Shay

The crimson eyed girl walked through the thicket longer. It was getting closer and closer to time to leave and because of that she was really eyeing the clock at this point. Less than 15 more minutes before she had to get going. She took a moment to look around for more materials, after all, the buff wasn't going to last much longer before it faded away and she would have to eat more. Though, she would save that food for later when she was looking for a familiar. It would help her find the animal that she was looking for much more easily if she saved it for then.

The next material was located inside a bush, it was pretty well hidden but her sharp eyes were trained on to it now. She reached into the brush and pulled it out, moving the material into her inventory then moving on.

Materials: 5

About 15 more minutes to go until she lost her buff on the food and she would go to floor four to start setting up the piano shop that she would need to create her crafts. That did also mean that she had to serve customers if they needed things. Well, as long as no one mocked her for being a pianist, she would be fine with serving them. It would be an easy way to gain a little extra Col on the side. That is, if anyone ever came to her shop, at all.

No material this time. The pattern is broken and Shay comes up empty handed with no material for this time. Eh, whatever, she had been pretty lucky to begin with and gotten more than she had expected to gather from just looking around. Maybe she could find at least one or two more before her buff ended and she would have to get going.

Materials: 4

Well, as long as the buff was still active and she was still finding materials, there really wasn't a reason to stop until the buff's effect wore off. Plus, this would help her navigational skills that Titan wanted her to learn. Yeah, she was terrible with cardinal directions, but this was a digital world that she barely knew the layout of so it didn't seem fair to judge her sense of direction on one or two screw ups in the game. Besides, she was getting better with it already.

Another material sat in the bushes on the side of the trial. She walked over, bent down to the item and moved it up into her inventory. More and more for her to start off with. She didn't have that many on her to start with so it was great that she was finding more. She had already doubled her current supply albeit rather thin of materials to begin with.

Materials: 4

The forest was peaceful and the only sound coming through the serenity was the wind brushing through the trees and the sound of digital birds chirping away to their hearts content. Shay soaked the feeling in for a moment, only a moment, and continued on with her material gathering quest. The gathering itself was quiet boring but it would benefit her later on when she was working on improving her crafter rank. Thankfully, there was only five levels of the performer skill unlike the other crafting professions. It cost less experience to invest in it, therefore. 

Another material found, another material added to the raven haired assassin's inventory.  This was getting easier and easier the longer that she went at it. Practice makes perfect as the say, but Shay was already seeming to be perfect right from the start. That or the food buff was carrying her completely here. Yeah, probably that actually.

Materials: 3

It didn't take much longer to find another material hidden in the brush. The luck boost still going strong made it easy as pie to find more materials. It was a bit upsetting that she wouldn't be able to find a strong enough mob to loot from on this floor or else she would be looking around for them instead of looking for materials directly. Getting an unidentified Katana or light armor would be insanely helpful, and on top of getting that, she could collect materials. Some time soon she should go and fight some random monsters and try to get a good item off of them.

She looked at the time on her HUDs clock. There was still enough time for her to stay out for about another half hour or so. After this, she would head to floor four and see if she could get her shop set up.

Materials: 2

Well, there was nothing else to do for now, so why not go back out into the forest and try to gather some more extra materials since she actually had need for them now. The raven haired woman walked through the safe zone of the main city on floor one again and headed back into the forest. It didn't take her long to find more materials since the luck buffs were still applied to her from the foods. She scooped up the first one and moved it into her inventory, safe and sound.

This was nice. Materials for crafting that she didn't have to pay for and a reason to use them. She would have to raise the rank further though, since you need it to be higher to gain the benefit of debuffing like she needs. Thankfully, that would be unlocked with her next level up, which shouldn't take too painfully long if she could continue to make songs without fail.

Materials: 1

Well, that about summed up that quest. She would need to figure out where she should set up shop so that she can start making compositions. However, first it would be a cool idea to take the newly created item and use it for what it was made to do. After all, what better time to celebrate her new skill than with a quick mob hunt. Since she had a drop rate boosting item, trying to get a decent item off of a mob would be a cool idea. Perhaps she could get a unique item and rub it in Titan's face.

However it just occurred to her that mobs on this floor would be too weak for her to loot off of anymore. She would have to go up to floor two at least to find a something to use this song on. That freaking sucked, worry about it later then.

Name: Looter's Boon
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 1
ID: 145626
Roll: 10 LD: 7
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: Favor 1
Description: A short piano song play by Shay herself. When played near monsters, they always seem to drop better gear than normal.
Post Link: [Here]

The NPC Alyssa welcomed her back when she stepped into the parlor. This was going to be annoying, but once she was done with it she could go be a recluse with her piano and be finished with this. Being able to debuff enemies and increase her chances of finding good items on enemies would benefit her endlessly. That is, as long as she had the materials. So now she would actually have reason to go and find materials and put them to actual use in her kit. No more NPC's asking her to collect materials just so she could give them away.

She sat down at the piano in the room and set the recording crystal down on the top of it so it could record easily. After several attempts with shattered crystals and just bad performances, she was able to finish a piece that could be usable for a crystal. Well, that was pretty easy.

Composed Tier 1 Monster's Favor Song (Uncommon)

She figured that since this part of the quest was nearly over, she could go ahead and venture back into the safe zone. She could find one more material on the way back to the Town of Beginnings and then just make her way back from there. As she she walked, she did indeed find a final material for her quest. The information updated on her HUD and with a loud sigh, she started to make her way back to town. Now to make a stupid song. Like hell she was going to sing though. A piano or a string instrument was what she needed to make music.

She made her way back into the safe zone and went back to the NPC shop where she would need to make her 'masterpiece'. Ugh, whatever, let's just get this stupid thing over with before someone saw her here and started laughing at her for choosing this profession over Alchemy.

LD: 18+5=23
5/5 Material Found

Walking along the open path was nice. The game was utterly beautiful for such a complex death trap. One could easily lose themselves in the scenery, one who isn't Shay. The game did look nice, but she didn't have time to stop and smell the roses or watch the sun set. Every second that they waste in here is time they lose in the real world. Though was she really that eager to make it back? Probably more than she was a few years ago when this whole thing began. It was a cool experience at first, but it was time for them all to continue with their lives in the real world.

As she walked along the trail, she found another usable material. How nice, she was already almost finished with the hardest part of this quest. After she had found the last one, she would just need to head back to Alyssa and make a song. She was pretty good at the piano, so hopefully that wouldn't be hard.

LD: 19+5=24
4/5 Materials found

Another turn around the tree and Shay was able to discover something usable. A material lay hidden behind the tree trunk's base on the side where it was almost unnoticeable. Thankfully she had seen it, so she quickly scooped it up and moved it to her inventory. Already halfway done and she had only been out here for about ten minutes. Maybe this quest wasn't going to be as annoying as she thought originally. Only need two more to be able to head back to the performer NPC Alyssa and finish this quest. At least she would never have to redo this quest. Rather, she wouldn't be changing her profession.

The sun passed through her eyes as she walked into a more open part of the forest. This she had not remembered from yesterday, so it was a new area. Time to look around some more and hopefully more rewards would turn up.

LD: 17+5=22
3/5 Materials found

Grass gave way to the raven haired woman's foot as she stepped into the next area. It was not a dangerous escapade at the least. Just walking around picking up materials like an idiot so she could make stupid music for herself. It wasn't something she was all too eager to begin, but if it helped her become stronger then it could be tolerated. Nothing around here though, needed to keep looking around until there was something useful.

She may have been a pathetic little girl when this game began, but now she was going to get better. It wasn't like she was scared of the world around her or anything. There was just no need to participate. Expecting experienced players to clear the game quickly wasn't the best call, especially since she was one herself. Imagine how much further along the floors could be if she had just helped.

LD: 4+5=9
2/5 Materials Found

Shay wanted to become one of the strongest players in the game. That was her drive right now, or at least to pass Titan and show him that she wasn't someone to mock. Not that she was intending on actually beating him up or anything stupid like that, but she needed the challenge to keep herself going. Without it, her interest might dwindle and it would be back to the town of beginnings with her to waste away her digital prison life until the game was completed. Why she had waited so long to pick up her blade and help, she will never know. Imagine how powerful she could be now if she didn't act like a coward and hide away. Pathetic.

Moving out of the previous area, she was able to find another patch of usable material. Thank the Random Number Gods for her buying that lucky boosting food. Without it, she would probably be coming up short right now.

LD: 15+5=20
2/5 Materials Found.

Back into this forest reminded her of how easily her and Titan cleared the boars from the beginner's quest. She had gotten all the drops she had needed in one go, much different from how her time with Baldur went. It took three tries to kill that boss and get the drop as well. That would have been such an easy quest if not for the low drop rate on the Nepent's Ovule. Though, she was thankful for Baldur-Shishou for helping her unlock the Katana skill. There is no other weapon she would rather be using than the Japanese blade.

A couple more steps in revealed no materials in this area. She needed to head deeper into the forest to find something usable. Walking past more scared trees indicated that she was back tracking from where Titan had made her lead. Staying on this path would be ideal.

LD: 9+5=14
1/5 Materials Found.

Shay made her way through the noisy city of beginners and into the fields of the first floor. It was just yesterday that she was questing with Titan, so she had been all over this area. Finding some usable materials shouldn't be too difficult. Her main problem was getting lost in this patch of forest again. She walked into the thicket of trees and could see some of the trees still had the mark that she had left on them yesterday as landmarks to find her way out. She wouldn't get lost in the same place twice though, not easily.

Walking into the forest she found her first material. It was used to make the little cubes that recorded sounds, so not really the music itself. Apparently you could also record messages on them for people and leave them somewhere for someone to find. Bet you could pull a pretty funny prank with them.

LD: 12+5=17
1/5 Materials found.

Shay wandered into the NPC shop, wondering why she was even doing this. Oh yeah, for a benefit to her own build. After reading up on all the professions, being a performer would benefit her damage over time build over anything. She needed to use her stupid piano skills to help her... Well, her mother was right when she said it wasn't an entirely useless skill at least. You could categorize the using of a skill in a life or death situation as useful. The NPC named Alyssa wanted to teach her how to sing, but she knew she could use whatever instrument she wanted. Like hell she would record her voice on a stupid cube for other people to listen to.

So, even though she had done two or three quests that require gathering, she had to, once again, gather materials for an NPC so she could learn how to make these stupid compositions. No need for help today. She really didn't want anyone to know she was even doing this quest. Somehow, she knew Titan would find out and poke her about it.

Shay walked into the cook's shop with much hesitation. She hadn't been in many player shops, but she needed some food buffs for an upcoming quest or else it would take forever to complete. They seemed to be busy behind the counter preparing meals, so she took a moment to look over the menu. She only needed one or two servings of the food, anything that boosted luck would suffice for now. The item that she had would increase her luck even more but the larger the buff the better it would be for her. She really didn't even want to to do this quest, but she needed it for the build that she was making.

"Give me you're luck boosting food please." She said slapping payment on the counter.

The raven haired woman continued to slash at trees, leaving her mark on them as she passed without much a care if the trees would even heal from them. She may have had more caution in the real world, but everything here was an immortal object. She could still leave slash marks on the trees to make markers, but she couldn't destroy them. Nevertheless, she continued her way through the forest with the path in her mind. 

"This isn't that hard." The girl tried to regain her pride for going off the trail twice with him now. He was right to let her lead through here though, she could admit to that. The game was big and she wouldn't always have the availability of a map to guide her through every step. Learning this would be a small bonus to becoming a stronger player. "You'll see, we're about to exit the forest in a few minutes for sure."

@Titan

Rewards

SP: 2 for Quest; 1 for page of RP; 1 for Quarantine bonus

200 col per player

A dojo meant to teach player the basics and intermediates of the sword, no not the sword, the katana specifically. Shay had been taught a little bit of kendo, but she was always bad at it. There were too many specific rules to the sport and it annoyed her. However, she couldn't remain solo forever. Best to make some friends while she could right?

"I think I will have to check it out then. The Life-Giving Blade... An interesting name. I like it." The girl adjusted the belt she had that held up her weapon since it was a different length and make. "I imagine you're a much stronger player than I am right now then. I'm currently level four, but give me some time and you'll see me in the higher levels in the blink of an eye. I'll be the strongest katana-user you'll meet in Aincrad, even if it means I over take you." She grinned at him with challenge in her eyes. It was probably the only emotion Baldur had seen from her in the 20-30 minutes they'd known each other.

@Baldur

Shay stood quietly as Baldur praised her. She didn't really need anyone's approval or anything, but it was nice, at least. The gaijin was a really nice guy, probably too nice for someone who was as callous as Shay. Then he mentioned a school. A player made school here in Aincrad? Wonder what for.

"A school? What kind of school are you apart of? Do you teach lower leveled players how level up and play the game?" She asked, gesturing him to lead the way and walking next to him. Oddly enough, the katana over the wakizashi was nice. She enjoyed the weight of the blade and the reach was much better. She would be one of the most powerful katana users the game has ever seen.

"Perhaps I should visit the school. I might be pretty good at video games, but if there's one thing I do know, it's that MMO's require a vast amount of knowledge and grinding to become powerful."

@Baldur

Shay quieted herself. With the Nepent variant completely distracted she could her sweet time coming up with an idea. If she were to miss another attack she was just start getting frustrated with herself so it was time to end this. She sheathed her blade and eyed her target, slowly leaning forward charging into a sprint. She closed the distance between her and her enemy almost instantly and drew the blade from its holster leading into a devastating slash that cut the Variant completely in half.

"Owatte." The girl said as she returned the blade to its holster. The monster exploded into a bits of data, the mist of blue polygons covered her vision momentarily until she could see Baldur again. "How was that?" The girl said as she held up the bottle of ovule the Nepent was supposed to drop. It looked like they were done here now since she had the item that they need.

Shay 76/80 | 4/8 (-1)
Baldur | HP: 1370/1370 | EN: 129/130 | MIT: 79 | DMG: 19 | Absolute ACC: 4 | EVA: 3 | BH: 54 | Conc (2/3) | Parry (2/2) | QChange (1/3) +1 EN

Nepent V.: 0/15 | MIT 5 | DMG: 10

Shay's brow scrunched as he said to look for a landmark. "Big trees"? Every tree looked the same to her, this was a freakin' forest. She tried to keep herself from letting out her frustration and opened the menu. They actually had gone off the path even though she was sure that she was leading them in a straight line. The raven haired woman closed the menu once she had figured out the path and drew her blade. With it raised, she walked towards Titan. It looked almost like she was going to strike him, until she walked past him and left a mark in the tree behind him. A large mark from her katana scarred the bark of giant tree.

"There. If we pass this tree again somehow, I'll remember we were here." The girl continued to lead them out of the forest, slashing a tree ever ten meters or so that way she wouldn't lose her direction.

@Titan

Shay studied the map on the menu for quite some time. It seemed like she was struggling already just looking at it. Though, she didn't want to completely cheat so she was taking a very long look at the map. After a few minutes of inspection she thinks she has the correct path. If only she could keep it in her mind while they walked. Without a word, she started to walk in the direction she thought was the way out of the forest. Already she was starting to doubt herself.

After awhile, she completely unsure about her direction again. She wanted to inspect the map once more, but she wanted to force herself to get better at this sort of thing. Every once in awhile she would look over a Titan to see if his expression would tell her whether or not she was going the correct way. She looked at him with something of a blank face and said, "I've never known I was so bad with directions until now..."

@Titan