[PP - F01] Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>> (Rithe)

[Tsuisuta 0]

Having returned to the first floor in search of her sisters, Awateru was dismayed her search was still fruitless. Deciding it was finally time to take a break, she went over to the request boards to see if anyone was looking to help some lower level players. There still wasn't much to be had, as most offers seemed rather sketchy. It wasn't that she didn't want to trust people, just when someone words a request to sound like there's more to it she didn't want to take it. With little else to do, Awateru decided it would be best if she walked around and looked for some starting quest or other to do. She ended up in the main plaza, where it all began. That was the day her separation had been solidified. She had scarmbled around to search, but to no avail. And now she was back. If she was lucky, they might've stayed nearby that whole time. Awateru had scoured the place multiple times though and never found either of them. She sat down at the fountain, passively looking around while putting her thoughts into place.

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

Rithe gave a long sigh, and closed her menu. What am I doing..? I've spent long enough sitting and trying to wrap my head around this situation. I need to do something. Rithe stretches and examines her surroundings. The Starting City was an active place to say the least, but Rithe settled for a seat with a comforting view of the fountain in the main plaza. Rithe shudders as she remembers what happened here, and looks around to find a distraction, her eyes settling upon a girl coming to rest at the fountain. A player... Rithe's head began swimming with thoughts. I should ask her for help, maybe she can show me around and assist me for the first leg of my journey... Maybe I'm asking too much of a stranger. Rithe was now examining this person intently. An introduction couldn't hurt... I think I'll just try and keep it simple. Rithe starts to rise from her bench and approach Tsuisuta. 

Edited August 1, 2018 by Rithe

[Tsuisuta 0]

Letting her thoughts swirl about her, Awateru noticed someone coming up to where she was sitting. She gave a curt nod towards them, acknowledging their presence. Not feeling terribly in the mood to socialize, she didn't want to start a conversation unless someone else did. She continued to stare forward, letting her thoughts consume her. If her sisters were still nowhere to be found, then it would probably be best to work her way towards the front lines or at least try to make some news with her name on it. Unless that news was her death, she could use that to draw her sisters towards her. Remembering the stranger next to her, she realized maybe making some friends would be a good idea to move forward quickly. It was all too many things for her brain to figure out. She was only sixteen, and this game was making her lose her childhood to it. Maybe there was so actual reasoning behind it when people say video games are destroying people's childhoods.

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

Rithe nears Tsuisuta and sits down next to her at a respectful distance, and tries to find the words to say. "Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask if you could show me how to get around." Rithe awkardly plays with her hair for a second before continuing. "I've been hiding from what's going on around me for a long time, and I feel like I could use someone's help in understanding where to go and what to do." Rithe closely watches Tsuisuta's thoughtful face and notices her youth. Rithe feels somewhat guilty for relying on someone younger than her(while not younger by much), and puts her fingertips in the fountain water to cool her mind. Maybe this wasn't a great idea, I don't want to stress this poor girl out, it looks like she's been struggling just as much as me. Rithe looks up Aincrad's sun and soaks in its digital radiance.

[Tsuisuta 0]

The woman spoke up, letting Awateru not be the one to start the conversation. Turning towards her, Awateru gave a shrug. "I don't know much more than you, I haven't really done much myself." She kept her answers trite, not wanting to give too much of her thoughts away. Even though she knew they were trapped in here just like she was, she still had reservations about giving away her information publicly on the internet. "If you want, I heard that there is an NPC around here that gives a quest to help new players out. Haven't done it myself, was just looking for it actually." Awateru got up from her seat and brushed off the leather armor she was wearing. "Don't know where they would be, rumor has it they're in the plaza here though." Even if her sisters were nowhere to be found, may as well work to become stronger. She came into this game to prove she could accomplish something, would be best if she didn't go back on that idea now.

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

Rithe let out the breath that she had been holding, luckily for her this player that she had just met was offering direction. A quest. Something that Rithe would be able to focus her efforts upon. Rithe also rose from her seat and wiped her fingers on her leather tunic. "Thanks, I think that a quest sounds like a great idea." Rithe suddenly remembers.. "Oh! Right. Here." Rithe sends a party invite to Tsuisuta, and awkwardly sticks out her hand. "My name's Rithe." After introductions, Rithe scouts the landscape looking for a quest-giver NPC. If I were an NPC where would I be? Rithe's eyes pass over an old man multiple times before realizing that he has something that could be called a 'quest marker' over his head. "I think that's our guy. He looks like he has something he wants to say." Rithe waits for Tsuisuta's approval, and the pair approach the old man.

[Tsuisuta 0]

It seemed that the woman would be joining her for a quest, at least from her offer. After receiving the party invitation, Awateru accepted. She was about to start looking for the NPC when the woman introduced herself, holding out her hand. It took Awateru a little longer than it should've to figure out what Rithe wanted. She took her hand and shook it. "Tsuisuta." The two looked around for anyone that looked like they were handing out a quest. Though she had never heard of a player faking to give a quest, she wouldn't be surprised if someone would try and do that at some point. Once Rithe spoke up again, Awateru followed her gaze. sure enough, there was an older man with a quest marker above his head. It seemed the game wasn't trying to be that realistic after all. She nodded, "Well, you sent the invite, that would make you party leader. Take the lead." Awateru had grown accustomed to following others, always being stuck in someone else's shadow. The time would come when she would finally break out of that, but for now she was content to keep to the status quo.

[Rithe 0]

Without a concrete objective, Rithe wasn't the type to take the lead, but with singular task after singular task (like what a quest would entail), Rithe was much more confident. Let's see where this takes us. Rithe came to a stop in front of the man, Zakariah, and began to hear the details of his quest. The wild? Sounds dangerous. But this is almost like a fetch quest in older RPG's, so it shouldn't be too difficult. "You overheard what he said, right? Just have to go out there into the woods, and find some materials. Well, plants in this case. Then we just have to come back. Simple enough." Rithe glances over toward her ally, wanting to make sure that she doesn't feel like she's just being pulled around. "Sound good to you?" If Tsuisuta responds positively, then Rithe would accept the quest, plot a travel path on her map, and turn to Tsuisuta with a faint smile.

[Tsuisuta 0]

Awateru let Rithe talk to the NPC, listening closely. There wasn't much necessary information in their speech, but the quest itself wasn't seeming to be too difficult. "Sounds good to me," agreeing with Rithe that the quest would be rather simple. Pulling up a map, she looked for the quickest way to exit the town and head towards the fields. She didn't know if that would be the best spot to find what they were looking for, but it would be a start. As Rithe accepted the quest, she plotted a path on the map. Awateru didn't deign to smile back, just speaking up. "Let's get going, no sense burning daylight." She began to move out along the path Rithe wanted to take. It was still relatively early in the day, but who knew how long this could take. Last time Awateru had tried to go searching for materials, it took her almost an entire day to find nearly as many.

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

After a short bit of travel, the party finally arrives in the wilderness. "Hopefully there aren't any monsters..." Rithe spoke absentmindedly. The trees cast intricate shadows on the grass beneath her feet, radiance streaming through the leaves. "Despite our circumstances, this game can be pretty beautiful, huh?" While soaking in the environment, Rithe trips over a fallen branch, buts steadies herself before she falls. Right, we are here to do something. Rithe's efforts are redoubled as she searches for materials.

Spoiler

 

ID# 103860 results:

 Battle: 6

 Craft: 4

 Loot: 11(SUCCESS) +1 T1 Material [1/5 collected]

 MOB: 8

 

Rithe peruses the soil for the ingredients that Zakariah requested, going back and forth between her menu and her surroundings. Before stopping and looking at a small brown mushroom. This is a material? Okay then. I guess they can take any form. "Found one! It's really difficult to determine between regular objects and materials isn't it?" It's kind of tedious, Rithe thought to herself. Time to keep looking, at this rate we will be done before noon!

Edited August 1, 2018 by Rithe
roll

[Tsuisuta 0]

As the two went outside of the Town of Beginnings, Awateru immediately began her search for materials. She was a little familiar with what to look for, though she didn't know if it would be different for the old man than it had been the last time she was out here. "There aren't a lot of monsters near the town, we should be fine. Just don't go near anything that looks like it's painful." Awateru kept searching, letting out a little huff of breath as Rithe commented about the appearance of the game. She didn't really care that much about how it looked, they were still trapped in here. Finding herself a small crystal buried in the dirt, Awateru quickly went over and harvested it. "I've been out searching before, it shouldn't be too tricky. Don't know if that NPC wants anything in particular though. Guess we'll find out soon enough."

Spoiler

Roll ID: #103865

LD: 19 - Material found (1/5)

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

Rithe notices her companion's dismissive reply to her comments about the aesthetics of the world. I can understand her line of thought, everything else seems unimportant when you look at the grand scheme of the death game. Rithe pushes her hair behind her ear as she kneels down to inspect a patch of clover, glancing to Tsuisuta to notice a crystal being freed from the earth. What?! A crystal? Zakariah is asking for all kinds of strange things. Rithe becomes more focused, forgoing conversation in favor of completing her foraging more efficiently. Rithe rises and brushes the dirt off her tunic, looking around herself carefully. At least we aren't in any danger, according to my ally here. Rithe surveys the area apprehensively. But being outside of the safety of the City, makes me a little uncomfortable. Rithe straightens the collar of her tunic, and continues the search. 

Spoiler

ID# 103871 results:

 Loot: 4(failure) 

Rithe picks up a thorned flower, inspecting it. This looks promising. But after cross-referencing with what Zakariah wants, it is discarded as unneeded. Hmm, this might take longer than I thought.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Rithe
Loot roll

[Tsuisuta 0]

Awateru looked around for more materials, and came up short. She didn't know if there were other things that she should be looking for or if the crystals she had gotten last time would suffice. Based off of what kind of facilities were near the man, he seemed to be some sort of brewer or alchemist. There wasn't really an equivalent to alchemy in the real world, so she didn't know what kind of things would go well in brewing a potion. She watched Rithe reference a sort of list, and wondered why she hadn't gotten one. Maybe it just had to be shared, or maybe she had never found it in the menus with their terrible interface. Regardless, she would keep looking around for others things to grab. Even if they weren't nearby, they could look further away from the Town of Beginings. "This place is probably stripped clean by other players. If you're willing to we can venture a little further out. Don't know if there'll be monsters though."

Spoiler

Roll ID: #103873

LD: 8 - no mats (1/5)

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

The materials in this area had gotten so sparse, that Rithe was lifting up rocks to examine the lichen that grew there. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be of any particular use. "You're probably right." Rithe hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, let's move a bit deeper in." Mild paranoia sets in, as the forest gets more dense, and darker as the many branches carpet the wilderness in shadow. Alchemy. Seems interesting. I wonder if a player can get an alchemy skill or something. Rithe vaguely recalls giving a cursory glance at the noticeboard at some point. Actually there was something called 'Earning a Living'. Maybe I'll do that next. Rithe yawns as the foraging continues. 

Spoiler

ID# 103877 results:

 Loot: 17(Success) +1 T1 Material [2/5 collected]

Pushing aside a branch, Rithe steps into a clearing filled with wildflowers. Her breath catches in her throat at the sight. While I understand Tsuisuta's thoughts, this is incredible. Rithe's thoughts are interrupted when she notices a light blue flower growing under a patch of what appeared to be daisies. Now that's more like it.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Rithe
loot roll

[Tsuisuta 0]

As the two went into the forest, Awateru kept looking for more materials to gather. She noticed Rithe found a patch of wildflowers, but didn't see any others nearby. If there were things hidden under the logs around here, she would have a bit of a hard time. Even if the game did give an artificial boost to her strength or even just lighten the weight of objects, she wasn't sure how well things could be lifted. She resorted to looking up, hoping to find some low hanging fruit on the trees. Not finding any, Awateru just kept looking around. Hopefully being in a denser part of the forest meant that there would be more resources, as players wouldn't come here as often. She had figured out that things did respawn, but there certainly wasn't a way to figure out how fast. At least not that she could figure out.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #103878

LD: 3 - No Mats (1/5)

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

Rithe's immersed in the clearing of flowers, scouring the foliage for any indication of craftable materials. Rithe's thoughts drift to her future career in alchemy. Healing potions to stay healthy, damage potions to stay strong, safeguard potions to stay safe. If I plan on getting out of here, I'm going to have to use everything I've got. Rithe's adaptive mind is running on overtime, planning her future and managing her foraging efforts. At some point I'll need a better weapon, better armor, more accuracy... Rithe starts quietly rambling about the necessities of her future under her breath, while plucking vividly colored flowers from their moorings in the dirt. She stops herself and glances at Tsuisuta, red-faced. "Sorry, I'll shut up now." I'm probably annoying her, she seems like the straightforward no-nonsense kind of person. Rithe breathes deeply and lets the embarrassment pass. 

Spoiler

ID# 103892 results:

 Loot: 12(Success) +1 T1 Material [3/5 collected]

Rithe tugs at a root, which dislodges abruptly, sending her falling onto her back. "Another one? Must be my lucky day!" Rithe stashes the item in her inventory and keeps looking, now prone.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Rithe
loot roll

[Tsuisuta 0]

Awateru was trying to find more materials, but she couldn't figure out what the old man would want. There wasn't anything that looked like would go in a potion, but what was she to know. She held little interest in the alchemical field and didn't even know of its existence until recently. She kept looking around in vain. She heard Rithe scold herself for muttering, though Awateru had barely heard it. "You're fine, wasn't really paying attention to it." As the two continued to forage in silence, she heard Rithe get another material. "Guess it is then." Awateru was getting a bit miffed at the lack of results her foraging was getting, but tried to not let it get to her too much. There was no sense in spouting off in anger towards someone right now when this was in her control. She could just keep going and foraging on her own for now, letting Rithe do her own thing.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #103894

LD: 2 - no materials (1/5)

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

Rithe seems quite pleased with herself as she scrounges for additional materials, a peaceful wind sweeping into the clearing, rustling the flowers and Rithe's hair. Rithe takes another deep breath, of the forest air. Aincrad can be very peaceful when not under attack, you can almost forget the serious nature of the game. Rithe snaps out of her daze and begins making her way out of the field of flowers. I think I've exhausted the clearing's supply of materials. Rithe notices her ally's lack of luck when it came to finding the ingredients. I better not mention anything, in case I strike a nerve. Rithe returns to her own patch of forest combing it closely with her vision, analyzing the curve of every mushroom, the petal of every flower, the leaf of every vine. 

Spoiler

ID# 103897 results:

 Loot: 1(failure) karmic balance restored 

But there's nothing. Just useless weeds and ferns, nothing substantial. Rithe sighs, but maneuvers to another section of the woods, making sure to not get into Tsuisuta's way.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Rithe
loot roll

[Tsuisuta 0]

As Awateru noticed Rithe walk away from this clearing, she decided to give one last sweep with her eyes before leaving herself. Though there wan't going to be much of a threat on a floor this low, they were both pretty low level and she didn't want to get separated. Noticing what looked like some sort of pine cone, Awateru got closer and realized she could harvest it. It wasn't much, but it meant she was a bit closer to finishing this quest. She hoped that Rithe would finish about the same time as her, that would mean less time for people to be waiting on the other. She didn't think that the materials for the quest would be tradeable, though they did seem to be a bit more plentiful then when she went to find the ones to get her profession.

Maybe my profession's materials were just a bit rarer, stll don't really know much about this game.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #103903

LD: 17 - Mat found (2/5)

@Rithe

[Rithe 0]

At this point, Rithe's is digging into the soil of these woods just for any loose root or crystal, as her companion found. Kneeling amongst the grass, Rithe looked around to make sure that Tsuisuta was within her eyesight, before resuming her search. Systematically categorizing every inch of the forest, based on its importance to the demands of her current quest. So much forest, so little time. Rithe sneaks a peak at the sun, noting its new position in the sky, through the thick veil of tree canopies. How long has it been? A few hours? Time flies when you're working hard... Rithe stretches on the dirt, and rises to her feet. Guess it's time to check another part of the wilderness. Rithe delicately moves to another area, making sure to remain where Tsuisuta can find her and searches in earnest.

Spoiler

 

ID# 103913 results:

 Loot: 3(Failure)

Nothing here either. I wonder how Tsuisuta's doing. Ah, well. She's not really the conversational type from what I've gathered.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Rithe
loot roll