Titan

Did she have a baby by now? Had she finally decided to give up on their pursuit of happiness for what was right in front of her face? It's what he would've done 100%. Ren wasn't an idiot, this is when he wished he used his real name. Titan felt lame, as though he was compensating now that he simply was still a beginner and yet, perhaps it still fit him exactly as it should? 

He was in fact someone who held greatness in the palm of his hands, ruled the world (so to speak) to only let the power slip out of his hand. His thoughts were a flurry as he looked down, still no mats as he wondered if maybe she did have a baby, would she have named it after him? After a great love loss, a way to honor and remember what they had before this calamity struck. 

Materials Found: Three of Five

And now, it seemed as though his mind was clouded was all of the possibilities of what had been and what could actually be. He hadn't made any friends during his time in this damn game and at this point, his siblings were either dead or more likely hadn't logged into the game like he had initially expected. Titan's world outside of the game was filled with riches and culture, he only desired to mimic that in a fine game like this. But it seemed as though the administrators of the game had no desires like that, they wanted carnage and deception from what little trickled down to the first floor from where they had been.

He wasn't even certain anymore how far they had climbed, only that they were now light years away from those who stayed in paralysis in the town of beginnings. His mind had been taking over, not even a single glance for the material as he stayed cerebral, unsure how to justify or logically rationalize what even had been going on these past few years.

Materials Found: Three of Five

Titan forced himself to take long and mindful breaths, the same kind that his therapist would make him do when he felt panicked. The man was constant in stress back in the real world, something he hadn't felt in years but still, the want to finally do something more than he was used to since he finally wanted to fight for his life, still felt incredibly overwhelming. To accept death and fate was simple, to allow it to rest on the hands of others was indeed cowardice but it was strategic. He simply wanted to survive, but that version of Titan had been long gone.

Peeled layer by layer from his desire to drink or the fact that his girlfriend had no longer been waiting for him, perhaps the idle chatter he's heard of Aincrad being almost like real life was finally worth discovering and the only barrier in his way were Zackariah and his damn introductory quest.

Materials Found: Three of Five

There was a tiny sparkle in the corner of Titan's eye as he continued down the path. The man side-stepped the weed seemingly to be a material but it had been a bit too dark to tell. " Is that one of it? " He asked himself, blinking and straining his eyesight until he realized it was.  " Bingo. " Pushing against his spear as his right arm dropped down due to gravity, Titan kneeled and plucked it from the ground and opened up his bag, tossing it inside. Now that he was at 3 out of the 5 material he needed, he felt a little bit better than being stuck at just one. 

" Only two more. " The words simply fell from his lips as he decided he would continue forward for his fourth material and then circle back to Zackariah for his fifth. He almost wished he had a sense ability, something to quickly scan an area to find these herbs. Perhaps if he got a bit higher in levels.

Materials Found: Three of Five

It seems as though this portion of the forest too had been wiped out. " Huh. " The adventurer mused, curious but unsure what could be going on. Could their be another low level just starting out too, somehow? Someone else who decided to wait on the floor climbing for whatever reason they had to do so. He wouldn't speculate too much, perhaps this portion of the forest simply hadn't had materials but, maybe there were others who felt the call of succession. They would fortify themselves in the resolve of those who had past, use the trade secrets from those on the front line for the sake of their own well-being and continue forward.

There had been at least 5,000 of them left, right? Titan was sure that others would be called as well. He'd stuck with his shoddy material gathering quest for now, irritated that it seemed that they really spaced them out quite far for whatever reason. Resting his spear against his shoulders with his arms slung over, Titan continued down the path. 

Materials Found: Two of Five

If Titan was being honest, the surge of beginning players trying to do this quest probably would've pissed him off and he would've spent days looking for five measly pieces of materials for Zackariah. He stomped around, eyes lazily looking to the left and right as though that would do anything in his search. He kneeled once again, fingertips digging into the soil and the grass taking a clump of it out, seeing if that would go into his bag and he could pretend it was material as well. Unfortunately, it seemed as though the game admins thought that part of it through or hotfixed it years ago from the initial surge. 

Titan dropped it in a huff onto the floor, pushing himself off of the ground and walking parallel in the woodland area, manifesting a patch of material grasses for him to grab three pieces and then saunter back to Zackariah like the winner he was.

Materials Found: Two of Five

He wasn't usually the type to get so frustrated but once he made up his mind on something, in the real world at least, things often came through fairly easily. Titan had been a gifted boy, one who often shyed away from the humdrum of laborious task but this stupid game decided it wanted to already pummel the man to the ground. It wasn't his fault he didn't have a high enough material gathering skill, especially when he thought he saw a bush of weeds that he needed in the distance but as he got closer, it was simply grass.

" This is stupid. " He whined, kicking at the grass in the process. Deciding to engage his spear as a weapon to cut the grass for seemingly mocking the poor boy on his very first quest. However, he still drudged on with the irritating need to finish the quest. He already knew in his heart of hearts that this was the introduction tutorial that he had ignored this whole time for the sake of not seeing it as a priority. This was the game's laugh at Titan, well-deserved too.

Materials Found: One of Five

The first material came so easy, it had been sitting there almost to taunt the man from trying to collect more. His eyes seemed to be playing tricks on him as he kneeled in one particular area, hands grazing against the grass to see if he had even missed any baby shrubs or patches that had been growing. Titan wasn’t frustrated yet but he moved from the entrance of the forest-like area and took a few steps closer, his hands were deep in the dirt trying to find materials for the healing potion.

“ You’d think that the old man would have enough to just have us make the potion, huh. Good for nothing useless first quest. It’d be better if he taught us how to fight. That’d be a way better first quest than this. ” The man huffed, slightly perturbed as he stood up, straightened out his back and headed to an area a few feet away still searching for four more weeds.

Materials Found: One of Five

Quest: The First Few Lessons are Free

It seemed a bit foolish, to be stuck in a game for this long without any way to drink alcohol. He had spent years, seeking the buzz but it seemed to be something he simply could not create. To be fair, it took him longer to come to terms with that fact than he tried but then again, Titan also believed this game would've been finished by now.

Bumping into one of the NPCs on the floor, he quickly chatted with them to see what would the first thing to do would be. " You should go to Zackariah. He can lead you in the right direction. " Titan nodded while turning on his heel and opening the door to see the ancient man meddling with some type of of potion with a large <!> above his head. " Excuse me, are you Zackaraiah? I was told you could help me out to start my adventure into Aincraid. " He blurted out, the man beginning his monologue of a speech as Titan casually scoped out his place, wishing there was a way to skip quest dialogue.

" Find me 5 materials for this very important healing potion not by combat and return, and make haste, please! " After what felt like an eternity, Titan quickly nodded as he fumbled with his spear, slamming the door of Zackariah's place and heading into the nearby forest for some weed searching. 

" Ah, ha. " He found one of the ingredients he needed, plucking it from the earth and placing it in his bag for now, getting five would be easy, right? 

Materials Found: One of Five

Profile
→ Username: Titan
→ Real name: Ren Tanaka
→ Age: 26 (24 at the start of the game)
→ Gender: Male
→ Height: 6'1"
→ Profession: Alchemy
→ Level: 16
→ Total Skill Points: 80
→ Guild: Guildless
→ Role: DPS

History

Ren Tanaka was the youngest son of four who were all extremely successful. His Dad had been an executive at a movie production company and his mother dressed celebrities which meant that they had a certain necessary expectation. He was basically a spoiled brat during the beginning of his life, living in Tokyo and heading to private school. He went to college and somehow found his way working for the Prince Hotels as a seller for groups wishing to come to the region for conferences, events or as a way for their company to incentive their employees.

It really was a perfect job for the man as he charmed his way into his client's hearts, social drinking and his logic to showcase the splendor of Tokyo to those looking to head to Japan. It was a boring existence, cushy but a life that he enjoyed. He had a girlfriend, possibly marriage and a baby on the way until his brother decided to buy the family a system to jump into the newest VMMORP out there, Sword Art Online.

Ren had been skeptical, he wasn't a gamer anymore and it was a bit weird for them all to try but as his brother loved video games, he'd do it for the man. They all hadn't had enough time to travel to one another as they lived across the country, this would be the nest best thing, right?

So, he logged into the game knowing their plan was to all meet the following day as they had all taken off. He spent the first month looking for his siblings, until he realized they weren't there and that's when his addiction to alcohol kicked in. Now? After spending far too long trying to mimic the buzz of intoxication, he was finally ready to take on the challenges in front of him and climb the tower. It was better late than never, right?