[PP-F1] A Spoonful of Sugar (Ebony) - Complete!

[Emerath 0]

Emerath had been standing in the park, trying to gain a bit of exposure for his potions as he held some out for passing players and NPCs. But the truth of the matter was, if people wanted things, they went to a shop. Emerath sighed and ended up leaning against a tree, staring at his little bottle with a label depicting a little red heart with a smile. "My prices are even better than the merchants out there, but nobody seems interested. Oh, the woes of an alchemist and healer..." he muttered to himself as he continued to look around. Emerath thought about pushing off the tree and beginning to shove himself at passing players again, and the ever hopeful NPC that would purchase his wares, but he was feeling a bit disheartened at this point. He simply continued to look around and sighed.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Emerath

[Ebony 0]

Ebony had been making it a point to talk to people. It was a strange point to make, but when one took into account Ebony's shyness it made a bit more sense. She was shy to the point of being antisocial, except with a select few, like her newest friend Koumori. They had clicked almost immediately, and her shyness disappeared when he was there. She was wandering the starting city in search of a place to buy equipment, but could for the life of her remember where an artisan shop was. She looked around for someone she could ask for help, her eyes alighting on a man with reddish hair, who looked like he was trying to sell something. She needed directions and he looked to be the most friendly of the people around. It wasn't like they hired arrogant, antisocial people for a job like that. She marched right up to him, looking as confident as can be, right up until she was in front of him. Her air of confidence shattered, and all she could get out were a few syllables. "Uh... Umm..."

[Emerath 0]

Emerath had been staring idly at his potions again, and hadn't actually noticed a woman approaching him. He looked up to see her as she stopped in front of him and he gave a smile. She didn't seem all that up to talking as Emerath listened to her stammer out a few syllables, if that. Emerath kept his smile as he gave the woman a light bow and said, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Emerath, Spymaster and Guild Leader of the Dapper Rogues, and an Experienced Alchemist and healer. Would you happen to be interested in potions, or perhaps healing services? Maybe you're looking for a guild to join? I can help you with any of these."

[Ebony 0]

Ebony stared. Had he said healing services? Was he a healer build? She certainly hoped not. She had chosen the build because of how few people used it, and how valuable it would make her in a party. The man's introduction and bow knocked a little of her shyness out of her, and she looked up at him for a moment before looking back down to her shoes. She assumed that he was just an alchemist selling healing potions. Still, it wasn't safe to assume. "I-I don't have a g-guild.... Are you a h-healer build?" She asked, hoping the answer would be no. She had completely forgotten her reason for approaching him by now, and was concentrating fully on keeping her feet anchored in place so she could continue the conversation if needed.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Ebony

[Emerath 0]

Emerath stood up from his bow as the woman spoke, and kept his warm smile. The girl reminded him a bit of Eliziana with her shyness, although Eliziana would have run away at this point. He chuckled a bit at his thoughts before answering her question, "Yes, I am a healer build, though that is secondary to my focus, and simply there to make me useful in combat. Truly, I am an information gatherer, explorer, and spy. My build in this game is purely social for the most part, and the rest is simply supplementary to that."

"Also, if you are interested in joining a guild, the Dapper Rogues is always recruiting. We are always looking for new talent, and having a dedicated healer in the ranks would certainly help more than my silly healing." Emerath continued to smile sensing her unease. Then Emerath had an idea. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a soft yellow potion, with big bubbles popping along the surface of it, before extending it in offer to the woman, "Here. This will make you feel better and make you less nervous for a bit. It's an anti-anxiety potion, and it tastes like vanilla ice cream. I hope you like vanilla ice cream..."

Item Details on Offer:

Name: Anti-Anxiety
Item Type: Potion
Quality: Good
Enhancements: N/A
Description: A warm yellow potion that bubbles lazily with big bubbles. It tastes and smells like vanilla ice cream, and will make the drinker feel a little less nervous about any situation, no matter how stressful.

[Ebony 0]

Ebony wondered how he knew that her goal was to become a healer. Granted it wasn't too much of a leap, what with her asking him about it. She wasn't actively looking for a guild either. What happened happened, and if for some reason she met someone she trusted shed join if it felt right. "I-I am trying to b-become a healer..." He seemed like a nice guy, and she felt the stutters already decreasing in amount. It only took her a short time to become acclimatized to new people. Still, sometimes that short time was too much for other people, and they just didn't give her a chance. He offered her a potion, and she raised her hands, palms out. "I-its fine. They'll go away s-soon enough." She stuttered back, refusing the potion. She had to deal with her shyness in her own way. She couldn't be reliant on a potion.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath nodded, and placed the potion back into his inventory with a sigh. I can't even give them away... he thought to himself as he tried not to let it get him down. He brought the smile back to his face, interested that she did, indeed want to be a healer. "Well, I was taking a guess, primarily based on the conversation at hand. It's good to know that I still have some deduction skills left over." He tapped his head with a finger, and then cocked his head a bit, "So how do you plan to heal? I personally use herbal bandages in combat, crushing the herbs in my mortar and pestle. As an alchemist, I thought this made the most sense."

[Ebony 0]

"I-I'm only a level one, so its just m-my plans. There's a skill, isn't there? I don't know anything about this sort of thing, but do you need bandages and the like? Can't you just activate the skill, place you hands on a wound and heal it?" She asked, her stuttering going away entirely after her first sentence. She hadn't considered the fact that you needed to actually apply bandages to heal people. He seemed like a smart guy, and was probably at least a few levels higher than her. Odds were, he knew what he was talking about, but she still needed to make sure.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath nodded, now in a bit of a teaching mode, as he said, "Yep! There's a skill, but as far as I know there are different ways to activate it. Kinda like a profession. You see, SAO is a game with no magic, so they couldn't just have a skill where you put your hands on someone and heal them like a Paladin in other MMOs, as neat as that would be." He turned for a moment and pulled his bandages and herbs out of a pouch to show her, "These are simply the tools I choose to activate the skill itself, much like how a blacksmith uses a hammer or a tailor uses a needle and thread. I was simply asking which tool you would use to activate your skills, though now I suppose the question would be, what tools would you want to use?"

[Ebony 0]

Ebony thought for a moment. "Well... In a battle, speed is key. What about medicine patches? You stick them to your skin and they dispense healing herbs or something. It's be faster than bandages, so it'd be better." She paused. She would have suggested a syringe, but a lot of people were scared of needles and wouldn't want her healing them.  She didn't want people to be scared of her healing, especially as it was going to be her main skill. At least once she got enough skill points to purchase it. "If that doesn't work, The only other things I can think of are bandages, like your using." She hadn't even considered the fact that you needed tools to be a healer.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath supposed he always had been a bit old fashioned, and given that these were game mechanics he was dealing with, prepared medicine patches might make sense. Emerath smiled and nodded, "I like that idea, the medicine patch one. I think you should go with that, it would be very effective." Emerath crossed his arms, "I don't think I ever got your name, by the way. You seem to have calmed down quite a bit, and I'm thankful for that." Emerath looked the girl over, she seemed nice, though he could tell from her clothes that she was most likely just a starter. He certainly was meeting a lot of those lately, not that it was a bad thing. The more starters that Emerath could help train, the more people down the road everyone had to finally end this death game.

[Ebony 0]

Ebony was surprised to hear that medicine patches were something that she could do. She had expected him to diss her idea right off the bat, but apparently he thought it was a good idea. She gave him a smile as he indirectly asked for her name. "I'm Ebony. You can call me Rose if you'd rather though." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts into a coherent sentence. "I'm a shy person. It doesn't take me long to get comfortable around someone, but Its hard for me to talk to people in the first place." She said by way of explanation. She couldn't quite remember his name, all she knew was that it has an Em in it.  "Nice to meet you M." She said, reaching her hand out for a handshake.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath accepted her handshake with a smile, as he said, "It is a pleasure Rose. I've always enjoyed roses, so I think I'll stick with that." He pulled his hand away and said, "Well, I've known quite a bit of shy people in my time. I may not seem like it, but I'm not exactly an extrovert, so I can sympathize." His smile grew warm and he put his hands in his pockets, "I'm glad that you have been able to get comfortable around me. I try my best to be as accommodating as possible. Certain formalities and gentlemanly greetings are often a good road to such things, though don't take that as me meaning it in a false way. It truly has been lovely to meet you."

Emerath considered that she had called him M, and he slid a hand from his pocket to rub his chin, "If it's easier, you can also call me Eru. Though Em works as well, as you prefer."

[Ebony 0]

Ebony smiled back at him. She was liking this guy, and if he was in this 'Dapper Rogues' guild, or whatever they were called, the guild itself couldn't be too bad. She had never met someone who called themselves a gentleman. She knew what one was though, and with his suit and tie he definitely fit the bill. "Ill just call you Em." She was curious about his guild, but she didn't want to make it seem like she wanted to join. Although she thought he was a nice guy, she wanted a guild she could be comfortable in, and a guild that could get her to the level of strength she wanted. She didn't want to be pressured into joining a guild. "What does your guild do?" She asked as casually as possible.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Ebony

[Emerath 0]

Emerath listened to the girl he was now calling Rose, as he considered the question she asked. "Well, in it's simplest form, our guild is one of explorers, scouts, and information gatherers." He smiled, "That is the basis at least. As we grow, I'm sure we will take on Frontline work, and we'd also like to help build a robust economy." Emerath gave her a light bow, "And we are always open, now or later makes no difference. As long as we are in this game together, the Dapper Rogues will be of service."

Edited November 4, 2015 by Emerath

[Ebony 0]

Ebony listened closely. It didn't sound like the guild for her. She wasn't a scout, or an information gatherer, and she didn't particularly care about the games economy. They were free to do what they liked, she was going to be up in the front lines becoming famous and getting a ton of money. "That sounds interesting. I'm going to stick around as a solo player until I find a group that's right for me." She didn't say it, but she felt like this guild would do nothing but hold her back, regardless of good intentions. She decided to try to change the subject. "Do you have any advice, in terms of equipment or skills I should focus on? As a healer build I mean." She asked, feeling like she had successfully shifted the topic of conversation.

[Emerath 0]

In response to Ebony, Emerath pointed at his monacle, "Well, this is made specifically for healing. I'd say if you want to be a better healer, go speak with a nice Artisan who can make you something like this. Something that will increase your chances of a successful heal. While I don't think that damage is always location based, I feel like if you don't heal the right spots you won't get any effect sometimes. So, it's better to be prepared." Emerath shrugged, "Other than that, there really is nothing to it but the skill itself. Healing is a simple class right now, and your hope would be to have someone that is a good tank so that they can recover their own health and don't have to rely as heavily on you if they're dying horribly against some boss."

[Ebony 0]

Ebony listened carefully as Em gave her some more tips on being a healer. "Thats very helpful. As an artisan myself ill try to make something like that sometime. And even great tanks need a healer sometimes. I was actually thinking that it might be best to be a hybrid of some kind, between a tank and a healer. Do you think thats a good idea? Or should I go for evasion? Or just go full healing." She asked, hoping that she wasnt taking up too much of his time. She needed to get going soon as well, she wasnt going to level up by standing around talking.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath considered her question for a moment, as he leaned back against the tree he had been standing next to, "Well, I can see certain types of hybrids being more powerful. My main focus was healing, and I still plan on being a major healer, but thanks to the Martial Arts extra skill, I've learned that I can also be a competent DPS. As well, I plan on having a lot of social support skills. I think your best bet is to just pick a direction, and then build how you'd like to support that direction over time. Just make sure you're certain, as of right this moment we can't change our minds." Emerath put his hands in his pockets and smiled, "But at the end of the day, I think the important thing is to just have fun. I think each type of person and skill is useful in the end, in its own way. People probably think that I'm going to be weak because I'm building social skills, but someday my social skills could help us learn things about this game that could help us escape. So I wouldn't ever doubt the power of your decisions."

[Ebony 0]

Ebony nodded in agreement with him. As far as she knew there wasnt a skill reset available. She had to choose her path carefully, because there was no going back once she started. Still, she couldnt decide. Lots of mitigation was great, but evasion was extremely helpful too. Specialization was probably the way to go, so she couldnt do both. She decided that she would choose later when she actually had skill points to spend. "I guess ill figure it out. It was nice talking to you, and thank you for your advice. Ill keep all of that in mind when I invest my skill points." She smiled and turned around, walking off. She had a lot of grinding to do if she was going to become strong.