Rain could only assume that the sounds were the notifications of her accomplishing the two quests, but why were there three notifications? She quickly opened them up and read the notifications.
-----------------------------------
--Tutorial Quest "Get to Town" Accomplished--
-Character Menu Unlocked
-100% Experience Gained
--Reached Level 2--
-One Potential Point Gained
--Tutorial Quest "Choose Your Name" Accomplished--
-Name Gained
-----------------------------------
Rain realized that the third notification was most likely from reaching level 2. She couldn't help but think that it was quite nice that the game lets you reach level 2 from just getting to the first village. She saw that one of the rewards for the quests was the character menu, with a single thought about the character menu and it popped up in her vision.
-----------------------------------
---Character Menu---
Name: Rain [ Soundless Rain ] {Hidden}
Race: Human
Evolutionary Path: {Esper} White Mist; Rank: F
Level: 2
Experience: 0%
Health: 100%
Power: F
- Only as strong as regular people
Classes:
- None
Abilities
- None
Potential Points: 1
- Can be used to unlock Classes and Abilities
-------------------------------------------
'Well I guess it decided to fill in my name,' Rain said to herself. The character menu shows that her evolutionary path is the 'White Mist' like the wise old man said, as well as the fact that I am an Esper. But what are the Classes and Abilities? I have none, and they are supposed to be unlocked through Potential Points? Well it's not like I can do anything as it is, so I might as well keep going.
Rain closed the character menu and started to walk through the town. It was much larger than she originally thought it to be. You'd think a town in some backwater place like this would be pretty small. However, Rain had been walking for some time now and she didn't think she had even explored a quarter of it. A town? This is more like a small city! After walking for so long, Rain was craving a place to sit down. She also needed a quest to do. It is a video game after all, what else is she supposed to do? After rounding a corner in the town, Rain could see a building with a sign hanging out front with the words 'Drunken Duck'. No place in their right mind would name themselves that unless they were a tavern. Deciding to bet on it, Rain made her way over to the Drunken Duck.
Before she could even step inside she could smell the rich aroma of food, as well as the slight stench of alcohol. Opening the door, Rain stepped inside and took in her surroundings and could only be proud of herself. It was a classic tavern that people would see from shows. The bar, the tables, the whole shebang. The air was rather boisterous even though the Tavern was only slightly filled with people. Rain made her way over to the bar and waited for someone to come over to her. After about a minute of waiting, a shorter and older gentleman threw a towel over his shoulder and came to Rain. His face was rather plain, and the look of exhaustion was written all over his face.
"Welcome to the Drunken Duck, what can I get for you?" The voice of the old man was slow and even his voice carried his exhaustion.
"I would like some food, what do you have," Rain asked carefully. She knew full well that exhausted people had a shorter fuze. The old man was about to leave but a thought must've occurred to him because he looked her up and down for a second.
"Do you have any money," the man asked in what was a rather condescending tone.
"Uh... I actually... don't," Rain couldn't help but say. She didn't want to start her new life with lies after all.
"No money, no food," the old man stated matter of factly before he started moving off.
"Wait," Rain yelled out, and the old man stopped and turned around, with a face of slight annoyance. "How can I get some money?" The man seemed to think for something before he pointed at a wall by the door.
"Check the job board. People come in here and post things they want to be done by someone else, and they usually pay them as well. If not money, at least something of equal value. Actually," the old man began to say, his voice containing some slight invigoration, "I might be able to give you that meal if you help me with something else."
"Oh," Rain couldn't help but let out.
"I haven't been able to sleep recently and I've been meaning to get something from the Apothecary, but when I went in, he didn't even have the ingredients he needed for my remedy. Would you be able to go and collect five 'Four Blue Petal Flowers," the old man asked, almost pleading for her help?
"Yes, I can do that," Rain replied. Immediately after Rain replied she heard another notification.
*Ding*
-----------------------------------
--New Quest Unlocked--
-Flower Collection-
-After entering the town, you wandered around the town aimlessly, before finding yourself by the Drunken Duck. Driven by curiosity you made your way inside and met the exhausted bartender. After asking for food and rejecting you due to your lack of money, he made an exception. Asking for your help in finding the ingredients necessary for his sleep remedy, he will give you a meal.
Objective
- Collect 5 'Four Blue Petal Flower'
- Current: 0/5
Rewards
1. A Meal 10% Experience
Failure Conditions
- Taking longer than 12 hours to complete
Time Remaining: 11 hours 59 minutes
Notes
-The 'Flour Blue Petal Flower' can be found outside of town at the border between the forest and the tall grass.
-----------------------------------
After quickly reading through the quest information, Rain closed the window and smiled at the old man.
"I'll make sure to get you those flowers as soon as I can." Rain stood up and was about to leave but she quickly turned around. "Wait, sir! I should probably get your name in case I don't find you when I get back." The old man seemed slightly taken aback by the question but quickly recovered.
"It's Miguel," the old man said with a slight smile.
"Alright Miguel, I'll be back soon," Rain said while leaving the tavern. She could hear Miguel saying behind her, "What an eager young lady." However, Rain didn't care that much what Miguel thought of her, she was just happy to have a quest and something to do. After having been bored walking around town, she wanted to do something. She was also curious about if she could taste things. She could already smell and hear things, as well as being able to see and feel. All that was left of her senses was taste, plus what does the food do in this virtual reality? Well, it's not likely she really was desperate to know, it was more just a general curiosity.
Rain began to make her way out of the town. It hadn't been that long since she came in so she still remembered the way she took, mostly. Once she found the gate out she started to walk out before one of the guards called out to her.
"Leaving already," they asked.
"Miguel from the Drunken Duck needed help finding some flowers, so he agreed to give me a meal if I found them for him," I turned and told them.
"Oh. Well be careful then, don't lose your memory again," the unremarkable guard joked.
Rain chuckled lightly before saying, "I'll be sure to watch my step this time." The guard let out a light laugh in response. This time they didn't say anything else. Rain started to make her way merrily towards the forest.
'The note in the quest log said that flowers should be at the border between the forest and the tall grass,' she thought to herself. On the way there Rain was thinking about a few things. First off, her Evolutionary Power was called 'White Mist' and she knew nothing about it. She didn't know what it did, or how to even use it. It couldn't be as easy as just thinking about it and it works, right? However, as soon as Rain had thought about using the 'White Mist', she could see a white mist start to form around her. The white mist hung around her in a 10-foot area. Rain couldn't help but stop, looking at the mist slack-jawed.
"The wise old man wasn't joking when he said I got the 'White Mist' Evolutionary Path," Rain mumbled to herself. The mist itself wasn't very opaque, though, it would be annoying to see through, and it looked harmless enough. Rain moved her hand through the mist to feel anything. The mist flowed around her hand wherever she moved, her hand gliding through the mist as one would do with water, though only as resistant as the air was. The mist never reacted much to her presence either, yet Rain could feel a connection with it. It felt homely to her, that kind of feeling you get when you're at home in your room and you can just relax. However, at the same time, she felt a distance from her and the mist. She felt like she was missing something like the mist could do something more, or she could do something more with it. Yet, no matter what she thought of, the mist never reacted.
"I guess that's the limit of what I can do. It really doesn't seem to be much" Rain said to herself. She thought of recalling the 'White Mist' and the mist faded just as quickly as it had come. Sighing to herself, Rain continued on. "This is only the beginning," she thought to herself, "It only makes sense that one has to start weak in a game. I just have to keep working and keep progressing. Who knows what my future has in store."