[F1-PP] First Steps in Aincrad <The First Lessons>

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus had woken up this morning, and he knew he needed to learn more about the game. So far, he had worked hard and had learned obtain two professions, appraiser and fishing. However, he had not learned about any of the other skills necessary to survive in this game. Therefore, he decided it would be important for him to learn about how to forage. He knew this was one of the first quests that he had not yet attempted in his time in Aincrad. Therefore, he knew he should get started on it right now, given that the rewards were very good. It would allow him the opportunity to earn healing potions which he could use at a later time.

So, he began leaving the town and heading out to the floor of beginning. He wondered if his sister would be available today, given that she was a very busy person. There was only one way to find out. He sent her a message given she was the only person that he knew. Because of that, it was very important for him to pick up this new skill. She had sent a request back within minutes saying that she was available today and she would join him on this journey.

Now that that had been dealt with, Nicklaus changed into something more presentable and made his way to the teleportation gate in the town of beginnings to wait for his sister. The atmosphere around the town centre had died down quite a bit so it was not as busy as he had once expected.

Spoiler

Nicklaus
Level: 5
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 100/100
EN: 28/28

Stats:
Damage: 8
Mitigation: 6

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Beginner's Longsword 1 DMG
Armor:
Misc: Beginner's Breastplate 1 MIT

Skills:
Straight Sword R4

 

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had just woken up. She had been very busy the last few days. There was a flurry of activity around her shop with a lot of consumables being bought up. She was trying to put in additional work to try to clear that backlog and to rebuild a stockpile of goods that she can used for the future. As she got up and took a shower, she had received a message from her older brother.

He had wanted her to show him the ropes around the town of beginnings and especially try to help join him on his quest to gather materials. She was surprised to see he had not attempted the quest as of yet. Rebekah decided to finish up in the shower and then quickly apply some makeup on. She then decided on an outfit for today. Since they were going to be active in the wilderness so he can collect materials. So she wore something that allowed her to move around and made sure to put on a pair of boots.

Afterwards, she headed out of her room to find that Snowball was waiting for her. "Do you want to come today?" She asked the snowy owl. Snowball agreed and flapped his wings. He wanted to join them, so Snowball flew with her towards the teleportation gate on Snowfrost Town. Since the town was small, it did not take them long to reach the teleportation gate for her to begin today's journey.

Spoiler

Rebekah
Level 32 | P 15 | HP 760/760 | EN 88/88 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 98 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 1 | LD: 5
BH 41 | Survival +10% | Thorns 36 | EN -2

Tier 5 – Paragon Bonuses
Laurel Wreath
+ 1 LD for Looting, Searching and Opening Treasure Chests

Equipment:
Laevateinn II (T4 RAPIER) 3 [DMG]
 Silver Necklace (T4 Trinket) 3 [ACC]
Frozen Dress (T4 HA) 2 [MIT] 1 [Throns]

Skills:
Weapon Skill (R5) | 7 [DMG]
Battle Healing (R5) | 5% (38 HP)
Heavy Armour (R5) | 35 [MIT]
Searching (R5) | 5 [LD] 5 [SD]

Combat Masteries:
Evasion (R1) | 1 [EVA]

Add-ons:
Ferocity | 2 [DMG]
Precision | 1 [ACC]
Stamina | 2 [EN]
Iron Skin | 15 [MIT] 60 [HP]

Mods:
Impetus | 1 [DMG]

Extra:
Survival
Disguise
Meditation

Profession:
Forager (R3)  - 219/299 EXP

Familiar:
Snowball – Rending Familiar

Items:
Unbroken (T4 Shield) 2 [MIT] [Anti-freeze]
5 Golden Keys | + 2 [LD] on Chests

Guild:
Trading Hall
Treasury | + 5% mobs + 10% treasure chest

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

It had taken a while but Nicklaus finally saw the pink hair girl with her snowy owl step out onto the town plaza on the first floor situated in the town of beginnings. It was a lot busier than it had once been, given that Nicklaus had arrived at this very plaza very early to avoid the traffic and the hoard of people.

Rebekah on the other hand had taken her sweet time to get ready given the length of time from her reply to her arrival. "What had taken you so long?" Nicklaus began to inquire.

He listened to Rebekah's response and it was the typical thing a girl would answer to being late. This was her sister that had decided to take her time. It did not help that Snowball had tagged along. He and the owl still did not get along at their last encounter. He wondered if the owl was out to get him. With all of that done, Nicklaus continued to ask, "So, I have to find the mayor of this town, Dorian. Do you know where he is?"

Rebekah had responded to let him know that she had down this quest recently with another player, so she knew where to go. She told him to follow her as they set off weaving through the crowds to find the mayor to officially begin the quest for today. As they began to walk, he could feel his stomach growling for food. He was hungry. He was not sure if Rebekah had heard that sound, or knew it was coming from his stomach.

[Rebekah 0]

Her brother was the inpatient type. He must not have read her response in detail. She had written that she was still getting ready and would be there in an hour. She never said she was going to mention she was going to show up. "You don't read your messages do you?" Rebekah asked. "I said I would arrive in an hour. I was still waking up. Sorry to burst your bubble, older brother, but the whole world does not revolve around you."

"Dorian. Yes, I know where we can find him today. He usually greets players near the cabbage cart." Rebekah said. She remembered the last time she done this quest, and there was an incident with the cabbage cart. It was not so long ago. "I will lead you the way." Rebekah said.

As they began their journey over to Dorian, Rebekah could hear a distinctive growl coming Nicklaus' stomach. Boys. She wondered in their head. "I guess you have not had breakfast yet this morning?" Rebekah asked. She waited for a reply but she heard the same sound again from her brother's stomach. "Let's go grab a bite to eat." Rebekah said. "I know there this cafe which specializes in brunch nearby. It is on our way."

Rebekah instead lead Nicklaus directly to the cafe where they decided to sit down and ponder over the menu. Rebekah knew what she was going to get which was the usual, a standard eggs benedict with a coffee. She called the waiter over, and placed her order, and then asked Nicklaus, "What do you want to eat?"

[Nicklaus 0]

Rebekah decided to lead him towards a restaurant along the way, it was serving brunch at the moment. This was exactly what he was looking for, he wanted breakfast food and not a full on entree. A breakfast to fill him up for the day. As Nicklaus sat down, he was wondering what to eat. He looked at the menu and decided to order the standard breakfast consisting of two eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and toast with coffee. This was the typical breakfast menu that he would eat at most places. As they waited for their food to arrive, he decided to ask Rebekah a few more questions about life in Aincrad. "Can you tell me the fastest way to get stronger? I am interested in leveling up quickly." Nicklaus said.

Rebekah took a second to gather her thoughts before responding to his question. As she answered the question, the food began to arrive, his all american breakfast and her eggs benedict. He slowly began cutting the food to devour it and savour the flavour. "This tastes delicious. Try this." Nicklaus said. "As a chef, do you go out often to eat at restaurants?"

Nicklaus was surprised by Rebekah's answers given that she was a chef and would like to cook. But for some reason, Rebekah does not cook a lot for herself. That was interesting to hear since he thought she had enjoyed cooking a lot but it was a logical answer. As they finished the meal, Rebekah went over to pay for the tab. She was a lot richer than he was in Aincrad, and he needed to save the col to facilitate an expansion of his appraiser store.

[Rebekah 0]

As they sat down and waited for their food, Nicklaus had a question for Rebekah. Rebekah wanted to find the correct words to answer the question. "The fastest way to get stronger is to go on quests. A lot of quests will offer you rare items to use or skills to learn in addition to the experience gained on these quests. An alternative method to earn experience quickly is to participate in massive events that a lot of players from the whole game." Rebekah said.

As she finished her sentence, the food had arrived very quickly. She looked at her delicious eggs benedict. It was perfect with the hollandaise sauce. It was at this moment she took a bit and it was made to perfection. She could see Nicklaus encourage her to try some of his breakfast, so she decided to move her fork to try a bite. His breakfast was very tasty but she could not pick out something special about his food.

As he asked his follow up question, Rebekah explained, "While I am a chef, I do not run a restaurant. Instead I try to run a specialty shop where I make desserts, meals and snacks for players to take on their adventure. These consumables would often give players a boost to their stats for a set duration of time. As a chef, I am always learning and processing new flavours. I would like to visit a lot of restaurants and try to recreate the taste at home for personal tasting. While I can cook and I am good at it, I do not want to cook daily meals. I am fine with serving guests food at a party."

It was at this time that both of them had finished eating, and Rebekah went to pay the bill. It was not expensive as she was going to collect her own materials as well. She knew that one material was worth a lot more col than a single breakfast for two. As long as she had found one material she would be profitable for the day. As they exited the restaurant, Rebekah lead Nicklaus to where Dorian could be found.

[Nicklaus 0]

They had finally found Dorian, the mayor of the town of beginnings. He was standing near the cabbage cart that Rebekah had described earlier. It was the only cabbage cart inside the entire city. At this moment, Nicklaus began speaking with Dorian to officially begin the quest. Dorian was trying to explain that he was trying to find out who had owed him money, and asked him to find Zackariah.

Nicklaus then asked, "Do you know where I can find him?"

It had taken a bit more dialogue as Dorian continued to speak. It was at this point when Nicklaus' map had updated to indicate that Zackariah can be found in the alchimist shop on the floor. This was where he would have to go. He turned to Rebekah, to make sure she was included in his party and asked her to lead the way. Her sister did say she had done this before, so she knew where to go to find the shop.

"Where can I go to get stronger equipment?" Nicklaus asked. He wanted to know what Rebekah's thoughts and if she had any recommendation on where to buy some of his new equipment. He was going to need it to become stronger and feel a lot more comfortable fighting in the wilderness.

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had seen this play out before her eyes before given that she had taken the quest recently. They would have to go from the mayor to the alchemist before setting foot out of the town to collect materials. There was nothing she could do to speed up this process. This was vital information that was very knowledgeable for someone new such as Nicklaus. However, for an experience player such as herself, this was something that she would request to skip if necessary.

Since the game was in real life, there was no way for her to press skip unlike a lot of other games to skip the cut scenes. So, she just had to stand on the side and listen for the moment is right. At least her owl was with her so she could get play with Snowball while waiting. It did not take them long for them to finish speaking with Dorian, so Rebekah was doing what she does best for today. Being a guide.

As they made their way towards the alchemist's shop on the other side of town, Rebekah was trying to survey as much of the street food and the stalls that had popped up since this morning. It had been a while since she had last tried some street food, so she wondered if it would be worth it to buy something. However, she was still busy from her brunch.

Nicklaus had asked another question, so it was time for Rebekah to respond. "I would not worry about weapons and armour. The people who crafted my items, are still around but they have closed off their shops a long time ago. I think you should focus on leveling. Currently, tier 4 items can last a very long time. So, I do not think it is worth it to go out of the way for some weaker items since you will spend double the col especially if you can get away with using weaker items until you reach level 31." It was good advice that she would give anyone. "Besides, a lot of quests give out free stuff that can be useful. We can do that next if you want. This quest rewards gives out potions but no real items." Rebekah explained.

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus was listening to Rebekah speak on how he should conserve his col until the real important weapons when he reached level 31. She tried to explain to him that because of the level cap, they would essentially be stuck on tier four for quite a while, meaning there was no need at the moment for stronger equipment.

Now that Nicklaus had finally arrived at Zackariah's shop. He walked in waiting to talk to him about the quest. However, the moment he walked in, he heard a voice, "Sorry. We are closed. We have run out of materials. We are not taking any more orders." Zackariah said.

"I believe you are mistaken, I am here on behalf of the mayor, Dorian, to learn how to make potions." Nicklaus said. The alchemist had turned towards Rebekah as well but she gestured that she was with me today and not looking to buy anything. "Dorian said you should be able to help us since you owe him a favour." Nicklaus continued.

Nicklaus waited for the alchemist's response to his question. "Dorian, right. The name rings a bell. How about this kid. If you can go collect five materials and return them to me, I will show you and supply you with some starter potions." Zackariah said. "Now off you go."

Nicklaus was ushered out of the shop with Rebekah right behind her. "So, can you lead me the way to the forest?" Nicklaus asked. "Since I am a merchant, does that change how I should view equipment?"

[Rebekah 0]

"Since you an appraiser, you can learn to identify the weapons that players will bring to you to discard or roll. I suppose you could get quite lucky with this since another person's junk could be your gold." Rebekah responded.

She lead Nicklaus out of the city since the alchemist's shop was not too far away from the gates of the town of beginning. Instead of going to the famous plains, Rebekah decided they head towards the forest instead. Here, there was an abundance of wildlife, and Snowball was in his element. He enjoy flying around in the forest and he set off to do that immediately. She would worry about her owl later. Snowball would know where to find them.

"I guess this is where we can start. Do you want me to show you how to do this?" Rebekah asked Nicklaus. He did not respond, so Rebekah got to work immediately on foraging. She was going to take advantage of this time bonding with her older brother by also getting some important work done. She needed to stock up on some more materials, and this seems to be perfect time to do so. As long she was not making any harder for Nicklaus to search for materials. After all, she is foraging for them not searching. There is a distinct difference that for most do not understand.

Rebekah began walking up to the nearest plant and examining it. This could possibly be it, a potential source of materials.

ID = 208390 | LD = 9 | CD = 7
Foraging (R3) - 222/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

Edited April 9, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

It was now time for Nicklaus' turn to search. Rebekah had been right. Since he was a merchant he would get a source of items that players would want him to identify. Given the volume of junk items there are, he should be able to find something from the scrap bin that would help him once he was strong enough. There was no immediate need to purchase anything until that vital promotion to level 31 once he gained enough experience.

Rebekah had lead him towards the forest where they can begin searching for rare materials. It was at that moment Snowball had taken off, finally given some space to stretch its wings and fly around. The owl must not like being stuck indoors all day long. Rebekah had also went first to show him how to search for materials. However, she was unable to find any on her first attempt. Therefore, the spotlight was on Nicklaus. Maybe he could look for a material.

"Am I doing this correct?" He asked Rebekah as he approach another group of plants and tried to make an effort to pick them up. He knew that these plants looked special like they may be worth something other than a vanity item. There was only one way to find out. He got some last minutes instructions from Rebekah and then began to tried to harvest these plants.

ID 208395 | LD = 11
+ 1 Mat

Edited April 9, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had watched her older brother easily collect a material which was now going to be placed into his inventory. He was now twenty percent finish of this portion of the quest. She knew that she did not want to fall behind Nicklaus as well, so she would have to aim to collect up to five materials herself in the same time to show that she was not weak at gathering. It would take some time, but she knew that she should trust her own skills.

Rebekah also knew that it was a lot easier gathering with another person in Aincrad, which was the reason why she had showed up today with Nicklaus. This was to ensure that the gathering can be done effectively. Rebekah saw that there were no animals around watching their every move. Therefore, she decided to move forward to head towards the next set of plants hoping for one of them to be a material.

"How have you enjoyed your last few weeks?" Rebekah inquired. She also noticed that his shop was now open, and wanted to check with Nicklaus, "Can I send you items for you to identify when you have the time and money?" Rebekah asked.

Those were very important question she wanted to know as she was starting to collect a lot of stuff that she had no use for at this exact moment. Maybe Nicklaus would have the answer to her questions.

ID = 208424 | LD = 7 | CD = 1
Foraging (R3) - 225/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

Edited April 10, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

"The last few weeks have been amazing. Since I have not done anything since the game began, being able to be a part of the in game community have been awesome. In addition, I have managed to learn about two skills." Nicklaus said. He had enjoyed being active and trying his hardest to level up as fast as he could. He knew that it will take some time for him to get to level cap for those sweet and amazing weapons. However, before that occurred he knew that he should appreciate this grind to the very top.

As Nicklaus continued to walk around looking for the next material, he knew that Rebekah had a question about his shop. "Yes, my shop is open. I do not have any gold to identify anything at the moment, but hopefully, I will get something soon." He explained. Once he saw all the crafting costs, he knew that he would have to earn a lot more gold before he could realistically get by. After all, it takes gold to earn gold, and he knew he needed to improve that as soon as possible.

Nicklaus walked to the next set of plants and began to examine them. He had forgotten what these were called in the real world, but they looked special enough to be materials. He hopes his intuition would be correct.

ID 208496 | LD = 9
(failed)

1/5 Materials

Edited April 10, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

As Nicklaus explained his concept for his shop, Rebekah had an idea to tell her older brother. "Have you thought about the idea again to join a guild. There may be guild benefits for joining a guild since guilds may have bonuses that would allow you to improve at a quicker pace." Rebekah explained. "For example, I gain a small amount of experience and improved salvaging results as part of my guild benefits."

This was something that Rebekah was trying to emphasize to Nicklaus. She had fallen behind one material to him, and even though this was not a race. Rebekah wanted to prove that she was the better forager. She needed to show off her skills to Nicklaus. It was at this point, the return of her owl, Snowball had flown back and landed on her shoulder. It told her that there was something ahead, perhaps a material that she should look out for.

Rebekah did not know how helpful the hint was as Snowball immediately flew off once again, leaving her with just a general direction of where to go. "Have you identified anything items yet?" Rebekah asked. She wanted to be in the loop. She was saving up right now for item identifications and a property in Aincrad. Right now, she did not have enough and would had to choose between one or the other. She needed a way to earn more col in this game.

D = 208470 | LD = 12 | CD = 4
Foraging (R3) - 230/299 EXP (+5)
+ 1 mat

Edited April 10, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

After watching her sister get her first material, Nicklaus also thought of this as a race that he wanted to win. After all, it was going to be important for him to try to find a way to get as many materials as possible. He had noticed the selling price of these were normally close to 700 col, so it was worth a lot. Nicklaus knew he needed to go back to work to ensure he was finding these materials. The question from Rebekah made him pause and think about his decision.

"Do you recommend any guilds? I would love to try to get some of the guild buffs to make my profession become a lot easier to manage given that it was something that can help me in the long run." Nicklaus said. Even he knew that the benefits arises when one reaches maximum level in their profession so if he could skip or fast track the middle growth he would try to take advantage of that as much as possible. "Is your guild open?" Nicklaus asked. It was a good way for him to keep track of her sister and potentially scare away any guys who try to get too close to her. After all, Rebekah, even at eighteen is too young.

"No, I have only set up my shop but I have not done anything yet. Feel free to drop off stuff in my shop. I will get to it shortly. I will need to earn enough gold to identify so that would be helpful." Nicklaus spoke.

ID 208534 | LD = 9
(failed)

1/5 Materials

Edited April 11, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

"Okay, I will come by shortly after clearing out my entire inventory." Rebekah said. She had a lot of items that needed to be identified and they were taking up space. Rebekah desperately wanted to offload it and get it returned at a later date. She would, of course, be required to make a payment for the difference between the cost of the items to identify and the junk value of the consumables that she was not interested in. With that all sorted out, Rebekah knew that she would now have to get back to work on foraging. Both Nicklaus and Rebekah were at one each, but she wanted to show him the power of having this as a secondary profession as opposed to fishing.

Rebekah walked up to the next set of plants and began to wait for it to appear on her screen. Maybe these herbs would be ripe enough to be considered a material. There was only one way to find out, and this was to reach out and grab it and see if what Cardinal decides in her inbox. Hopefully, this was going to be a lucky choice.

ID = 208637 | LD = 10 | CD = 6
Foraging (R3) - 233/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

Edited April 15, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

Nicklaus was glad that he finally receive work for him to do at his shop. He would have to plan to get to it someday. Hopefully, he is willing to try soon. Even at his level, he knew that unique enhancements were very popular, and that was the reason why players would spend a lot of gold to get the perfect set. He watched as her sister continued to fail at foraging. She was so much better last time when she was watching him fish. Maybe it was easier near the ocean.

This time, he decided to switch it up. Instead of going for plants, he decided to go for wood. There was a small piece of a log in front of him. Hopefully, that would do the trick, as plants were hard to judge. It would not make sense for all plants to be materials, which was a generic item, as they are each unique and should retain their special properties.

"Are you struggling to find materials here? Do you want to go somewhere else?" Nicklaus asked. He was wondering whether or not that would be a good idea since the both of them are not doing very well at the moment. It was going to be a long day to collect five materials.

ID 208639 | LD = 11
+1 Mat

2/5 Materials

Edited April 15, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

That was true. Rebekah being an expert forager was having trouble trying to look for stuff from flowers. It was time she moved on to looking for something else. She decided to take Nicklaus to a nearby farmland where they could forage for materials from crops and the growing field. That would be a better location than here. "I will bring you to somewhere nearby. I know a place that is not too far, and it is known to have a lot more drops." Rebekah explained. She had hoped that not too many people raided the place recently, or else it will still be hard for them to look for materials.

As Rebekah began leading the way, she decided to call her snowy owl to fly right next to her as they were going somewhere else. Her owl looked sad that she was leaving the forest to a wide open field where there is not as many trees to hang out in. It would be out in the open in the sun. That was the reason why Rebekah did not bring Nicklaus there as she wanted to avoid the heat and the sun that was there. They finally arrived at the farm where Rebekah took her older brother.

ID = 208641 | LD = 2 | CD = 11
Foraging (R3) - 236/299 EXP (+3)
(failed)

1 mat total

Edited April 15, 2022 by Rebekah

[Nicklaus 0]

As soon as they got to the farm, Rebekah took him to the first field that she could find. It was a field full of vegetables that were growing in the ground. He was not the farming expert, Rebekah was. She had always spent a lot of time in the garden when she was younger so she knew exactly where to look and what to look for. However, it did not take an idiot to find out that the plants in this field in front of them was now ready to be harvested. It had looked like no other player had arrived here this morning.

Therefore, Rebekah hand him a basket, and Nicklaus began to harvest the crop in front of them. He had no experience in this but Rebekah urged him on wards. She told him that the game would recognize a material the moment the basket was over a certain percentage full. That was random, but she assured him that they would be able to fill up the entire basket at least once, so there is bound to be something here before moving on to the next field. Aincrad was weird, Nicklaus thought but he was surely going to listen to the expert which was his younger sister. That was surprising to think about.

ID 208642 | LD = 6
(failed)

2/5 Materials

Edited April 15, 2022 by Nicklaus

[Rebekah 0]

After watching Nicklaus struggle for a bit, Rebekah decided it was time for her to show him how it was done. After all, she was the gardening and farming expert. She knew what to do, especially after helping Nemo out the last time in Eden's Garden on the twenty second floor in this game. This time they were on a generic field on the first floor. "I will show you how to do this." Rebekah said.

She got down and started harvesting carrots from the ground and placing them into her basket. She was doing this one at a time to ensure she always had a high quality harvest since she thinks harvest matters. As her basket began to fill up, she turned to Nicklaus, "That is how you do it. You can see that the ones I picked were done with due care and not in a rush. Therefore, the quality of my harvest is superior to those in your basket." Rebekah explained.

It was at this time a rabbit came hopping by. Rebekah decided to be nice and give it a carrot, and continued on her way of harvesting. She had earned two materials for her quality harvest.

ID = 208643 | LD = 20 | CD = 7
Foraging (R3) - 244/299 EXP (+8)
+ 1 Mat + 1 Mat (CD)

3 mat total

Edited April 15, 2022 by Rebekah