[F01-PP] Never Give Up! <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>>

[Nora 0]

It was a beautiful day and Nora was feeling a lot more confident about her combat skill, but also very silly. Since all the way back from when she first started the game, she has know that there are beginner's quests. Even so, she didn't think much of it and it appears that she was running around in circles outside of the beginner's quest. It was free exp for the taking and it has a level restriction, and yet she almost missed it! If it wasn't for that nice old man at the tavern that told her about it, she would have missed it! But no matter, stepping onto the stone road as she travels towards Zackariah's place to Lyn's workshop, she has her mind set on the mission.

Once she got there, she was greeted by a friendly old gentlemen who tasked her with some very simple task. Finding 5 materials.....all of the sudden, nightmares of her performer's quest flashes before her eyes once again. She was doing her performer's quest for so long, and finding nothing for so long. This was giving her the same vibe, same recipe. Finding 5 materials and crafting. Well, she has learned her lessons now and she will bring help this time around! More people means more luck....right? She has previously send a private message to someone she knows asking for help, and now is just waiting outside of the shop's door, leaning on the wall and looking at the clear blue sky, waiting for her friend to arrive. Zackariah is inside of his shop drinking tea calmly. It was a peaceful day indeed.

@NIGHT

Edited November 2, 2019 by Nora

[NIGHT 0]

If help was so needed, help was to be granted. NIGHT checked the message she got from Nora as she finished up her meal, before shooting back a, "Got it, I'm on my way," to her, stuffing the last piece of french toast in her mouth.

Now, where was Zackariah...?

It was a little difficult to figure out, given that his quest marker had disappeared (and retracing steps would bring up some awkward memories), but she'd manage to figure out the way by picking out someone in standard-issued adventurer's gear and tailing them from a distance towards the shop. I hope nobody sees me...

As she approached closer, she spied Nora, leaning against the wall and enjoying the sunny blue sky. "Yo," she called out, breaking off route from her original target to head over. "<<First Few Lessons Are Free>>, right? It's..." she scratched her cheek, "It starts out a gathering quest, so I can keep an eye out for danger whilst you search."

Spoiler

NIGHT 
Lv: 6 | HP: 120 | EN: 12
DMG: 4 | MIT: 17 | ACC: 2 | EVA: -
RECOVERY: 2 | THORNS: 1
SP: 13 | Col: 4,245

[Skills]

1. Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 1/5
2. Heavy Armor | Passive | RANK 1/5
3. - - -

[Examine]

• [T1E3] Jack's Executioner
  "WEAPON: A black greatsword with a rusty texture. The rain guard appears to be larger and has more spikes along its side than necessary. Along its bevels at the center are streaks of orange, befitting of Halloween."
  -- [ Burn I | Natural critical attack rolls of 9/10 deal 12 unmitigated burn damage each enemy turn for 2 turns. This effect does not stack, but can be refreshed. A hit must occur to activate the status condition. ]
  -- [ Blight I | Natural critical attack rolls of 9/10 deal 12 unmitigated blight damage each enemy turn for 2 turns. This effect does not stack, but can be refreshed. A hit must occur to activate the status condition. ]
  -- [ Cursed | This item cannot be traded to another player or leave the player's inventory. If two players are married with a Cursed item in their shared inventory, either player may access the item. This item automatically adjusts its Tier to the player it's equipped to. ]
• [T1E2] Standard-Issue Heavy Armor
  -- [ Mitigation I | + 9 MIT ]
  -- [ Thorns I | Successful non-critical attacks against you deal 9 unmitigated damage to the attacking enemy. Only activates on damage dealing, melee attacks. ]
• [T1E2] Cross-hair Lapel Pin
  "TRINKET: A crimson pin with a golden trim, one out of a few, made for the collar. It's shaped into a cross-hair."
  -- [ Accuracy II | +2 BD when attacking. Cannot be used to cause a critical hit. ]
• [T1E2] Reinforced Crystal-streaked Ear Cuffs
  "TRINKET: A long, smooth and wrapping silver ear cuff, with a thick blue crystalline streak running across it. Much more durable than its counter part."
  -- [ Recovery II | Regain 2 additional energy on natural CD rolls of 6+. ]

- - - - - -

• Starter Healing Potions (3) --- Heals 50 HP.
• [T1] Uncommon Health Potions (5) --- Heals 40 HP.
• [T1] Damage Potion (1) --- +1 DMG for the duration of 1 thread.
• [T1] Over-health Potion (1) --- Provides a 'shield' of 50 HP on top of your maximum health for the duration of 1 thread.

[Misc]

• Aincrad Trading Post Guild Membership
  -- [ ATP Guild Bonus | +5% more col from killed mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. ]

 

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by NIGHT

[Nora 0]

Nora's head turns around at the sound of someone approaching over here. She turns around and saw Night coming over.

She immediately lit up a smile at the sight of Night coming over this way. "Hi Night!! Thank you for coming here and helping me."

 "Yo," she called out. "<<First Few Lessons Are Free>>, right? It's...""It starts out a gathering quest, so I can keep an eye out for danger whilst you search."

Nora blinks. "That's right, but how did you know about it...? How you also down this quest as well?" Nora asked as she walks toward Night and stood by her side. Together they started to make their way towards the boar's field just outside of the town of the beginning.  Nora looks around and started to search for materials as soon as they were out of the gate, the guards NPCs nodded at them as they pass the threshold.

Keeping an ear out for any incoming danger and listening to Night, she recalls her performer's quest as well. "Sorry about last time, I couldn't drag you through that, it was a really draining ordeal just on my own. I searched the place over and could only find three materials, the last two materials that I got was from boar loot drop. I found it easier to get material by loots, since all I need is an odd CD or LD roll. "

Nora was oddly silent for a brief while, not sure how or if she should say this. But eventually she did come clean. "It was odd. I saw some other players getting killed by boar because they didn't have healing potion. It changed something within me, and reminded me to be careful and not get too carried away."

Roll: 127789; LD 1 <<critical nothing>>

@NIGHT

Edited November 2, 2019 by Nora

[NIGHT 0]

"Yeah, it was the first quest I picked up," NIGHT confided, following alongside Nora. The two kept a rather steady pace as they made their way over towards the outskirts of town. "It was dark out, and usually in most other games they'd have you running around town first, but I got caught scavenging around benches by someone else," she continued, placing a hand at the back of her neck. "It... wasn't fun finding out about the truth. I'd spent a frustratingly long 10 minutes looking..."

Passing the threshold, NIGHT looked around, trying to spot any identifiable gathering points by far sight alone. Nora, on the other hand, lead them to a close patch, near the town walls, and began her own search. As she did, she spoke up. "Sorry about last time, I couldn't drag you through that, it was a really draining ordeal just on my own."

"Hey, that's alright. Earning a Living's all over the place, really," NIGHT commented with a tilt of her head. This is a little close... well, maybe we'll get lucky. Squatting down, she began rifling through the grass patch as well.

"I searched the place over and could only find three materials," her party member disclosed, recounting her own tale. "The last two materials that I got was from boar loot drop. I found it easier to get material by loots, since all I need is an odd CD or LD roll."

NIGHT sighed with ire as she, too, recalled the note in the quest log. "You know what? Same here; I'd given up after the first 2 materials, and I was hoping I'd do great at that, but I resorted to hunting monsters anyway." Sorting through her memories, she also clarified, gazing into the distance. "I don't think we could do it for this quest though. If I remember correctly, Zackariah really wants some flowers, or maybe they were herbs."

As she waited for a reply, she looked back to Nora, who was oddly quiet, her movements slowing. "Hey, you doin' okay over there?"

"It was odd," Nora said, after a bit, her movements regaining their pace. "I saw some other players getting killed by a boar because they didn't have healing potions."

Wow. NIGHT could only imagine the horror -- she'd been lucky thus far to witness only trauma, and not an actual death of someone in-game yet. "It changed something within me," Nora remarked dryly, "and reminded me to be careful and not get too carried away."

"... I suppose if you took anything away from that," NIGHT mused, "that's as good as a lesson as any. I'm sorry you had to see that." Spotting a glint of light in the grass, she picked it up, holding up a blue flower gently out to Nora. "Here," she mentioned, spinning it with her fingers. "I hope this cheers you up a little. The flowers look like these, by the way, if not a different color."

Quote

ID: 127803 | LD: 20
1/5 Materials retrieved.

@Nora

Edited November 2, 2019 by NIGHT

[Nora 0]

"Oh!" Nora accepted the flower with a surprised expression. Her attention was completely captured by the beautiful flower. It was a beautiful looking thing, even if it has no magically quality for potion making, she was sure that it would still make a sell and now she wants to find more of it even more. "You found one!! That is amazing Night! You are so lucky~!!" Nora smiled happily and put the flower away into her backpack. One material done, just like that. "Speaking of which...I forgot to ask you what was your profession the last time we meet. I made myself a performer currently, but I really don't know...this is a surprisingly hard decision to made."

She looks more closely at the ground, especially around the bushes area in hope to find more flowers. Chatting with Night as they move around in their search. "Oh, speaking of which, I crafted a perfect masterpiece familiar's sight. If you want to capture a familiar, you can borrow it or we can do it together. It might help with finding the familiar."

Nora send NIGHT a friend request.

ID# 127812 results: Loot: 11 <<1 material>>

@NIGHT

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[NIGHT 0]

# placeholdr

[Nora 0]

Wait a minute....Nora suddenly has a bad feeling about the quest and just has to double check on the quest post again. She re-read the quest description and found that, yes, NIGHT was right. The quest can only be completed through non-combat means and in addition to that, she can't received help in searching for materials from other players. But fortunately, the requirement of searching for materials is lower to LD 11 instead of 15 and crafting needs CD of 4. This looks more of less do-able as solo than she has originally thought. With that, it sounded like it might be faster if she does this solo and not taken up too much of NIGHT's time. So she ask NIGHT if they could do the first few lessons are free quest 2 together instead. Since by that time both of them would have completed first few quests number 1. Searching yeld her nothing at the meantime.

127908 results: <<Nothing>>

 Battle: 7

 Craft: 12

 Loot: 8

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

After getting confirmation from NIGHT, Nora promises to visit her shop after this and set out to search for the flowers alone. The memories of her first quest flashes over her mind and she desperately hoping that it would not ended up just like the last time. She was having terrible luck back then, and she hopes that the new lowered required search value will yeld her better result. Nevertheless, it looks like this was yet another failed attempt at searching for materials. Despite keeping her eyes sharp and looking closely at the ground, she couldn't find anything like the blue flower that she has seen before. She wonders if there are any tricks in finding those flowers at all. Maybe certain flowers tend to grow in certain places, for example, where there are plenty of sunlight and not a lot of other taller plants? Nora tries to look around for something like that.

ID# 127909 results:

 Battle: 9

 Craft: 11

 Loot: 1

<<nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Nora looks around the field, trying to find a place where it is more or less like what she have guessed that she could find the flower. But there isn't anything like that that she could see. The green field outside of the Town of the Beginning stretch out far into the distance as far as the eyes could see. There are vegetation all around her, but this lively environment and the clashes and abundant of color making spotting a small blue color flower that much harder. Nora tries her best to search around and look for more of those flowers that NIGHT has shown her before, but couldn't find any. Maybe today isn't her day either..? She was getting just slightly dis-encouraged. 

She claps both of her hands against her face and tells herself to cheer up. Just don't give up Nora, eventually you will find it if you keep looking!

ID# 127910 results:

 Battle: 7

 Craft: 7

 Loot: 2

<<Nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Sometimes, more often then not, what determines success or failure is through effort and determination. Less so depending on skills but depending on the strength of the heart. She knows in her heart that if she gives up now, she will never succeed, but if she continues, she might be able to find something soon. She has to remind herself on why she was doing this again in her mind. It was to get stronger. They are trapped in this life or death game after all. If she gets stronger, then she could do more things and become more useful to others. Maybe then, she could even somehow help the front line in fighting a way to beat this game and returns to the real world. She is sure that her family is getting worried about her....as opposed to forgetting about her altogether. 

Thinking about her family always brought her mood down, and gets her worried. She shakes her head and tells herself to keep her head in the game and search for some more. 

ID# 127911 results:

 Battle: 6

 Craft: 5

 Loot: 8

<<Nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

She just can't afford to get stuck in a lower mood right now. She is on a quest and has to do everything in her power to see through its completion. Besides, if she got lost in her own thoughts now, what if she happens to missed those rare flower??? Then that would meant that she just wasted her time for nothing instead. Keeping her eyes closer to the ground and she carefully search for those rare materials, until something shiny catches her attention. She immediately shoot out a hand to grab it, temproprily forgotting that it was dangerous to touch the unknown. It could have been a monster disgusing as a rare flower and it would have gotten her as well.

But it wasn't. It was actually a rare material!!! What luck!!! It looks like her luck was finally turning around for the better! Maybe she could actually do this!

ID# 127912 results:

 Battle: 7

 Craft: 6

 Loot: 16

<<1 material>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Keep going Nora! You are on a roll!

She tells herself quietly in her own mind. She thought she reads it somewhere that flowers have the tendency to grow in groups. So if she find a flower, then chances are if she looks closely around the same area, she could find another one of those flowers....or is it the other way around? Maybe rare plants are territorial and does not like to grow near each other and may even kill the new plants if they are weaker than themselves, if they find them growing in the same area? No matter, thinking about it will not make a difference, it requires action. Nora looks nearby but couldn't find anything...maybe the latter train of thoughts is correct and she needs to look elsewhere? Nora bends down and trying to look more closely at the group of flowers to see if she could find more.

ID# 127913 results:

 Battle: 8

 Craft: 2

 Loot: 7

<<Nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

It might just been her lucky day after all! After looking at the group a little more, something tiny caught her attention. It reflects the sunlight on its petals, and that is how she noticed it in the first place. It was a tiny little blue flower with some rain drops still remain on its petal. There must have been raining earlier today, although the ground is more or less dry now, this flower still has some rain drop on it. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it was so small that it was hiding beneath some unindentified plants, making it hard to see. The larger plant blocks the sunlight from it, so the rain drops are not dry up yet. 

Carefully, Nora reaches out a hand to pick it up from the ground. She felt a little bit guilty at having to end its life like that...but such is the nature of things. Unavoidable really.

ID# 127914 results:

 Battle: 2

 Craft: 11

 Loot: 17

<<1 material>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Letting out a sigh of relief, Nora carefully holds the tiny little flower in her palms. Examining the beautiful little thing carefully under the sunlight. It was a nice and peaceful day. She knows that this tiny little thing is going to be turned into a potion eventually and feels a little sad at that thought. Maybe...just maybe...if she is allowed to keep them afterwards, maybe she could find one more and just keep it for herself...or better yet, use it as inspiration for a trinket or jewel that she could wear. She could submit a custom order for it and have it made. It will certainly makes her wallet sad though, trying to get stronger when she is this weak is eating away at her reserved funds. But now is not the time for those thoughts. She examine the group of flowers closer and trying to find more of its kind...she found yet another one!

 

 ID# 127915 results:

 Battle: 5

 Craft: 4

 Loot: 12

<<1 material>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Perhaps she was getting a little bit ahead of herself at this point. Just because she found two little flowers on a roll doesn't necessarily means that the lords above will show her mercy and let her find a third one on a roll. Nope! That is being a little bit too hopeful. Searching around this patch yeld her nothing this time around, which could be taken as a sign that she needs to start moving to another location and try another patch perhaps. Carefully, she packs away her previous findings and look around one last time. Doesn't seem to be anything here, nothing more to be find.

With a nod to herself, she gets up from the ground. Patting the dust and dirt away from her black dress armor and start going along the river path. Keeping a careful look out for anything that might catches her attention along the way.

ID# 127916 results:

 Battle: 10

 Craft: 5

 Loot: 1

<<Nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

This road is surprisingly narrow. Nora raises a hand to block away the branches that threatens to hit her over the head. She pushes them aside carefully as she walks along the river. The sound of the river running smoothly beside her is a welcoming sound. It was nice and static, a good little background music to smooth the soul. If she wasn't on a quest, she might actually enjoy this. Hiking and exploring the wild is one of her habits after all. Being peacefully in the nature is helping her to remain calm and helping to ease her nerves of facing the unknown. No wonder that this is the beginner's quest, it was a miracle that she hasn't encounter any kind of hostile monsters so far. Everything was at peace, there are even cute little birds on top of the tree branches. It was a shame that she didn't find any flowers this time around though.

 

ID# 127919 results:

 Battle: 7

 Craft: 4

 Loot: 7

<<Nothing>>

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

The river bed is getting narrower by the second and mists started to venture up from the nearby stream. Nora felt the change in temperature around her. This is strange....

From across the river, she could hear the sound of a waterfall and she briefly wonders if she was actually going down the right path. Just exactly, what kind of landscape is she wondering around in??? If she was out on an adventure for the fun of it as her habit, she wouldn't have minded it so much. In fact, exploring the unknown is where the fun came from. However, this is different. With the air temperature and moist level like this, and so much stone ground, she actually doubted that blue flowers can grow here. Besides...what if she runs into a higher level monster here?

She started to having doubts about her path, unsurprisingly she didn't find any flowers here.

ID# 127920 results:

 Battle: 2

 Craft: 9

 Loot: 4

<<Nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

It is not too late to change direction if she suspects that there are no flowers on this path. She isn't too far off to go back to where she came from, if she doesn't turn back now she runs the risk of getting lost alone in an unfamiliar place. The question becomes, should she go back the exact some path as where she came from? She already looked when she walks over here, if she goes back, it is unlikely that she could find any flowers that she hasn't find before. But if she attempts to find a short path or another path, what if she gets lost here?

Nora raises her hand and pulled out the mini map on her game system....and let out a sigh of relief. Good, it seems like this place is still on the map. She found a small path that can circle back to the Town of Beginning and changed her direction to go there instead. Finding nothing here.

 

 ID# 127921 results:

 Battle: 1

 Craft: 12

 Loot: 3

<<Nothing>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Nora started to make her way back to the Town of the Beginning following the short path according to the game map. This is actually a difficult terrain to navigate in. Since it looks like not a lot of players ventures over this place, no walking trail was created for this place either. Nora climbs up a few bounders in order to take a better look around and finding her exact location. She can't trust the mini map one hundred percent since it doesn't show the details, things like small cliff too steep for her to climb will not show on the map. Jumping down from the boulder, she found something amongst the stones. Nora steps closer and carefully removing the nearby stone, she found another one of those small flowers. At this point she has found enough flowers to complete her quest. She could start to make her way back now.

 

ID# 127922 results:

 Battle: 6

 Craft: 7

 Loot: 16

<<1 material>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora

[Nora 0]

Nora picks up the speed and speed across the field, going straight back to the Town of the Beginning. On her way back, by sheer luck, she runs across another one of the flowers. Even though she already have enough to complete the quest, a little more would never hurt anyone. Besides, just by reading the quest description, it looks like she was going to have to craft something as well. She could never figure out her rate of successful crafting so, as an extra precaution, she better have extra material at the ready too! What if she fails five times in a roll! She will run out of materials then!  This extra little blue flower will do just fine!

Smiling happily with her findings. She makes her way across the field and soon, the long walls of the Town of the Beginning was in her sight once again. It looks like she was gone for a couple of hours as the guards have changed. Must have switched rotation while she was away.

ID# 127923 results:

 Battle: 10

 Craft: 10

 Loot: 18

<<1 material>>

Edited November 3, 2019 by Nora