[SP-F1] <<Earning a Living>> {COMPLETED}

[Natalia 0]

I hate this town.

Walking through the ever so crowded Town of Beginnings was the dark-haired, deep amber-eyed girl called Setsuko. She passed through the seemingly endless sea of people, avoiding accidental bumps and contact as best she could, though it proved to be more of a challenge than she could accomplish. Only her aversion to attention stopped her from screaming at the top of her lungs for people to move. Had she not cared, she would have exploded long ago. Of course, that would only further her reputation as, Icy Heart. the girl who does her best to the ruin moods of the happy. When she first heard it, she couldn't help but chuckle before it sunk in.

There was only one reason for her to be in this town right now: she wanted to learn the ways of the blacksmith. Being able to craft her own weapons and armor would make for a fantastic asset. New armor and weapons whenever she had the necessary materials; not only would she be able to support herself, but (even if she preferred to avoid them) other players as well, all while making a bit of coin. Any other benefits would be overkill.

After traversing through the crowd for about five minutes, she found herself outside of a small building on the corner of the block. Most of the corner buildings had very similar designs, at least in this town. A pair of large, wooden doors preceded by five steps up to them. The interiors of each corner building differed, but not only by the content, not so much the design. She found herself inside, and was met with the automated greeting of the blacksmith trainer. "Hello there, customer! What can I do for you?

Perhaps you could lower your voice.

[Natalia 0]

"I'd like to become a blacksmith." Setsuko replied to the NPC, and awaited his response. Despite her annoyance at his simulated enthusiasm, she couldn't deny that she found the speech system to be fascinating. NPCs would take what you said, process it, search for the keywords, and base their response on the information they gathered, all within seconds of hearing it; they were almost perfect replicas of humans, albeit a little less intelligent than your average person. It wouldn't really surprise her if there were people stupider than the NPCs, though.

"Ah, so you wanna to learn the ways of forging, do you? Are you sure? Once you go down this path, others will be closed." The blacksmith responded in what Setsuko assumed to be the game's way of saying, 'After becoming a blacksmith, you won't be able to become anything else.' Once again, a neat little feature.

"I'm sure." Setsuko replied, hoping to hurry this up as best she could. There were bound to be others also following the blacksmithing quest. She wanted to get all that she could before they could. First come, first serve.

[Natalia 0]

The smith's response was as obnoxious as Setsuko had predicted it'd be. "Well, you'll be glad you chose this path; it ain't one for the weak, but the rewards are great!" His enthusiastic claim was followed by a hoarse laugh that brought Setsuko to clench her fists. "Let's see, do you got the materials necessary to begin?" He asked, though the system already knew the answer: she didn't. She had come to figure out what those materials were."No?" The NPC replied to her silence. "Well, come back once you've got yourself five <>"

As soon as Setsuko had heard the word 'boar', she had already began stepping out of the shop; the information she had come for was revealed. All she needed to do was kill enough boar to earn five boar tusks. Once that was over with, she'd be able to return and forge her own weapon/armor, she assumed. From that point on, she'd be able an 'official blacksmith.' Unfortunately, she'd probably have to go through the annoying warning the NPC had given her earlier a second time. The rest was simple enough, but she didn't know if she could handle his voice again.

Let's just get this over with.

[Natalia 0]

From the blacksmith's shop, Setsuko saw that there was another town exit only about ten meters away. Mizuki, you idiot. How much time did you waste shoving past the hundreds of people flooding the streets. She shook her head, and continued through the slightly less crowded area between her and the gate. There were guards, or NPCs, standing at each side of the opening. "Stay safe, traveler." One of them said as she walked through the gate. How thoughtful, Kayaba. Adding greetings and goodbyes to your NPCs.

No sooner had Setsuko stepped outside of the town and into the grassy plains did her eyes already focus on a target. A single <> grazing only about fifteen meters from the drawbridge. Her right-hand fell towards the hilt of her rapier, which rested in its sheath against the upper half of her left thigh, and drew it. She held the blade parallel to her nose, closed her eyes, and, with a deep breath, charged towards the overgrown pig.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 5/5

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar: 5/5

[Natalia 0]

Her first attack, however, was an utter failure. Before she had even finished closing on the target, she tripped. The momentum she had as she was running, however, caused her to slide the rest of the way, barely touching pig, but touching it hard enough to make it aggressive. The beast raised its hind feet, balancing itself on its front hooves, and sent them crashing down upon the girl. A single welp of pain escaped the girl, before she rolled from underneath the boar's hooves, and raised herself back from the ground.

Idiot, how could you screw up that attack? Her brow furrowed as she balanced her feet and waited. The <> had circled around, and entered a mad dash towards her.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 4/5

BD: 2

DMG: 0 (Miss)

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar: 5/5

[Natalia 0]

As the beast continued its approach towards her, Setsuko's eyes focused in on the target. At the current speed it was running at, she doubted she could both successfully dodge and attack it at the same time. Instead, she positioned herself so she was directly in front of the charging beast. A few seconds before it would collide with her, she leapt over it, barely dodging the pointed tusks that craved her blood. The creature, as it had before, regained control of itself and turned towards her, repeating the same attack pattern.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 4/5

BD: 5

DMG: 0 (Miss)

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar: 5/5

[Natalia 0]

This time, Setsuko was prepared. Before, the <> had had enough space to reach a speed she couldn't react to. However, the distance it had to accelerate was drastically smaller, and this allowed her to thrust her blade into the boar's side three times in quick succession after side-stepping its second charge. As it was stabbed, the creature let out a sickening squeal of pain before tripping over its own feet.

If I'm quick, I can finish it before it has a chance to recover. With that thought in mind, Setsuko once again sprinted at full-speed towards the creature, her blade ready to end the pig's life.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 4/5

BD: 9

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (OHR: R1) + 1 (Critical Hit) = 3

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar: 2/5

[Natalia 0]

Setsuko, using every bit of speed she gained in her run towards the <>, lowered her legs and slid past the creature, stabbing it twice in the face as she traveled past it: once in the eye, and once on the snout. By the time she was no longer in touching distance of the creature, it had shattered into thousands of tiny glimmering polygons. This was her first kill in the game. I survived, I just can't screw up next time; I won't always be as lucky.

Upon defeating the creature, a window, similar in style to the main menu GUI, popped up in front of her. The text in the center of the window read: 'You have been awarded Boar Tusk x3!' How the hell did I get three tusks from a single boar with two? Strange programming decision. With no one else around, she couldn't help but slightly grin at the strange number of tusks awarded for killing one.

She stood back up and scanned the fields for her next, probably final target.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 4/5

BD: 8

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (OHR: R1) = 2

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar: 0/5 (DEAD)

[Natalia 0]

In the massive green area around her, it wasn't hard to spot a second blue-furred, red-eyed pig. Her blade still drawn from her last kill, she observed the creature. It would only attack when provoked, so she had nothing to worry about as she slowly walked towards the creature and admired the immense attention to detail the designers of the game had: the boar was grazing. Every time it chomped down on a new area of grass, the grass would disappear. This really is just a second reality. It's almost a little frightening how accurate this world is.

Casually strolling up to the creature, she had nothing to worry about. Once she was within range, she pulled her arm back and jabbed her blade right into the back, startling it. With a grunt of frustration, the creature's back hooves grazed against the ground. In a single burst of speed, it entered a dash and leapt through the air. Setsuko, caught off guard, was forced to fall to her side to avoid the lightning quick attack. Pissed you off, didn't I?

PLAYER

Setsuko: 4/5

BD: 7

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (OHR: R1) = 2

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar #2: 3/5

[Natalia 0]

Before she even knew it, the <> Setsuko had pissed off was on a direct course to her. She couldn't even stand up before the creature's tusks collided with her. With her impalement, the creature threw its head up and sent her through the air to come plummeting back onto the ground. A delighted grunt uttered from the boar. You must be proud of yourself; it won't happen twice. Setsuko rolled herself onto her back before rising to her feet once more.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 3/5

BD: 4

DMG: 0 (Miss)

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar #2: 3/5

[Natalia 0]

Setsuko's thoughts came true, at least at this time. The boar had followed its usual attack and charged at her, which she countered by standing, waiting for the creature to come closer. When it was about two meters away, she jumped, and thrust her rapier into the creature. Pleasing sounds of pain came from the beast, signifying that it was on its last life point. One more hit until we head back to that obnoxious blacksmith.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 3/5

BD: 8

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (OHR: R1) = 2

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar #2: 1/5

[Natalia 0]

As Setsuko had thought, a final hit was all that was necessary to finish the creature off. Mere seconds after her last attack, she flashed towards and ended its virtual life with a final jab to the snout. Like the <> before it, the creature shattered like glass in front of her. The sound was becoming music to her ears, and the window that popped up informing her of the two <> she earned was well-received. With a relieved sigh, she returned her rapier to her sheath and set off back towards the town, which had grown quite a bit further from her during the combat; she hadn't realized how much she moved around until just now.

PLAYER

Setsuko: 3/5

BD: 6

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (OHR: R1) = 2

ENEMY

Frenzy Boar #2: -1/5 (DEAD)

[Natalia 0]

Despite the distance she had put between her and the Town of Beginnings during each of her fights with the two boar, it didn't take her too long to reach the drawbridge leading in. Like the interior, two guards were posted on each end of the drawbridge. "Welcome, miss. Enjoy your stay." They said in unison to welcome her into the massive town, which was more like a city. Setsuko quickly walked across the bridge and back into the town, ignoring the NPCs.

[Natalia 0]

By now, the ten meters between the exit and the blacksmithing shop were flooded with people. She did her best to avoid bumping into people, but the same couldn't be said of them. About halfway across the the crowd of people, a girl crashed into her, sending both of them to the ground. Setsuko's fist clenched, prepared to deck the girl, but refrained. "I'm so sorry!" The girl apologized with a smile that felt more like a smirk than sincere before helping Setsuko up and sprinting away immediately after continuing to dash through the people around her. Setsuko's eyes couldn't help but glance at the yellow ribbon that laced through the girl's hair.

I sincerely hope that gets caught on something.

[Natalia 0]

A bit of annoyance later, Setsuko found herself in front of the blacksmith's door. She climbed the steps and stepped inside, only to bump into yet another person. Unlike the first one, he said nothing and continued on his way out. All Setsuko saw of him before he was gone was his crimson-eyes and long, jetblack hair. Why is everyone an idiot today?

[Natalia 0]

Upon stepping just a bit further into the store, Setsuko was met with the same, overly enthusiastic greeting the blacksmith had given her earlier. "Hello there, customer! What can I do for you?" You can shut your damn mouth, that's for sure. Setsuko wanted to respond that way, but she withheld that urge, as it would only further delay the sole reason she was here, and the sole reason she even put up with being surrounded by people she'd rather not be around.

"Id like to become a blacksmith." Setsuko said for the second time today.

"Ah, so you want to go learn the ways of forging, do you? Are you su-"

"Yes." She interrupted.

"Well, you'll be glad you chose this path; it ain't one for the weak, but the rewards are great!" That same hoarse laugh that brought Setsuko to ponder whether or not deafness was really all that bad followed. "Let's see, do you have the materials to begin?"

[Natalia 0]

A brief pause followed the blacksmith's question as the system checked Setsuko's inventory for the <>, which she had this time. "Ah, you do! Well, follow me here, lass!" He continued speaking with a painful enthusiasm that would drive her insane by the time the process was over as he stepped out from behind his counter and through a door on the opposite end of the entrance. Nobody else was inside: perhaps this was another instance? Not that it mattered.

[Natalia 0]

"Alright, now take off your clothes!" Setsuko's eyes grew wide and her mouth was ajar. What the- Her thought was cut off by what sounded like maniacal laughter exiting the moronic blacksmith's gaping mouth. "Bahahahahahahaha! I'm just kiddin'. Take out the tusks." You're think you're so clever, don't you?

Ignoring her desire to bash the blacksmith's skull in with her fist, she did as he said, went through her menu, and pulled out the <>. The five tusks conveniently fell upon the anvil in front of her. All of them were the exact same size and color, a sickening ivory. "Alright!" He hollered once more. "I want you to craft me a set of armor out of three of them, and a blade out of two! Unfortunately, you don't get to keep them, but you'll be able to make our own armor and weapons after that! Bahahaa!"

[Natalia 0]

Setsuko took a guess as to how she was going to forge a blade out of the two tusks and placed them directly next to each other. With hammer in hand, she smacked them both at the same time. An orange, almost volcanic color replaced the area she had struck on both of the bones. A second strike and they began to mold into the shape of a blade. Two more strikes, and the tusks merged together in a glow, revealing a rather sickening bone blade. It appeared to be relatively strong, but the blacksmith did say she couldn't keep it, so she didn't get her hopes up.

"Excellent, excellent!" The smith picked up the blade by the hilt and swung it through the air directly in front of Setsuko. "You've done a wonderful job! Now, the armor!"

[Natalia 0]

Like the blade before her, Setsuko used the next three bones and hit them all as quickly as she could, making sure they were all touching when she struck. Before long, it shifted into a suit of presumably heavy armor. Its design was incredibly similar to the blade; it was almost a sickening color, a color that reminded her of rotting bones. I'm sure as hell glad that I'm not going to be the one wearing that disgusting piece of work. She couldn't deny that it did look relatively durable, however.

"Why, you've got a natural talent for blacksmithing, my dear!"