Faerie

Nari's response came just a few minutes later and it was a relief, she was worried that the other purple haired woman wouldn't be able to show, and with no one left to turn to she needed her to come. The message said she'd be there in about twenty minutes so Fae hopped off of the rock, opting to be more visible for her friends approach. Leaning her back against the rock Fae watched from the direction of the Town of Beginnings with it being the only way to teleport to the first floor she knew exactly where Nari would appear.

It was another thirty minutes before Fae saw the purple hair cross through the edge of the trees. The woman sporting it notably different from the last time she saw her, and not just with the scythe she now carried. Nari already exuded more confidence than she had in the past her demeanor looking like almost a completely different person. Fae rushed to Nari when she saw her wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug, before releasing almost immediately and backpedaling "I'm sorry, thank you, I mean for coming." Fae stammered out before Nari's greeting, giving her a moment to calm herself down before responding. "Oh don't worry about that at all, I didn't even know what floor you were on, you got here pretty fast all things considered. Which, means a lot." Fae watched as Nari looked around growing embarrassed as she questioned what was going on. "I'm sorry, I should have explained in my message." Fae paused for a long moment before steeling her resolve.  "I don't think you ever met Lightbringer, I know I talked about him a few times." Fae looked away again turning her head back towards the rock "He would have made a good frontliner, he wanted to head the charge more than anyone else I know. Fae looked back at Nari her arms folded across her chest in a protective posture. "I want to follow in his footsteps, and I can't yet. I didn't know who to call, I haven't heard anything about Avoryn in the last two years, and Angel..." Fae drifted off as she realized she was giving too much information. "There is something I need to do, and I'm too scared to do it alone." Fae met Nari's gaze eyes pleading "Can you come with me?" Fae held her gaze hoping that Nari would agree, and that she could put all of this behind her.

Fae's blush was hidden behind her rosy cheeks as the blonde woman walked up to her and introduced herself a gloved hand outstretched in greeting. "Hey, it's nice to meet you." Fae tried her best not to let her teeth chatter as she said hello, extending her reddened fingers forward and clasping onto Lessa's hand in a gentle handshake "My name is Faerie (Fay.ree not Fair.ee). Though I don't think this is a great place to have a chat." joking as she ducked beneath a stray snowball thrown by the opposing team.

Fae chuckled as she bent down to form a snowball of her own turning her gaze to the other side of the field as she chose a new opponent, her old one having gracefully fallen out of a tree. Settling on a green haired individual Fae let her compressed ball of snow fly, hoping to watch it land home. She didn't know if this game had points, but she didn't really care as she laughed alongside a gathering of people. Something that had not been so common as of late.

Fae sat on top of her rock, legs pulled up to her chest as she stared at the moon above. It was wierd to think that there wasn't actually a sky up there, but instead another floor the second floor for that matter, a floor that had been explored long ago. It was a cold night and Fae had her hood pulled all the way up barely stopping the chill from reddening her nose and cheeks. Fae's breath hung in the air as she sat, the wind blowing her cloak around as she lost herself in thought.

The chill sank in deeper as Fae unwrapped her arms from around her legs. Pulling up her menu as she did scrolling through her friends list stopping on a single name Nari-Lanreth. She had met the purple haired woman 2 years ago, and by then, she had already been a lot higher level than herself. Tapping the name a few options appeared and with a few more taps a message was sent out.

Fae attached her coordinates to the simple message and sighed into the air. She knew what she was asking for was late notice, the sun having set a few hours prior, but she held on to her hope as she wrapped herself a bit hard in her light pink and blue cloak.

Thread Summary

Faerie:

1,602 EXP: (1,302 Thread Contents + 300 Quest Rewards)

400 Col: 400 Thread Contents

5 MATS: Quest Reward

3/4ths of an Apple Crumble [T1 | Dessert | +1 LD]

<<Cook>> Profession

Standard <<Cook>> Shop

Fae walked slowly through the Town of Beginnings once again head lost in thought, the path from Maggie's restaurant and the Wayward wasn't long but Fae didn't take the most direct path choosing to wander. 'It's already getting so late, I spent way too long out today, I told Angel I would be home by dinner. . .' Fae didn't pick up her pace as she just let her feet wander 'I told Kas I would be heading to the frontlines starting tomorrow, but I'm not even finished with most of what I wanted to do before leaving.' Fae snapped back into reality when she found herself back at the gate out of town, the sun setting in the distance, and the stars starting to become prominent in the quickly darkening sky. Clearly her mind was made as Fae looked back to the town behind her, a quick message sent to her only friend as she headed out into the night, ignoring the message she got in return as she left her feet to carry her westward. 

Before long Fae found herself in a small clearing surrounded by some trees a large rock siting in the center, completely smooth but for the carving that marred its surface 'In memory of a hero, Lighbringer'. This was a gravestone, one that Fae had made herself for a friend long gone now, the memory of which still haunted her every day. Placing her fingers on the engraving Fae's eyes welled with tears "Hey Kas. . ." Fae let the words fade from her lips as she stared at the rock, not able to put into words all of the things she wanted to say to her hero. Fae climbed to the top of the rock, dangling one of her legs down as she stared at the moon lighting up her little clearing. 'You were supposed to be the one to live Kas, I can't do this without you, I can't play the hero like you could.' Fae let the thoughts drift into the night air as she stared at the expanse of space that she could see from atop her rock.

Fae stared for a long time before her eyes steeled and she opened up her chat window and sent a message to someone that she hadn't seen in years, if she was about to do this she would need support, and she couldn't think of anyone better to have with her.

To: Nari-Lanreth | Hey, it's been a long time. Could you meet me here? |

The message was cryptic but that was fine, she didn't even know if Nari would respond or even remember her, but she was the only person she knew other than Angel, and Avoryn, the latter of which she hadn't heard anything about in years. Fae attached her coordinates to the message before sending it and staring back at the sky, hugging her legs to her chest atop the rock.

Fae couldn't hold in her laughter as the ginger man fell out of the tree from her and her teammates barrage of snow. Fae hadn't gotten out like this since Kas and she loved every second of it so far, even if the cold was making her nose and ears go numb. Fae looked over to the side at the perfect time to watch a purple haired women taunt her and her teammate a smile came to her face as she thought back to the last time they had interacted which was almost two years ago at this point. 

Tossing one of the snowballs in her hands at Nari Fae laughed "Maybe just stop being so fast and it won't be a problem" Fae looked away from Nari as she surveyed the battle field around her, there seemed to be four people on her side of the field a blonde woman named Lessa, who seemed to be having the time of her life, a black haired woman who came into the field right as the snows started flying, and a woman dressed as a boxer in the snow. Doing a double take at the last individual Fae's smile only grew, she hadn't been around this many players in a long time, and it felt like the snow was finally melting even if it was a land of snow on the outside.

Fae took all of the cubed apples and tossed them into the larger bowl alongside the lemon and orange zest and juice, some of the sugar, some of the flour, some of the cinnamon and the nutmeg smiling as she smelled the cinnamon and nutmeg, already smelling wonderful. Fae moved the bowl to the side before grabbing another one this time putting in the rest of the plain sugar, the brown sugar, the rest of the flour, the salt, and the rest of the cinnamon, mixing it together until it was all evenly distributed. Going to the chilled chest Fae grabbed the butter and started taking small portions of it mixing them into the sugar and flour mixture until it resembled the large crumbs that she was looking for. Fae placed the bowl to the side, the smile not leaving her face as she neared the final product of the pie. 

Taking the bowl of apples covered in sugars and other sweets Fae poured it into a pie tin evenly so that it filled out the pan completely, nothing was worse than biting into a pie and not getting any filling in the bite. Grabbing the bowl of crumbs Fae spread them over top of the apples making sure that there was an even covering before stepping back and looking the pie over before smiling "That is a mighty fine pie if I do say so myself." Fae picked up the pie tin and moved over the the oven, placing it inside and making sure to start the fire again. At this point it was just a waiting game for the pie to be ready so Fae made her way back into the main seating area for the small restaurant where Maggie was currently wiping down tables "Hey Maggie, I got my pie in the oven now, so I figured I would come out here and see if there is anything I can help you with." Maggie dropped her towel on the counter she was cleaning and looked at Fae with a motherly look "Oh no hun, I wouldn't have you help me, besides I have probably wiped these tables down a hundred times today. Why don't you just have a seat and we can wait for that pie together. I can already smell it, and it is delicious." Fae sat in the chair that Maggie pulled out for her and smiled, waiting with the motherly woman until her pie was done.

The entire restaurant smelled of apples and cinnamon when Fae went to grab her pie out of the brick oven. Walking carefully Fae placed the dish on the table that she and Maggie had been sitting at, two plates already being set up for the pair to eat from. "Oh well don't that just smell and look amazing hun." Maggie gave an approving nod as she stared at the pie, the crumbly crust a perfect golden brown, steam rising off of it "But the most important test is to come. How does it taste?" from out of no where it seemed, Maggie pulled out two forks handing one to Fae before diving in herself to get some of the pie. Fae watched in a mix of fear and excitement as Maggie tasted her dessert. "Oh this is wonderful hun. You have the makings of a fine chef." Maggie had barely finished speaking when the bell signalling a patron rang out "Oh well deary me, I guess it's my time to get back in the kitchens." Maggie stood from her seat and headed back to her kitchen "Thank you Maggie." Fae called out as a screen popped up in front of her 'Congratulations you have completed quest "Earning a Living" you now have access to the cook profession skill line.' Fae closed the screen and looked back at the kitchen door, picking up the pie before heading out the door.

Fae looked over at the new arrival for her side of the snowball fight, but before she even had the chance to say a word a snow ball hit her in the side of the head, the scarf and coat she was wearing doing nothing to help with the cold on her face. Fae looked to where the ball of snow had came from and saw a ginger haired man hanging from a tree like a pirate calling out to a newly arrived woman, she had called him Jomei.

"Heads up Jomei." Fae scooped up some snow from the barricade she was making and launched it at him in the same way he launched it at her "I think the sky is falling." Fae smiled at herself as she saw more and more people arrive, all clearly already enjoying throwing snow with long time friends. A small twang of sadness hit her like the snow, but she shook it off with a shiver "Let's go Team B, we can't let them out stage us." Fae called out to her companions like a general rallying her soldiers.

Fae grabbed a large mortar and pestle from a side counter and a few bowls to place the ground product into. Next up was the grinding, a lot of the materials that Fae had right now were in their raw form and needed to be processed into various different powders. Grabbing the salt crystal Fae broke off a smaller chunk and placed it into her mortar and pestle, the issue with the salt was just that this rock was too big to actually use in cooking. Slowly crushing the large chunk into finer smaller salt Fae looked around the kitchen, it wasn't the largest kitchen in the world, but it was decent enough, one side having a large counter space for chopping and storing all of the in progress food stuffs the other wall having more counters and cupboards for storage and a large basin sink for cleaning, in the corner was the large brick oven that Fae was currently boiling her sugar on. Pausing in her grinding Fae looked at the salt, satisfied that it was at a sufficient size before pouring it into one of the bowls.

Fae did the same with the nutmeg and wheat pouring them each into their own bowls before looking at all of the ingredients she still had to process and over to the stuff she had preparing, she would need to grind up the cinnamon once it was done, but for now it was still drying and she would have to wait. Grabbing the cream and a bowl Fae decided that the butter would be the next step. Pouring the cream into the bowl Fae started stirring, it was not easy to do this in real life, and that stayed true in SAO, it took a fast pace to get the cream to harden into butter. Keeping up a furious pace Fae watched as the cream slowly became thicker and eventually reached the consistency of a soft butter Fae kept stirring until she was satisfied with the consistency. Grabbing a rectangular dish Fae scooped up the butter and deposited it inside placing it into a cooled chest in the back of the room that acted like a fridge.

Next Fae grabbed a grater and the lemons and oranges placing two bowls on the counter she grated some of the rind off of both fruits and let them fall into the bowls before cutting them in half. Grabbing the press again Fae squeezed out the juice from the orange and lemon also placing them in separate containers. Fae checked back up on her ingredients currently in process the cinnamon had just completed and was now ready to be ground up into the powder that was easier to work with, and the sugar would be done soon after. Grabbing the cinnamon and mortar and pestle Fae went to work turning it into dust, grinding it until it resembled actual cinnamon before putting it into its own bowl. Fae looked to her sugar which had finally completed and pulled out two more bowls for that as well, normally in real life there were a lot more steps for making sugar, but this was one of those conveniences that Fae had thought of earlier, after crystallizing the sugar would just be good to use directly. With all of her ingredients now prepped, for the most part, Fae needed to prep the apples, grabbing a knife She started by peeling all of the apples before coring them and dicing them. Fae smiled as she grabbed a bigger bowl and placed it to the side, everything was now prepped and she could get started on the baking, the best part.

The trip back from the crystal cavern went without a hitch, she had found all of the air pockets, and made it out to the smaller cavern that acted as the antechamber for the cave system. Leaving the cave into the open air outside Fae took a deep breath and followed the path from the Stone Valley the concept of finishing this quest being the only thing keeping her calm.

The journey back to the Town of Beginnings was unremarkable, and soon enough Fae found herself walking the cobbled streets, making her way back to Maggie's restuarant. Fae opened the door to Maggie's shop "Hey Maggie I'm back with those ingredients you needed." popping her head out from the door to the kitchens Maggie smiled a warm glowing smile "Hey Hun, welcome back, why don't you come back here and we can get started." Maggie's head disappeared back into the kitchen as Fae walked to the door opening it to see Maggie cleaning up, right now the resturaunt was practically completely vacant, so there wasn't much cooking going on.

"Well, go on then, what'd you pick up?" Maggie gestured to an open counter for Fae to put the ingredients she gathered on. "I was thinking of making an apple crumble. It's always been my favorite." Fae pulled all of what she had gathered out of her inventory and placed them down. Today Fae would be using the apples, lemon, orange, nutmeg, cream, cinnamon log, wheat, salt crystal, and sugar cane. All of the rest were for Maggie to keep. A look of surprise passed briefly on Maggie's face at the ingredients. Most people didn't grab everything they needed, and even rarer did they bring extras. "Well don't you look like you have some experience." Maggie's smile was still warm as she looked at Fae "Yeah I've picked up a bit here and there. But I'm nowhere near your level yet." Fae thought of her life before SAO, food had always been something her and her dad could share, and once he grew sick she started pursuing it more heavily, just looking for something that could bring a smile to his face. Now she was here in SAO and cooking wasn't something that was easy to pursue, the cooking in SAO took a decent time to level up, and you had to do this quest in order to get any of the buffs from it. "Well I guess I'll give you free range here in the kitchen. If you need anything you just holler hun." Maggie wiped her hands on her apron as she walked out of the kitchen.

Left alone Fae got to work immediately, first she would need to prepare the Ingredients, and where some if these things would take months, here in SAO they could be accomplished easily with just a few taps on a HUD. The first thing that Fae did was grab the cinnamon log grabbing a knife from the counter she sliced thin strips of the bark off before putting the log away. These thin strips of bark were what Fae was looking for, and in the real world when they were dried for long periods of time and then ground into powder they would become the cinnamon you could find in stores and In game the process was much the same. Fae took the strips of bark and placed them to the side gently tapping them to get a HUD to appear. Tapping a few buttons a small loading bar appeared above the strips seemingly content Fae turned back to her ingredients this time grabbing the sugar cane, this being the other one that would take a longer amount of time.

Similar to with the cinnamon Fae started out by cutting thin strips off of the sugar cane making sure that she got an ample amount before putting the sugar cane to the side. The first step was to squeeze the strips of sugar cane and separate the juice from the plant. Gathering all of the slices of sugar cane Fae loaded them into a fruit press designed to squeeze the juice out of berries and other fruits. The press was made of two parts, the upper part which was made of a flat plate used to press into a second plate that had small holes in it, the bottom was a detachable bowl that collected all of the juice from the top section. Fae pressed the plate into the strips of sugar cane and watched as the juice filled the bottom bowl. Once she was satisfied that she had enough Fae took the bowl and poured it into two metal pots sitting on a brick stove. Tapping her fingers on the pots Fae pressed some more buttons, setting one pot up to make regular sugar, and the other pot to make brown sugar. Confirming that the loading bars had appeared Fae started the fire before turning back to her pile of ingredients. With the two longest processes started Fae could now finish the rest of her prep work.

Fae looked back at the other two people with her having to strain to hear what they were talking about. Avoryn had questioned something about Kayaba and Nari had given her an answer Fae couldn't quite hear it, but she thinks it was something along the lines of what he was doing now that he created this game and trapped them all inside. Fae didn't know how she should respond and with Nari's answer seeming to satisfy Avoryn she just chose to ignore it. 

Fae stopped looking back at her companions when she heard rumbling coming from in front of her. Looking ahead Fae could see four boars running towards her one pretty far in the lead. Fae didn't look surprised however, this was what she was hoping for, the whistle was an item that could make these enemies come running from a decent distance. Fae looked back again to see Avoryn twirl the cloth on the cloak fluttering as she twirled making her look more like a fairy than Fae ever did she gave Avoryn a big smile and a thumbs up. 

Turning her focus back to the boars Fae was about to unsheathe her sword when she heard Nari call something out, clearly meant for Fae. One word ringing clearly above the rest "FaeFae" looking back again Fae could see a mischievous look in Nari's eyes and caught a wink. Fae blushed at the nickname as she just stared, not expecting that to have come from the somewhat shy woman. 

Fae wasn't allowed to blush for much longer as the lead boar barreled into her stomach, launching her backward towards Nari when it hit her. Landing squarely on her back Fae gasped a weird sense of Deja Vu filling her mind before quickly passing. Fae didn't let herself lay there for long as she quickly scrambled back to her feet the blush returning for a different reason this time. quickly dusting off she pulled out her sword and squared herself towards the rushing enemies. "You didn't see that." Fae called out to the people behind her without looking back, trying not to let the embarrassment show.

Avoryn flashed a smile and Fae blushed as she followed suit behind the two women, "Yeah, I wasn't expecting this to really be a gathering mission, though it won't be too big of a deal for me, Fae twirled slightly letting the two pieces of cloth on her light pink and blue half cloak flow behind her, expanding to look like fairy wings. "This cloaks helps a bit with that." Fae proclaimed with a smile as she watched Avoryn run out to a nearby bush, the material she was trying to gather withering away in her hands as she failed to grab it.

Fae looked down at herself and back up at the crouching Avoryn while Nari spoke about how hard gathering could be. Taking the cloak off in one smooth movement while she walked dropping the cloak on Avoryn's head leaving her in nothing but her somewhat tight white pants and her light purple button up shirt. Fae looked back and winked at Avoryn "Keep that safe. I don't want to tear it." Fae made sure that she stayed in eye sight of both of the other women she was with as she walked out further into the open fields.

Pulling a whistle of sorts out of her inventory Fae waived back at Nari and blew it as loud as she could. No sound came out of the whistle, at least not that any of them could hear, but with a smug look on her face Fae placed it back into her inventory standing with her hands on her hips appearing to wait. 

Fae walked through the snow, the bite being mostly countered by the large brown coat and scarf she was wearing. The day before Fae had gotten a message, one claiming to be from Cardinal, about a large snowball fight with the potential for rewards. Now, on the day of she found herself walking through the snowy forest in her warmest clothes.

It seemed like the first went on forever when Fae finally created the edge, a large field in front of her with forests on all sides. As soon as Fae stepped into the field an announcement appeared in front of her in the customary pop up window. 'Welcome Faerie, you have been placed on team B, good luck.' Fae closed the menu and looked ahead, it seemed like she was the first one here, no one else appearing in the field before her.

Taking her opportunity Fae rushed to one of the nearest snow drifts and started funneling the snow off to the sides, creating a makeshift barrier for herself. Hopefully she wouldn't be the only one here, Fae was worried that she was dumb for coming here for something so childish, but hopefully she would be proven wrong.

Fae's Christmas outfit

This was Fae's first time on the 11th floor, and normally she would have no reason to be up here, but she had found a flyer of sorts posted outside of The Wayward inviting any and all players in Aincrad to the home of Jomei on the eleventh floor. Fae didn't know much about the frontlines, but she had heard mention of the Emerald Duelist once or twice and figured that there wouldn't be a better opportunity to make acquaintances than at the likes of a Christmas party. 

Hefting the big box she was carrying up higher in her grasp Fae walked along the streets, coming on the location that the flyer had mentioned. Fae heard a loud "MERRY CHRISTMAS" echo out from the house, in a voice that sounded familiar but, Fae couldn't place from where. Coming Closer Fae watched as a ginger man, presumably Jomei let a purple haired woman into the building, the door closing behind her rather quickly to stave off the winter air.

Shifting her box again Fae came to the front door of the building, trying to find a way to knock with the box in her hand before simply putting the box on the ground and knocking, bending back over to pick it up. Fae waited at the door patiently, with the fact that another guest had arrived, Fae figured it might be a moment before the door opened for her, though that was fine, as it let her battle her nerves before having to go inside of a strangers house, presumably full of people she didn't know. Fae was about to knock again, the holding the box up with her leg when it opened, a ginger man in a sweater smiling from the other side.

Fae's Christmas Outfit

A new challenger approaches.

"A snowball fight? Sounds a lot less dangerous than the sword I'm used to fighting with, im in." Fae closed the message and made her way to the battlefield 

// Team B!

Fae walked with the trio paying just as much attention to their surroundings as she did them. It was really astounding what was created here, she could feel the wind blowing across her face ruffling the cloth on her half cloak. "It really is hard to imagine that this is a video game, though I guess, you can respawn in video games. . ." Fae drifted off when she fully registered what she was saying, she was trying to make a good impression, and bringing up the fact that they would all probably die wasn't a good way to make friends. "I got this game because I couldn't believe that something fake could seem so real, and I almost still can't." Fae looked over at a nearby trees, each leaf swaying individually, clearly a lot of care had been put into this game Fae just wished it had been what it was promised to be.

Avoryn's second question pulled Fae out of her own head, 'we haven't found anything useful yet, not even a direction to start looking really. This place is massive, and if all of the floors are like this a couple weeks is a joke.' Fae didn't say any of this out loud as she listened to Nari speak, saying that it would only be a few more months, she knew that that was just wishful thinking, but Fae wouldn't say that, couldn't really. She hoped at the bottom of her heart that Nari was right.

"yeah, teamwork is going to be by far the biggest piece of all of this, I've heard stories already of how much worse things get in just the Stone Valley, let alone as the floors get harder and harder. Making it alone isn't going to be an option." Fae smiled at her companions as they closed in on the boundary of Tolbana, the small town didn't have a wall around it like the Town of Beginnings, and you could just walk directly into town from the fields, which is exactly what the trio did. It wasn't hard to find the alchemist at this point, his was the shop with the green smoke rising from its chimney. "Come on I bet that's it." Fae picked up her pace and made her way down the dirt paths of Tolbana until she reached the shop and swung the door open.

Upon opening the door Fae and the girls were met with a pungent smell of something almost impossible to place, just a chemical smell coming from all of the vials and potions that lined the shelves. "Oh Hello." The long white haired man called out as he turned away from the vial he was working on "If you are looking to order something, I have to apologize. I am out of supplies right now because of the flood of orders that just came in." His voice was surprisingly soft as he looked at the group, his eyes showing kindness before a light appeared in them. "Why don't you go out and gather materials from outside the city, anything works really, mushrooms, roots, flowers, just anything. I promise after you get the materials I will help you fulfill your order, hell I will teach you to do it yourself." The man smiled at the group as another screen appeared before the two who had not yet completed this quest 'Fetch materials for Zackariah in order to gain information on the loan.' Fae closed the pop up and smiled "Of course we would be glad to help, it would be amazing to learn from a master craftsman." Fae smiled and turned to her group, the quest seemed to be beginning for real.

Avoryn stopped their little trio as they passed by a blacksmith, claiming that she was going to head inside and get something, leaving her and Nari to talk on their own. Nari tried to break the ice with a joke, and Fae was glad for it, because she had absolutely no idea what to say, Kas had really been the only person she was able to talk to comfortably. "Hey, I mean the best part of the trip are always the random stops, though, I don't think I have ever bought a sword on vacation." Fae smiled at the purple haired woman next to her, hoping that her joke landed. The awkward encounter ended soon after with Avoryn stepping out and explaining how she had not found anything she liked, ordering a custom made sword commenting on how Nari and Fae were reliable to keep her safe. "That's more praise than I deserve, I'm not that much stronger than you." Fae rubbed the back of her neck again before quickly lowering it again, not wanting to look so insecure.

The group started walking again when Avoryn broke the silence with a question about what they planned to do in sword art online and what equipment they preferred. Fae listened to the other two explain their opinions before it was her turn. "Oh, Umm, I guess I never really thought about it. I'm just supporting Kas right now, I know he wants to go find the next floor with everyone else, but, well I guess I am holding him back." Fae's face became more sullen before she shook her head "I guess before long we are going to head out, I won't keep him here forever. I know that if anyone can get us out of this its him." Fae spoke more than she meant to, the adoration in her eyes clear as she spoke about Kas. "I just sort of grabbed what I thought was the lightest equipment I could find, I hate being bogged down by all that weight that comes with big swords and weapons. Right now I have a sword but, we'll see." Fae finished talking, and looked at the ground, embarrassed about how much she had overshared. 

Glad for the change in topic Fae looked at the current leader for their group, the much higher level purple haired woman named Nari. "Oh, I come out here every now and then, as scary as it is, the fields are beautiful, and so long as you stay in them it isn't too dangerous." Fae smiled "It was the exploring that brought me into this game in the first place, and I'm hoping to put that to use somehow." Fae wasn't that scared of fighting per say, she wasn't that bad at it, having Kas around to drill her over and over on how to fight had made her decent enough, but at the end of the day, her skills lay mostly in exploration.

Fae blushed in embarrassment as she smiled at the other purple haired lady's, the one who just introduced herself as Nari, outburst. "Oh, my name is Faerie (Fay.ree not fair.ee). It's nice to meet you guys." Fae dropped her hand off of the hilt of the sword on her lower back, most if not all of the confidence gone from her stance as she listened to the two women Avoryn and Nari. Clearly the group hadn't known each other before, and now Avoryn had accepted their help. 

Fae listened to Nari's explanation about the quest, confused, all that Dorian had mentioned was that they needed to find Zackariah. Fae's face blanched for a moment at the mention of how dangerous combat could be, thinking back to her first day in Sword Art Online, before she quickly turned to face the gates out of town with Nari. 

"I'll follow you, you definitely seem to know what you're doing more than I do." Fae fell into step a bit behind Nari completely missing how their new leader wasn't as confident as she seemed. Fae was more than happy to just follow along behind and provide whatever support she was capable of, though with how high level Nari seemed to be, she doubted she would really be of much help, even if Avoryn didn't have any equipment, there wasn't anything on this floor that Nari couldn't take on. 

Fae bumped into Nari as she suddenly stopped, telling them that they should probably speak to the alchemist first. Nari hadn't turned around to say anything so Fae was able to hide her embarrassment as she looked down at the floor. "Sorry I should have been paying more attention." Fae quickly took a few steps backward falling into line next to Avoryn. 'This was a mistake already, I am making a fool of myself.' Fae thought to herself as they continued walking.

Kas had left a few hours ago to get the pair some funds after having blown all of their starting funds on their gear. He was going on a simple quest in a nearby village, but the limit on the quest was one, so Fae wasn't able to join him. Left to wander the streets of the Town of Beginnings on her own Fae was walking close to the main courtyard when a man bumped into her. "Oh goodness me, I am so sorry." the man stopped in his tracks eyeing Fae. "I have just been so distracted you see." the man rubbed his mustache before continuing. "You seem to be capable. My name is Dorian, and I am the mayor of Tolbana, and well." the middle aged man paused looking around as if to make sure no one was listening. "Well I gave a loan out to someone in the community a few months back and, I am terribly embarrassed to admit, I seem to have forgotten who it was that I lent the money to. I am a terribly busy man you see and I cannot keep track of everything, I am sure you understand." Fae just nodded along as the man spoke "I would be eternally grateful if you would be willing to track down the missing payment, and even more so if you would keep this between us." 

The man fiddled with his mustache and looked around again. "I'd be happy to help, where should I start?" Fae gave a wide smile to the man, Tolbana wasn't far away at all, and it was an almost completely safe part of town, hopefully with this quest she would be able to help Kas get some Col without having to do anything dangerous. A screen popped up in front of Fae as she responded, a simple screen asking her if she wanted to accept the quest from Dorian. Pressing the blue circle the screen disappeared and Dorian continued "Thank you, I knew you would be perfect to help. You should start with Zackariah, the alchemist, he does a lot of projects for the town." Not waiting for Fae to respond the man walked off with as much purpose as he had came with. 

Shrugging Fae kept walking, she would make her way to Tolbana, and get this quest done before Kas got back and surprise him with lunch. Finding her way through the courtyard Fae paused, not helping but to overhear a conversation between two women by the monument of life. The purple haired woman stuttering as she explained that she would help the green haired woman with the quest from the mayor because she had already done it. This was a near perfect opportunity for Fae. Speeding up Fae stepped up behind and off to the side of the purple haired woman. "I am sorry, I couldn't help but overhear that you just spoke with Dorian." Fae smiled at the two women "I just got his quest too, I may not be of much help, but I know how to use this sword." Fae rubbed the back of her neck as she spoke. "If you wouldn't mind my joining. Of course, I mean, I wouldn't want to impose, I mean you don't have to." Fae nearly panicked rushing her words out as she realized that she didn't even know these people and she was just some random stranger.

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Storeroom

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Equipment (Store)

Green Thumb: [Straight Sword; T1 Uncommon]
Pixie's Greatsword: [Straight Sword; T1 Perfect | DMG 3]

Just like the blacksmith had said, it didn't take long for him to make Fae's new weapon. She had received the ping of the message while she was on the first floor. this was the last piece of equipment she had to pick up before she would start slowly making her way to the frontlines. Opening up the shop again Fae heard the sound of a hammer banging from somewhere out in the back of the shop. "I believe this might be what you were hoping for?" the hammering stopped abruptly as Vigilon walked out of the forge and into the shop portion of his building. "I believe this might be what you were hoping for?" Vigilon held out the sword. It wasn't very big, probably only reaching about two feet total in length, but that was perfect for Fae, preferring to have the lighter weapon over something beefier. Placing the col on the counter Fae smiled "Thank you, it's perfect." Fae slid the sword into the scabbard on her lower back, the feint glow of the blue blade snuffing out as she did. Nodding again Fae stepped out of the shop "Time to get back to business."

Fae kept swimming, her arms and legs burning as she struggled against the water. When Fae realized that she could see the outline of her arm in front of her, her energy returned like a torrent. Picking up her pace Fae kept swimming, she was practically there, and whether her arms felt like lead or not she would keep pushing.

Fae didn't even need to have her fingers on the ceiling as she came upon the end of her journey, the blue light from above filling the tunnel with a glow that let her clearly see all around her. Swimming up the small channel Fae found herself in a sloping basin of water, and bringing herself above the surface of the pool Fae could see her final destination. A large cave easily 50 feet tall and twice as wide. The ceiling was covered in large blue crystals that filled the cave with light, smaller white crystals littering the walls and floors of the chamber.

Swimming to the edge of the basin Fae pulled herself into the stone flipping onto her back and gasping to fill her lungs with the air that she had had a severe lack of. Fae played there for minutes as she let her limbs rest, knowing that if she tried to stand now her legs would give out. Finally standing, her legs shaking Fae looked around the cavern. Eyes landing on a sparkle on one of the crystals Fae smiled "Thank God." the words echoing as she made her way to the crystal and broke off a chunk, placing it into her inventory. This was the last ingredient Fae needed, and with this she could head back to Maggie and finish the quest.

Fae was enveloped by darkness as the light that was coming in from the mouth of the cave was covered by the turn in the underwater passage. Fae could no longer see as she held her hand out above her head, reaching for the ceiling of the passage she was in, swimming without the hand was more difficult, but she would need to feel for the occasional air pockets that came up along the passage. Fae's fingers brushed against the hard rock as she swam, making sure to focus on holding her breath, this swim was a few minutes, and if she let her air out she wasn't going to make it to the other side.

It was when Fae was almost out of breath that her fingers gave way into open water again. Immediately swimming up Fae popped through the surface of the water gasping for air as she floated. Letting herself catch her breath Fae just swam in place feeling lucky that this passage did not spawn any monsters, being in the utter darkness while trying to fight a creature, especially one that was designed to be in the water would be near impossible for any but a frontliner which Fae was not.

Fae gasped one more time, filling her lungs with as much air as possible before dunking her head back under water. It took a few moments in the total darkness for Fae to right herself and place her hand back on the ceiling acting as her guide. The air holes were evenly spaced so Fae knew exactly how much time she had before she reached the next one. Counting in her head Fae's fingers found another air pocket exactly when she thought they would. Swimming up Fae repeated the process all over again catching her breath before diving back into the darkness.

Her fingers back on the ceiling Fae continued the blind swim, the count continuing in her head. It was when her count finally reached two minutes that Fae began to worry. Her lungs burned, and she had clearly missed one of her pockets, and the tunnel was too tight to turn back. Another minute had passed before Fae couldn't hold any longer, gasping in the blackness of the water, feeling it fill her mouth and lungs as she tried to breathe. Fae pressed on, suppressing the urge to cough as she felt herself drowning, suppressing the urge to let go of the ceiling, if she had any chance at all she had to keep her tenuous hold on the ceiling.

When Fae felt like she could go no longer her hand finally met open water again signalling that she had found the air pocket. Struggling to swim Fae made her way up coughing as she expelled the water from her lungs. Sputtering as she treaded water in the complete blackness that was this break in the ceiling.

Fae walked at a fast pace as she made her way towards the cave, it wasn't quite in view yet, but with the fact that she could see the Stone Valley she knew that the cave was close. Fae was right, and before much longer at all Fae could see the cave, just the sight of it helping to get rid of the panic that had been slowly rising in her chest. Fae made her way into the cave and it was just as unassuming as she had remembered, it was just a small cave, at most being twenty feet in diameter a small pool of water sat in the back. 

Fae had found this cave by accident with Kas a long time ago. Walking to the small pond in the back Fae sighed, this was the single worst part about this adventure. Peering over the edge of the pool one would see that it was deep but nothing special. Fae stepped back from the edge seeming to contemplate for a second before she returned to the edge sitting and letting her legs sink into the water. Shivering Fae looked down at the fifteen foot deep pool and thought about how long she could hold her breath for 'only a few minutes max, if I can feel around for the air pockets it should be more than enough.' Fae swallowed air for a second and then let herself drop fully into the water.

The cold hit her like a freight train, the pool was definitely colder than the air outside, and Fae gave herself a few moments to adjust before she opened her eyes. The pool was still lit by some of the light coming into the dim cave, and from inside the pool it now became clear that there was a small passage leading deeper into the cave completely submerged. From above this passage just looked like a small cleft in the rocks, it took diving inside to see it. Fae began swimming into the passage, barely wide enough for her to swim comfortably as the light faded.