[PP,F1] <<Earning a Living>> (Meokka,Azazel)

[Guest Meokka]

Meokka felt the emptiness of her purse. She then turned her head to her spear looking at the dulling blade. There was no way she could afford repairs. This was bad. In the real world when she was on the streets she'd sing for cash sometimes, but, this game had it's restrictions. It was also unlikely for someone to give a handout to a person not using an actual skill to help someone else. It just didn't work that way. Not here. Choosing a profession in SAO was a lot more specific. You picked a trade and stuck with it. Meokka sighed. 

 

"So, this is how the little mermaid felt."

 

She had decided it already. She'd give up her real world talent of singing for blacksmithing. She could give back to other players, help herself, and make a living. That was the point of all this right? Yet she hesitated a bit. A heavy breath escaped her lips. 

 

Is this worth it? It would be better if I had a rival or something. A push. A reason to decide. There's nothing stopping me from sleeping in the streets. Is there? She thought to herself.

 

A shiver ran down her spine. She didn't want to go back to that kind of living. Not even in virtual reality. She took in a deep breath and continued walking the streets looking for the right npcs. Maybe if she saw them all, she could decide. Maybe, or maybe she told herself that over and over.

Meokka balled up her hands, and had a determined look in her eyes as she strutted down the road to look at the various shops. 

[Azrael 0]

Azazel found herself with some free time on her hands. Dervish had gone off some place, and everyone else she knew seemed to be partied off on different floors. She had thought about going out in the field to do some leveling of her own, but she didn’t really feel like it. She had been on the grind for the better part of two weeks and she needed a break. It was how she found herself strolling around the town of beginnings with nothing to do.

 

She strolled along the walkway with her thumbed looped into her belt, just aimlessly wandering about. She scanned the road for any familiar faces but there were none. Her attention fell upon a girl who was looking into each shop like she was trying to find something. Zaz crossed the road and walked toward the girl. “Excuse me,†she said as she approached, “Ummm… you look like you’re trying to find something. I know this area pretty well and I’d be happy to help find what you’re looking for.†As it was, Anna was generally not the type to offer assistance to anyone, but she had time to kill and she was in a friendly type mood, which was a terribly rare thing. 

[Guest Meokka]

Meokka looked over at the woman. She turned per purse upside down.

 

"I heard there was a quest to earn a living. I just thought it'd be a good idea. Know anything about that quest?" She asked curiously.

 

Meokka glanced the woman over. There was no PKing in town. She heard a few horror stories when she passed other players. Though maybe that's all it was. Stories. 

She tried to think about the quest at hand. Alchemists were great too. Potions. You always needed potions right? Yet you always needed armor. From a cole point of view one would make more cole on products with a shelf life. A weapon may not suit the tastes of everyone and was harder to sell, but weapons were a way of life. As was armor. Which was more important cole or survival? 

 

"I was thinking about being a blacksmith. I'd rather survive than have a cole cash source." 

 

But that could only mean one thing. She planned to go through the floors, and not just anyplace on the floors. No. The front lines. She wondered if the woman in front of her understood that.

[Azrael 0]

Zaz smiled. “Yeah… I finished my quest recently, but where we go depends on what you want to do…†she explained. The girl looked at her and told her that she wanted to become a blacksmith so that the girl might survive. “You’ll still make a pretty good living from it if you can get your skills high enough, “Azazel assured the girl. “I know where you need to go… come on, I’ll show you.† She turned back around started back down the way she came.

 

Anna was pleased with herself. She actually knew enough to be helpful to another player. She was glad that she took the time to learn where key NPC’s were and what missions they provided. “I found this NPC by chance one day when I was trying to figure out what profession I should take up,†She said, “A Blacksmith will be very handy for someone like you.†Zaz eyed the spear the girl had with her, “Weapon repairs can get really expensive.â€

 

 

 

((I left things vague so that you could put in the detail as you like since this is your quest XD ))

[Guest Meokka]

She sent the woman a party request. 

 

"I heard there's a profession festival showing off what people have learned. Care to check them all out? Not just the blacksmith of course. There's a cooking contest were the cook NPCs gather around to show off. Some people claim it tastes like food from the real world. Performers are there too in singing, dancing, and playing music. Artisans have art competitions or show off jewelry, tailors  have a fashion show, and blacksmiths and merchants show off their wears in a flee market like fashion with alchemists. Would you mind checking them all out with me?" she smiled a bit.

 

Making the best out of the situation she was ready to treat today like a party. True work would come after but she might as well try to make it fun. There would probably be recruiters for every job, but she'd try to hold out for blacksmith.

 

"I hope you're right about making a cole profit. I'll want a house soon. It's discouraging to not have a place to call home." she admitted. 

 

The idea of being homeless again really bothered her.

[Azrael 0]

Anna started to walk back down the road, but noticed the girl had not followed. Did she not want to find the blacksmith? A screen popped up asking her to party and she accepted the request. The girl told her that there was some event in town where professionals were showing off their skills like some sort of expo. This was the first Zaz had heard of it, but it might have been worth it to check out, especially if the girl wasn’t sure what she really wanted to be.

 

“Oh, sure, that’s actually a good idea,†Azazel told her. In the real world Anna had conducted many career counseling sessions during her years of teaching, so maybe she could help the girl figure out what profession might be best for her. The girl mentioned wanting a house, but Zaz knew housing in the game was ridiculously expensive.

 

 â€œOh I don’t know about that…†she trailed off wondering if she wanted a home of her own. She had not had one before so she knew no real value in having something like that. “I’ve been enjoying sleeping under the stars…†Zaz was enamored with the freedom the game allowed her. 

[Guest Meokka]

"As nice as it is to camp out. It's nice to call a place home. You know? Er.....Nevermind that was stupid to say." 

 

She walked side by side with the woman. Sure enough there were real players and NPCs cooking out in the opening.

 

"FREE SAMPLE!" "GET YOUR FREE SAMPLE HERE!" "Desserts here!" "Asian cuisine here!" "Get your tea here!" "Spicy food here!" "Chest Only material vegan food here!" "I've got S rank food here with produce!" "Cheap fast food for on the go!" "Selling rares here!" "Get your pasta here!" "Donations go to my blacksmith husband people by my pizza!"

 

"Look how crowded this place is. There's enough free samples here to feed an army. Hey Az which should we try out first?!" Normally she'd be less excited about these sorts of things but she was happy to have the company in a place like this.

 

Hearing music her head turned to see dancers, musicians, and singers helping draw more people to the event. Meokka looked over towards them for a minute and saw people clapping and dancing. There were people who also ate near by.

 

"This is like a festival. This will only make my decision harder." she sighed. "Oh well, free food." She looked to Azazel and grabbed her arm. "So we don't get separated, this crowed is rather colossal in size. I hope I'm not to much in your bubble." She didn't want to get lost or lose her.

[Azrael 0]

“It’s not a stupid thing to say,†Anna smiled softly at the girl. It was cute that the young woman was ambitious. Her ambitions would serve her well so long as she kept them in check.

 

They walked a bit further and then turned down another road, and found hemslves right in the middle of everything. There were vendors of every sort gathered on the street exhibiting their wears and holding demonstrations. Several food vendors offered the pair samples, and Zaz gathered two of everything. She eagerly shoved them into her mouth. “So good!†She purred. Her cheeks were full of food and puffed out a like a chipmunk gather nuts for the winter. She washed her mouthful down with a sample of tea, and grinned as the girl hadn’t noticed that Anna had already begun to help herself to things.

 

“Az?†Anna said curiously. She hadn’t been called that before, but she didn’t mind. “Try this!†Zaz said and grabbed another sample of the last thing she had shoved in her mouth. “It’s amazing!â€

 

There was music and people dancing merrily. The girl next to her clapped along happily; it was very cute how she was getting into the spirit of things. Anna shook her head and laughed, and then joined in. When in Rome…

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll just go check out everything, you don’t have to make a decision today.†The girl linked her arm around Anna’s and said it was so she didn’t lose Anna to the crowd. The lady just smiled. She had never walked with anyone like this and even though the girl was all up in her space, she didn’t mind, not all that much.

 

“I don’t mind,†she said, “So where would you like to go first?†She asked.

[Guest Meokka]

"Is that not acceptable to call  you by MMMFT-" she was cut off as something was shoved in her mouth.

Her eyes lit up as the treat slowly disappeared into nothing. "Oh my god they managed to make something taste like cotton candy! Are you kidding me?!"  she saw a vender giving away takoyaki and took a stick of the fried balls. She quickly ate one happily. "Mm, this is pretty fun. I've never really participated in anything like this before.

 

"Did you try this?"

 

She held up the stick she had one takoyaki from.

 

"It's takoyaki, octopus in a fried ball, the outside is semi-sweet. I love this sort of stuff." 

 

She looked around for the next vender and noticed a tailor giving away charms.

 

"That looks interesting."

 

She lightly tugged at Az's arm leading her over to the shop.

 

"Greetings! I'm Primrose and this is my brother Salantros. He's an artison and I'm a tailor. We just started so our items don't add any buffs or anything, but they look really cute. You can have a free one today to attach to your weapon or shield if you like! We used these ones today for practicing. Go ahead pick anything!" she smiled at them.

 

"What things do you like Az? I'll try to find something for you."

[Azrael 0]

The girl attached to her arm was just too cute for words. She was bright and happy and seemed to be unaffected by the goings on of the game. It was refreshing, and made her feel like this is how things were supposed to be: happiness, merriment, and an abundance of delicious things to eat everywhere. Anna realized she hadn’t bothered to learn the girl’s name. She looked it up on her display and found that the young person she was partied with now was Meokka. “Even her name is cute…†she thought and smiled.

 

Meokka dragged her about bouncing here and there. She found a vendor offering Anna’s favorite food : takoyaki. Meokka offered her a stick and Zaz took it happily. “I LOOOVE these!†Anna said and happily dug in. The little fried balls of delicious goodness and covered in sauce were magical!  

 

As she mowed through her stick of octopus balls, they moved on to another booth where new tradespersons were offering free charms. Anna glanced down and looked at all the little charms lined up. Even if they had no buffs or anything on them, they were still really cute. Meokka offered to pick one out for Anna and the woman grinned.

 

“They’re all so cute,†she admitted. Anna spotted a small sea turtle charm and she smiled. “It’s hard to choose one. You pick…†She decided, the girl had offered to find her own, so she would allow her to do so.

[Guest Meokka]

"Finally, someone understand the goodness of Takoyaki. Gran doesn't like them back home." she sighed. "She tells me I'm a little piggy around them. Wah don't eat all of them!" she leaned over trying to steal one of the stick." She chewed and her face lit up like a Christmas tree." 

She looked at the direction of where Az was looking and noticed a cute turtle. She went over and started to pick out all the turtle ones. She could tell the brother made the straps and put the tailored charm onto it. An interesting effort between two professions! What a great idea! She held up the charms to Az.

 

"Pick the one you like most. I don't know your favorite color, sorry ma'am." 

 

She held up five small turtles.

[Azrael 0]

Zaz gave the girl the last takoyaki and Meokka’s little face lit up happily as she ate it. “Never had them until I moved to Japan,†she told the younger girl. She felt very at ease with the younger girl at her side.

 

Meokka noticed where Zaz was looking and she began to pick out all the little turtle charms. She held the grouping out to Anna and the woman looked them all over. “My favorite color is blue.†She said took up the little blue charm. “What about you? Are you going to pick one out for yourself?†She asked curiously wondering what the girl would choose.  

[Guest Meokka]

She put the turtles back and handed Az the blue one she requested.

 

"Me?"

 

She wasn't sure now. Her life growing up was pretty hard. She didn't really notice things like that often. 

 

"I guess I like bees and pandas. Mostly bees though. Their stingers always reminded me of lances." She felt embarrassed to say that considering her outfit had a hint of that in it as well. "I don't really have a favorite color, I like things in their natural state though. I also really like honey." 

 

She looked in the bins of charms wondering if there were any bee charms, or even honeycomb charms.

 

"I love honeybees too, they're loud but it's like a humming song." 

 

She was never afraid of bees. In the orphanage she would always eat by the apple tree that had a nest. She was never stung. Not once.

[Azrael 0]

“Bees and pandas huh?†Anna said as she looked through the charms.

 

She spotted a couple of bee ones, but they didn’t seem as cute as she was hoping, so Zaz began to look for panda charms. As she browsed through the inventory, Meokka continued to talk and tell the woman things about herself. She thought it was cute really. “This must be what it’s like to have a kid sister…†she thought and smiled. “I love honey too,†Anna agreed.

 

As it turned out there were many different panda charms, but Zaz felt that that little handmade clay ones were the sweetest. There were several different poses and each ad a tiny colored bell attached onto the strap. “What about like this?†Anna said as she held up a cute one with a waving panda with a little green bell. The pink one is super cute too.†

[Guest Meokka]

"So, where were you from originally? If you don't mind me asking." She was curious about this person. 

 

She had no idea it would be this easy to make friends in the MMO. She kind of liked it. It was a lot easier than in real life that was for sure. Being so tall naturally intimidated people, and there was nothing she could do about her height.

She looked at it with the small pink ball. Normally she wasn't a fan of the color pink, but for some reason she liked this one. Maybe it was because Az picked it out. This would be the only time she'd be caught with pink.

 

"That is really cute." 

 

She smiled and moved her weapon out to attach it.

 

"Just tell everyone you got it from the Twin Roses Shop please!" Primrose smiled at them.

"Thanks for helping us out guys." Sal nodded to them both.

 

"I'll remember to always have my charm on my weapon. I won't forget this day." Meokka smiled to Az.

 

She was usually so uptight this was a nice change of pace for her!

 

"Where to next? You pick!"

[Azrael 0]

“I’m American,†She told the girl, “I grew up in the Los Angeles area… that’s in California… and I went to college there and became a teacher.  I got my master’s degree in English. I was teaching at high school in California for awhile but someone told me how I could make better money teaching English overseas. So, I looked around and found a school in Japan looking for an English teacher, and I applied, and they liked me so I came to interview, and I did well so I was accepted. That was about two … almost three years ago?â€

 

Zaz was surprised that she had shared her story with the girl. Anna was never the type to just readily give away any sort of personal information.

“I actually have the game on English settings,†She admitted and laughed, “But before SAO, I was steadily getting better with my Japanese… a little.â€

 

The girl looked at the charms and then thought about which she liked better and decided on the pink one. “We’ll take these two,†Anna told the vendors. The NPC’s thanked them for their patronage and Anna nodded. “Thank you,†she told them. As they walked along again, Zaz tried to pick where to put her new charm. It was a bit too big for her rapier, and she didn’t have a shield. Instead, she decided to loop it into the pouch that was attached to her belt. “There,†she said and giggled. It was kind of cute and yet silly at the same time, but it was fine, she kind of liked it.

 

Meokka held out her spear to Anna and she attached the panda charm to it, making sure to affix it snuggly so that it wouldn’t be lost. "I'll remember to always have my charm on my weapon. I won't forget this day."  Anna smiled and looked up at the very tall girl thinking it was very sweet of the girl to say that.

 

They were an odd pair walking side by side, Zaz was maybe five foot three on a good day, and the girl next to her looked to be at least good ten or more inches taller than she. The girl linked arms with Zaz yet again, and asked where they should go next.

 

“I think we ought to find some demonstrations maybe? We are here to help you decide a profession after all,†she reminded Meokka who was getting a bit sidetracked as to her goal. “Why don’t we do that first, and then we can have some fun in a bit.†She added.

[Guest Meokka]

She sighed a bit. 

 

"I haven't decided yet really. This is helping me see a bit of everything."

"Step right up and try your luck!"

"Hm?" Meokka looked over at the sound.

 

There was the fish game with paper nets to catch fish. It seemed some fishermen got very creative with their talent. She walked over with Az on her arm.

 

"Hey there missy! I bet you'd be great at this game! You've got a spear already. You'd make a fine fisher! Give it a shot I say give it a shot!" he handed her a paper net. 

"Well....I guess I can try."

 

6bd, 3d (just for fun XD)

 

She scooped up one of the small black fish with orange and white dots on it.

 

"I got it!"

 

However the fish swatted it's tail down and water splashed at Meokko's face. She quickly shut her eyes and shook her head. "I don't think I'm meant to be a fisher."

"Oh, that's to bad. It's really relaxing." the man tried to coax her.

"Tell you what....When I become a blacksmith I'll try to make you some hooks okay."

"Well ain't dat nice! We'll be waiting for a shipment of them!"

 

Meokka nodded and linked arms with Az again. 

 

"Did you want to give it a shot Az, or should we head to the NPC shop with the blacksmith? I think I've decided. I can help a lot more people. Even if blacksmiths forge weapons a lot we can make other things to help people out. I also like a lot of heat anyway, so it's up my alley.

[Azrael 0]

Meokka looked disappointed that Azazel was pulling the “grown-up†card, but it was really for the girl’s own good. She was the one having trouble picking a profession, so she ought to see what everyone did before making up her mind. As they passed a booth a vendor called out to Meokka trying to get her to play his game. He had a small pool set up with small goldfish in it. The goal was to use a paper net to catch one. The girl enthusiastically accepted the challenge. She scooped one up easily enough, but the little fish tore through the net and splashed down back into the pool. Zaz laughed in amusement. Meokka told the fisherman she’d make hooks for him when she became a blacksmith and the man replied that he’d be awaiting her first shipment.

 

Once more they linked arms as began to walk along again. Meokka asked if Zaz wanted to try. “I have nowhere to keep a goldfish.†She said,†I guess that’s what a house comes in handy for, hmmm?†She laughed at the thought of having to buy a house just to keep a carnival goldfish. The girl was ready to find the blacksmith NPC.

 

“Very well then, let’s go find him.†She said and began to lead the girl toward the direction of the shop where the blacksmith NPC could be found. 

[Guest Meokka]

Meokka walked with her and looked around. She realized they were back at the shop district. She wasn't in a rush maybe she wouldn't take to profession up today. The more she thought about it though, the more she wanted to do it. Ideas for weapons were pouring in her mind, and even fishing hooks. Tools would take longer to learn but that was okay. She was sure they understood that. 

She looked at the forge they were nearing and let go of Az to get the door for her. She walked in and looked at the NPC at the forge. She went closer and a quest menu popped up.

 

Quest Details

Please collect 5 bronze ore from the Bronzite mob on floor 2

HP - 11

Return with the ore to this NPC. Mats will be returned upon quest completion.

 

Meokka looked to Az.

 

"Do you think we can handle it?" She asked. "I've never heard of this mob before, but I've never gone past the first floor really."

[Azrael 0]

When they reached the shop, Meokka opened the door for her and she went inside. She showed the girl which NPC to talk to and the girl went over to him. The quest details were displayed and Zaz looked them over. “Five, huh…. Maybe I should’ve become a blacksmith,†Anna joked. Her own experience in gathering materials was horrible.

 

"Do you think we can handle it?" The younger girl asked curiously.

 

“Oh for sure,†Anna said and nodded. She had been to the second floor, and knew where there were caves where they might find the mob they were looking for.

“It’ll be tough… I don’t have any health pots or crystals, so we’d have to be very careful, but I don’t really think this will be a problem.â€

 

She waited for Meokka to respond or accept the quest. The woman would help the girl in any way she could.