Bismuth

Bismuth entered the arena on shaky legs, fighting wasn't something that he could really handle, and even more something that he was good at. The only solace he took was the fact that everything in this competition was designed to be non lethal in every way, with safety as the main concern, the weapons were wood and completely incapable of doing actual damage. In his slightly less, but still, shaky hands Bismuth held a long wooden dagger, it was slightly curved, but nothing like the curved swords that could be find in Aincrad. 

Bismuth opened his mouth slightly as if he was about to say something to his opponent, a highly skilled frontliner, someone who, in any actual combat, he would not last even a second against. Seemingly finding at least some resolve, though he was still clearly frightened, Bismuth spoke up. "M. . . May the best fighter win." With that Bismuth charged at his opponent sending in a light and fast slice towards her abdomen, something best suited for a dagger.

Bismuth didn't know where either Koga or NIGHT were at this point, but he didn't mind, the quest was simple enough, and he didn't really need protection all that bad. Now he was just looking for a distraction from everything that just happened. Which for him was a lot, Koga, he hadn't seen that coming even slightly, with the man's aversion to all of his flirting, but now? He didn't even know what to think, honestly glad that Koga wasn't around right now. 

Keeping himself focused on the quest Bismuth ventured closer to where Nari stood, crouching down in order to pull a third root out of the ground. That was all of the material he needed, and without knowing where his escorts were there wasn't a lot he could do. Laying down on the ground to stare at the sky Bismuth turned his head to Nari "Are you gonna be alright there?" Bismuth asked a more serious and caring tone in his voice than the woman had ever seen before.

Bismuth considered freyd's offer, he had heard about Firm Anima, to an extent, you had to have heard about it really if you were in the business of trading materials, but anything other than a name, was hard to come by with how secretive the guild could be. The invitation was appreciated, although joining a guild always came with requirements, and obligations. That would, odds are, get in the way of his research, which was the only way that Bismuth was going to be of any help to anyone, though not even much at that point.

Bismuth watched Freyd as he hopped off the rock, a silent vigil against the horizon, maybe having someone like that as a guildmate would make it worth it. Shaking his head Bismuth looked away, there wasn't much help he could provide a guild, so for now, he would just keep to his work and hope for the best, though the promise of a place to belong was an enticing thought.

Bismuth just stood there letting Freyd talk as he looked over the bushes surrounding him, not looking very hard as he just listened, it was hard to describe, the amount of comfort that Bismuth took in the man's words. Someone being there for him wasn't really something he had ever had, and whether he knew the person he was here with or not, the idea of that alone was enough to send the man into a breaking point, something he had already surpassed. 

"Thankyou." Bismuth looked at Freyd, the sorrow didn't seem as sharp, still clearly there, but much softer and round at this point, it seemed like instead where there was nothing there was a tiny fire, not a big one, easy to put out, but more than there had been before. Bismuth smiled, it wasn't the carefree or cocky smile he normally had, but want that seemed genuine, but it soon faded away. Bismuth looked away again intent on finding his berries, today had been more than he had expected, but, Freyd seemed to be genuine, and that was the first time anyone had been. Bismuth pocketed more berries before continuing his work, stealing glances at his companion, maybe there was more to him than Bismuth could see.

Bismuth just gave a thumbs up from the ground as Koga asked if he was okay, content to just lay there until the earth ate him up. This was not really how he expected today to go at all, this was supposed to be a simple outing for the beginner quest, and boy had it now dissolved into a mess. Bismuth just kept laying there until he heard the rustle of both Koga and NIGHT leaving into the surrounding area before he picked himself up off of the ground. "Well, that was a mess." Bismuth commented to no one in particular, mostly himself, he wasn't good at consoling people, and figured any attempt he gave would just make that situation all the more worse.

With all that said and done, they still had a quest to do, so Bismuth just went back to work on it, materials was something he understood, and when everything around him was so, confusing, what better distraction could there be. Bismuth turned to the tree that was still behind him, he reached up to pluck a few more of the leaves adding them to his inventory, looking back to see Nari still a mess, he didn't know what to do.

Bismuth watched quizzically at Koga as he walked up to him, he understood why the man would be mad at Nari, but all he had done was compliment him, albeit only in response to Nari's accidental insult. Soon after he found his answer, as Koga had suddenly pushed his lips against Bismuth's own forcing his tongue into his mouth. Bismuth's eyes went wide as he just, let the kiss happen, he wasn't expecting it, but it definitely was not a bad one in any way. All too soon though, Koga had taken his lips away from Bismuth's with nothing but a grazing of his teeth. Leaving Bismuth to hang from his tree with his long hair pointing towards the ground below him.

That didn't last much longer, as Bismuth lost himself to his mind, which was now just permeated with thoughts of soft lips as he felt his legs slip from the branch above him, falling to the ground unceremoniously. Now face first in the dirt, Bismuth knew how NIGHT felt, glad that his blush was hidden from the rest of the group as he continued to just lay there in a pile on the floor, Knowing that if he looked at Koga again he wouldn't even be able to say anything. Normally he would have a snarky response, something along the lines of him not being half bad himself, but he was surprisingly at a loss for words.

Bismuth turned just in time to watch Night stumble down the edge of the hill after having flawlessly failed to explain herself in a meaningful way, at least bismuth was right this time. Koga soon followed after her to make sure she was okay, and Nari beside him was just flailing in her own words. Bismuth chuckled to himself softly, including himself this group was an odd pairing, but he was still enjoying himself so that was a good thing. He made it the tree he was aiming for, and climbed it with a very practiced hand, making it to one of the thicker branches and sitting with his back to the tree looking at his companions after pulling a few leaves off and adding them into his inventory. 

Soon Koga had climbed back up the slope and called out to Nari accusatorially "the fuck you mean I'm 'not really a good choice'!?" Bismuth almost fell out of the tree at his comment, not even slightly expecting it. "If it helps Koga, I think you are more than a good choice." Bismuth called out hanging upside down from his tree as he did. "I think you are mighty handsome." Bismuth didn't even give Nari time to respond as he interjected himself between the twos conversation.

Bismuth didn't even know what to think, in this moment, he could just feel his mask crumbling around him, Maybe it was the way Freyd was talking, or maybe it was just getting too hard to keep up the act anymore. Bismuth couldn't see any glowing bushes as he looked up at Freyd, a broken face of sorrow replacing what was there before, it was like Bismuth had shrunk and deflated, all of the confidence gone, replaced by fear, So intense it seemed to be radiating off of him in waves. 

Not trusting his words Bismuth just nodded at Freyd before turning back to his task, still deflated, still broken. Alone, that was something that Bismuth had always been, since the moment he was born. An orphan, unwanted and abandoned. Bismuth's life was spent alone, and when he finally thought he had found people, they just wanted to use him for his smarts. It wasn't even that Bismuth didn't want to let people in, at this point, he was just to broken to let his shell go. Maybe that would change, but for now, he needed his mask to survive. Someday he would find himself, but that would not be today.

It wasn't long before Bismuth was back at his camp, it wasn't all that far away from the oasis, even with him having to be stealthy to make sure that no lions got the drop on him. Luck always did seem to be on Bismuth's side when it came to avoiding his enemies though, and there were no signs of them as he made his way to his impromptu home. Bismuth decided that now would be a good time for breakfast, and with that thought stoked his campfire until it was a decent sized fire, more than enough to make a decent stew. Bismuth hadn't yet started his career as a cook, so he wasn't very good at it, and the vast majority of the meals that he makes are bland, but at least he knew what he was doing enough to make a somewhat decent stew.

Bismuth filled the big kettle that he had over his fire with vials of water he kept in his inventory, and added in some seasonings and meat, the best part about being a cook for Bismuth was that he knew most of the materials that could be found in Aincrad, so he knew exactly what to do to get desired results, And as soon as his skill in the profession was higher he would be able to get the food to taste the way it was supposed to too. It took a while for the food to just stew, ironic with a name like stew, so Bismuth just sat down and pulled out his journal for the seventeenth floor and began reading, it was never a bad idea to be even more familiar with the floor than he already was, and the refresher would be a good thing. 

"I mean it has been what near seven years since this game began? Maybe there is something there, either way It doesn't matter much to me, if they are something that's good for them though" Bismuth was still searching around where he had found his last root, they usually came in pairs, so there should be another root really close to the last one, finding it he pulled it out and tossed it into his inventory, standing up just as Koga asked if they needed help. "Oh, not at all, Just talking about you guys, Nari here thinks you guys are something more than friends, I disagree, doesn't really matter though." Bismuth shrugged as he turned back towards the plains, he was tired of crouching hoping that he could find something a little bit higher to the ground in a nearby tree. Though he doubted it, especially with the nearest tree being a few meters away. Oh well he thought as he began walking to it.

Thread Summary

Bismuth:

2066 EXP: 300 Quest, 1766 Thread Contents

3 Materials: 3 gathering

1 Demonic Shard: 1 quest

Forager Profession

Astreya:

5298 EXP: 5298 Thread Contents

936 Col: 936 Hunting Familiar

3 Fail, 2 Succeed, 2 Critical Foraging: (3*3) + (2*5) + (2*8) = 35 Foraging XP

T3 Rare trinket: Hunting Familiar

10 Materials: 4 Hunting Familiar, 6 Gathering

Bismuth chuckled at her last statement "This is better than any candy I have ever been given." He smiled at Astreya as they walked to the NPC that gave the foraging profession quest, blushing slightly at being called cute. this was the mot real he had been with another person in a long time and it felt refreshing. "Hopefully this helps with my books." Bismuth remarked idly almost vibrating from excitement as they got closer and closer to the quest giver. It didn't take long.

Bismuth approached the druid presenting his demonic scale and the compass to her "So you've found a Demonic Shard! You continue to impress me. I'll confess, you've learned all that I could teach you through this single quest. Trial by fire has always been my preferred style." Grinning now, the pretty blonde holds out her hand. "As payment for your troubles, why don't you keep the Shard? I will be needing the compass back, however. Next time you hunt for a Shard, you will have to earn it the hard way - with your own skill!" Bismuth placed the compass into her hand as a quest complete notification showed up in front of him. Bismuth closed it before turning back to Astreya "Thankyou so much for all of your help." He beamed at her "I hope we do this again soon." Locking eyes with Astreya Bismuth gave a small eccentric bow before he turn and walked away, trying to hide the small blush that was on his face as he left. That went very well he thought to himself.

"If Frosty is going to be there than I have to show up, I can't say no to such a  pretty bird." Bismuth smiled from the tree as he called down. The shard was now in his possession and he could go turn the quest in and officially become a gatherer. Which would hopefully help with his research. He didn't really know any of the way that the profession actually work, but with a name like forager, it had to help with his ability to gather, at least hopefully. 

"I don't know I would have to do more research at the very least, I don't fully know how it works, in all of my research I have never seen one of these. So they have to be really rare." Bismuth smiled at the thought of them being rare, finding rare materials, was well, rare, and doing it always sent a jolt of joy through his spine. and it was evident to anyone around that Bismuth was very happy. "Either way I have something new to add into my journal." Bismuth said as he pulled the one on his thigh off along with pencil quickly sketching the scale and writing what little information he had about it, which for now was not much, it seemed like it could be used to make even stronger weapons. Bismuth closed his book and replaced it soon after. "Well then, accompany me back to the druid?" Bismuth said sticking his arm out like he had when they first accepted the quest, he was glad to have met Astreya, and hopefully soon they would do things together again.

The Gypsy and her caravan were still there When Bismuth finally made his way to the oasis that she had set up at, but didn't seem to make any movement out of her caravan as bismuth took his journal off of his hip and dove into the water at the oasis, it wasn't that deep, but it was deep enough for him to dive into, it was about 7 feet deep, and had barely any gradual slope before bottoming out. The crisp cold water woke Bismuth up right away, and seemed to push back any of the thoughts that were permeating his mind. Spending ten minutes just swimming through the cold helped get him started, it was probably going to be another day of long searching, not that he particularly minded, just a fact, and he would rather feel well rested than die in the sweltering sun after a bad night.

Bismuth pulled himself out of the lake letting the water roll off of his clothes, In the sun out here it would take the cloth absolutely no time to fully dry, so being sopping wet wasn't really an issue. Sitting at the edge of the lake Bismuth pulled out one of his journals, looking at it for an idea of where to go even though he had already memorized the book a long time ago. bismuth wasn't quite sure where to go at this point, he had already spent an entire day searching through the lion infested plains, and the longer he stayed here the more likely it was that he was going to run into one of them. Sighing bismuth closed the book before standing again. For now he would bring himself back to his camp, it was a nice centralized area, and with that he took the first step forward, leaving his bad night behind him at the oasis.

Bismuth hadn't been paying much mind to anyone else at this point, the task at hand, one he enjoyed very much, had taken over the entirety of his mind. That was until the shy woman known as Nari had shuffled herself closer to him and whispered some questions towards him. Thinking for a moment Bismuth used his bright red dagger to pry a root out of the ground, placing it into his inventory. "Nah, I don't really think there's anything going on, all the frontliners are close, it comes with risking your life with someone every day." Bismuth turned to look at Nari, there was a glint of excitement in his eyes, though it wasn't at the prospect of the drama she was talking about, and more from the fun he was having out in the wilderness. "Don't worry I don't think they heard you at all." Bismuth with that continued his searching, this place wasn't the best for materials, but it would do.

Bismuth didn't look towards Freyd, he just laughed dryly "Burnt? More like beaten." Bismuth voice was barely above a whisper as he remarked that to himself. "I don't mind people getting close, I don't know if you've noticed, but I like people real close to me." Bismuth looked back up at Freyd winking before going back to his bushes, picking more berries as he scrounged through them like a raccoon. Bismuth was trying his best to keep himself focused and to not let his mind wander as he went through the bushes checking the same bush multiple times due to his distraction. Bismuth doesn't respond to freyd's analogy as he just sort of stands there quietly scanning all of the bushes before him. To him the risk was a calculated one, he knew what he was doing, and he was being the kind of person who no one could use, and no one could hurt, and that was just fine by him. 

"I'll be there." Bismuth smiled right back at Astreya making a promise to himself that if he found a familiar, Astreya would be the first person he went to for it. "I would love to get to be your very first customer, I will be waiting." Bismuth smiled back at Astreya as they talked about this. "I like more obscure pop to be honest. most people haven't heard of most  of them. And is my music taste really that old?" Bismuth remarked laughing a bit, he was only in his early twenties by now, but he had always liked the style of older genres. 

Bismuth smiled at Astreya as she agreed to go all out and sing for him some day possibly. That thought was distracted though, by what seemed to be a red glint coming from a branch on the tree that stood in the center of the clearing. "Do you see that?" Bismuth pointed it out, running up  to the tree and climbing up its branches with a skilled hand, before she even had time to respond. Reaching out bismuth grabbed what was a large red scale the size of his palm, holding it out to Astreya from the branch of the tree "I do believe that this right here, is our scale." Bismuth smiled before hopping down from the tree with a small thud in front of Astreya.

Bismuth chuckled a bit, he didn't understand how anyone could not like foraging, the exploration the excitement that comes when you do find something, and if that's something that you had never found before that excitement only grows. "Fishing is so boring though, just standing there with a pole, foraging is so much more fun, there is exploration and wonder." Bismuth wasn't really the type of person who could sit in one place for very long and be content, unless he was painting or drawing that is, you have to be willing to sit there for hours on end if you want to get all the details just right after all. 

The snack that Freyd had given him made it more likely for material nodes to spawn around him, and pairing that with the glasses ability to see those nodes more clearly led to a much faster time at finding the berries that he was looking for, picking another handful off a bush to his side before responding to Freyd's last remark. "Being easy to read is what makes you easy to manipulate, it's easiest to use people who you know everything about." Bismuth was very nonchalant about all of his ideas, which were all far more pessimistic then his tone would normally let on. He seemed to be talking from experience, though on which side no one would be able to tell.

"I can definitely feel that, I spend most of my time in a cramped room littered with papers and charts, so being able to get out like this is always nice, especially when I have such good company." Bismuth didn't look over at Astreya as he spoke content to just listen to her talk as he looked through the grass placing a flower into his inventory as he did. "I would love to do that, I will definitely make sure to go by your shop before I go out and find the gypsy." This time Bismuth did look up giving Astreya a charming smile as he said that "I am sure that you would be able to make something that is more than good enough." 

Bismuth smiled at her small talk, he didn't understand why people disliked this so much, the comfortability that came from just being able to talk about anything that came to mind with someone was a good feeling, and small talk was that sort of talking. "I'd say that folk rock is probably my biggest jam honestly." Bismuth tilted his head as he pondered further "Though, pub rock is also really good, and there are a lot of songs that I like that are pop songs." Bismuth smiled before continuing "I'd like to hear your own style though, a genre that makes your heart pump, that's what music is all about right? The emotions behind it that fuel the lyrics are what makes it good. I want to hear the real Astreya." Bismuth smiled at Astreya again, hoping that she wouldn't take any offense to his words, they were forward, and music can share someone's deepest secrets, so he didn't know if what he said could be taken as an insult.

Bismuth sighed as the sun finally dipped fully and completely behind the horizon, it was a fun day, but not a very eventful one, and yet Bismuth was still tired. Yawning and stretching his entire body Bismuth walked over to the tent that he had set up, he hadn't yet put a bedroll or anything down, figuring that he would just be able to do that when he went to bed for the night. Now was that time, Bismuth reached into his inventory and pulled out what was equivalently just a more padded sleeping bag and placed it on the bottom of his two person tent before crawling inside of it to sleep for the night.

The world around Bismuth was swirling as if it was ever shifting, it was like if he had been thrown into a writhing storm cloud. It didn't take long for the writhing world around him to solidify into a house, perpetually dark, with a solid wooden floor. Bismuth's face blanched as he saw the house come into focus like the maw of a beast out of the amorphous world around him. Bismuth could here thick heavy footsteps and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes permeating the air around him. A gut wrenching feeling as if he was being pulled out of his own body accompanied Bismuth as he took the form of a young kid cowering in a corner on the floor, flinching at every footstep. Until a door opened with a slam.

Gasping Bismuth awoke with a start, cold sweat drenching his forehead, and matting his hair to the back of his neck. It was clearly morning now, and bismuth could feel all of his muscles cramping, common for sleeping on the ground. Shaking his head Bismuth got out of his roll, and slapped his cheeks before fully standing up and getting ready to make his way towards that Oasis that the Gypsy was at last night. Bathing wasn't really necessary in the game, but it still felt nice, especially after a rough night.  

With the dagger that Bismuth had ordered from Vigilon, and the pair of trinkets that he had picked up from Freyd when he had went down to his shop, there was only one item that he still needed to pick up before he felt ready to truly start heading out of the beginner village, for anything more than basic quests like the gathering quest, and that was some easy to move in cloth armor. 

While asking around town Bismuth had heard of a decently good tailor, or really the only tailor he could find anything about, with a prickly personality named Setsuna, he wasn't one to judge someone based on someone else's judgement, but he hoped he would be able to get in and out fast. Making his way into the shop, Bismuth was able to see a few pieces on display that had already been crafted and were ready to buy, he wasn't looking for anything special, so he perused those works until he landed on Ryuuso, a perfect tier 1 cloth armor, something that he was exactly looking for. Taking the item Bismuth walked to the counter "I would like to purchase this fine armor." dropping the 1,200 col on the counter and promptly leaving, he didn't want to see if the rumors were true.

"I merely meant that you don't seem to like gathering very much, no reason to keep you helping me with something you don't enjoy, whether you don't mind helping or not, even if just to gain a contact." Bismuth looked back towards Freyd as his demeanor seemed to shift. Bismuth wasn't sure what he was going to say next. but judging on his expression, it was probably nothing good.

Bismuth was right, to an extent, Freyd's question wasn't necessarily a bad one, but it was one that he wasn't expecting. Though bismuth simply smiled at him and winked "We all have to have a few secrets don't we, there is nothing to gain from being an open book." Bismuth turned to survey the plants around him again, none of them seeming to have the blue aura, but it was faint, and there were a lot of bushes surrounding him. "And besides, I think my witty banter and aloof sass send the exact signals I want them to send." The hunt was taking bismuth longer than he had hoped, even with the buffs and all the knowledge he had on gathering, luck was still the most important factor.

Bismuth made a very quick sketch of the shadow mongoose that Freyd called his familiar before it turned into a shadow once more. "It definitely seems like it would be incredible to have a shadow around." Bismuth remarked, definitely something that would make an amazing scout, but he had heard that the gypsy was hard to track down, so he wasn't really going to decide on any specific creature to have as a familiar, rather just see what happens if he ever does run into the gypsy. 

Bismuth caught the treat as it was tossed to him giving it a glance to see what it was before consuming it, it was a bonus to his luck, and therefore his chance of both finding and gathering from the material nodes around him "Why thankyou, hopefully with this we can get this gathering out of the way so you don't have to help me with it anymore." Bismuth ate the small tart snack and could feel it taking affect, this coupled with the glasses would have him finding the materials he needed in no time. "I guess I will get back to it." With that Bismuth turned back towards the bushes rustling through them as he searched.

One hour, that was all of the time Bismuth had left for his little challenge if he had intended on achieving it, he was pretty sure that that was completely possible, and he was going to make sure he did. Bismuth crouched down the side of the hill careful that he didn't give up any of his stealth just for speed, His own personal goal wasn't really worth dying for, and there wasn't even a small chance that he would be able to fight against even the weakest monster on this floor. Knowing where to avoid and where he would be able to be safe was a big upside, and because of that he was completely able to avoid incident in its entirety. Making it back to his camp in his allotted timeframe wasn't that difficult, he made it back with not much time to spare, but glad to be back with an hour to spare, he always liked to take the sunset to relax on these expeditions.

Bismuth stood in the center of his campsite, the sun setting in front of him. Opening his inventory Bismuth pulled out a simple wooden easel and a half finished canvas, one that seemed to be depicting a sunset on an oriental house. Taking out his paints Bismuth began working on the painting in silence the sunset gleaming behind him. The painting was of one of the group homes that Bismuth had grown up in, one of the few good places from his childhood, he had a few paintings off his happy memories from before the game, but he usually only painted landscapes of the areas around him, he only painted these when he was feeling extremely sentimental. The sun was soon setting though, and after a little less than an hour Bismuth packed his painting up and stared at the sun watching it disappear as he let his mind wander.

Bismuth graciously accepted the bars from NIGHT before consuming it in order to get the bonus to LD. "These here are actually the entire reason I have become a cook, it should be able to help my research quite a bit, and I need all the help I can get most of the time." Bismuth smiled at NIGHT "Thankyou for your help." Bismuth really wished that he had his glasses right now, they were also a boost to his luck, but he wasn't planning on going on any expeditions today, so he had left them on his desk surrounded by his papers. 

Though the immediate surroundings of the beginner village was plentiful with all kinds of different materials for all of the low level players to kickstart their crafting careers, Bismuth wasn't able to find anything around there immediate surrounding, the blue aura that he had become accustomed to using his Hikei, was something that he had started relying on, so not having them was going to be something he had to get used to.