[SP-F1] The Adventure Begins! | <<The First Lesson>>

[Adestra 0]

A Familiar spinning wheel roused Alyson out of what had slumber that felt like it had genuinely been forever... and maybe it had? Before she even had time to process a blast of colors, lights, sounds, and a rush of movement as her body resynched to NerveGear and before she knew it... she was back. Standing in the world of Aincrad once more. She shuffled on her feet a bit, and... no lag! she must have been transported from her home in America to the servers in japan... that would explain the long period of unconsciousness she felt, and how... little.. people.. there were around her. 

Alyson's eyes quickly darted around her. She'd spent maybe a week in the starter town on the games launch, to worried about stepping out due to her connection, but now the town was... well it wasn't abandoned, but aside from a few well geared people and a few more completely destroyed people still in starter gear the area was essentially abandoned. how long had she been out? The thought only seized Alyson for a moment before she shook it off. Crawling into the despair wouldn't help now. Quickly she opened up her menu to double check annnd yup, still no log out button. The game was still going. So it hadn't been cleared yet. She could still catch up. Alyson quickly ran her way to the central square, most people not even giving her a passing glance, to them she people looked like all of the other people stuck in the town, the one's who'd quit and given up, waiting to be saved rather than saving themselves. 
 

Upon reaching the square she opened the teleportation obelisk menu. As the floors would get cleared the next one would be available to teleport to, so this would give her an idea as to how far exactly she was behind the curve. And the answer was 29. They had gotten tot he 29th floor. Not even half way. Alyson nodded a bit to give herself some confidence "Good, I've still got time" she muttered to herself. Now was her time, and the good thing about being in her situation is that the low level farming fields would likely be relatively clear at this stage, meaning she'd have to fight less for the "Good" farming spots.. at least at this stage. So he next stop, now that she could finally move freely in the game was to finally get her first bit of experience and kill her first mob, so out the village gates she headed.

She didn't make it far however. "You there! Stop, please!" A man, no an npc, strode up to Alyson before she could even get halfway through the massive city, and a quest marker above his head!, Alyson was almost glad she'd missed this in the first weeks, it seemed like she'd stumbled into a tutorial quest. "Pardon me, but I am in need of some assistance, and you appear quite capable." aAlyson turned to face the man, and honestly wasn't even sure how to progress the quests in this game yet so she just muttered through her words, "Uhh, yes?" The NPC let out a quick sigh as he adjusted his monocle, "My name is Dorian, and I am the mayor of this town. As part of those mayoral duties, I issued a small loan to a member of the community a few months ago. Well, the time to collect had come around and I-" The NPC paused to stroke his moustache "You see, I've forgotten who it was I loaned the money to. Terribly embarrassing, I know, but I am a very busy man, and I cannot keep track of everything that happens. I'm sure you understand." Before Alyson could even chuckle or respond, the thought was waved of 'of course she'd understand, such a simple mistake to make' "Should you be willing to track down the loan recipient for me, and collect the col, I would be eternally grateful. Just, maybe don't let anyone else know I forgot who the loan went to?" Yet again, questioning how to properly adress the NPCs Alyson simply mutter an "Uhhh yeah, I can do that" 

And immediately the a large title appeared on her hud <<THE FIRST LESSON>> QUEST ACCEPTED, and the NPC nodded and continued.  "Excellent, I knew I could count on you! You might start with Zackariah, the alchemist. He's often doing projects for the town, so it may have been him that borrowed the money." A gitty sense of excitement filled Alyson. Her first quest! and the NPCs seemed super responsive, it was obviously a little bit scripted but to react to her own words was great.  "Absolutely, Zackariah, I'll do that now!" She said charging off, and she heard called behind her "Thank you my dear, I'll be patiently awaiting your return!" This caused Alyson to stop in her tracks a bit. Had that NPC just responded to her in real time? Alyson's excitement burst through the roof as she dashed through the city. 'Zackariah Here I come!'
 

<<1 hour later>>

The bell finally rings as a wore and tired Alyson pushes her way into the shop. It had been way closer to the initial quest pick up location than she'd originally thought it would be, and had honestly passed it over in her search multiple times. Navigation was never her strong suit. “Oh, hello," The words rang from behind the counter, the speaker glancing up from his tea to see who had wandered into his store. "Are you here to order something? I’m sorry, but I am currently swamped with orders, and I’m running out of supplies.” He said at first a bit disinterested in Alyson altogether, and then as if hit by a lightning bolt he turned his full attention to Alyson Would you gather a few materials for me? Flowers, herbs, rare woods, whatever you can find outside the city walls. I promise I’ll help you fill your order as soon as you return. In fact, I would be willing to show you how to do it yourself.” 

Edited Wednesday at 05:48 AM by Adestra