[SP/F1] <<The First Few Lessens Are Free>>

[Alec 0]

Alec awoke from his rented bed in the Inn. He stood and stretched the tight knotted muscles in his back. "If this was supposed to be a video game and not real life why in the world did he still wake up stiff and sore every day?" he thought. He looked around the meager accommodations of his rented room and scowled his usual morning scowl. Nothing had changed it was still the same bland adornments and minimalistic room as always. With a shrug and a rub of his bald head he lifted himself from his bed and heard the usual creak of the wooden bed frame as he lifted his nearly six and feet of heavily muscled frame from the small bed. He opened his inventory "At least he knew how to do that now, it had taken him nearly a week to master that little trick." he thought grudgingly, and equipped his usual clothes of a tan breaches, a vanity shoulder pauldron and bear skin wrap with leather boots as he crossed his room to the door leading to the hallway.

[Alec 0]

Alec grasped the metal door handle in his oversized meaty fist and pulled the door open and scowled at the hallway outside his door. Empty as usual but what else did he expect it was always empty when he exited his room every morning. He exited his room and pulled the wooden door closed behind him as he made his way to the stairs that led to the common room. The stairs let out their usual creaks and groans of protest as he descended them to the common room. As he entered the common room he scowled as he surveyed the scene. The usual people were all sitting in their usual seats eating the same usual breakfasts. As he did every morning Alex thought darkly to himself "Was every darn person in this game a computer program?" it seemed to him that no one and nothing changed from day to day. At this rate he'd never make it home to his with Gwen and son Danny. He lumbered into the common room and took his usual seat at his usual table and ordered his usual breakfast: two eggs over easy, bacon, toast and a cup of coffee. It was a routine from his days before getting stuck in this "game". After finishing his breakfast he Rose from his table and ventured outside the Inn.

[Alec 0]

As Alec exited the Inn he scowled at all the people passing by. The Town of New Beginnings was crowded as usual with people bustling this way and that off to do whatever it was they intended to do. Alec stepped out into the throng of people and only my his shear mass was granted a minor bubble amongst the sea of pedestrians. Alec had a destination today as the previous day he had overheard while eating dinner of an Alchemist in town who was offering quests to get "newbies or noobs" as heard them called get started in the game and learn how to access it. If anything Alec could probably safely consider himself a "newbie or noon" seeing as how long it'd taken him to learn just how to access his inventory. His son Danny would have had none of the problems he was experiencing he thought wistfully. Danny was an expert at these sort of games. Heck Danny would probably be on the front lines already clearing floor after floor. The thought brought a momentary smile to Alec's otherwise grim and gruff demeanor. Then his usual scowl came back as that thought the next one "Which means Danny would have been trapped her instead of me!" The only reason Danny wasn't stuck in here was because of Alec's distrust and overprotective nature. Thank goodness for that! Alec would have never forgiven himself if the rolls were reversed and Danny had been stuck in here instead of himself. "Stop day dreaming and going soft in the head!!" Alec thought angrily "focus on what's important and what's right now! Quest! Zacharia! I need to find Zacharia's shop! Get the quest complete the quest rinse and repeat. Make it to the front lines beat the game!" It was Alec's mantra he had to finish this damnable game if he was ever going to see his wife and son again....

[Alec 0]

Alec took a moment to utilize another handy ability he had picked up just last week. He opened his HUD and saw an overlay if the Town, upon which he input the information for Zakariah's Shop. A small blue dot appeared on his HUD with an easy enough to follow route through the city to the shops location. He made his way slowly and carefully through the streets toward his destination. There were so many people in this Town at least more than two thirds as many as the small town from middle America he was from. He had never seen so many people in one place at one time. He imagined this must be what the large cities were like: New York, L.A. and Chicago. He couldn't wait to find his way out of this flooded city and get somewhere with less people. But first thing was first, he had to make his way to Zakariah's shop and meet with the man who start him on his journey to seeing his wife and son again. Step by step Alec made his way forward till eventually he was standing before a small tidy shop with an old symbol for alchemy etched on a battered and worn sign above the door. Alec took a deep breath to steady his nerves, grasped the handle and turned the nob. His adventure was about to begin...

[Alec 0]

There was a faint but distinct tinkle tinkle as a small bell over the door announced his entry into the shop. Alec was pleased with the look and feel of the shop. It was small and quaint like many Mom and Pop stores back home. The shelves were clean and tidy with small vials in neat rows and various crafting reagents neatly organized by type neatly stored on the shelves. As Alec entered an older fellow (only hand full of years older than Alec actually) looked up from his work at the counter. He squinted towards the door first before taking his spectacles from his face and lying them next to him on the counter. Once he placed his glasses down his eyes refocused and a warm genuine smile spread across his face. "Welcome, welcome to Zakariah's Alchemical Supplies. I'm Zakariah how can I be of assistance to you good sir?"

[Alec 0]

Alec met Zakariah's warm inviting smile and found his mood lifting, something that happened only rarely since he found himself trapped here. A smile slowly crept across Alec's normally stern stony visage. "Hello sir my name is Alec and I have heard that you may be able to give me a quest to help me learn about this place and how to interact with it?" Alec asked as he extended his hand in offer of a friendly handshake. Alec found himself liking this man instantly, something that hadn't happened since he'd arrived here. Especially with someone/something he new to be a program. Most people he had met since arriving here all seemed to affect some sort of fake personality, and seemed to act the way they felt their "characters" should. Why couldn't they all just be who they were Alec mused instead of putting on fronts and false faces. Alec suddenly realized his thoughts were wandering and gave himself a shake and refocused on Zakariah.

[Alec 0]

Zakariah smiled a friendly welcoming smile and took the massive calloused  hand offered to him and gave it a warm firm handshake. "Well met Alec. Indeed, I can offer you a quest to begin you on your journey to understanding and interacting with the world of Aincrad. As you most likely have guessed by our surroundings and the sign  above my door Iam an Apothecary and as such I need reagents to make my potions, oils and ungents. I don't have the time to go out searching for the materials I need on my own to make such potions and concoctions, and that's where you come in good Sir. I need you to venture outside the walls of this fair Town of Beginnings and find me five suitable Tier 1 Materials outside the Town and bring them back to me here at my shop. So, Alec will you aid an old man in this humble endeavor and accept this quest of mine?" asked Zakariah, the whole while continuing to smile warmly and welcomingly at Alec...

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

"So let me get this straight" Alec responded with a note of confusion in his voice. "You need me to leave the Town of Beginnings and find you 5 Tier 1 Materials, whatever those are and bring them back here to you at your shop? You're looking for items like flowers and berries and roots and stuff? How will I know which ones are the ones you need. I'm sure some plants here are extremely poisonous when touched or consumed. I know which ones at home are dangerous but I gave no idea which ones would be safe for consumption in this place. Plus what are you making? I can't just pick plants all Willy nilly like can I? What if I come back with nothing that can be mixed properlt together? Then I've wasted both our times and that Sir is not something I don't intend to do." Alec responded, his normal (at least since arriving in Aincrad) skepticism began to show itself, pushing aside the ready worn smile brought out by Zakariah and his infectious positive attitude and ready warm inviting smile...

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

"Non sense non sense my good man." Zakariah replied with an even larger grin, if that was even possible. He seemed genuinely amused by Alec's dismay and confused state of mind. "Accept this most humble of quests of mine and go  forth from this Town and gather for me my Tier 1 Materials that I require to continue my trade and when you find one, it will become illuminated as a quest item and you can then gather that item and as such add it to your inventory. If it is not a useful item to your quest it will not be illuminated as a quest item and you can ignore it, for to pick one of these useless items would merely cause it to dissipate into nothing. Now, Alec will you accept my most humble of quests and find me 5 suitable Tier 1 Materials, so that I may continue to create potions that will help ensure the safe and continued survival of all beings in Aincrad?" Zakariah asked with a flourish and a bow...

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

"In that case I accept your quest Zakariah." Alec responded. "I will find you 5 suitable Tier 1 Materials and return to your shop before sundown today." replied Alec shaking Zakariah's hand once more. Alec was startled when he heard a series of musical notes and a banner flashed before his eyes announcing "QUEST ACCEPTED!". "That was unexpected." thought Alec. "But of course something like that was bound to happen wasn't it?" Alec smiled one last time to Zakariah and offered a wave of his hand and a warm smile as he turned away and headed for the door of Zakariah's shop. As he grasped the handle and pulled he was met with another soft tinkle from the shops bell as he opened the door. Alec took a deep breath to center himself as he stepped outside the shop and felt the smile that had so recently graced his features melt away as his perpetual scowl reasserted itself on to his face as he made his way through the streets to the Town's northern gate....

[Alec 0]

As Alec exited the Northern Gate and gazed at the rolling grass land in front of him he gave a contented sigh. To the North and West he could see a forest in the distance. To the North and East he knew from his recent discovery of the map overlay, lay a series of lakes. Alec took a deep breath of the "fresh" air and headed toward the forest. As he began his journey he opened up his inventory and selected some of his items. He clicked to equip his Reinforced Heavy Iron Armor, which granted him (according to the notation 18 Damage Mitigation) Alec wasn't sure exactly what that meant but he assumed it meant extra protection. Always a good thing to have he thought, as the armor shimmered into view around his torso. The armor appeared as a well made breastplate with little adornments and a more function appearance. Just like Alec preferred functionality over ostentation. Next Alec clicked on the One Handed Battle Axe and as he did a large double crescent headed Axe with a worn and sturdy wood handle appeared in his right hand. He hefted the heavy bladed axe approvingly and was reminded of a heavier version of the wood cutting axes he used frequently at home to split wood for their winter fires. That was why he had chosen the axe over some form of sword or spear. He had never in his life held a real sword or spear, but an axe he was very familiar with!! He then clicked on some small vials listed as Starter Healing Potions. He assumed they functioned as listed and guessed that they would be better in a readily available slot than simply sitting in his inventory. With that Alec continued towards the forest to find his quest items...

[Alec 0]

As Alec neared the edge of the large towering forest he began searching for his quest items that he would need to complete Zakariah's quest, Tier 1 Materials.

Roll: 112759

Loot: 10 (Failure)

Alec spent what seemed like hours ardously crawling through the brush on his hands  and knees searching around the ground and brushing aside leaves and stalks of plants, but finally came up with nothing that presented itself as a quest item. "Why couldn't it have been hunting or fishing?" Alec queried himself. He really enjoyed both of those activities and considered himself better than average at both tasks but searching for and picking flowers and such had always been Gwen's forte. "Oh well, if I want to continue trying to reach the end of this death trap of a game I'm going to need to keep searching thought Alec as he renewed his search for the most elusive thing he had every tasked himself with finding in his entire life...

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

Alec continued his search closer to the forest thinking maybe the Items he was searching for would be more likely to appear at the edge of the forest rather than the grassier area he had searched previously.

Roll: 112760

Loot: 1 (Failure)

Alec was beginning to become frustrated with his continued failure.  "Why was this blasted flower picking so darn difficult?!? Wasn't this supposed to be a Tutorial Quest or something?!? Had he set the difficulty to extreme?!?" These thoughts careened through Alec's mind, wearing away at his resolve. "He had to complete this quest!! If he failed on this his first quest he'd never be able to see Gwen and Danny again!! Gwen...Gwen...my lovely Gwen with her lusterous blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. Where would she look if she were trying to find a useful plant or root? There over by that log, she'd look there!" The thought renewed Alec's determination and he set back to his task with a single minded fervor and zeal....

[Alec 0]

Alec crept across the leaf strewn damp forest floor next to the gnarled old hollowed out log he had spotted earlier and began to gently dig with his bare hands into the soft damp peated earth next to, under and around the hollowed gnarled old log.

Roll: 112761

Loot: 7 (Failure)

"It's not here either!! Darn it!!! I swear I'm checking all the places Gwen would have told me to search if she were looking for usable plants, roots and flowers  Why am I not finding anything useful?!?" Alex berated himself sternly. "Apperantly Gathering in this game was much harder than he'd thought it would be. Obviously real life common sense places weren't where you would actually find the things you were  looking for in the real world. He'd have to knuckle down and keep looking, from here on out maybe he'd have to start searching in non obvious places that you'd never look in real life to find the same objects. Maybe just inside the canopy of the forest would be the place some of these most elusive Tier 1 Materials... I

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

Alec slowly and cautiously ventured slightly further into the deepen darkening forest canopy, thinking to himself to attempt to search in the rich soft mulch mounded at the base of the knobby old oak, spruce and hemlock trees where the dead leaves and such formed a rich soft sweet smelling base for plants and other fauna to flourish in the dark nutrient rich soil mounded around their bases.

Roll: 112762

Loot: 18 (Success!!) (1) Tier 1 Material

"Eureka!!! There's one!!!" Alec exclaimed with pure unadulterated joy as he grasped at a small multicolored mushroom with vibrant orange and red spots nestled at the base of the tree and hidden derp within some fresh wet leaves. At home he never would have had the  first thought to touch a mushroom  this sort of vibrant coloration. In the really anything with this much color to it would mist asduredly be poisonus. The brighter the color in the real world the more deadly it was if touched  consumed. At least that's what he'd always been taught. Thus was nothing like he'd ever seen at home but it was confirmed as he placed it into his inventory and was rewarded witha chime and a small banner announcing:

1/5 - Tier 1 Materials

With his first victory Alec began searching again with a new sense of optimism for the first time since he began searching for these damnable quest items.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

Alec's success at finding his first quest item that he needed left him with an enormous euphoric high and almost giddy sense of joy at his unbelievable good fortune. "No wonder Danny loves playing these video games so much Alec thought with a rueful smile. If they can cause this much of a sense of happiness. I can see the attraction" Alec continued his search for the remaining and elusive quest items, this time he chose to pick through a small shrub with brilliant green leaves the color of emeralds with jarringly bright red and yellow colored berries overcrowding each and every branch. The bush looked too good to be true and must contain a quest item. There was no way a bush that stood out this jarringly from the rest of the surrounding flora and fauna could be anything else but the Tier 1 Materials quest items he was looking for.

Roll:112763

Loot: 8 (Failure)

"Seriously?!?" Alec thought angrily. I would have thought for sure that that bush would have been or contained  a quest item. " you have got to be kidding me! Oh well I guess. Where do I start to look now for these mysterious quest items? There over by that large rock maybe, with any luck Ill be able to find some hiding over there in the shade of the large boulder of a rock!"

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo

[Alec 0]

Alec began to dig feverishly into the soft wet soil at the base of a large smooth moss covered rock with his bare hands like a fevered dog. He scooped up handful after slimy wet handful away from the base of the rock. He began to form a large hole at the edge of the rock exposing even more of the massive rock to the fresh air. The rock appeared to be made of some sort of sandstone or shale most likely. "Moist wet soil." thought Alec belatedly. As he continued to remove sopping wet handfuls of the rich black nutrient dense soil from the edge of the rock "That's where I found the last quest item. Let's try it again. Maybe lightning will strike twice"

Roll: 112764

Loot: 20 (Success!!) (1) Tier 1 Material

"Now we're cookin with Crisco!" thought Alec joyously. "Wet moist soil is the ticket! That's the trick, that's where all the lil suckers are hiding at!" Alec was ecstatic when he placed the tiny brownish yellow root into his inventory and was again rewarded with the same chime and congratulatory message:

Quest Item - (2/5) Tier 1 Materials

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

Alec rushed over to a marshy spot on the ground with a thick covering of soft lush emerald green ground moss. The moss was easily soft enough to make an excellent and plush pillow but Alec's thoughts and mind were laser focused on finding the Quest Items!!! Tier 1 Materials to be exact and now that he had their number locked in they were all his for the taking!!! He'd have this quest done in no time at all! Then it was a quick jaunt back to Zakariah in his shop to turn them all in and then start looking towards the end game!!! Completion of this game and the chance to get back to his wife Gwen and his son Danny, both of which he missed deeply and terribly with all his heart and soul. He was nothing without them! They were/are the center of his whole world and existence.

Alec gently lifted up on the soft patch of plush cushiony moss to reveal...

Roll: 112765

Loot: 13 (Success!!) (1) Tier 1 Material

"I knew it!" exclaimed Alec in victory. As he lifted a thick purple tuber from the ground beneath the silky mossy patch. "Soft wet soil!! That's where these are hiding at! I just got to keep checking in the soft wet soil here in the forest."

Quest Item - (3/5) Tier 1 Materials

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

Alec rushed hurriedly from the soft rich mossy patch to a soggy sodden patch of ground with several emerald green Lilly pads floating on the surface of the pool, of water. "Hopefully this spot isn't too moist of ground area." Alec thought to himself as he began to dig his hands deeply into the small pool of crystal clear water.

Roll: 112766

Loot: 2 (Failure)

"Drat!!!" Alec exclaimed angrily to himself. "The ground here is far too wet! I was hoping  that that wouldn't have been the case but of course I need to be searching in just damp ground not sopping wet ground!" Alec berated himself for wasting time on ant area that produced no quest items. He had searched far too many barren spots today to be making good time. He was wasting the day away and each failed attempt to locating the elusive quest items was only making the day later and night that much sooner to arrive and kill his chances of find the remaining quest items he needed to find. This was turning out to be a far more arduous and time consuming endeavor than he had originally thought. "Find five plants." he thought "How hard could that be?" he thought. It was proving to far harder than he had ever considered!

(3/5)

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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[Alec 0]

"Where to look now?" Alec thought to himself as he peered around the dark and deserted forest surrounding him. "If I were a Tier 1 Material Quest Item where in the heck would I be hiding at?" Alec began to tap his chin thoughtfully as he moved cautiously through the forest. "Maybe I've used up or picked all the soggy wet ground items? What if I start looking up here in the low hanging braches?" Alec pondered as he began poking through a lime green patch of stringy hair like lichen hanging from a low branch near him.

Roll: 112767

Loot: 14 (Success!!) (1) Tier 1 Material

"Boo yah!!!" Alec exclaimed excitedly as the patch of lichen lit up. Alec hastily grabbed the lichen from the tree and hurriedly placed the lichen in his inventory and was elated to her the awaited and oh so sweet chime of success and to see the most beautiful sight of the success banner! Now he only had one more lone quest item to find to finally wrap up this quest and put it behind him. Alec prayed that the following quests would be easier but greatly doubted the notion as he had heard that this quest was only a tutorial type quest. Each and every quest after this one was most assuredly going to be even more difficult and arduous to complete. A sense of looming dread threatened to over take Alec as the notion occurred to him but he quickly thrust it from his lest the thought over take him and threaten to engulf him in dread.

Quest Item (4/5) Tier 1 Materials

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Takalo
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