[F1-SP] <<The First Few Lessons are Free>> Is this a FETCH quest?

[Ceres 0]

Quests.

Of Course....

The key to bettering yourself in any MMORPG, ever, is through quests. Ceres always found them to be so damn bothersome. She spoke her frustrations aloud as she headed to the location that the marker was hovering over. "I swear if this is a damn fetch quest...it probably is right...." Ceres began to talk to herself, a terrible habit of hers. "Yeh. It would be." She began to tug on crimson strands of hair absently as her lilac eyes were focused on the map. "The first ones are always fetch quests. They're meant to be a simple way to introduce you to the game mechanics right?"

Ceres paused in front of the store - "Ah..." She turned on her heel and rose her eyes to read the hanging sign above ' Zakariah's Workshop' Celes rolled her eyes as she reached out to push the door open.

"Couldn't they think of a better name? OH let's create technology that traps thousands of people in a game but call the shop Zakariah's Workshop. Clearly they didn't have many writers there did they?" Ceres continued to mumble to herself as she entered.

 

[Ceres 0]

Like many other stores, this one had a small series of chimes from a bell above the door. A quaint sound that signaled 'Hello I'm here' to many a shopkeep. Be they player or NPC - Ceres had avoided most player run stores. NPCs were easy to handle because their responses whilst varied and lifelike - were nothing more than systematic data. Code. Zeroes and ones.

The shop was small, each side lined with shelves filled with vials of all shapes and sizes. Filled with reds, blues, cyans, ochres...some sparkled, some fizzled. It was oh so befitting of an alchemic store. Herbs even hung to dry amidst the wooden rafters above, creating a pleasant earthy smell. Ceres closed her eyes and breathed deep. "I suppose this isn't too bad."

"Ah! Welcome, thank you so much for replying to my ad."

Ceres' eyes snapped open. Before her was the old man who stood behind the counter. Wirey gray hair, so long it fell down to his waist was brushed neatly back and out of his face, apart from two shorter bangs that framed a grizzled beard. He wore an outfit made from blues and whites, with pockets strapped over his chest. A typical alchemist archtype. "They make the old men so rugged and handsome in games, don't they?" Ceres asked as she approached him, scratching her chin. He bore a few wrinkles, but not many. And there was no trace of liverspots.

He replied, not to her comment, but in general - to her voice.

"If you don't mind, I require you to venture into the wilds and procure five Tier 1 materials for me, I nee them to craft some potions. Please would you help an old man?"

A popup appeared before here with the option to accept or deny. This seemed...arbitrary, she had already accepted the quest - "What am I going to do? Say no and start this conversation chain all over again? Ugh. obviously not." Ceres mumbled as she selected yes.

Zakariah clasped his hands together in a loud clap. "Oh thank you kind warrior. Your actions warm this old mans heart."

"I'm sure they do." Ceres said as she turned on her heel, reading the information that came up when she accepted. This...was actually useful. She needed this. It explained how to actually hunt for materials. Something Ceres had no care to learn earlier - and no knowledge on how to actually do.

"Tutorial Quests... at least it'll be easy."

[Ceres 0]

Ceres stayed on the first floor because...

It was easy...

Simple....

The weather was always perfect, to a fault. Would it kill to have some variation? The mobs on the first floor rarely spawned - and you'd have to be a downright idiot to be killed by one of the boars that roamed the fields. The place was quiet - aside from the children and those who chose to be their caretakers. Usually, the place held a peaceful and jovial air to it. If one avoided the seedier parts of town, they'd never have issue.

The town itself...The Town of Beginnings...these days it was virtually deserted. Not many players had chosen to stay there, why would they? When most the stores, materials, and excitement were all above? Ceres didn't care for any of that. Heck, the only reason she was really doing these quests now were out of boredom. "

Maybe I shouldn't have bothered to do these..." She mumbled, twirling a strand of hair around her finger as she walked. "Imagine getting out of this place alive, without having completed a single quest -wouldn't that be a feat?" She paused. "A feat in laziness maybe... but a feat nonetheless."

A brief message flashed across the screen as a booted foot passed the threshold into the town - signalling that in just a few metres she'd be leaving the safe zone. The redheaded woman rolled her eyes. "Like there is any danger here." Sure there were PKers, but when was the last time anyone saw one? Let alone so far down?

[Ceres 0]

"Right let's see... this thing tells me materials can be found in most places, as most items can be considered a material. So....I could potentially just roam around and pick at the grass and flowers, fallen logs - even butterflies in the sky?" She snorted. "Reminds me of Rimsky. Except this time I won't eat the butterflies I pluck out the sky."

The wind picked up as Ceres walked further away from the town. The breeze was warm and pleasant as it picked up her hair and ruffled her loose clothing. "Why would anyone want to bother running around dark caves or volcanic floors when they have the subtle warmth and serenity of this floor?" Ceres asked herself. And... in typical Ceres fashion, she responded. "Maybe they grew bored. It's why I'm doing this after all..."

Then, just as if on cue - a single monarch butterfly danced into her line of vision. She reached out to it, but it easily danced out of her grasp. "Ugh. Not as easy as Rimsky made it out to be....stupid thing. I'll show you."

ID# 131575   LD: 5 - FAIL
Materials Gathered: 0/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

The tiny orange winged bug danced again to and fro in front of her, as if it was taunting her. Ceres wasn't sure if the game was trying to give it to her or if it was just happenstance. Ceres had to guess that certain parameters would be met during the quest. This was meant to be a simple material fetch quest right? So it made sense that a material would quite literally be dancing in front of her face.

A small frown fell upon Ceres' lips. "Mmm...." Was she doing something wrong? "I was sure I had it right...I know its luck but my luck surely isn't that bad."

She opened up her HUD again, re-reading the information. Ah, she had been doing it right - but it was just a failed attempt. Some fails resulted in the material being destroyed. Or, in this case, she assumed it would result in the butterfly flying up and away.

But still, the little monarch danced so tantalizingly close. So - Ceres reached out.

"Eargh..." She had caught it between her fingers and the sudden feeling of the wiggling wings fluttering against her skin shocked her. To think the game was so awkwardly detailed. It stopped moving and when she moved it to her inventory Ceres noticed its title change to 'T1 Material'

"Well...that wasn't so hard - but what...else would I use? Is it all just butterflies? What about flowers? Mushrooms? Rocks?"

ID# 131576 LD:12 - SUCCESS
Materials gathered 1/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

"Moss....water...baby fish...little crabs...sap...perhaps anything and everything could be a material. It'd be good to test this out and-" Another butterfly danced in front of her vision, actually, several did.

'Or I could just catch several butterflies and be done with this damn quest.'

Celes thought to herself as she reached out to [censored] one from the sky- but she missed. So she stepped forward to try again.

Ceres felt her boot catch on a....something (was there even anything there?) And she went tumbling, crashing down face first into a pile of white flowers.
"Oomph..." The redheaded woman coughed and spluttered, spitting out petals and dirt from her mouth. "So, I suppose that would count not as a fail, but a bad fail? Ugh..." Ceres propped herself up to sit on her behind, legs still sprawled out at her sides.

"Then...I wonder what a complete fail would be? Would it hurt the player?" She asked herself as she watched the sky, eyes dancing over the fluffy forms of cumulus clouds. "No. There'd be a warning if that were the case."


ID# 131577  LD: 3 - FAIL
Materials Gathered: 1/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

Ceres lay there amongst the flowers for a few minutes, closing her eyes. It was quiet. Relaxing. The sun warmed her skin and the wind cooled it as it rustled the grass and flowers around her. They worked in tandem to create a harmonious symphony of pleasant weather. "I almost don't want to leave here."

But she had a quest. For the first time since she entered Aincrad she had a gosh darn quest. If she gave up on it now, then what'd that make her? Aside from the obvious answer of quitter. Doing this meant more col, more col meant better food than stale bread. A better nights sleep than a hard bed.

"Anything can be a material right?" Ceres asked - and in response she grabbed a flower with the material gathering option selected and -

Boom

She held it in her hand, twirling it two and fro, the descriptor above it simply stating 'T1 Material'

"Ok...three more to go. I just hope that there's nothing more to do in this quest than collect these things. I really don't want to deal with a back and forth thing." Ceres muttered as she pushed herself off the ground.

Her clothes were dirtied, as were her hands but that didn't bother her.  "Where should I look next?"

 

 

ID# 131578  LD: 17 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 2/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

"It took me a few tries to get the butterfly, and I only seemed to get the one - If I tried to get the flowers again it'd probably result in failure.." Ceres spoke her thoughts aloud as she walked. "Maybe the quest has something set into it, so each material has to be different. Or perhaps it was all just RNG? Damn I really wish I had the opportunity to look into this game some more..."

Ceres, being the gaming and entertainment journalist that she was - had been given a copy of the game and its software. But the game itself was a complete mystery. Everything surrounding it was on complete lockdown. It's why she was so excited to be able to play it in the first place. Having failed to be a Beta Tester - she had no intel - strong NDA's were in place to avoid anyone knowing much about the world before its release.

So...it left here in this predicament.

Ceres kicked at a rock upon her travels.

A rock....

Selecting the gathering skill she picked it up in hopes that it'd turn into a material...but nope. Just a rock.

"Stupid Rock!" She spat as she threw it away.

 

ID# 131579 LD: 4 - FAIL
Materials Gathered: 2/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

Wandering around aimlessly wasn't going to get her anywhere. Ceres opened up her map on the HUD - noting that to the right there were a few red dots. Boars, no doubt. Good. She knew where to avoid then. The woman veered left, heading back toward town in a large loop. Between her and the town there was a small blue circle. A lake? That could be promising. There was water there...maybe some plants...fish? Bugs?

"If only there was a proper guide to all this besides the basics of 'find it yourself' I get this place is meant to be broad, open...and limitless but really...how much can one take?"

chirrup, churrip

The flittering sounds snapped Ceres out of her thoughts, she blinked and glanced around for the sound. Just to the right of her was a white and black bird, its head tilted to the ground as it hopped to and fro. "Oh." She knew exactly what kind of bird it was - she wrote a joke article on them once. "Magpies. You know you're known to be quite the little terrors." Ceres said with a small smile as she kneeled down.

"But I know you guys aren't that bad. Here -" She reached out toward it, if she could just get close enough - maybe she could nab one of its feathers. All she had to do was activate the skill and...


"SQUAARRWAARRK!"

The magpie suddenly screeched at her and jumped at her, flying up and swooping at her head. "H-Hey! I was defending you!" She screamed as she tried to shoo the bird away. "I just wanted one damn tailfeather!" It gave another screech before flying up and into the distance- out of sight.

"Is this some sort of sick joke? Are you being a jerk to me on purpose?" She shouted out to the sky, shaking her fist at a harmless cloud rolling by.

At least she'd be able to afford a shower after this.

ID# 131580 LD: 1 - CRITICAL FAIL
Materials Gathered: 2/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

Maybe going after living things wasn't entirely a good idea - bugs? Easy? Birds that are known to be territorial and attack? Not so easy.

"Ok...Back on track. If I head to the lake, there is bound to be fauna and flora close by, and the more things that crop up the more chances I have for materials. If I calm down and look at this logically... I could literally try anything...even this grass..." Ceres said as she knealt down to pluck a handful of tall grass with the gatherer skill activated.

Nope. Fail. She let the handful go and the wind picked it up and carried it away. Her peaceful day was beginning to turn into a stupid stressful mess.

"This is getting REALLY frustrating ya know!" Ceres spat.

Wasn't this quest supposed to be SIMPLE? Hell it was the FIRST QUEST made available to anyone, so why was it so damn hard to get something? To pick up materials? Geez.... some people did this for a living. They had the patience of a saint.

"Maybe materials are more valuable than col." Ceres mused.

ID# 131581 LD:7 - FAIL
Materials Gathered 2/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

Back to her original plan.

Ignore the other distractions and head there - scavenge for materials somewhere where many different elements were in the one place. According to the map she wasn't too far off, there was a patch of beautiful purple wildflowers. Tempting so tempting. Heck even just placing a couple in her hair...Ceres did adore the colour...

One step, then two steps toward the wildflowers before she stopped. No. She had a mission. A quest. Even though it was a stupid, foolish, boring quest - she had accepted it and dammit she wasn't going to let it get the best of her.

Ceres arrived at the small lake. Around its edge were reeds, so - it was the first thing she would attempt to harvest as a meterial. She reached out and with a 'snap' it came free, and in her hand it was clearly marked as another material. Her mouth broke into a grin.

"I knew it'd be a good idea to come here." Ceres said.


ID# 131587   LD: 19 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 3/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

"Easier than I thought... I Guess if I were to do this again I'd head toward a forest - somewhere where materials are less scattered. When they're grouped together like this, its easier to pick and choose."

Her eyes drifted to the small lake, "Well, I have been wandering around all day. It wouldn't hurt to cool off would it? Good. I didn't think so either."

With a 'hup' the redheaded woman took off each of her boots before discarding them to dip her feet into the water. She wriggled her toes. "Refreshing." The babbling waters were crystal clear and as she waded further out Ceres could see tiny fishes swimming around the lake bottom. They seemed to be nibbling at some sort of aquatic reed. "Bingo." Ceres reached down and picked one up.

Another T1 Material.

"Ok...just one more to go...I wonder if I should move on to somewhere else?" Ceres placed her hands on her hips. Her shoes were tossed to the side of the lake, and her lower legs were wet, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The water wasn't unpleasant. And so far, coming here had been an absolute success. So what was the harm in staying. The anger and frustration was bubbling away, replaced with a sense of accomplishment.

"Is this what others feel when they do quests?"

 

ID# 131588  LD: 19 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 4/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

There were quite a few reeds, and Ceres figured it'd be quickest to just pull another one out - if she got a critical fail the worst thing she'd have to deal with was some wet clothes- and she was already covered in dirt - so really - it wouldn't hurt her in the least. With a quick jerk the woman pulled another plant from the water.

Ceres blinked, almost in shock that it had been another success... T1 Material. She had done it. SHE HAD FLIPPIN' DONE IT

"Right, back to town I guess."

It would have been nice to linger here - but if Ceres were being completely honest - she just wanted to get the quest over and done with. She felt a little embarassed that a quest like this got to her - something so small had frustrated her and normally that wasn't the case. It had gotten to her because she couldn't analyze the situation properly. But once Ceres let go of the fact that there was nothing to analyze, that it really was just RNG - it became easier to accept and then accomplish.

"Ok old man, get ready to do your thing." Ceres said with a grin as she headed back to the Town of Beginnings, barefoot - lazily carrying her boots over her right shoulder.

This felt better.

Carefree.

Relaxed.

ID# 131589 LD: 13 - SUCCESS
Materials Gathered: 5/5

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

*BOMF*

Ceres had placed the sack of materials atop Zakariahs bench with a triumphant grin. The walk back into town was uneventful, and before grass laid way to gravel and cobblestone she put her boots on. Her feet had long since dried anyway. "There. I have completed your quest, Alchemist."

Zakariah's eyes lit up. "Excellent! Thank you, thank you! Now..."

Oh no...
 
The alchemist continued, "I was wondering if you could help me craft some potions for me. Don't worry." He said with a chuckle. "I'll talk you through it, now come. Follow me to my workshop." He gestured to the door behind the counter, then disappeared behind it - as though he were fully expecting her to follow. But what choice did she have?

Ceres stared silently at the door, she wasn't sure if she was annoyed or not. There were more parts to the quest? Of course there was.

"Tutorial quests... of course I should have expected them to throw in teaching how to craft the materials after collecting them...Alchemist is one of the professions, so this is essentially giving you a taste of the profession before committing to it..." She tilted her head to the side as she followed Zakariah through to his workshop.

"I suppose that is pretty clever...even if it is annoying."

[Ceres 0]

His workshop was everything you'd expect. Dark - illuminated by oil lanterns and crystals scattered about busy shelves filled with all manner of things.
In the center of the room was a burner - a pestle and mortar. This is where the Alchemist stood.

"Ah, come, come." He gestured toward her. Ceres approached slowly, placing her hands gently upon the bench. "So...what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Zakariah pointed toward the five materials before her - "Place each one into the bowl and grind it up. Once they are all mixed together, place them gently into the cauldron here." He pointed to a small black cauldron filled with lightly simmering water. "Go on, it's ok."

This is just a tutorial. Nothing is going to explode in your face

Ceres did as she was instructed. She was rather meticulous in the matter- grinding each one up more than was probably deemed necessary. Then, Ceres gently poured the ingredients into the cauldron

!!POMF!!

Ceres stepped back with an alarmed look on her face, so much for it not blowing up in her face. If she hadn't moved away she'd be covered in purple...whatever that purple stuff was right now.

"Wow, you're a natural." Zakariah commended as he scratched his beard. "Not many players succeed on their first attempt, especially such a high qaulity product. This would be deemed a 'Perfect Success'  Perhaps you should look into the alchemy profession."

Ceres blinked. "I uhm..." A blush formed on her face, and she had to remind herself the kindly old man wasn't anything more than an NPC.

"Thank you." was all she could say in response.

ID# 131590  CD: 10 - SUCCESS
 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

Zakariah nodded. "Yes, quite the fine young alchemist you would make. Since you have yet to take the profession quest I do hope you will consider Alchemy!"

Ceres hadn't exactly considered the quest to take a profession, let alone being an alchemist - weren't there a whole bunch of them on Aincrad. It was a profession in high demand, so much so that Ceres assumed the market was saturated with them. Sure, it meant better prices for her - but if she were to ever get into the business herself...it wouldn't exactly be profitable.

"Although..." She said aloud. "It'd be a good source of information, especially if frontliners were coming in..."

Ceres wanted to work toward becoming an information broker, and that sort of thing wasn't listed under 'professions' so she would have to work out which job would enable her to collect data the easiest.

The old man cleared his throat. Ceres blinked, her eyes focusing on him once more.

As much as it pains me to do so, I must ask you one final favour. I need to deliver this potion to my friend, Lyle Tealeaf. He is a local Blacksmith and I fear he isn't feeling too well. This will heal him, and soon he will be quick as a fiddle. I'm sure he'd be thankful for your time and reward you."

Reward? Good. It meant this would be the last step in this silly quest. Ceres managed a smile, even though it was forced. "S-Sure thing. I will deliver this to your friend."

[Ceres 0]

"Excellent! Excellent!" Zakariah cheered with jovial enthusiasm. Ceres doubted that he was 'too old and feeble' to go out on his own, but - again, she had to remind herself he was nothing more than an NPC - and was doing only what he was programmed to do. She doubted he'd even exist outside the confines of his shop.

That...was a little sad, wasn't it?

Imagine having the knowledge that if you were to leave a certain area, you would simply cease to exist? Or that your existence was based purely on the confines placed upon you?  It was probably a good thing that AI wasn't invented yet - it'd drive these people... no...data people mad.

Ceres followed Zakariah back to the front of the shop and silently watched him as he packaged the 'perfectly crafted potion'

So, this was an alchemist quest...and she was delivering the potion to a blacksmith...

Her face soured.

Oh...

It was going to be one of those questlines.

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

"You really are quite skilled young miss." Zakariah commented as he handed Ceres the neatly wrapped package.

"Why do you say that?" Ceres asked as she picked it up. The items description flashed across her screen.
 

Quote

ITEM: Perfectly Crafted Potion'
A potion crafted by Ceres under Zakariah's Guidance. To be given to the Blacksmith Lyle Tealeaf

'This potion heals the weary muscles of a friendly blacksmith, it tastes like blackberries, yum!

Blueberries?

Was that a random thing? Knowing this game, it was highly likely. Ceres placed it away in her inventory, and as soon as she had done so the old Alchemist continued.

"Most people take a longer time to complete the quest. Material gathering is difficult, especially for beginners. Have faith in yourself young miss - and remember, Alchemy is a fantastic profession."

Zakariah gave her the address to the blacksmith, and a new destination marker popped up on her map. "Oh..." Ceres thought it'd be further away, but it was fairly close. Just around the block. It'd make sense that all these stores would be knitted in together. Especially if they all had linking quests.

"Thanks....I'll remember..." Ceres said as she left his store.

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

Ceres left Zakariah's store in silence.

It was something that he said... had she really gathered materials that quickly compared to others, or was it something he had been programmed to say to everyone. Come to think of it... her success to failure ratio was considerably in her favour. And to think, she was frustrated after only a few failures. One couldn't expect immediate success. Talented artists spent years perfecting their craft. The same could be said for writers, even gamers. So - why would this be any different?

Again. Ceres found herself over-analyzing the simplicities of the game. Shouldn't she just enjoy herself? Have fun with it? Roll with the punches? (Although she'd much rather not be punched. Even if one couldn't feel pain.)

Ceres tapped her chin in time to her footsteps as she walked. "If I don't want to go for a fighting build... perhaps I should focus on things that make material gathering easier - or finding hidden treasures and maps. That counts as information, right?"

It was something to think about as she did these quests. At least they'd give her a taste of what each profession was.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres

[Ceres 0]

The walk to the blacksmith was uneventful - the streets were virtually deserted now - it was the middle of the day. Most people were inside enjoying their lunch, or out questing. And here she was, dirtied and disheveled, stuck in the worst possible kind of quest.

'A series of unfortunate fetch quests'

Ceres thought to herself. Just how many professions were there again? How many of these would she have to do? Her palms went to her face as she slapped it with an elongated groan. "WHen will this ennnnddd....."

'Bang'

"Ah."

Now. It'd end now, well not now - but soon. For Ceres had bumped into the exact place she was heading to - A typical blacksmiths place....the sign above. "Lyles Workshop"

"Dammit...Ya'll could have hired me as a writer! I'd come up with better names than 'LYLES WORKSHOP' Ceres mumbled in frustration as she entered the door.

An all too familiar chiming sound came from the door.

And an all too familiar setting sat before her.

A shop with shelves on either side, filled with various wares - this time instead of vials and potions there were swords, shields, pauldrons - armor of all shapes and sizes. His workshop must be hiding behind the door in the back.

"Welcome young miss. My name is Lyle Tealeaf."

Ceres squinted.

HMmmmm.....

This Lyle TEaleaf looked an awful lot like a certain alchemist named Zakariah. If it weren't for his giant muscular form - and broader shoulders, she would have mistaken them for the same person.

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ceres