{F01 - SP - "First Few Lessons Are Free"}

[Ronnel 0]

It had taken Ronnel a few minutes to find what he was looking for - but he had. The place seemed like it was fairly well traveled, but no one was currently in at the moment aside from one man - who had the familiar quest icon floating over his head. Ronnel took in a deep breath and pushed into the shop. The man at the counter turned his head and his face lit up in a bright smile. Ronnel knew that the man was just another of Aincrad's NPCs, but whoever had programmed their AI interactions had done excellent work. 

"Why, hello there young man! Are you another of the travellers come to our fair town?" Ronnel nodded slowly. "Excellent! If you've the time, I could certainly use your help. I'm certain you won't be disappointed, and I can probably wrangle up an introduction or two for you to help you on your way too." These were the beginner quests - this was the start of the quest line, if Ronnel had read the description correctly. While there were other, more dangerous quests that he would have to handle eventually, these ones were safe enough.  

[Ronnel 0]

After the man had finished speaking, a flashing dialogue box had popped up in one corner of Ronnel's vision - asking he accepted the quest. He reached out and tapped the acceptance button with one finger, focusing his attention on the NPC instead as the man began moving again. The older man rummaged for a moment before nodding and turning to Ronnel with that same benevolent smile stretching his lips.

 

"Alright young man. I need some herbs for a potion that I'm working on, and I'd appreciate it if you could gather them for me. When you get back, I'll show you a little bit of the potion-crafter's art in exchange." It was the literal definition of a fetch quest but it was what he needed. Right now, Ronnel had nothing to his name - he knew that there were NPCs in this town that were better equipped and stronger than he was. Everyone had to start somewhere, and this, right here? This was his starting point. 

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel exited Zakariah's shop, rubbing his chin with one hand as he looked at his quest log. The quest itself was just as straight forward as the old man had claimed it was, which made sense for what was supposed to be many player's first introduction to Aincrad's workings. It required leaving town - which, with a nod to the guards, Ronnel was in the process of doing at the moment. There was an odd feeling of liberation walking out of the town if he was honest about it. For so long, Ronnel had been cowering behind those walls, paralyzed by indecision and fear.

 

But now - now he was out here, breathing in deep of the air. This would be the first time he was trying to gather resources, so he would have to make sure he did well. He didn't want to end up coming back to Zakariah empty-handed after all. So with that in mind he headed into the fields around the Town of Beginning as he began his search. 

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel knelt in the middle of some of the wild grasslands, his hands and knees covered in dirt as he rooted around. He knew vaguely what he was looking for as he did this, so as long as he was diligent he would find it. He turned his head to one side and his eyes lit up as he saw a choice looking clump of strands poking up from the soil. 

It only took a few moments for him to uproot the root system that he had spotted, and he lifted it up to the air and shook the dirt clear so that his basic identify could tell him what he was looking at. Moments passed by - and he felt a swell of triumph as the 'required items' tracker ticked upwards by one. A small laugh fell from his lips as he sat back on his heels and stared at the root network in his hands as the information about it flowed in. Simple root herbs used in potion-making, low quality - but he had them. One step closer.

 

[Quest Material Search T1

Link ID: ID# 132788

LD Result: 11 ; Success State for Quest Materials]

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel carefully tucked his new-found herbs into his inventory, not wanting to run the risk of accidentally damaging them before he even had a chance to turn them in. But - finding some on his first real attempt for digging into the dirt had invigorated him in his search, and with a soft tune humming under his breath the dark-haired man turned his attention back to the plants around him as he resumed his attempts at harvesting.

Working on the premise that the herbs he was looking for would grow in clumps close together, Ronnel dug up another stall, spindly set of grassy materials and held it up to the light. It took a few shakes to get all of the dirt cleared away from the roots as he was looking at them, and with a hopeful eye he glanced back and forth between his quest tracker and the info screen for what he was looking at. When several seconds passed by with no reassuring ding, Ronnel had to bite back a groan. Sure enough - while they looked similar on first glance, what he was now holding was a lovely, lovely, bunch of weeds. 

 

Quest Material Search T1

Link ID: 132789 

LD Result: 7;  Fail State for Quest Materials]

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

With a groan Ronnel rocked back on his heels and rubbed the palm of his empty hand against his eyes. He knew they couldn't all be what he was looking for, but come on, this had been growing right there next to the herbs he'd just harvested! He let out a dejected sigh and tossed the weeds into a spot that he had cleared for just that purpose - a reject pile so he didn't keep looking at the useless weeds thinking that they were good herbs. 

But he couldn't let one failure make him quit the search. There was no way he'd be successful every time he tried something - failure was not an ending, but a step on the path for anything that was worth doing. He wiped his nose clear of some dirt that had gotten stuck when he'd rubbed his eyes earlier, and then knelt down, plucking another set of plants out of the ground. The weird disconnect between 'plant in dirt' and 'plant in dirty hand' of the items being harvest struck him as a little odd, but this wasn't real life, no matter how eerily close it was at times. He was about to toss them over to the reject pile when from the corner of his eye he noticed his quest marker tick upwards.

 

 

Quest Material Search

Link ID: 132790 

LD Result: 12 ; Success State for Quest Material Search

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel groaned and shook his head as he sat back. Weed after weed had come out of the earth as he was working here. With a dejected chuckle he sat back on his heels and looked at his pile of rejects. It was now nearly tall enough that it could be used as a cushion, though it would make a terrible one. 

 

"Right. At this rate I might as well make this my own private garden, sheesh. I haven't pulled weeds like this since..." He trailed off and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Right. He'd been doing his best to avoid thinking about outside. On top of that, he'd been trying for a lot longer not to think about his family." Right!" he ripped a plant from the earth - and bit back a string of curses. It had been a viable herbal root. Until he literally tore it in half and ruined it. He snarled under his breath and tossed it onto the reject pile. 

 

 

Quest Material Search

Link ID: 132799

LD Result: 1. Failure state for Quest Material Search

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

 

Ronnel jerked upright as he stared at the thing in his hand that he'd just pulled out of the ground. It started to squirm in his hand as he stared at it, and an atavistic shudder of repulsion rolled down his spine. He stared at it for a few long moments and was almost relieved when his quest marker didn't update. The thing started to twist and curl up, coiling around his hand, and with a disgusted yell Ronnel hurled it away, watching it vanish into the grasslands around him. He wiped his hand off on his trouser leg and shuddered. 

 

"That worm was entirely too large." That was his story and he was going to stick to it. That had been an overgrown worm and nothing else. With a grunt of frustration he resumed his search for more herbs. Hopefully without finding any more wriggling guests that wanted to try getting cozy with him. 

 

 

Quest Material Search 

Link ID : 132802 

LD Result : 3 Fail State for Quest Material Search 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

Shaking off the phantom sensation of legs flexing against his palm no not legs it was a worm a worm Ronnel decided he'd gotten all of the herbal roots from this particular area that he was going to. With a sigh he stood up and brushed himself off before looking around. He was getting a bit thirsty now, having been digging and plucking weeds for a fair part of the day with the sun beating down, and while the sensations weren't quite right it had had an affect on him. 

 

So on he walked, until he reached a small stream. He knelt down at the water's edge and started to cup his hands to get some water, when he noticed something stabbing into his calf. With a grunt he leaned over far enough to reach beneath him and pull up whatever was there - and his quest tracker ticked upwards to three. He blinked once, then twice. "Oh, come the -" 

 

Quest Material Search 

Link id: 132803

LD Result : 13 success state for Quest Material Search

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

"Really. Water reeds can be herbs." Ronnel deadpanned as he groaned and rubbed the spot where the reed had jabbed into his thigh. He pushed the herb into his inventory as he grumbled under his breath. Of course he'd find an herb when he was just trying to take a drink, and not when he was actively searching for it. The dark-haired man shook his head and scooped up some water in his palms, taking a long slow drink as he tried to plan out what to do. Then he paused as he wiped his arm across his mouth. "Why don't I just look around here a bit? If water-growing things can be herbs too." 

With that thought in mind he got up and started pacing along the river bank, looking at the plants growing at the water's edge and slightly into the water too. He was trying to see if he could spot another of the reeds that had poked him. His eyes lit up as he spotted one and knelt down, almost tentatively reaching for it as he pulled it from the wet soil.

 

Quest Material Search

Link ID: 132956

LD Result:  12 Success State for Quest Material 4/5

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel watched as his counter ticked upwards one more - he was now at four of the needed herbs to proceed to the next stage. He let out a long slow breath of relief as he tucked the reed into his inventory. He knew that material searching could be difficult and hit-or-miss. But now he was almost done with this part of the quest and once he was, he could head back into town to move on. For now though, the spear-wielder still had one more herb to look for.  So on he went, his boots sinking into the soft, muddy soil as he walked along the water's edge.

But it seemed like it wasn't meant to be. The sun was sinking a bit lower as Ronnel let out a frustrated groan. There'd been no more of those reeds while he was searching, and none of the other plants he had tested had made his quest counter move upwards. He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down a short distance from the water, staring at the way the light played across the surface. 

 

Quest Material Search:

Link ID: 132957

LD Result: 2 Fail State.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

There was something in the water, as he stared at it, that kept breaking the smooth flow of light across the surface. Ronnel frowned slightly and stood up, moving closer so that he could get a better look. It looked almost familiar, but not from something he'd seen in game. No it looked almost like something he'd seen a few times as a kid growing up with his family - watercress. Touched by nostalgia, Ronnel slid down the shore and waded into the water, slowing down as he moved through the river to keep it from disrupting the watercress too much.

He gently scooped it up from the water, chuckling softly as he looked at it. It wasn't quite right, not actually a watercress, but it was - a soft chime interrupted his thoughts and the dark-haired man slowly looked to his quest counter. He threw his head back and let out a laugh, now tinged with relief and disbelief. Surrounded in fancy scrollwork on his menu, the quest counter had ticked up and hit five of five - stage completed. It was done, he could head back now and find out the next stage of what he would have to do. 

 

Quest Material Search:

Link ID: 132958

LD Result: 13 Success State: 5/5 Quest Materials!

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel waded out of the river, tucking the final herb into his inventory as his body sagged a bit in relief. He could finally leave the fields behind, at least for now. Doing this again later could come just that - later. He started the long trek back towards the Town of Beginning. His search for viable herbs had taken him a considerable distance into the wild fields around the town - far enough that if he'd had to search much further, he would have ended up back in the forest that he'd gone into on his first day out. And while he was already feeling more confident in himself, just plunging into that forest again right now seemed like it would be a terrible idea. 

But he didn't have to worry about that. Soon enough as he walked through the grassy fields, they gave way to more cultured, kept lands as he approached the city walls. He was halted for a moment as the guards checked him, but the crystal above his head shone bright and green, and they let him in without any hassle. Now though, he had a new problem, and one that nearly made him want to drop his face into his palms and scream.  Ronnel had forgotten where Zackariah's  shop was. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

"Old Man Zackariah's shop? Sure, lad." The NPC guard that Ronnel had stopped to ask for directions was a big, swarthy man, easily twice the spear-wielder's thickness and it was all modeled as muscle. And taller than Ronnel too, towering over the player by almost a foot. If he didn't have a bright and friendly face, Ronnel probably would have ended up looking for the shop he needed by himself, helplessly lost, for a while longer. "You're going to want to follow this street for about, oh, maybe five minutes. You'll pass a couple side roads, but you shouldn't take any of them, no sir. You want to go until you hit a fork in this road. Go left, and Zackariah's shop should be, I think it was about five buildings down on the right side."  Ronnel bowed to the man.

"Thanks." Ronnel knew the guard was just an NPC ,coded, but that didn't mean he was going to be rude to the man. The large guard waved off the thanks and resumed his patrol, pacing down the street as he made his way along his assigned route. Ronnel took a deep breath in, then turned and began to follow the directions. It did take him a bit longer than just five minutes to reach the fork in the road that the guard had mentioned, but there was a fork and as he stared at it, Ronnel felt it was a bit familiar. 

[Ronnel 0]

Right - this was the way that he'd come when he was leaving the city! He turned to the left and looked down, and sure enough, there was a familiar sign hanging in front of one of the shops a short distance down. Reinvigorated, Ronnel picked up his pace as he made his way along the cobbled street. He reached the shop and pushed in, a soft chime sounding out above his head - a bell, above the door, not his quest system updating at the moment. 

The old alchemist was standing behind his counter again, flipping through a large, thick tome that looked like it had to weigh at least half of what he did. His head came up when the bell rang, and a wide smile split his face. "Well now young man, I take it you managed to find the things that I was needing?" The dark-haired man nodded and Zackariah's face split into an even wider grin, which Ronnel hadn't thought possible. "Quite good news! Come, come, back over here, this way - oh, please lock that door behind you for a moment, if you would? Don't want any customers coming in while we are working." 

[Ronnel 0]

"Come, come, back here. Now, set the herbs you gathered down over on this table here." Zackariah instructed Ronnel, gesturing to a wooden table next to a large cauldron.  The surface of the table was scored with hash marks from countless knife strokes against it, from years of ingredient preparations being carried out. The dark haired man nodded before removing the materials from his inventory and stacking them onto the wood. The alchemist swiftly sorted them out, separating them into three piles - the reeds, the plains herbs, and the watercress by itself.

"Excellent, a bit of variety is always nice to see! Now then young man - if you've got the time, I need some help making the potion. It's an easy enough concoction and I've already done most of the preparation for it but - well, I was just waiting on these materials to come in. And since you're here, why not give it a go at making them into something more?" Ronnel hummed for a moment before smiling and nodding.

"Sure, thank you." 

[Ronnel 0]

Ronnel took a deep breath as he picked up one of the reeds from its pile and moved it closer to the cauldron. He took the knife that Zackariah handed him and looked up. "Go on, young man, go ahead and cut it up. The herbs need to be in small enough portions for the brewing process to properly take." Ronnel noded to himself and dredged up old memories of cooking, trying to remember what he did. 

With a slight spin of his fingers, Ronnel turned the reed lengthwise and started chopping it up, into short, fat rings. He heard a hum, but Zackariah didn't say anything was wrong, so he kept going until the reed was entirely chunked up. That done, he scooped the herb into the waiting cauldron, and the old alchemist smoothly covered it up. There was a pause of several moments, before he lifted the lid again and checked. He shook his head softly. 

"Unfortunately not, my young friend. We'll have to try again." Ronnel's shoulders slumped.

 

Quest Potion Crafting:

Link ID: 132969

CD Result: 3 Fail

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

"Now, now, no need to be so glum about it my young friend! It would have been extremely impressive if you had managed to make a potion on your very first try!" Zackariah reassured Ronnel as the dark-haired young man stared down at the table for a long moment. "Come, it's part of why I had you gather several materials - I anticipated failures. It's a part of life after all! Now, come, try your hand at it again." Zackariah stepped back and gestured at the cauldron. Ronnel blinked, hesitating for a moment before he remembered - game, the failed potion had been deleted by the system. 

Ronnel squared his shoulders, this time taking one of the first herbs he'd grabbed. The weedy herb was thinner than the reed had been, so he figured he would have an easier time preparing it. With swift, sure strokes Ronnel chopped up the plant, moving quickly along its length as he cut it up. It wasn't a Sword Art, but he could definitely tell that the system was 'assisting' in the chosen action. Then in one smooth motion he scooped up the entire plant and dumped it into the cauldron, and Zackariah covered it up once more. A few moments passed, then the alchemist lifted the lid, and again, shook his head from side to side.

"Unfortunately not, my young friend. We'll have to try again." Ronnel felt one eyebrow twitch at the repeated line. 

 

Quest Potion Making

Link ID: 132970

CD Result: 2 Fail state

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

NPC. NPC with pre-generated lines. Ronnel forced himself to calm down and take a breath. Getting irritated at Zackariah would do him no good, it would be kind of stupid honestly. Especially since the old alchemist was being kind about his repeated failures. "Alright, young man, let's try again. This time, maybe the one that you only gathered one of? You might have better luck with a different source material." Ronnel took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The watercress analogue. He could do that - he'd prepared it once or twice before. 

The player wiped down the knife with a cloth, cleaning it of the other herbs - something he'd forgotten to do last time. Then he scooped up the watercress stalks and brought it over to his working area. He separated the stalks out and sorted them, organizing them slightly so that they were more or less even with each other. He didn't know if the majority of the plant was used, but he took a chance and cut off the roots down at the very bottom, which Zackariah didn't object to as he tossed them into the trash. "Excellent work, good preparation young man! Now, dice that up fine." Ronnel blinked in response to the alchemist's word choice. 'Dice' was different from chop - had that been what he'd messed up on before?

Moving a bit more confidently now, he chopped up the watercress, then scooped it into a pile and chopped again, repeating the process several times until the pieces were finely diced up. He got an approving hum this time from the alchemist as he picked up the herb and slowly portioned it into the pot. Zackariah covered the cauldron up, and the few moments ticked by as the system registered the crafting attempt. Then he lifted it up - and beamed at Ronnel.

"Excellent work my fine young friend! This is a [Rare] potion indeed!" Relief washed through Ronnel.

 

Quest Potion Crafting

Link ID: 132971

CD Result: 8 [Quest Rare Success] Potion Made (NOT GAINED)

Edited December 29, 2019 by Ronnel

[Ronnel 0]

"Quite excellent news indeed! Now then - young man." Zackariah led Ronnel out of the back of the shop, taking the potion with them as the two left the workshop. Ronnel was guided back in front of the counter, and Zackariah leaned against it from behind, staring at Ronnel in the eyes. "I have just one final thing I need you to do for me. It is a bit of an errand I admit, but - it will help you with one of those recommendations that I mentioned to you before." The spear-user raised one eyebrow, remembering only now that the alchemist had indeed mentioned that. The man paused in his explanation, pulling a satchel out and handing it to Ronnel, who took it with a confused tilt of his head.

"That there is your reward for helping me out so far. But - the actual errand I need you to do, is take this," Zackariah held up the potion that Ronnel had made, "to the local Blacksmith, Lyle Tealeaf. He's in need of some assistance, and this potion will serve splendidly well for it. And then, he should have something for you to do as well, if he sticks to his word."  
Was this quest chain going to take him to a crafter in all the major professions or something? Ronnel blinked, but nodded, accepting the potion vial, and the final stage of the quest. The satchel vanished - a quest reward, after all, so he would only get it once the quest was done. "Now young man - Tealeaf's shop is only a bit further down the road, away from the fork. He's on the other side, though, not the same one as mine. Have fun!" Ronnel was shooed out of the store by the kindly old man, and stood outside of it for a moment before shrugging.

"Well. One last thing I suppose." He turned and headed down the street, following the directions that Zack had given him. It was a fairly straightforward trip - Ronnel didn't have to stop any guards for directions this time - and soon enough he was standing in front of another building, listening to the pounding of hammer on metal from inside. He cautiously opened the door, hearing a much more strident clanging from above his head. He looked up, to see a much larger bronze clapper set up above him. Something loud enough to be heard over the forging, probably. 

"Ah, hello there young man! What can I interest you in? Some of my fine wares, perhaps?" A thickly muscled man stepped out of the back, wiping his hands off on his leather apron. Ronnel shook his head, and held the package out to him.

"No, sorry, not at the moment. I, uh, came to deliver this from Zackariah."  The smith's eyes lit up. 

""Good! Old Zack kept to his word then." He took the package from Ronnel with a smile. "Say, if you've got a moment..." Ronnel chuckled to himself as the quest tracker chimed its completion - he didn't have to accept Lyle's quest right away, it seemed. 

"Maybe in a little bit - I've another responsibiilty that came up I need to attend to." Lyle just nodded. 

"I'll remember your face, come on back when you have some time, I've something I need your help with."