Zenshu

As his piece came to conclusion, Zenshu couldn’t help but smile at his success. Sure, he could spot some of the flaws in the threading, and it wasn’t the perfect shade of royal blue that he had been intending to create. Overall though, he was sure that he would be able to wear it without any hesitation, which was all that mattered for his first piece. A soft chuckle from behind him caught his attention, and he turned to find Richard, the tailor, standing behind him – eyeing the piece. “Promising work. Keep practicing and you may just be as good as me one day!” Zenshu took the praise

The shop itself was much as Zenshu had left it. The tailor – still tending to the orders that he appeared to have accumulated, likely trying to meet the market demand in Aincrad – smiled as Zenshu made his way into the area proper. Packing aside what he had been working on, the NPC made his way over to Zenshu, smiling broadly. “Ah! So you’re back! Did you find everything you needed?” Zenshu nodded, bringing out the materials and displaying them to the NPC. “Excellent! We can get right to work then! Here, take the thread of the material, and follow me.” Zenshu watched in amazement as

The boar finally defeated, Zenshu sighed. He was more than content with his success – and he now had all the materials he required in order to complete the quest. Sheathing the ninjato and letting it disappear from sight, Zenshu turned back towards the Town of Beginnings. He was more than ready to leave the fields behind for the day – he’d had his fill of gathering and fighting. Not to mention he was acutely aware that the tailor was still waiting his return, and the last thing Zenshu wished to do was keeping the NPC waiting longer than need be. “It would be extremely rude. I’ve taken far

His attempt to find an opening was met with an error on his own part. As he moved around his target, trying to force the boar into a more advantageous position, Zenshu forgot one major detail – his target could decide its own path forward. Something it took no hesitation in doing. Zenshu was thrown backwards as the boar slammed into him, the hit strike nearly a quarter of his health bar away, the single hit combining the sheer strength of the boar into its rush. Breath knocked out of him for a moment, Zenshu struggled to roll to his feet, moving far slower than he would have liked – saved

He’d hoped to catch it in the first strike – to use his element of surprise in order to obtain the very first hit and make the fight much easier. That hadn’t happened, of course. Instead, he’d rushed forward and managed to slide right on past the giant beast as it hopped to the side in a display of agility that he hadn’t expected. Catching himself, he spun on the spot and flashed back around, striking out with a collection of swipes of his arm and blade. He didn’t expect to land a strike on the creature with his wild movements, simply trying to drive it backwards to give him some space to

With a flash, the boar exploded into numerous different shards, signifying the end of the combat. Zenshu quickly checked the rewards for the fight, seeing that he was only two materials short of completion now. “Certainly can’t argue the fact that this is faster…that being said, there must be some sort of benefit to gathering materials. I just haven’t found it yet! But, maybe one day I’ll focus on the skill and find out exactly what good can be obtained with it. It’s not as if I won’t have the chance…” His words drifted off as he realised what he had been about to say. He was aware t

His blade drove across the flank of the boar, tearing a line of shimmering, rainbow colours to mark his strike. Zenshu carried on past the creature, taking a few steps before swinging himself around, using the momentum to face his opponent again. The boar had continued onwards, taking the wide turn it required in order to return to the conflict. Zenshu waited, biding his patient. Lowering his centre, he balanced himself in preparation. He knew that the boar would eventually make its way back towards him – gaining speed as it went, and providing him with the ability to react quickly to its

Nothing. Empty hands, Zenshu turned away from the grasses, his attempt made and his destiny decided. He sighed softly, a mixture of disappointment, excitement and contempt coursing through him as he realised that he would be turning to the violent methods after all. A soft smile split his face as he considered it, before he spoke his thoughts aloud. “The game is called Sword Art. One would theorise that it would entail fighting, and the use of the blade as it’s main theme…so it only seems logical that players would be pulled, or pushed, towards engaging in combat more often than one would

His search was going about as well as he had expected, with no real success to be found in the small collection of trees he’d returned to. Sighing as he rose from his most recent position, he glanced around the fields again – looking for any other spot that might provide him with a successful gathering attempt. The roaming fields, the few bushes and groups of trees, all stood out against the horizon – yet, Zenshu wasn’t even sure where to begin. He was determined to make another attempt, but as he looked out over the horizon, he began to wonder if he wasn’t reaching into the land of insanity w

Zenshu patiently listened as the elderly man explained about amazement with the translators, and with Zenshu’s knowledge of how the artificial system worked. He hadn’t considered himself knowledgeable – he’d never really been engaged in the modern world of high-tech components until a later age. However, he’d done a lot of reading once he had begun to explore the technological advancements of the world around him. Bowing his head in response, he smiled at the elderly man, responding with a tone of gratitude and humility. “Well, I have some knowledge about it. But I’m far from an expert –

His gathering attempts had been less successful over the past few tries, and Zenshu once again turned his gaze towards the boars in the distance. He knew that it was the easy way out, and yet a part of him argued that sometimes success came at a cost. His arm, unconsciously, had begun to rise in order to call up the menu before he’d even fully noticed what he was doing. Forcing it back down, he shook his head. “I won’t give in to temptation that easily. Besides, it’s still early in the day! I might as well use that to my advantage, I’m sure the tailor won’t mind waiting a small while for

The bushes proved to be less bountiful than the trees had, and as Zenshu finished combing through their undergrowth he sat back with a sigh. He’d known that it wouldn’t be easy to find what he needed – in fact, he’d known it would likely be a challenge – but he certainly hadn’t expected it to be quite this difficult. “I’ll give this a little while longer, but if it seems like there’s going to be no success to be found in the gathering, then perhaps I’ll have no choice but to move to combat. I don’t want to keep the tailor waiting forever for me, after all. That would not be polite. For no

His efforts had suddenly been realised. As Zenshu pulled the shimmering piece from within the small hollow of the ground just below one of the trees, he felt that broad smile split his face again. He stared at the piece for a time, its shape simply a shining white light in his hand – indecipherable in shape and size. Blinking, he realised that he was still holding the piece – now visible that he’d broke out of his trance. Crystalline in shape, the piece was no bigger than his palm. Translucent, it seemed to shimmer with a soft white glow that radiated from around it – the source of the gl

Pulling his hand back, he found it once more empty. The trees had provided no materials, and Zenshu found himself no closer to the completion of the quest – or to his own profession. He huffed slightly at the trees, eyeing them up before shaking his entire body. “It’s not the trees fault that I failed here. They didn’t do anything, and they don’t have any ill will towards me. They’re trees, after all. If anything it’s just a sign that I need to keep trying – and maybe expand my search a little bit. I can’t expect the system to just hand me everything I need for success. I need to work for

The grasses proved to be far less revealing than Zenshu had hoped. Having failed in the task previously, he wasn’t nearly as disappointed as he had expected to be, however the lack of success did bring his otherwise happy demeanor crashing for a brief breath of time. Frown on his face, he shook his head to clear away the foul mood. “I can’t expect to be success on the very first attempt! It requires patience, and continued practice! Like any good skill, it requires continuous attempts, over and over again until I master the art! I just need to keep going, and eventually I’ll find the succ

The collection of trees was far smaller than he had anticipated – four of them branching together in twisting, twirling shapes that seemed weirdly like a bonsai that Zenshu remembered from his childhood. He’d spent a few minutes simply staring at the branches, eyes roaming over them in an attempt to decipher their paths and possible growth. Shaking his head, he’d reminded himself the system had generated them, and that they hadn’t naturally grown in any way whatsoever. “Yet another sign of being unable to decipher realism. Truly, this world is awe inspiring, were it not for the dangers co

The open fields beyond the Town of Beginnings were much as Zenshu remembered them from the days previous – open, sprawling lands of flowing grasses that seemed to blow in a wind that appeared and disappeared at random throughout the day. He’d still not figured out exactly where the wind always originated from – seemingly somewhere out of sight, a point of origin beyond the players capabilities of locating. His marvel at the world – although soured by the realisation of the dangers it presented – was still wonderous. Even now, knowing that he could very well die, gone from the digital and

Having left the quest’s origins behind, Zenshu wandered through the Town of Beginnings for a time. He knew that eventually he’d have to make his way out into the fields beyond the wall in order to find the materials that were required to complete the quest, but for the moment he needed to walk in order to clear his mind. “Well, it’s certainly not creating wonderful and visibly pleasing pieces of fabric armour – or leather armour, for that matter…at least not based on what that shop had on display…but maybe I’m judging it too harshly? It’s fair to assume that in Aincrad people need clothin

The quest’s starting location was a few blocks away, and by the time Zenshu reached it he’d already planned out his store’s future – at least, as far as what he would focus on selling. Stepping into the tailor’s shop, his planned ideas fell apart almost immediately. Before him were racks of numerous clothed materials, displays that reminded him of wedding shops found in the big cities, and everything other than what he had imagined. “Hello, and how may I help you?” A masculine voice called out to Zenshu as he rained frozen, processing what his eyes were seeing. A few moments of silence st

His mind racing as he realised the opportunity that he had landed upon, Zenshu tried to remember reading about how to start a profession within the game. He knew that it was likely a quest – it was almost always a quest in games like this, which had you introduced to the profession itself. He was sure that at some point he’d seen something regarding just such a thing. Pulling up his menu, Zenshu combed through the help files, before switching over to his available quests. He spotted it almost immediately, blinking before him. Reading over the available options, he located the exact quest

The previous evening had been one of true enjoyment for Zenshu. He’d spent a few extra col – nothing too outrageous – in order to enjoy a slightly fancier meal. It wasn’t much, and yet somehow it had made a world of a difference to him. He had spent some time considering that, thinking about how such a small difference in something as simple as a meal could change his demeanor so much. The morning sun had awoken him, and as he pulled himself out of the bed he had rented for the night, he considered the fact that for the first time since Sword Art Online had started, Zenshu was able to ob

Zenshu nodded appropriately as the elderly man spoke, telling a story about western customs and some sort of family – things that were not entirely foreign to Zenshu, but definitely out of context for the situation. Not one to be rude, he politely smiled, nodding where it felt appropriate as the man prattled on. At the mention of the languages, Zenshu couldn’t restrain himself, his words slipping out almost immediately to correct the misunderstanding – albeit, a good explanation in and of itself. “Well, it’s less that the game reads one’s mind, so much as it comes with an integrated tran

Smiling as the elderly man spoke, Zenshu had to refrain from grimacing as the man took his hand in what was likely a sign of respect. The action was far beyond what would’ve been considered appropriate in Zenshu’s world – especially for someone you had just met – but, he assumed the man came from the west, a place the action would likely be acceptable. He was just about to speak when the younger blonde opened his mouth. The words immediately left Zenshu’s mind as he listened – the tone carried an edge to it, welcoming yet warning. The words themselves were far more vulgar than Zenshu had

Zenshu’s morning had been, well, uneventful. He’d survived the recent endeavours curtailing the required running around – and corresponding actions – that hunting down the mayor’s loan had entailed. He had to admit, as easy as the quests themselves were, the truth was he would’ve preferred a much faster avenue of completion. “Well, I’ve just got to focus on getting it completed. Sure, it has me running around a lot – but that’s just good exercise and all! Keeps me fit and sharp. Besides…” His self monologue came to an abrupt stop as he turned the corner towards the main court, his eyes an

Zenshu let his eyes roam over the exterior of the shop. It was very different from the showy, flashy merchants that seemed to scream and shout at anyone who passed by - trying to draw them in for whatever cheap items they were selling. Zenshu ignored most of them - although a few shiny pieces had caught his attention, the shop itself was his desired destination. Stepping up to the shop's door, Zenshu opened the door and stepped into the shop itself. The rows of weapons, the broken training sword, and the smiling blacksmith all greeted him. He waited patiently for the man to finish speakin