[PP-F2 Earning a Living: Performer]

[Mari 1]

**NB I refreshed the page 3 times to get the 3 different loot rolls please let me know if is this is not a-ok!*


Mari, after hearing him say that he would not be able to obtain or see any loot gave a small smile. That was fantastic! She needed it, she needed to improve her skills, her weapons...it seems as though her days wandering through the town aimlessly had been wasted. For everyone was miles ahead of her. She glanced around and sure enough she could see a few floating orbs where the boars had been killed, she wandered up to the nearest one. 

 

Rolled a 17 on the d20 (loot) dice.

 

 Score! At least, Mari assumed it was a decent score, it was a mere 25 COL but at this stage; it was better than nothing.  She turned to Tristan, smiling sweetly pretending to be excited about it, "Oh! Oh! I got 25 Col!" She hurriedly went to the next loot drop.

 

Rolled a 4 on the d20 (loot) dice.


The second one, however - was not as pleasant; it yeilded nothing, nadda. Zip.

 

Rolled a 20 on the d20 (loot) dice.

 

 

​
As if to make up for the earlier failed loot, Mari managed to obtain an item, it was honestly the first actual item she had looted, from anything. She looked at the name "cotton...boots of....flight?" She looked at the stats; "Evasion...+1...I guess that is a good thing?" She asked, honestly confused as she looked up at Tristan, game mechanics were not her strong point. 

Mari equipped the shoes, tapping her toes on the ground to ensure they were on properly. "I guess I'm ready."

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan nodded. "Evasion helps you get hit less. And I suppose any player is a fan of not getting hit."

Tristan chuckled and stretched a bit. He looked around to see if there were any other enemies, of which there were none.

"Okay, let's get going then. We should be fine now."

Tristan started walking to his shop/studio which was now in visible range.

[Mari 1]

Mari inwardly sighed as Tristan spoke about her items, as though she was some first rate fool. She may not understand the finer mechanics of the game, bu she damn well knew what the hell evasion meant. Instead of saying what she thought, Mari gave a soft laugh. "Yes, being hit isn't very nice!" Mari gave a nod as she followed Tristan once more, down the path further into the outskirts of the town. A building came into view, that looked a tad larger than the other houses dotted along the field, "I-is that it?" Mari asked.

Oh god I hope it is, I want this to be over She thought to herself, feeling frustrated at being constantly 'pleasant' around him.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan replied with a simple "Yup." as they walked inside the shop, the door ringing as it opened.

It is a simple brick building with wooden outer walls, however the inside is lavishly decorated with instruments and equipment. He spent quite some time getting all these instruments.

He ran his fingers along a piano, playin some of the keys as he walked past to play a tune.

"So what instrument are you interested in learning? I have got nearly everything this game has to offer here."

[Mari 1]

Mari glanced around the store, she had to admit - the collection was pretty impressive. Did this all belong to him? Or was it just aesthetic touches to the store, and simply decorations that weren't usable. 

"I play the violin in reality." Mari began, slowly stepping into the building, "I'm fairly adept at it; and have decent piano skills. But I am not sure how they would transition into the game."

Her voice was quiet, as she was indeed, unsure how such mechanics could work, or exactly how the performer profession worked either. She knew the basics of it, but not the inner structure of it all.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

"Well choose any violin you see here. When you're a performer, you can just use the sphere of symphony to change it how you wish. I still sometimes like to use the instruments around here and in my free time, I learn instruments here where I have the time to spend to learn them. Back at real life, managing a shop kept me very busy. Now? I have much more time to myself to learn."

He looked over a hammer dulcimer, an instrument his mother used to play. He thought on what instruments he still needed, then decided he needed a hang drum, an instrument he always held in awe.

"It works like real life. You can use the system to assist you though, say to loop certain parts or the like. Comes very handy for some cello play and things that would usually require two people."

[Mari 1]

"Hmm..." Mari began to circle the store, allowing her fingers to dance over the vast collection of instruments. Every so often she'd pick up a violin and hold it, inspect it's weight and feel before putting it back. The deceptively young looking girl went about this for what seemed like half an hour before finally setting on a rich European Maple bodied violin. Mari couldn't help but give an earnest smile. It was nigh impossible to find one with such a wood in reality, as the tree used had long since been exhausted, tenderly turning it around in her hands Mari gave a small nod, "Mmm. This one."

Mari grimaced at Tristan when he honestly tried to explain how the performance profession worked, "So, the system more or less lets you play any instrument?" She sighed, letting her true personality slip, "That is a bit of a cop out to those who had studied years to learn something. But, a game, is a game."

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan laughed lightly.

"The system doesn't assist you that much. You still need to properly play the instrument, since it won't correct notes for you. It just makes those that can already play go further beyond real life limitations in place."

[Mari 1]

"Ah, well I suppose that is a tad better" Mari glanced down at the instrument in her hand, what was she supposed to do now? Play it? Was that all she had to do to gain the performer profession? If that was all she had to do why did she have to trek all the way to the 2nd Floor with this happy go lucky naive man?

Giving a small sigh Mari placed the violin in the crock of her neck, steadied her breathing and began to softly play one of her favourite pieces, 'Av Maria' 
The song started softly, before slowly building into crescendo riding the wave in a slow, melodic tempo. Mari, loosing herself in the moment began to sway gently in tune to the music, humming softly along with it.

Forgetting that Tristan was there.
 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan took out a cello and played along, complimenting her violin by playing the missing crucial backing notes. He was familar with the song from his time playing cello at school.

He let his hand play as it flowed naturally, their strings ringing in the air as they played.

He thought on how he played at least three completely different songs to a crowd on the day of his quest for performing. This time, he had it recording on a ordinary crystal, so it recorded as they played their music

[Mari 1]

Mari stopped once the song was finished - sighing, she hadn't realized the other man had taken up the Cello and joined her, Mari chewed her lower lip, staring at the crimson haired player pensively. Not sure how she felt about him joining her without at least asking first. It almost felt as though he had sauntered into her home with dirtied feet.  Mari bit her tongue, deciding best not to say anything to him. She wouldn't tell him outright, but he did sound surprisingly good. 

"S-So uh.." Mari began, again with the innocent tone, "Now what?"

[Tristan Delaney 0]

"We should try playing some more. How about...the Toccata and Fugue? I will play in a D minor. I think with a violin you can play it at A minor to work on the same pace. If you can keep up that is~"

Tristan gave them a small pause to prepare, then started playing the great classic, sure to wrung the hearts of those who both played and heard the tune.

[Mari 1]

Mari shook her head, "W-wait - I..." she gave a sigh as he began to play, not giving her much choice in the matter. If she had it her way she'd not play at all, and make him look like a right fool. But, instead she gave a small grumble - grabbing her violin and softly playing in rhythm to his tune, again Mari found herself humming softly to the music.

Despite her annoyance with him, the music was serene- and the atmosphere tranquil. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan smiled as they played the entire 10 minute piece of music. It was known as one of the great epics, requiring great skill to accomplish. With its moments of serenity and intense drama, it left him truly tired at the end of it. It felt so much harder to play with such a little number, compared to the orchestra he once played it at.

"That was...impressive." He gave a tired smile as the recording crystal finished recording. He threw her the crystal.

"Here, have this. A memento of your path to a performer. Of course it never finishes, this is just a start. But if you ever feel you're losing hope, listen to that and you'll see you can accomplish great things." He smiled gently, though tired.

[Mari 1]

Mari carefully put the violin down, and daintily wiped the sweat that had formed on her brow. She gave a slight smile at his compliment; crossing her arms. "Almost 20 years of practise, I started when I was 5." Mari fumbled, almost dropping the crystal when it was thrown at her, she stared at the tiny glowing gem inquisitively before pocketing it. Mari ignored his cliche'd comment about not loosing hope, he meant well.

"So that's it? My profession is determined that easily?" She asked.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan chuckled. "In a sense yes. You start now as a performer. From now on you play music through recordings and if they are perfect, you will get higher ranks of performer too."

[Mari 1]

"Right..." Mari began, seeing that the conversation was dying down now - perhaps he was tired, or just was a man of few words. She did notice that he didn't exactly have a lot to say. An admirable trait in her eyes, since saying a single wrong thing would set the girl off. "So that's it then? You going to uhm...s-stay there? Or escort me back to the first floor?" 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

"Well I don't know whether you want to stay here for longer or go home already. If you are going home though and want an escort, I can happily do that."

Tristan smiled and leaned back in the chair he sat, drinking from some water he made himself.

[Mari 1]

Mari tapped her lip with a single finger, "mmm - honestly, it has been quite a day - I don't have a home but I could very well go back to an inn, it doesn't bother me as to which floor to go to for me to rest." Sapphire eyes landed on Tristan who looked as though he wasn't planing to move any time soon. Parts of her true persona started to crack through as she huffed, "I would ask for an escort but you look mighty comfy."

Slipping back into her facade Mari gave a light giggle, as though it was all a joke. "So I'd hate to disturb someone who has helped me so much."
 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan chuckled and got up out of his chair, stretching his back.

"Well I'll still happily escort seeing as I have nothing dire to be accomplished. I'd be no good if I just sat around all the time.

Plus while you'll be in an inn for tonight, you will now have your own shop because of your profession. A lot of people, including me, use a separate floor of the shop to serve as their home."