[SP - F1] <<Earning A Living>> {Complete}

[Lessa 1]

The stream of people moving down the street seemed endless. Though some time had passed since Kayaba Akihiko's earth-shattering announcement, Starting City was just as busy as it had been that day. Players who were too frightened of death to leave the walls simply milled about, and the result was an always-bustling city. Lessa regarded them through the window of the inn with bored, tired eyes. Taking a sip of her drink, she heaved a sigh, and draped her upper body over the table in exasperation. With her arms crossed across the table, and her face buried, she groaned. "I need something to do," she muttered to no one in particular.

A conversation from the table beside her drifted over. Two young men were talking about their shops, and the materials that they had spend the morning gathering. Lessa perked up slightly. A shop, she thought to herself. She thought about it for a moment, before a grin spread across her lips. It was the perfect idea. Something to keep her busy, and an outlet for all of her pent-up energy. Besides, she was a working girl. Not having a task was taking a toll on her, and opening up her own shop would be the perfect remedy.

Lessa pushed back from the table, stood, and exited the inn.

[Lessa 1]

As a relatively inexperienced player, Lessa recognized that she did not know too much about shops. Therefore, she understood that she did not have the knowledge to determine the 'best' mentor. She could not 'shop around' for a teacher, or ensure that the one she was visiting was indeed the best. Instead, she promised herself that she would stop into the first smithing shop that she encountered, and convince the owner to teach her, no matter what.

As it turned out, the first shop was not far from the inn. It was a small building, but even the outside walls were scrubbed clean. Clearly, someone took great pride in their humble shop, regardless of the size. Unsurprisingly, the inside of the shop was just as clean. A bell rang cheerfully as the door closed behind her.

The woman who greeted her, however, was not so cheery. Her features were worn, wrinkles of worry criss-crossing her face. Her eyes were mere slits behind tired, drooping eye-lids. And as she rest her gaze on Lessa, her gaze seemed to narrow even further.

[Lessa 1]

"Are you here to buy something?" Came the woman's sudden question. It was without any other form of greeting, and caught Lessa by surprise.

"No, I'm not, I-" She started, smiling at the woman.

"Please leave."

Lessa, completely taken aback by this comment, replied, "excuse me?"

"I think you heard me."

Shaking her head, Lessa took a step forward, and desperately searched for the words to say. How could she possibly change this woman's mind? "Ma'am, I'm here because I am looking for someone to train under, and-"

She was interrupted again. "I know why you are here. But I asked you to leave."

Tightening her hands into fists at her side, Lessa spoke slowly and deliberately. "Yes, ma'am. But may I ask why?"

The woman, who appeared to be in her mid thirties, gave a wave of her hand. "Simply, I do not have time for another clueless, scared little player who wants me to teach them to kill the bad guys." Now it was her turn to take a step toward Lessa. "I'm done with that nonsense. And I am done explaining myself to you. Leave."

[Lessa 1]

"With all due respect, ma'am," Lessa shot back, struggling to keep the emotion from her voice. "I am not looking for someone to cry to, or someone to baby me. I am looking to acquire a skill, and nothing more."

This answer seemed to surprise the woman, and she was momentarily rendered speechless. But she recovered quickly. "Sure you are. But as I have already told you, I am far too busy for such trivial things." Once again, she motioned to the door, and barked, "leave me."

"Let me help you, then," Lessa tried again. "Give me a task. This will prove to you that I am capable, and also benefit you. All I ask is for a bit of information in return." There was silence. "Please."

The woman considered the offer for what seemed like an eternity. Then, she sighed.

"Fine," came her crisp answer. "You will collect materials for me. There is a mine outside of town. Go, and collect a piece ingot for me. If you return with what I desire, I shall consider helping you." With that, the woman turned on her heel and disappeared deeper into the shop. Lessa was left standing there, a victorious smile on her face.

"Thank you!" She called after the blacksmith. "You will not be disappointed!"

[Lessa 1]

A renewed sense of excitement and purpose flowed through the young woman as she hurried down the street. Dodging the aimless wanderers, she suddenly found herself feeling sorry for them. Living in this world was hard enough, but not having the strength and courage to leave the safe zone made it even worse. Lessa knew she certainly was not fearless, but she would rather risk her life to keep living, than waste it sitting in Starting City. No, sitting around, waiting to be rescued was no life at all, especially when there were brave people fighting on the front lines.

This thought startled her. She had thought briefly of those individuals who helped to keep clearing floors, but she felt a fleeting urge to be among them. Slow down, she scolded herself. You're still new here. Perhaps it was the eagerness to complete the quest, but Lessa found herself longing to be more powerful, and more influential. One day.

Upon reaching the edge of the city, Lessa brought up her menu to equip her sword. That was when she noticed a new quest in her queue. <> Huh. Must have qualified for this when I asked about the profession. Giving the quest a read-over, she determined that was exactly what happened. "Cool," she whispered. Then, she selected her trusty claymore, and felt it materialize on her back. "And so we go," she announced, before taking off across the open area.

[Lessa 1]

On her way out of the city, Lessa had stopped to ask a NPC where the mine was. He had directed her to a gravel path, and given her instructions to follow it for two miles or so. The directions were easy enough, and Lessa found herself enjoying the trip. True, she was venturing into dangerous territory, but she had a few levels under her belt now. With help from Alkor and Kiluia, she knew more about fighting than she had before. Of course, she had a ways to go, but leaving the city alone did not scare her too much anymore.

Of course, just as she was thinking this, she heard a sound from behind her. Without thought, she spun around and unsheathed her weapon, moving into a fighting stance. A large grey wolf was also in its ready position, dark eyes staring her down, jaws twisted into a blood-thirsty snarl.

"Let's do this," Lessa muttered, tightening her grip on her sword.

The wolf moved first, pushing off of its haunches, and throwing itself at her. But she was ready. In one swift motion, Lessa side-stepped the attack, and thrust her sword upward. It carved a small chunk out of the wolf's shoulder. With a whimper, it landed on all fours, slightly favoring the tender shoulder. The recovery, however, did not take long. Before she knew it, the wolf had turned back to her.

{Lessa deals 2 DMG to wolf - +1 for two-handed skill.}

Lessa - 11/11

Wolf - 4/6

[Lessa 1]

The low humming in the wolf's throat was hard to miss as it began to circle its prey. Lessa bent her knees, and lifted her sword up slightly, preparing herself for the next attack. Whenever the wolf decided to strike, she would be ready.

Waiting for an attack was something that Lessa was very used to. Growing up with three older brothers meant that she had to be on guard constantly. Someone might jump out from behind a tree and startle her as she walked through the forest. Someone might rig a bucket of water to fall on her head as she opened the door to her bedroom. And someone might lunge at her without warning during a session of rough-housing. She knew better than to let her guard down in a situation like this.

Finally, the wolf pounced. Once again, her careful timing and patience paid off. This time, she lunged to the right instead of the left, striking the wolf's other side. It howled out in fury, and had spun around to strike again without any wait time.

{Lessa deals 2 DMG to wolf - +1 for two-handed skill.}

Lessa - 11/11

Wolf - 2/6

[Lessa 1]

Now panicked by the wounds, the wolf's actions became sporadic. It no longer followed any sort of rational pattern, and its behavior was unpredictable. This, Lessa learned, was one of the more dangerous parts of a fight. She prepared herself for it to circle and lunge again, but she miscalculated. The wolf was not going to make the same mistake a third time. Instead, it remained on the ground. Giving off its own battle cry, the beast lunged forward, and lashed at her with its teeth.

This was an action that Lessa had not planned for. With a squeal, she did her best to throw herself out of the way. But she was too slow. The wolf clamped on to her leg, and bit down hard before drawing back for its next attack. With wide eyes, Lessa watched her health bar dip down. Muttering a handful of choice words, she brought her sword up for the next attack.

{Wolf deals 1 DMG to Lessa.}

Lessa - 10/11

Wolf - 2/6

[Lessa 1]

She took a deep breath, to clear her mind, and forget about the damage that she just took. Lessa knew that if she had a mentor with her, he or she would be telling her the same thing. Experienced players knew that dwelling on past attacks would do them no good. There was nothing she could do about that now, except for be more careful in the future. Gaze glued to the beast, she cried, "is that all that you've got?" If anything, it made her feel more confident. And that was something, right?

Unfortunately, that was not all that the wolf had. With an enraged howl, it darted forward again, sweeping at her with its sharp claws. Again, it was an attack that she had not been anticipating, and it struck her other leg before she knew what was happening.

"Are you kidding me?" She cried out, more angry at her own stupidity than the wolf's attack.

{Wolf deals 1 DMG to Lessa.}

Lessa - 9/11

Wolf - 2/6

[Lessa 1]

"This ends now," Lessa snarled, tightening her hold, and again slipping into fighting position. This time, the wolf hung back, seeming to study her, anticipating what her next action would be. Or maybe, it was sizing her up, and determining her weaknesses. Knock it off, her mind screamed. Its just data! Just kill it already!

For the first time since encountering the beast, Lessa switched to the offensive. As the wolf stood watching her from a few paces off, she lunged. Holding her blade out in front of her, she closed the distance in two long strides.

"Die!" She screamed, thrusting her blade into the unsuspecting wolf. This time, she was focused. This time, her blade found its mark.

There was a satisfying crunch as she sank her weapon deeper into the wolf. Her final move had been critical. It shuddered for an instant, before bursting into a million octagonal pieces.

The woman stood there, chest rising and falling with each dramatic breath, sword still clenched tightly in both hands. "And stay dead, you piece of-" She kicked the ground where the thing used to be, and began walking again.

{Lessa deals 3 DMG to wolf - +1 from two-handed skill, +1 critical.}

Lessa - 9/11

Wolf - 0/6 DEAD

{Lessa acquires 30 col, 1 material.}

[Lessa 1]

With the victory over the wolf under her belt, Lessa felt even more confident moving down the path. Of course, her performance had not been perfect. She had made a few rookie mistakes, and she was aware that she still needed practice. She was not about to jump to the front lines or anything. But it felt good, knowing that she had beat something all by herself. The young woman could not keep the grin from creeping to her lips. It felt very good.

It was not long after her encounter with the wolf that Lessa spotted the mine. It rest about two hundred yards ahead of her, and there was not another soul in sight. "Easy enough," the young woman muttered to herself. Overcome with excitement at finally spotting the mine, Lessa moved into a jog, hoping to close the distance as quickly as possible.

[Lessa 1]

Lessa slowed to a halt outside of the mine. Peering in, she realized that it was much darker than she had anticipated. How could you have forgotten to bring a torch? And why on earth did you not bring a pickax? The young woman was beginning to realize that she truly had left the city totally unprepared. She gulped, and drew her sword. There was nothing she could do about it now. By the time that she went back to the city for the necessary equipment, the blacksmith would have already given up on her. She had to do this now, if she was going to do it at all.

Luckily, as she began to creep into the mine, a bit of the sunlight that managed to fight the darkness illuminated something. It looked as if part of the mine had begun to cave in, and the fallen rocks had collapsed to reveal a vein of shimmering gold. "What luck," she said aloud, then flinched as her voice echoed.

[Lessa 1]

But as Lessa moved closer to wall of the mine, she realized that there was a very big issue that she would need to address. The floor of the mine had split apart slightly, causing a thin crack to run down the length of the wall. Whatever had caused the rocks to fall of the wall had probably caused the floor to crack as well. She now realized that she would need to perch precariously on one of the fallen rocks, and use her claymore to scoop the gold out and somehow fling it over the crack. If she did not time the action perfectly, she would lose the precious material to the thin cavern.

"Not so lucky," she groaned. As carefully as possible, she took her claymore in both hands, and stepped up onto one of the fallen rocks. Lifting the blade up to the wall, she chipped away at the gold.

Just as she feared, the gold that she managed to free fell away, but tumbled directly into the crack.

{Attempt failed. No material gathered.}

[Lessa 1]

"Stupid gold," she muttered. As slowly as possible, she tried to shuffle her feet on the top of her rock. This turned her body slightly, and gave her a different angle from which to dig at the material. "This should not be so difficult," she groaned. Taking a deep breath, Lessa leaned forward, putting weight behind her blade, and pushing out another piece of the rock.

"Nooooo," she cried, watching the tiny piece of sparkling rock bounce down the wall and into the crack. Another material lost to her own incompetency. "This is not working."

{Attempt failed. No material gathered.}

[Lessa 1]

Lessa recognized that whatever she was doing was not working. But she also understood that this was her only hope. Venturing deeper into the mind was out of the question, as she had not brought anything with her. All she could do was use what was left of the sunlight, and dig out the gold that was right in front of her.

"No other option," Lessa reminded herself aloud, now barely noticing the echo that followed her every word. She took a moment to readjust her stance on the rock, correcting her center of gravity, and making sure that she would not fall. Finally, satisfied with her position, she tried again.

And for the third time, Lessa watched her material roll into the crack.

{Attempt failed. No material gathered.}

[Lessa 1]

Her angry cry echoed deep into the cavern. "Why won't this work?" She stepped down from the rock, and gave it a good kick with her boot. The rock moved slightly. This startled her. Lessa had believed that the rocks were much heavier, which is why she had not attempted to push them over the crack. Besides, as there was no ledge at all on the side of the wall, the rock would not have anything to rest on but the wall itself. Now, as she watched how easily the rock moved, she began to wonder if it was indeed possible.

Sheathing her claymore, Lessa crouched down, and threw all of her weight behind the rock. Slowly, it moved. After a full minute of grunting, cursing, and shoving, the rock was in position. Now, when she stepped up on it, she was much closer to the gold. She did not need to stretch, or twist herself into a silly position to cut away at the rock. Instead, she scooped the gold out, and it landed perfectly on the other side of the crack.

"Finally."

{Attempt successful. One material gathered.}

[Lessa 1]

The figure leapt off of the rock, her excitement plain on her face. She knelt down, and reached out to grab the gold. As she touched it, it shimmered, disappeared, and then appeared in her inventory. Lessa gave another victorious cheer, bouncing up and down excitedly. It had taken a while, but she had finally retrieved the necessary amount of gold. Her problem solving had been successful.

Briefly, she considered staying to collect more materials. Why not? It was right there in front of her, and she could collect as much as she could before the sun went down. But the more pressing matter was the blacksmith, who was waiting for her in the city. If she did not return quickly, the woman may give up on her, and refuse to teach her. Lessa had worked hard to get on the woman's good side - better not screw that up by being tardy.

Sheathing her sword once more, Lessa took off at a jog toward the city.

[Lessa 1]

The chiming of the bell on the door brought the female blacksmith forward from the back of her shop. The expression on her face when she spotted Lessa was one of annoyance, with a hint of surprise.

"So?" She asked expectantly, one eye-brow cocked as she eyed the young woman.

"I have your gold, just as you asked." Without giving the woman time to reply, Lessa closed the distance between them, queueing up her inventory as she did so. She retrieved the gold, and when it materialized in her hand, she offered it to the woman. "Here you are, ma'am."

"Lenore."

Lessa paused, then asked, "pardon?"

"Lenore. Its my name. Call me it."

Startled by the sudden change in the woman, Lessa took a step back. Then she nodded.

"And who are you?" The woman continued.

"My name is Lessa. Pleasure to meet you."

"Right. Okay. Follow me."

With that, the older woman led the girl into the back of the shop.

[Lessa 1]

Lessa followed behind closely, her eyes drinking in everything around her. Tools lined the walls, hung by hooks, and arranged in order of size and use. A fire burned hot in one corner, throwing the occasional spark into the middle of the room. A workbench, complete with hanging cupboards, lined one wall. A bucket of cold water rest opposite the fire, and an anvil stood prominently in the middle. It was a small shop, but very humble. Nothing was out of place, and it was cleaned up to the best of the blacksmith's ability. Lessa was immediately delighted.

"Your shop is lovely," she told the woman. Lenore gave a nod of thanks, but said nothing. Fiddling around with a few things on her workbench, the older woman kept her back to the girl. "Would you like this?" She held out the piece of gold again.

"No," said the woman, finally. "You'll need it for your shop." When she turned back around, she was clutching her own piece of ingot. "We will use this." Breezing past Lessa, Lenore moved to the fire, and placed the material inside of it.

[Lessa 1]

"I'll do one, and you just watch," Lenore instructed, expertly moving the ingot in the fire. Lessa nodded, not peeling her eyes away from the woman's hands for a second. It was clear that Lenore was not going to slow down for Lessa's benefit, so it was up to her to pay attention, and catch every single detail.

The woman snatched a tool from the wall, and began sculpting the hot material. Her strokes were quick and precise, striking exactly where she wanted every time. She really knows what she is doing, Lessa found herself thinking. If I keep working with her, one day, I'll be that good!

The heat thrown by the flames was beginning to get to Lessa, and beads of sweat began to form on her temples, and the small of her back. In one fluid motion, she reached back and lifted her hair off of her damp neck. This was not lost on Lenore.

"You'll get used to it," the older lady informed her, not looking up from her work.