{SP-F1} Tutorial Guy does Tutorial Things <<The First Few Lessons are Free>> COMPLETE

[Pinball 1]

Pinball was sitting against one of the many buildings on the first floor, his head in his hands. He wasn't sad, just frustrated with his lack of progress. Pinball sighed, an event that had become all too common since the start of this death game. He needed a way to level up, and at the same time, get an idea of how the game works. Pinball sat there for a good thirty minutes, head in his hands, staring at the ground under him. Reminiscing. "... and then, Zackariah let us keep the potions we made!..." Pinball heard a voice walk past him, presumably belonging to a player. He stood up, brushed off his pants. This Zackariah had to be some kind of quest giver. He didn't know for sure, of course, but he decided he would have to trust his gut. He started jogging after the player, eager to find out just who this Zackariah guy was. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

From what the player told him, this was the place. He stared at the building. Weird how he hadn't heard of this quest before... It's a certainly useful quest, either way. Inside, he was supposedly going to find an old man, who would then go on to instruct him on creating a health potion. Seems easy enough, Pinball thought. He pushed in the door, after a quick knock. Inside, a man stood, half hunched over an alchemy table of sorts. He was examining some sort of red vial, lifting it to the window that served as the main source of light. All around the room were vials and glasses, filled with liquids of varying colours, or not filled at all. The old man hadn't seemed to take notice of Pinball, though he was sure he had knocked. The easily identifiable exclamation point over his head signified that he indeed had a quest to offer. Pinball breathed a sigh of relief. He had half expected the player to give him false information, but thankfully, that was not the case. He shut the door, closing it as softly as possible. Pinball stepped forward, towards the old man. "Uh... Hello?"

[Pinball 1]

"Oh," the old man exclaimed, quickly setting down his vials. Zackariah flashed a friendly smile, then continued, "So, I take it you're here to learn? The first few lessons are free, after all." Pinball stopped in front of the old man, examining the NPC. Pinball examined the old man. He did indeed seem old, but Pinball knew that he was just 1's and 0's, bits of code. Pinball sighed. He kind of felt bad for the man, being programmed to instruct the same thing over and over, without much change. Though when you look at it that way, the NPC's do have it off a bit easy, Pinball thought. They didn't have any life to live. But then again, what separated him from the NPC? Pinball shook the thoughts off. This wasn't the time for an existential crisis; he had a quest to do. "Yeah, I'm here to learn. What first?"

[Pinball 1]

Pinball listened intently while Zackariah filled him in with the details of the quest. "Well, see, I seem to have run low on ingredients. You're going to have to go gather some," the old man explained, always with a smile. "Don't worry though, you can find these ingredients in the wild," Zackariah said, flashing a knowing grin. "You won't have to worry about much, if you're careful." Pinball nodded, satisfied. It's not like Pinball would have been unhappy with fighting mobs,(quite the opposite in fact)he just wanted a relatively easy quest. And it seemed he would finally get one, with a bit of luck.  "Alrighty," Pinball said, returning Zackariah's friendly smile. He didn't know if an NPC would even truly understand an emotional expression, but it seemed wrong not to return a smile to the kindly old man. "I'll be right back with the ingredients!" And with that, the black haired youth spun around, rushing out of the house.

[Pinball 1]

As Pinball exited the NPC's home, a few things crossed through his mind. Firstly, he hadn't asked where he would find the materials. He started walking towards the City's exit. Pinball decided he would walk through the wilderness, avoiding any mobs, and once he walked for 5 minutes, he would start searching.Secondly, he considered the amount of time it would realistically take to find quality materials. It shouldn't be that easy, Pinball thought to himself. People were sure to have done this quest many times before him, significantly lowering the amount of choice materials. Well, whatever. Pinball would look for them regardless.  As he approached the city's gates, he thought about whether or not he should equip his dagger. Pinball hesitated, then decided he wouldn't need it. He stopped at the city's exit, taking in the landscape that sprawled before him. Pinball took a breath, and took his first step into the wilderness.

[Pinball 1]

Pinball had been walking for way longer than he had initially planned. What with detours to avoid mobs and momentarily getting completely lost, he had been out in the wild longer without having walked nearly as far as he had hoped. He decided to stop. He took a few good steps for good measure. Pinball stopped, took in his surroundings. He was in the fields, and from where he stood he could see many of the first floor's passive-aggressive mobs minding their own business. Besides the knowledge that if he got killed by one of them, it was a permanent game over, the sight was... peaceful. If the teenager had his way, he would like to keep it that way. Peaceful. He took a deep breath, exhaled. "Alrighty," he said aloud. "It's time to search for these materials..." He scanned his surroundings, looking for the ideal place to start looking.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball got to the ground, searching the dirt for anything that jumped out at him. After a minute of searching, he frowned. He could've sworn he had seen something, but he couldn't find one now. After accepting the lack of materials, he stood up with a grunt. Some trees in the distance had some bushes near them, creating a sort of mini forest. He decided it wouldn't hurt to search the trees and bushes for the materials. In fact, it seemed like a way better idea than shuffling around in the dirt. Pinball looked at the ground where he had searched and at the bushes not even close to being far away. Pinball was a bit embarrassed, seeing as how it was painfully obvious where he should have started looking, but he sucked it up and shuffled over to the bushes. Hopefully, with some luck, he would find the materials needed...

***ID#87197***

LD: 11 - Fail 

No materials found..

Edited July 24, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Something stopped Pinball from immediately walking over to the bush. It was late evening, 6:32 PM, if the digital clock in his field of view could be trusted. Far off in the distance, he could see a player fighting a boar. It didn't look like the boar was troubling the player much. It reminded Pinball that he would soon have to go off and do some fighting of his own. Gathering quests and quests where you punch boulders wouldn't last forever. Very soon he would have to start fighting. It was life or death. Ever since he had started writing, being sucked into a fantasy world was appealing. He wished for it, in fact. Now that he was here, though... well, he just couldn't decide if he liked it or not. One part of him told him that you couldn't like it. His real body was laying as still as a brick in a bed in some hospital, he knew. But another, almost twisted part of him enjoyed it. He didn't have to worry about anything from the real world anymore. His life had been going nowhere; anyone who saw him would know it. This game was almost a dream come true, for someone like him. These are ugly thoughts. Stop, get back to work... don't think about this anymore.

OOC: Linked to wrong post, Dice Result on next post 

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

As Pinball walked over to one of the bushes, it became quite obvious that it was holding no materials. In spite of that, however, he decided searching wouldn't hurt anybody here. He searched for a good 3 minutes, spreading every cluster of leaf and branch, searching along every twig and leaf, but ultimately found nothing. He sighed. It seemed that Pinball had been right about the players picking the materials clean. But Pinball wouldn't give up. He scanned the environment, and found another bush close by. The bush was located under a tree, and light seeped through the tree's branches, bathing the leaves in a golden light. He walked over to the bush, quite impressed by the quality of the grapics. This was not the time to admire the scenery, however. He had a job to do. As he prepared to search again, he took a deep breath. Getting psyched out wouldn't help his odds of finding anything. 

**#ID 87180**

LD: 6 - Fail

No materials found. 

[Pinball 1]

Another bush, another attempt. Dealing with all of these plants brought Pinball back to his mother's apartment back in Florida. They would often go to the beach, with Pinball sitting in one position, fixated with his writing. This, as you would imagine, resulted in very bad sunburns. Pinball had pretty sensitive skin, and the sunburns were usually painful. His mother would cut open a piece of aloe and rub the gel on his sunburns. He wasn't really sure if it helped or not, but he believed that these experiences helped bring him closer to his mother. However, in the present, it only made him gloomy. Pinball not so secretly believed he would die before he saw her again. Pinball searched the bush, seeing if anything would show up. Surely, third time's the charm... Something flashed in his field of vision. It was a material! He quickly snagged it, and after making sure nothing else was in the bush, straightened himself. It helped improve his mood. A little. 

*** ID#87194 ***

LD: 16 - Material found

1/5 Materials Collected

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

In his mind, Pinball had exhausted any materials that could be found in that are. Therefore, walking to a new location was the best option. At the moment, at least. He wiped the dirt from his fingers and started walking. He decided to keep an eye out for anything conspicuous, but without looking actively, he found nothing on his walk. He hadn't expected any other outcome, anyways. After a good walk, he came upon a lightly wooded area. Normally he wouldn't intentionally wander into such a foreboding place, but he decided he would test his luck. It seemed like the place to look for materials, what with it's surplus of wildlife. The only downside to such an area was the mobs that lived in it, but if he was careful, Pinball was sure he wouldn't have much trouble. He walked into the forest slowly, keeping an eye out for anything that even looked like it would attack him. It was the First Floor, so there shouldn't be many mobs that had the ability to sneak up on him if he was careful. Even so, Pinball moved as quietly and quickly as possible without any skill to assist him.

*** ID#87208 ***

 

LD: 8 - No Materials found.
1/5 Materials Collected

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Well, I never had great luck, thought Pinball as he stepped away from a bush. His most recent attempt  of searching for one of the five ingredients had failed. It was another empty bush. At this point, he decided he would have to switch tactics.His current way of doing things just wasn't working out for him.  He was looking in the same places over and over, and not only did that get monotonous after a while, but it probably severely limited the amount of materials he should be able to find. He decided to look for a different type of plant, Maybe a tree? Or some kind of vegetable plant, maybe... A shrub? Or was that the same thing as a bush? He walked deeper into the forest, only putting half his mind into making a decision about where to look, for, as he kept reminding himself, Pinball was in a very dangerous situation.

*** ID# 87210 ***

LD: 9 - No materials found

1/5 Materials Collected 

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

More because he couldn't decide where to look than because of decision, he went and searched one last bush. The sky was slowly getting darker, and without the Night Vision skill, he would be hard pressed to find anything in the forest. He searched as quick as he could without sacrificing proficiency, and surprisingly, he found something! He collected the material, a small message showing that he collected 2/5 materials required to move on with his quest. He looked up, and he had a rather bizarre idea. He walked up to the tree, started climbing it. It wasn't that tall, but if he was right, he might be able to find an ingredient when he did climb it. He grabbed a branch, pulled himself up. He stuck his head up from out of the tree, looking at the forest from a higher view. From where he was, he couldn't see where it ended, but he could see where he had entered. Back to work, he thought.

*** ID# 87220 *** 

LD: 19 - Material Found

2/5 Materials Collected

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

OOC: Messed up with the posts again. Roll used for the next post. 

*Doesn't count towards minimum req. posts

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

He stuck his head back under the top branches of the tree. It was time to look. Pinball searched along the many, both big and small, when he found what he had climbed the tree for. The idea that something might be in a tree hadn't really convinced Pinball, but the message informing him that he had collected another material told him otherwise. He looked down at the forest floor, jumped off the tree. As he hit the ground he rolled, like the people did in the movies. He didn't connect with his legs, but his shoulder and back sure as hell hurt. He stood up, then started walking deeper into the forest yet again. If he wanted to keep his little spree of luck going, he was going to have to widen his search area. Or at least, that's what Pinball thought. Either way, he hoped that he could get this part of the quest finished, and leave this forest before he was inevitably met with disaster.

*** ID# 87221 *** 

LD: 16 - Material Found 

3/5 Materials Collected 

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Night time was creeping up on him, and Pinball was aware of it. If he didn't finish this soon, he would be in trouble. He still had a long walk back to the city, even when he did finish. He was still Level One, he couldn't afford any type of crystal to teleport him back. Not that he would use it even if he did buy it. Those things were expensive, and he wouldn't use it on the First Floor unless his life depended on it. In his absent minded thinking, he couldn't find any material in the plant he was searching. He stood and sighed. He had just found two in a row, so he should be happy. He was irritated that he didn't find a third just as easily. Well, Pinball thought, standing and locating another plant to later search, I guess finding three that easily would be too good to be true. 

*** #ID# 87222 *** 

LD: 4 - No Materials Found

3/5 Materials Collected

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball half jogged half skipped over to the next area where he would search. When he reached the plant, he took a knee, and started his usual searching process. Spreading leaves, following branches, checking the roots, etc. Luckily for him, he found one. As the window notifiying him of his progress popped up, he couldn't help but breathe a sight of relief. At this pace, he would be just fine... right? He felt chills run down his back at his second guess. He had a bad feeling, but at the moment, he was just fine. Weirdly, he couldn't shake the feeling, no matter how many times he looked around to comfirm he was safe. He might really need that search skill, eventually. He didn't really know how he would go about getting the skill, as he was level one, but he knew it would help, at the moment. Uneasy, he continue on to the next plant... Much more cautious then before.

*** ID# 87224 *** 

LD: 17 - Material Found

4/5 Materials Collected

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball searched quickly now, not slowing at all. As he worked, the uneasy feeling got worse and worse. He found the material, collected it, and stood. Immediatly, he started running back the way he started. He felt like something was watching him. Something sinister. Something evil, very evil.  He ran as fast as he could (which wasn't very fast), every sense on high alert. As he neared the entrance of the forest, he tripped, and was forced to his knee. He quickly turned around, to meet face to face with... nothing. Nothing was chasing him. He had been running for nothing. Looking back on it, it must have been a fear of the night, not something watching him. But he wasn't sure. He stood up and speedwalked to the exit of the forest, leaving behind it's dark and ominous confines and whatever evil monster may or may not have lurked within. 

*** ID# 87225 *** 

LD: 17 - Material Found

5/5 Materials Collected 

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball's walk back wasn't as pleasant as it was on the way to the forest. He had to stop multiple times, avoiding the roaming mobs. Three times, he almost got attacked, but his running saved him all three. He sighed. The next part of the old man's quest better be easy. He didn't feel like spending another hour out in the wilderness, fearful of being attacked every other minute. After what seemed like an eternity, he came upon the city's gates. Feeling rejuvinated, he ran into the city, and laughed out loud when the words "SAFE HAVEN" appeared in his field of view. He finally made it! No more tonight would Pinball fear to die as he just had. Safe havens, he decided, are a blessing. Now, all he had to do was get back to old man Zackariah's shop, and do whatever else he needs. Which, If I'm lucky, isn't much.

[Pinball 1]

Pinball hesitantly entered the old man's house, unsure whether or not he would find him sleeping. Pinball wasn't entirely sure whether or not NPC's "slept", but either way, entering someone's house at night seemed profoundly rude. Much to his surprise, Pinball found Zackariah hunched over his working table, seemingly lost in thought. For a minute he considered leaving and coming back later. "Uh, Zackariah? I'm back," Pinball said, loud enough to wake the old alchemist from his daydreams. "Oh, why, welcome back!" The man  exclaimed with a bright smile. "I take it you've brought my ingredients?" Pinball nodded, and the old man smiled yet again. Usually smiling so much was a bit creepy, but Zackariah wore the look well. There wasn't anything creepy about the kindly old man. "Come, come, let's start the next part," said the alchemist, beckoning Pinball closer. The old man happily took the materials, and said, "With these ingredients, we are going to create a health potion." The ingredients materialized on the table, along with some other tools. The aged alchemist patiently explained the steps, and performed a demonstration. "Now," the man said, materializing the items to be used, "it is your turn." With that, the old man stepped back, with a faint smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Pinball