[SP-F1] The Quest to find More Cigarettes! Pt. 1

[Ronin 0]

The blacksmith chain smoker had gotten an early start today.  Well, perhaps not really, since it was somewhere around noon or so when he first cracked open his eyelids.  He couldn't be to blame however, because his little shanty of a shop was where he had been staying lately and it didn't really have the most comfortable of sleeping quarters.  For now, he had taken to calling  wooden chair butted up against the wall his bed and he woke up day after day with a crick in his neck.  He sighed and rubbed at it, like always, before stepping outside his shop and sparking up a cigarette.  What was today going to bring?

[Ronin 0]

From what he could tell, standing there in the little doorway of his [censored] hole of a shop; the weather looked pretty overcast today.  However, despite the cloudy sky, the air felt pretty warm and he sniffed at it in between drags of his cancer stick.  "Mmm... where's a drink when you need one..." he grumbled to himself, before accessing his inventory and conjuring up a bottle of water.  He made a mental note to start carrying soda and hot chocolate in there too, so he could have something a little more tasty to drink in the mornings.  Perhaps even just some chocolate milk... the dark chocolate almond kind.

[Ronin 0]

Thirsting for something more flavorful than water, he made the most of what was available and swigged at his clear liquid in between his drags.  He looked from the sky, to the area around his shop, wondering if he ought to start sprucing the place up a bit?  He pursed his lips around the filter of his cancer stick and nodded his head, deciding that was a great idea.  He lifted his arms overhead, stretching out and deciding he would finish his smoke and water, then go and find something to eat, before getting started.

[Ronin 0]

Pursing his lips around his smoke again, he took another drag and decided to head to his left.  He hadn't explored ALL of the Town of Beginnings yet, but he was beginning to learn the layout of the land. He ventured down the street, thinking how nice it was that he could simply leave his shop and all the gear in there unattended while he went off in search of food and drink.   In the real world, you couldn't get away with such things and when you got back to your store, you'd find it ransacked and looted for everything inside.  So far, he hadn't had that problem here in the game...

[Ronin 0]

Strolling down the street, he peeked down at the surface of the terrain beneath his boots. He wondered how the mapping had been done and he suddenly crouched down and began examining it.  He was something of a video game nut and had played countless games over his life.  He was always fascinated by how the little things worked.  All the little details, all the little specs and nooks and crannies, those were what he liked to look at and explore.  He was always looking for bugs and ways to break the game as well and so far, he hadn't found any here in Aincrad.

[Ronin 0]

Ronin cracked his neck and pushed on his thighs with his hands, standing back up.  The ground seemed cool enough, rough and patchy in some spots and nice and smooth in others.  It was some sort of cobble stone texture and he had even dug his finger tip into the grooves to inspect it further and see that it actually had some depth to it and wasn't just a map.  He shook his head, unable to believe how incredible this world was.  Whomever had spent the time to make it, had pulled out all the stops and done a phenomenal job.

[Ronin 0]

As he continued to stroll along, marveling over the world around him, he sniffed at the air again, picking up on the scent of something... delicious.  He licked his lips, heading straight toward that wonderful smell and knowing that soon he would find something to eat for breakfast and get his stomach full.  Once he was sated, he'd be able to head back to his shop and start moving things around, straightening up the place and turning it into something a little better.  Up until now, he hadn't cared too much about it, but that was going to change.

[Ronin 0]

Following his nose, he moved slowly along, puffing at his smoke and finally spotting a little restaurant up ahead.  Walking up to it, he looked at the front of the store, realizing it was some kinda' health nut food store.  He sighed, feeling like he wanted something greasy and shitty to eat right now, not some salad greens.  Normally he was on a vegan diet, but right now he wanted some kind of donuts or pastries or something that would weigh heavy on his stomach.  There were certain occasions when you just wanted to eat good [censored] and this was one of those times.

[Ronin 0]

Peeking his head inside the shop, he called out to see if any NPCs inside might be able to help him out.  "Eyo, you guys got anything good to eat here?  You know... besides the healthy [censored]?"  He paused, waiting for a reply but didn't hear a sound.  "Ah [censored] it..." he cursed, turning away from the shop and heading off down the street in search of something else.  There had to be a McDonalds around here or some [censored] right?  There had to be something better than salad and vegetables right now and he needed to locate it asap!

[Ronin 0]

Finally arriving at a little bodega like shack, the Ronin paused, pursing his lips and nodding his head.  "Oh yeah, this looks more like it," he said, stepping inside and looking around.  It was perfect, just like a 7-11 back in the real world.  There was something for everyone in here.  Soda pop, potato chips, candy, chocolates, liquor, smokes; all the good stuff.  Ronin smirked and snatched up a buncha different goodies, before finally heading to the little donut case near the front of the shop.  He looked through the glass wondering which one might be the best, before finally picking out a glazed twist and a chocolate caked!

[Ronin 0]

With his donuts in hand and all his other chips and pop and other goods, Ronin stepped up to the counter and greeted the cashier.  "Eyo, what's going on... just like to grab this stuff and a uh... pack of those american spirits up there... the..."  The swordsman suddenly paused as he was looking over the different packs on the shelf behind the cashier.  [censored], where the hell was his brand?  They had the light blue american spirits, but they didn't have the turquoise pack that he liked and preferred.  The swordsman sighed and hung his head, instantly feeling defeated.  "[censored]..."

[Ronin 0]

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" he blurted, feeling extremely annoyed and wondering what the point in having a shop like this was, if you weren't going to carry the brand that the swordsman smoked.  He thought back trying to remember where he had picked up his first pack upon entering into this game world.  Perhaps it had been a quest reward or something?  He sighed, not knowing and paid for the rest of his goodies anyway, deciding to buy a black and mild for the time being, until he could find some smokes of his own.

[Ronin 0]

With a heavy sigh, the smoker stepped back out into the outside world and reluctantly sparked up the black and mild.  He didn't much care for 'em and kind of hated them actually, but desperate times and all... you know.  He shook his head as the little cigar sparked up and he took a couple drags at it.  "Bleh... these things suck," he admitted, knowing how badly he just wanted a real cigarette.  It was kinda' funny that this virtual world had these smokey treats anyway, but Ronin wasn't going to argue with something he craved. 

[Ronin 0]

As he huffed at his black and mild and had a sour expression on his face, he strolled back toward his shop, munching on one of the donuts he had purchased in between puffs of his smoke.  These black and milds weren't a real cigarette, but if you smoked on 'em long enough, you'd start to feel a little of the nicotine buzz and that was all the swordsman was really searching for.  Between the sugary donut and his smoke, the blacksmith was beginning to wake up and feel alright.  Now, he just needed to crack open one of the sodas he had purchased and get to work on cleaning up his shop a bit.  Seventh Heaven could definitely use a little makeover.

[Ronin 0]

Arriving back at his little [censored] hole of  a shop, Ronin looked over the place with a bland expression on his face.  Smoke from his little cigar trailed off into the overcast sky above and he grumbled.  Plucking the smoke from his lips, he finished off the last bite of his donut and set his bag of goodies down on the ground.  He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his little shop for a good long while, trying to decide where he would even begin.  This was going to be a daunting task and maybe it would be better to have someone like Jambi here to help him...

[Ronin 0]

Grumbling and kicking at the  ground with his steel toed boot, Ronin felt more than overwhelmed with this task he had set out upon.  He eyed the shop for a long while, but still had no ideas of how exactly to go about fixing the place up.  Maybe he was just a little lazy, or maybe just not quite fully awake and moving yet.  Either way, he wasn't making a damn bit of progress and he knew it was majorly due to the fact that he didn't have any real cigarettes left.  This damn black and mild just wasn't cutting it and before he could do anything about his shop, he needed to find some real cancer sticks!

[Ronin 0]

He rolled his eyes, turning away from his little lean-to of a shop and looking off down the street.   He continued to smoke at the black and mild, though he was only taking drags at it every once in a while now.  Maybe it was the taste, or the lack of harshness to them.  Maybe it was simply the fact that they were a cigar and not a true cigarette.  Maybe Ronin was just a picky asshole and needed to chill the [censored] out and just be thankful he could even smoke anything inside this death game.  Whatever it was, the swordsman knew he needed to make a change.  "Oh cigarettes... where are youuuu?" he whispered to the world, wondering if he might be able to get them to answer back.

[Ronin 0]

Suddenly a small piece of paper slapped Ronin right in the face.  He lifted his hands instinctively to his head, gripping at this face and catching hold of the piece of paper.  He pulled the parchment back a hair, blinking his eyes and trying to see what if anything was written on it.  To his surprise, it appeared to be a coupon for smokes.  The only problem was that the store the coupon was for, was somewhere that Ronin had never heard of before.  He sighed, his shoulders slouching slightly.  This was just another tease spitting in his face. 

[Ronin 0]

Ronin crumpled up the coupon and stuffed it into his pocket, deciding if he ever did find this store, he would use this coupon to get a discount on his smokes.  He sighed and turned his attention back to the black and mild in his hand.  Stupid thing was worthless and he needed to find a remedy for this situation soon.  "Alright, think Ronin... where the hell can I find my smokes?"  He pulled the coupon back out of his pocket and looked at the name of the shop again.  How did Caspar say to pull up that map again? 

[Ronin 0]

Doing his best to try and bring up the map, Ronin was finally able to access it and his eyes lit up as the menu popped up before him.  "Oh nice!" he cried out, knowing this was the first time he had managed to get his map up.  He studied it carefully, trying to spot where he was currently and look for any signs of the name of the shop he had read off the coupon.  This was going to take a while, simply due to the massive size of this map.  He shook his head, realizing each and every floor must have their own maps and each of them were just as big as this one.  "[censored]... I'm never gunna' find this place..." he sighed.