[SP-F1] Learning to be a Tailor <<Earning a Living>>

[Vangran 0]

It had been a long day for Vangran as he made his way through the Town of Beginnings. He had managed to reach level two fairly easily, but if he wanted to go any higher he would need better gear, as his current wardrobe wasn't cutting it. So with that in mind he decided to look for someone to train him to be a tailor. Thankfully this did not require him having to leave the city just yet, so he began to look around. 

 

His first stop was one in the market district, this one wasn't well-used, but it wasn't passed over completely either, so he thought he'd give it a chance. Taking a breath, Vangran opened the door and walked inside, going up to the counter and waiting for the NPC to come over. 

 

"Hello, welcome to my shop, how can I help you today?"

 

"Hello, I was wondering if you would be able to train me to be a tailor?"

 

Looking at him oddly, the NPC smiled sadly and said, "Sorry, I do not have the ability to train you, you'll have to look elsewhere to be trained."

 

Not willing to let one instance discourage him, he went on to the next shop, only for him to get basically the same answer. It seemed this would take a while.

[Vangran 0]

It took a while, but he eventually came across a tailor that was was capable of teaching him. He only knew this cause he asked around and every other tailor he asked said they were incapable of such a thing, so by process of elimination this guy was all that was left. Walking into the shop, he went up to the counter and said the words he had tried with every other NPC tailor he had come across, "Hello, I was wondering if you would be able to train me to be a tailor?"

 

Looking him up and down, the NPC nodded slowly, "Yes, I suppose I can. I have been needing some help around here lately. I hope you are up to the task, young man. You will need to gather some materials to make your first piece. Cotton should do for a first timer. Oh, and my name is Michael by the way." 

 

After saying this, a quest window popped up, asking him if he wanted to accept the quest 'Earning a Living' to become a tailor. Naturally he accepted.With that done, he set out for the countryside, so to speak, to begin his hunt for materials.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22800 LD: 17

 

 

Item acquired: Cotton x1

 

 

Shielding his eyes from the suns rays, Vangran looked around to see if he could find any of the materials he needed. Of course, he wasn't successful in this at the moment, so he kept looking. As he looked around some more, he was blessed to see a small amount of cotton blowing in a small breeze, although not nearly enough to make anything with, so he would have to keep looking. He walked over to where the cotton was and went about collecting it. 

 

"Hmm, according to this, I'll need to find at least five locations with cotton in order to have enough. I hope they aren't too hard to find." And with that he went back to searching.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22945 LD: 7

 

 

After the success of his first search, Vangran was feeling optimistic about this gathering quest. 30 minutes later, however, saw a dip in that enthusiasm. Frowning, the blue-eyed blond looked around, trying to see if he could spot another gathering site but coming up empty. Not one to give up, especially as he already acquired 1/5 of what he needs, looked around, trying to see if he could locate what he was after. He wished he knew where to go, but he had foolishly not asked other players where the best places to find crafting materials are, so here he is, looking around like a fool with no idea what he's doing.

 

"If there is anyone up there, could you PLEASE give me a little break?"

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22952 LD: 19 

 

 

Item acquired: Cotton x1

 

 

During his aimless searching for cotton, it seemed that someone must have heard him as not 5 minutes later he fell into a patch of it, literally. "Ow! What the hell?" sitting up and rubbing his head as it had hit the ground, even if it didn't actually hurt. After glaring upward briefly, he looked down at what tripped him and froze. He stayed that way for a moment before leaping into the air, shouting, "Yeah baby!" He spent the next couple minutes gathering the item from the plants in a happy haze.

 

It was after he finished that a thought occurred to him, "Aw man, I still have to find three more!"

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22965 LD: 11

 

 

As he looked about for a third site, he thought he saw something. As he got closer he saw that it was indeed cotton, but what made his heart fall was that each and every one of them was covered in bugs. This wasn't to say that they were still unusable, but trying to harvest them while in such a state would be far too taxing and would take much of the day, time that he just didn't feel he had that could be better spent looking for other deposits. So, with a sad sigh he moved away from the plants, hoping he would have better luck next time.

 

"Seriously, bugs? I know this game was supposed to be lifelike, but really."

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22967 LD: 8

 

 

After that mixed success, the aspiring tailor continued his hunt. He took to running around the grasslands, his eyes roaming the ground darting every which way trying to locate a harvest point. Although in his haste he accidentally ran right over one, and by the time he realized it, they had all turned to pixels, and he bowed his head in shame. It was one thing to lose them to insects, but to destroy them yourself? That was downright shameful. He hoped that he didn't fail so abysmally with the next one.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22994 LD: 13

 

 

 

Another day, another failure... or that was what he would have said if it had actually taken that long. Thankfully it had just been another hour of fruitless searching. He had already gone through a piece of bread and some water. It wasn't ideal by any means, but he would have to make do until he could generate a sufficient amount of Col. Looking around tried to see if there was anything that was harvestable and once again came up empty. It seemed his luck had turned against him. This was going to be a loooooooong day.

 

"Blast it all! Where did all the cotton go???"

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22995 LD: 19

 

 

Item acquired: Cotton x1

 

 

Another half-hour of aimless wandering dropped him smack-dab in the middle of a group of boars. He blinked as he took in this new situation, before reality set in and he ran screaming the other way, stomping hooves fading into the distance behind him. When he felt he was sufficiently far away, he looked around and discovered a small clove of cotton nearby. Nodding to himself, he set about harvesting for the third time that day. It seemed his luck hadn't abandoned him entirely after all. He was sure it would take a bit longer to get the last two, but he would persevere, and return to the Town of Beginnings with his head held high.

 

"Well, 3 down, 2 to go. I hope I don't run into any more Mobs in the meanwhile."

[Vangran 0]

After the recent success, he decided that he would take a break. All this hit-and-missing was taking a toll on him, and he didn't want to burn himself out just yet. He didn't want to ruin the success he just had. So he took to going over inventory. He knew it was slightly ridiculous to do so, but it was a calming action, as he had not had much in his inventory up to this point to even excuse such an action in the first place. Opening it up, he sighed with relief when he saw the cotton listed as x3. At least he didn't need to find more.

 

After a few more minutes of sitting Vangran got to his feet, breathing in deeply, "Well, that was a nice break. Now to get back to hunting."

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22996 LD: 16

 

 

Item acquired: Cotton x1

 

 

 

After his quick break, Vangran renewed his hunt in earnest, searching low and... well, low, but you get the idea. He was coming off a successful search, which was something that made him slightly nervous as each time he had a success it was followed by a failure, but he still hoped that the streak(?) would continue. Fortunately for him, it seemed lady luck was smiling on him as not ten minutes into his searching he happened across another small cluster of the material next to the forest area. Quickly harvesting it, he moved away from the trees quickly. He might not be level 1 anymore, but that didn't make him any less nervous about what resided inside the woods.

 

"Hehe," he chuckled nervously, "Moving on, let's see about getting that last one and then we can head back to Michael."

[Vangran 0]

ID: 22997 LD: 12

 

 

 

The streak, as it were, ended quickly, although that didn't make him feel any the worse for it, as he still only needed one as opposed to 5. Thankfully the sun was still out, though it was beginning to dip, so he didn't have much longer before he would be forced to retire for the night, something he tried not to think about due to how he doesn't actually own a house, not that home-owning was actually possible right, but the idea of having a place to call your own, even if it was in the virtual world, was far too enticing to pass up. Looking around, he sighed, as he passed the cluster infested by insects. It shattered into pixels as he was walking past, signalling that any chance of getting something out of it was gone.

 

"Better pick up the pace. Too much longer and I'll have to call it a night." 

[Vangran 0]

 

ID: 22998 LD: 3

 

Vangran continued to search for cotton, although with each passing minute the virtual sun came closer and closer to disappearing beyond the horizon. He didn't want to end it at this point, as having to come out again would aggravate him to the extreme, but if he had to do it to finish the quest, he would do what was needed. Growling softly to himself, he swiped a hand through his hair as he tried to think of any places he hadn't checked yet. He looked to his right and was about to give a shout of surprise when he saw that a boar was leaning down to eat it. He pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head, exasperated. 

"This is really getting ridiculous. I know that boars are somewhat easy to kill, but did they have to be everywhere when I'm not even looking for them?"

[Vangran 0]

ID: 23001 LD: 12

 

 

The sun was getting lower, the blond thought absently, I wonder how the night will go. He generally didn't like to think about his evenings, but with the quest being so important (to him at least) he was finding it harder to stay on task. The trees look nice as well, he remarked mentally as he passed them, not even his periphery taking note of the patch of cotton that was just to his right so lost in thought he was. He continued onward, completely bypassing the much-needed material. And with that another opportunity passed him by as well.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 23007 LD: 18

 

 

 

With the sun about to set, the gray-wearing blond was about to give up on his hunt when all of a sudden he saw, in the thinning light, a small crop of cotton swaying slightly in the breeze. Throwing a thankful look upward, he leapt forward toward the plants, and with that set about harvesting the final piece he needed to complete the first part of his quest. He would be a tailor yet!

 

Item acquired: Cotton x1

 

 

 

With all 5 pieces of cotton gathered, Vangran sighed in relief, and turned his eyes and body back towards the Town of Beginnings. He was lucky he finished when he did, as the sun was nearly completely set by this point so seeing anything would be nigh impossible if he wanted to continue searching anyway. Making his way back to the road, he continued down it until he came to the city gates. 

"Well, part one's done, now on to part two. After I get a night's rest of course."

[Vangran 0]

With the light of the new day shining down on him, Vangran decided it was time to get up, and (after popping much of the bones in his neck and back that had somehow got a crick) he made his way to Michael the NPC's shop to show he had gotten the Cotton he needed. Opening the door, a bell ringing to announce his presence, Michael appeared like magic behind the counter, looking at him with a neutral expression. Realizing quickly that he needed to be the one to start the conversation, he opened his inventory and took out the 5 cotton he had gathered, placing them on the counter and saying, "I have the cotton that was asked of me, so what do I need to do next?"

 

Nodding to himself, the NPC tailor looked over the fruits of his labors and said, "I will need you to make some jackets for me. They are quite popular right now so you will help me with that. You will be making 5 jackets, or attempting to, with the cotton you gathered, so this will take a few days."

 

Groaning slightly, and realizing he likely wouldn't be getting any compensation for this, set to work making the aforementioned item.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 23181 CD: 4

 

 

Taking a breath, he made his first attempt at clothing. He placed the instrument against the cotton and prayed that it worked. He watched it be enveloped in a flash of light and then... it shattered. He groaned. That was his first time, granted, so it was natural that he would experience failure, but that didn't mean he wanted to have it happen so abysmally. He needed to step up his game if he wanted to become a true-blue tailor.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 23188 CD: 7

 

Item Acquired: Tattered Coat

 

 

 

His second attempt saw him getting a slightly better result, but only because the item didn't shatter this time. The item in question vaguely resembled a jacket, but only in reminiscence, as it was incredibly tattered and would look more appropriate on a homeless man than a fighter. He needed to take a break after that, one could only take so many failures in one day. Besides, he still had 3 more attempts left before he was finished. That would take a lot out of him. Vangran swiped a hand through his hair, "Some fresh air should do me some good. Hey Michael! I'll be back later." And with that he returned the remaining cotton to his inventory and walked out of the shop.

[Vangran 0]

With the failures the glasses-wearing blond received yesterday, Vangran was not too keen on returning to the shop, although he knew he would have to try his hand again. Yet for all that he knew he had to, it didn't make it any less painful to remember. Sighing heavily, he nodded his head at passing players and went inside the shop at half past ten, bell ringing to signal his appearance and prompting Michael's. Bringing out the cotton after speaking the necessary words to the NPC again, he prepared himself, and brought the instrument down to the cotton and hoped for the best.

 

ID: 23284 CD: 1

 

 

And with a sharp burst of light the cotton shattered almost immediately, shocking Vangran into falling onto the ground. he honestly hadn't expected such a violent reaction to making a jacket. It seemed he still had much to learn.

[Vangran 0]

ID: 23285 CD: 8

 

 

His fourth attempt saw a stark change in fortune for him, as almost immediately after he began this time, a well-made coat appeared, and while he couldn't say it was perfect, it was his first true success, and that made it special in his eyes. 

 

Item Acquired: Basic Coat

 

 

Smiling at his accomplishment, he looked up in pride at Michael the NPC before he remembered he wouldn't actually be allowed to keep it, and with that thought his joy was all but snuffed out. And he still had one more try left before he was done with the quest. He hoped that it would see him making a second jacket, but he wouldn't hold his breath. As a novice tailor, he really didn't have the experience needed for the dice to roll in his favor. He hoped that it would though.