...." Ceres repeated aloud.

"Aye, that's right." Lyle replied. "Just kill some of tha' pups that roam the wilds, they be easy pickin's - then bring me their tusks. Aye, I'll make a fine item with them I will." A small frown played his lips as he looked upon Ceres, seeing her hesitation. "Yer not wimpin' out on me lass? Surely ya know how ta fight?"

"O-Of COURSE I know how to fight!" Ceres snapped back. The reality of the situation was that she had never been in combat before. For the entirety of her time on Aincrad - she never once thought she'd bother going into battle, why? When others could do it for her?

Crap

If she knew that there would be fighting in this quest she'd probably have tried to get some aid on the help message boards - even if she had to pay some col to get it done - but - tutorial quests often found ways around that. They'd probably require both players participate to finish it and earn the rewards. This quest-line was after all, made to teach players the mechanics of the game.

"Ah, good. I was a tad worried fer a second there. Right." He slapped his hand upon the bench again. "Plop 'em right 'ere when yer done and we'll create somethin' grand. I cannae wait ta show yer the beaut of the bellows an' tha mighty roar o' the fires."

Lyle gave a heartwarming smile to Ceres, grinning ear to hear beneath a rugged and unkempt moustache. "Aye - youngin I thank ye kindly fer accepting my quest so quickly and readily." He gave her a firm nod of appreciation. "Yer got ta strong will, and fire in yer belleh. I like ye alreadeh."

Ceres wasn't sure what to think of this new NPC, Lyle was it? He definitely seemed to have more personality than the old Alchemist, Zackariah. She had hastily clicked accept, and was already in part - regretting it. In her haste she failed to ask him exactly what he required of her - what if he wanted her to go hunt twenty materials?

"It's no problem, really. I am here anyway so...." Ceres trailed off awkwardly, this was an NPC right? It didn't even matter what she said to him right? So why was she trying to talk to him like he was a real human being?

"Well Lass, I'm glad yer 'ere. I see yer look like tha ruff 'n tumble sort o' girl too." He said with a point of his chin, gesturing to her messy visage.

"Eh? EH?"

She did look messy...but... were NPCs capable of noticing and pointing out these things? Was it something to do with the parameters of degradation? Or something else? Ceres would drive herself mad trying to dissect it.

"I..do what I need to - to get by... I'm not afraid of dirt." Ceres admitted truthfully, still feeling awkward about having a conversation that seemed far too normal to be had with an NPC.

Lyle bellowed again, slapping his hand loudly on the bench. "Thats what I like ta' see. Right well miss. I'm a tad short o' some rare materials ta' make some swords ya see? I need ya ta go out in the wilds and get me three boar pup tusks." He held up three thick and hairy fingers to illustrate the point. "Think ya' got it in ya' lass?"

REWARDS
2x SP Quest completion
1x SP RP completion
1 x SP December event
____
Total SP:  4

ITEMS
- 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)

COL
COL: 400

 

"I have a package for you from Zakariah." Ceres said simply. She just wanted to get this done, move onto the next one and just ....rest She forgot how tiring these beginner quests were. Maybe it was because she was doing them alone?

But... it was better to do it alone, than to team up with someone who would no doubt annoy her, die, or disappear.

Yeh. Besides, this wasn't all bad...

Ceres pulled the item out of her inventory and handed it over to Lyle. He accepted it and his eyes lit up. "That old dog! HE knew exactly what I needed ta cure these old joints o' mine. Oh..." He held the vial and inspected it closely. "Well, stout my fires young lass! Yer the youngin' who what did made this?"

Ceres nodded. "Yes, but it was nothing. Zakariah aided me through it. As long as it heals you." She gave him a forced smile. Trying hard not to tell him to just complete the damn quest.

Hurry it up ya loon

Lyle laughed, a deep laugh that bellowed from deep n his chest. "Aye ya' such a sweet lass." He downed the potion and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. "I feel better already, but I still got a bit ta go before I fully recover. I was wonderin' if there was somethin' ya could do for me?"


THere it was.

"Sure...what is it?" Ceres asked.

Inwardly, she cursed the creators of all MMORPGS and their inane quests.


"Well...."

The walk to the blacksmith was uneventful - the streets were virtually deserted now - it was the middle of the day. Most people were inside enjoying their lunch, or out questing. And here she was, dirtied and disheveled, stuck in the worst possible kind of quest.

'A series of unfortunate fetch quests'

Ceres thought to herself. Just how many professions were there again? How many of these would she have to do? Her palms went to her face as she slapped it with an elongated groan. "WHen will this ennnnddd....."

'Bang'

"Ah."

Now. It'd end now, well not now - but soon. For Ceres had bumped into the exact place she was heading to - A typical blacksmiths place....the sign above. "Lyles Workshop"

"Dammit...Ya'll could have hired me as a writer! I'd come up with better names than 'LYLES WORKSHOP' Ceres mumbled in frustration as she entered the door.

An all too familiar chiming sound came from the door.

And an all too familiar setting sat before her.

A shop with shelves on either side, filled with various wares - this time instead of vials and potions there were swords, shields, pauldrons - armor of all shapes and sizes. His workshop must be hiding behind the door in the back.

"Welcome young miss. My name is Lyle Tealeaf."

Ceres squinted.

HMmmmm.....

This Lyle TEaleaf looked an awful lot like a certain alchemist named Zakariah. If it weren't for his giant muscular form - and broader shoulders, she would have mistaken them for the same person.

Ceres left Zakariah's store in silence.

It was something that he said... had she really gathered materials that quickly compared to others, or was it something he had been programmed to say to everyone. Come to think of it... her success to failure ratio was considerably in her favour. And to think, she was frustrated after only a few failures. One couldn't expect immediate success. Talented artists spent years perfecting their craft. The same could be said for writers, even gamers. So - why would this be any different?

Again. Ceres found herself over-analyzing the simplicities of the game. Shouldn't she just enjoy herself? Have fun with it? Roll with the punches? (Although she'd much rather not be punched. Even if one couldn't feel pain.)

Ceres tapped her chin in time to her footsteps as she walked. "If I don't want to go for a fighting build... perhaps I should focus on things that make material gathering easier - or finding hidden treasures and maps. That counts as information, right?"

It was something to think about as she did these quests. At least they'd give her a taste of what each profession was.

"You really are quite skilled young miss." Zakariah commented as he handed Ceres the neatly wrapped package.

"Why do you say that?" Ceres asked as she picked it up. The items description flashed across her screen.
 

Quote

ITEM: Perfectly Crafted Potion'
A potion crafted by Ceres under Zakariah's Guidance. To be given to the Blacksmith Lyle Tealeaf

'This potion heals the weary muscles of a friendly blacksmith, it tastes like blackberries, yum!

Blueberries?

Was that a random thing? Knowing this game, it was highly likely. Ceres placed it away in her inventory, and as soon as she had done so the old Alchemist continued.

"Most people take a longer time to complete the quest. Material gathering is difficult, especially for beginners. Have faith in yourself young miss - and remember, Alchemy is a fantastic profession."

Zakariah gave her the address to the blacksmith, and a new destination marker popped up on her map. "Oh..." Ceres thought it'd be further away, but it was fairly close. Just around the block. It'd make sense that all these stores would be knitted in together. Especially if they all had linking quests.

"Thanks....I'll remember..." Ceres said as she left his store.

 

"Excellent! Excellent!" Zakariah cheered with jovial enthusiasm. Ceres doubted that he was 'too old and feeble' to go out on his own, but - again, she had to remind herself he was nothing more than an NPC - and was doing only what he was programmed to do. She doubted he'd even exist outside the confines of his shop.

That...was a little sad, wasn't it?

Imagine having the knowledge that if you were to leave a certain area, you would simply cease to exist? Or that your existence was based purely on the confines placed upon you?  It was probably a good thing that AI wasn't invented yet - it'd drive these people... no...data people mad.

Ceres followed Zakariah back to the front of the shop and silently watched him as he packaged the 'perfectly crafted potion'

So, this was an alchemist quest...and she was delivering the potion to a blacksmith...

Her face soured.

Oh...

It was going to be one of those questlines.

 

Zakariah nodded. "Yes, quite the fine young alchemist you would make. Since you have yet to take the profession quest I do hope you will consider Alchemy!"

Ceres hadn't exactly considered the quest to take a profession, let alone being an alchemist - weren't there a whole bunch of them on Aincrad. It was a profession in high demand, so much so that Ceres assumed the market was saturated with them. Sure, it meant better prices for her - but if she were to ever get into the business herself...it wouldn't exactly be profitable.

"Although..." She said aloud. "It'd be a good source of information, especially if frontliners were coming in..."

Ceres wanted to work toward becoming an information broker, and that sort of thing wasn't listed under 'professions' so she would have to work out which job would enable her to collect data the easiest.

The old man cleared his throat. Ceres blinked, her eyes focusing on him once more.

As much as it pains me to do so, I must ask you one final favour. I need to deliver this potion to my friend, Lyle Tealeaf. He is a local Blacksmith and I fear he isn't feeling too well. This will heal him, and soon he will be quick as a fiddle. I'm sure he'd be thankful for your time and reward you."

Reward? Good. It meant this would be the last step in this silly quest. Ceres managed a smile, even though it was forced. "S-Sure thing. I will deliver this to your friend."

His workshop was everything you'd expect. Dark - illuminated by oil lanterns and crystals scattered about busy shelves filled with all manner of things.
In the center of the room was a burner - a pestle and mortar. This is where the Alchemist stood.

"Ah, come, come." He gestured toward her. Ceres approached slowly, placing her hands gently upon the bench. "So...what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Zakariah pointed toward the five materials before her - "Place each one into the bowl and grind it up. Once they are all mixed together, place them gently into the cauldron here." He pointed to a small black cauldron filled with lightly simmering water. "Go on, it's ok."

This is just a tutorial. Nothing is going to explode in your face

Ceres did as she was instructed. She was rather meticulous in the matter- grinding each one up more than was probably deemed necessary. Then, Ceres gently poured the ingredients into the cauldron

!!POMF!!

Ceres stepped back with an alarmed look on her face, so much for it not blowing up in her face. If she hadn't moved away she'd be covered in purple...whatever that purple stuff was right now.

"Wow, you're a natural." Zakariah commended as he scratched his beard. "Not many players succeed on their first attempt, especially such a high qaulity product. This would be deemed a 'Perfect Success'  Perhaps you should look into the alchemy profession."

Ceres blinked. "I uhm..." A blush formed on her face, and she had to remind herself the kindly old man wasn't anything more than an NPC.

"Thank you." was all she could say in response.

ID# 131590  CD: 10 - SUCCESS
 

*BOMF*

Ceres had placed the sack of materials atop Zakariahs bench with a triumphant grin. The walk back into town was uneventful, and before grass laid way to gravel and cobblestone she put her boots on. Her feet had long since dried anyway. "There. I have completed your quest, Alchemist."

Zakariah's eyes lit up. "Excellent! Thank you, thank you! Now..."

Oh no...
 
The alchemist continued, "I was wondering if you could help me craft some potions for me. Don't worry." He said with a chuckle. "I'll talk you through it, now come. Follow me to my workshop." He gestured to the door behind the counter, then disappeared behind it - as though he were fully expecting her to follow. But what choice did she have?

Ceres stared silently at the door, she wasn't sure if she was annoyed or not. There were more parts to the quest? Of course there was.

"Tutorial quests... of course I should have expected them to throw in teaching how to craft the materials after collecting them...Alchemist is one of the professions, so this is essentially giving you a taste of the profession before committing to it..." She tilted her head to the side as she followed Zakariah through to his workshop.

"I suppose that is pretty clever...even if it is annoying."

There were quite a few reeds, and Ceres figured it'd be quickest to just pull another one out - if she got a critical fail the worst thing she'd have to deal with was some wet clothes- and she was already covered in dirt - so really - it wouldn't hurt her in the least. With a quick jerk the woman pulled another plant from the water.

Ceres blinked, almost in shock that it had been another success... T1 Material. She had done it. SHE HAD FLIPPIN' DONE IT

"Right, back to town I guess."

It would have been nice to linger here - but if Ceres were being completely honest - she just wanted to get the quest over and done with. She felt a little embarassed that a quest like this got to her - something so small had frustrated her and normally that wasn't the case. It had gotten to her because she couldn't analyze the situation properly. But once Ceres let go of the fact that there was nothing to analyze, that it really was just RNG - it became easier to accept and then accomplish.

"Ok old man, get ready to do your thing." Ceres said with a grin as she headed back to the Town of Beginnings, barefoot - lazily carrying her boots over her right shoulder.

This felt better.

Carefree.

Relaxed.

ID# 131589 LD: 13 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 5/5

"Easier than I thought... I Guess if I were to do this again I'd head toward a forest - somewhere where materials are less scattered. When they're grouped together like this, its easier to pick and choose."

Her eyes drifted to the small lake, "Well, I have been wandering around all day. It wouldn't hurt to cool off would it? Good. I didn't think so either."

With a 'hup' the redheaded woman took off each of her boots before discarding them to dip her feet into the water. She wriggled her toes. "Refreshing." The babbling waters were crystal clear and as she waded further out Ceres could see tiny fishes swimming around the lake bottom. They seemed to be nibbling at some sort of aquatic reed. "Bingo." Ceres reached down and picked one up.

Another T1 Material.

"Ok...just one more to go...I wonder if I should move on to somewhere else?" Ceres placed her hands on her hips. Her shoes were tossed to the side of the lake, and her lower legs were wet, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The water wasn't unpleasant. And so far, coming here had been an absolute success. So what was the harm in staying. The anger and frustration was bubbling away, replaced with a sense of accomplishment.

"Is this what others feel when they do quests?"

ID# 131588  LD: 19 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 4/5

Back to her original plan.

Ignore the other distractions and head there - scavenge for materials somewhere where many different elements were in the one place. According to the map she wasn't too far off, there was a patch of beautiful purple wildflowers. Tempting so tempting. Heck even just placing a couple in her hair...Ceres did adore the colour...

One step, then two steps toward the wildflowers before she stopped. No. She had a mission. A quest. Even though it was a stupid, foolish, boring quest - she had accepted it and dammit she wasn't going to let it get the best of her.

Ceres arrived at the small lake. Around its edge were reeds, so - it was the first thing she would attempt to harvest as a meterial. She reached out and with a 'snap' it came free, and in her hand it was clearly marked as another material. Her mouth broke into a grin.

"I knew it'd be a good idea to come here." Ceres said.


ID# 131587   LD: 19 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 3/5