[PP-F1] Appraising game <EaL Cook> (Freyd)

[Freyd 0]

"If you ever feel the desire, consider joining Firm Anima.  Again - no strings.  We're a crafting guild at heart, though the sheer progress that's been made by its membership makes it seem like some sort of army.  It's just a group of people who work together for common good, though that's more valuable than most people ever realize."

Hopping off his stone perch, Freyd stuffed his hands into his pockets and started wandering about the grasslands.  There was a certain point in any conversation where words were best set aside.  Freyd knew it when he saw it, and so busied himself by staring at the scenery.  To do otherwise would undermine the respect he was trying to show to his companion.  It occurred to him to try helping by gathering materials that he might offer to Bismuth for crafting, once he'd finished the quest, but the mere notion of foraging made his back and fingers ache.  Freyd had no use for his own stock of mats and could simply provide him with a few dozen to help get him started, when the time came.

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth considered freyd's offer, he had heard about Firm Anima, to an extent, you had to have heard about it really if you were in the business of trading materials, but anything other than a name, was hard to come by with how secretive the guild could be. The invitation was appreciated, although joining a guild always came with requirements, and obligations. That would, odds are, get in the way of his research, which was the only way that Bismuth was going to be of any help to anyone, though not even much at that point.

Bismuth watched Freyd as he hopped off the rock, a silent vigil against the horizon, maybe having someone like that as a guildmate would make it worth it. Shaking his head Bismuth looked away, there wasn't much help he could provide a guild, so for now, he would just keep to his work and hope for the best, though the promise of a place to belong was an enticing thought.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 2 + 6 = 8 = Failure

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

"Yanno, I can't help but wonder if this might go faster if you weren't so picky about your berries."  It was his turn to tease back, and also attempt to lighten the mood.  "Gods, I don't know how Raidou and the others do this."  He eyed a wary boar wandering nearby, imagining it smooshed between two halves of a giant bun and suddenly transformed into some sort of boar burger.  Surely someone could manage such a thing?

"Oh, hell.  Why not?"    With a step, Freyd vanished, only to reappear two dozen paces away with his fist planted firmly through a wild pig, the whole thing exploding like a piñata struck by an artillery shell.  Freyd, meanwhile, beamed as he held up some amorphous pink blob.

"YES!  Essence of Pig!  We should head up to Quaestor's Quisine after this.  The man knows how to handle a roast and could work wonders with this!"  Stuffing the pulsing blob of light into nowhere, his eyes scoured the field for a side dish.

 

[Bismuth 0]

"You have to be picky, or else the food won't even taste like anything." Bismuth responded serious, he knew that Freyd was teasing him, but gathering was an important topic, and the blueberry pie he was about to make was the most important thing right now. "With an attitude like that I won't share my first pie with you." Bismuth joked lightly, nowhere near the eccentric sass that he was known for up to this point. 

Bismuth surveyed his sea of bushes for another glowing one that he could pick out of, but as of the moment there were none. Bismuth jumped at the uncharacteristic exclamation of his impromptu partner, something about a Quaestor and the essence of a boar,  Bismuth couldn't really hear him. He looked over, and it seemed that the man was hunting for something. "make sure you leave room for dessert." Bismuth smiled at his own stupid joke, as he looked through his bushes, this was his element.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 8 + 6 = 14 = Failure

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

A nodded acknowledgement was returned.

"This is why I don't do cooking.  Everyone would be eating kiln-fired bricks pretending to be meatloaf all the time.  And I'm pretty sure that Aincrad lacks dentists.  Be careful with the blueberry dishes, by the way.  We have a very... eccentric... guild member who is absolutely obsessed with all things Blueberry.  She's about as harmless as she is obsessive, but could take particular interest if you dip too deep into her theme." 

Freyd paused, looking skyward as if looking for or considering something. 

"Actually, I'd almost pay to see her get passionate about something like that.  Let me know if she ever shows up on your doorstep, and keep a tight grasp on your recipe book."

He pokes at a bit of grass between them and something cute and cuddly scampered off at lightning speed.  

"Frigging floor one, man.  Death by cuteness, if you're not careful.  That bunny could take the head clear off a starting player, if they weren't careful."

[Bismuth 0]

"So far I have only heard of two of your guild members, and it's you and this blueberry fellow, it seems like everyone in your guild has their own brand of eccentrics, but I will make sure to give tributes if I keep up with the blueberry theme." Bismuth scanned his bushes again, so far he had done nothing but just stare at them, with these glasses, not a lot of actual looking was required. Soon enough the faint blue outline could be found around one of the bushes, and so Bismuth walked to the bush and put a handful of blueberries into his inventory, the blue fading out as soon as he did.

"Yeah, the first floor doesn't have a whole lot that you have to worry about, just cute bunnies and boars, easy to avoid if you know what you're doing. Oh, and I think I found enough blueberries, now we just have to go back and make a pie." Bismuth walked up to Freyd as he talked standing beside him as he finished, he had decided that Freyd was the leader of there duo, and so he would wait for him to start walking before he did it himself.

Spoiler

Gathering:

LD: 16 + 6 = 23 = success

+1 material

5/5

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

"Done?"  His cowl perked up in a puppy-like manner, suddenly eager and alert, all manner of banter and chatter discarded with casual disinterest.  "Then let's get you back to What's-her-face... uh, Maggie.  Yeah!"  Long lanky strides led them the short distance back to the NPC's shop.

"Oh, there are plenty of us.  Players in here all seem eccentric by nature.  Several years of video game captivity may have something to do with that.  I mean, it's not like I carried a sword and dressed in spoopy emo gear like this in the real world." 

They shared a glance.

"Okay, so maybe it was just less often," Freyd joked, trying to keep the mood light and friendly.

Freyd immediately called out for more coffee as they entered the tavern, seating himself in the gloomiest corner and seizing upon the opportunity to catch up on various messages and reports while Bismuth did the thing.  

"Bring me a piece when it's finish.  I'm pretty sure that the quest requires taste-test approval."

[Bismuth 0]

Bismuth chuckled "I can't imagine you looking an different." he walked up to Maggie only rolling his eyes at the mention of requiring a taste test. "I gathered all the berries you were looking for, do you think you could show me how to make a pie?" Bismuth was clearly eager, getting a profession was an exciting prospect. especially one that was going to be so tasty.

It didn't take much time under Maggie's skilled tutelage for Bismuth to get the hang of mixing together the proper ingredients to create what he was aiming for, and for it to taste like anything other than bland oats, though Freyd was probably going to be disappointed at the lack of pie. Bismuth wasn't able to make a pie, Maggie had said that that might be too far beyond his abilities, and plus she needed the blueberries for something else, so instead Bismuth opted for sushi, just a small snack.

 

Spoiler

Crafting:

Attempt 1: CD: 8 = failure

Attempt 2: CD: 5 = failure

Attempt 3: CD: 3 = failure

Attempt 4: CD: 10 = Success

quest complete

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Bismuth

[Freyd 0]

"Seriously?  This smells like false advertising, dude!"  It was hard to imagine how the Whisper could even tell one smell from another in a place as full of unusual scents as this.  A dozen screens arrayed themselves before him, invisible to all eyes but his own due to an unavoidable need for privacy settings.  His work with the guild was too sensitive for public view, especially the shadier bits.  Someone had to do the dirty work, which was all the more reason why he felt obligated to help out players just starting out.  He needed to keep them from straying down darker paths, where their next encounters might prove far less pleasant.

Suppressing a sigh, Freyd plastered a smile upon his face and sauntered over to the kitchen to see how things were going.  His time to linger was ending, and it wouldn't hurt to have a decent meal before returning to work.

"So, how'd it turn out?"

[Bismuth 0]

"Well it isn't a pie, that's for sure." Bismuth smiled over at Freyd, almost all sign of his moodiness gone. "But hopefully it's still good." with that Bismuth pulled out a silver platter with a couple of pieces of sushi on it and placed it in front of Freyd "For my very first cooking attempt, I think I did okay. And with this I have officially finished the quest." the smile faltered a tiny bit at that notion, but it came back just as strong.

"Thankyou for your help, you can keep the sushi, as a thankyou, I don't have any use for it really." Bismuth looked to be in thought for a moment before he shook his head slightly. "I hope we meet again Freyd." with a wink Bismuth walked out of Maggie's café and went on his way, back to his home where he could sit and just think. Freyd was a good man, clearly there was something there, but he had helped him in more ways than one. Truly Bismuth hoped he would see the man again sometime soon, after he was more helpful maybe, after all they had made an agreement.

[Bismuth 0]

Thread Summary

Bismuth:

2380 EXP: 300 Quest, 2080 Thread Contents

5 T1 Materials: Quest

Cook Profession: Quest

Cook Shop: Quest

<Hikei> T1 P Trinket LD 3: Freyd

<Koumi> T1 P Trinket ACC 3: Freyd

5168 Col: 800 Thread Contents, 4368 Freyd

Freyd:

29,120 EXP: Thread Contents

<Salmon Sushi> T1 U Snack Vitality 1: Bismuth

Edited February 13, 2022 by Bismuth