Sword Art Online
Dragon Blade
Entering Aincrad
"It is the year 2022. Man has finally created a completely virtual environment. Kayaba Akihiko, the inventor of the NerveGear and the full-dive system, has created an MMO called Sword Art Online which places the player fully into the game. All ten thousand copies were sold upon its release. Every store was sold out within three minutes. One person claims to have waited in line for three weeks."
I turned off the television, silencing the news anchor, and went downstairs for lunch. It has been an hour since the release of Sword Art Online, or SAO for short. I had a copy reserved for myself while I was using the beta version. I was one of the thousand lucky people chosen to be beta testers.
When I reached the kitchen, I grabbed some bread and quickly retreated back to my bedroom without my parents noticing me. I quickly wolfed down the bread then put my copy of SAO into the disk drive, plugged my NerveGear into my computer, and slipped the helmet onto my head.
"Link start!" All feeling of my body went away, and my vision showed pure white then a full array of colors. My being was placed in a small room with a screen and a virtual keyboard, and on the screen it asked what language is to be used. I typed in Japanese. It then asked for a username and password, and I typed in Nighthawk then my password. The game accepted it and my being was placed into SAO.
The game started me in the Town of Beginnings, where everyone starts. Being a beta tester, I knew exactly where I was going and what I was doing. I started running towards the town exit, sidestepping everyone in the streets. I wanted to get as much experience points as possible before I had to log out.
As I was dashing out of an alley, I rammed into a girl and both of us went down. I quickly got off of her. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience," I apologized and quickly helped her up. "If you want, I could help you level up. I was one of the lucky thousand chosen for the beta test. It might be worth it."
Her facial expression was thoughtful for a moment then she smiled and said, "Alright." She held out her hand. "My name is Shade." I took her hand and shook it. "Are you going to invite me to a party or am I going to invite you," she asked, smirking.
"I will invite you." I brought up the game menu. "You have a very nice and unique name," I told her as I invited her to a party. She smiled at the compliment. "Is this your first MMO?" She nodded. "I'll help you through it." I said with a smile. She smiled back.
"That's very kind of you." Her expression then turned concerned. "I'm here with three of my friends and this is their first MMO as well. Could they join us?" My expression turned blank as I thought about it for a few moments. "Please," Shade pleaded.
"Of course, but having more people along will slow our progress. I was a soloer in the beta test but I'm sure I can get used to working with a team." Shade's eyes lit up. "Go get your friends so I can invite them to the party and please do it quickly. I only have two hours left before I have to log out."
"I will get right on it!" She ran off and disappeared into the crowd. I sat at the corner of the nearest building and started counting how many people went by, waiting for her to return. I counted to twenty three before I saw Shade running back with three other people, two girls and one guy. I got up and waved to them. Shade waved back, looking delighted that I had waited, and they all quickened their pace.
"That was very quick," I said to Shade. "I admire your speed." Her face glowed with self pride. I turned my attention to her friends. "My name is Nighthawk. I was one of the beta testers."
"We were so anxious to come when we heard a beta tester was offering to help us! Not one of us hesitated to follow Shade," the taller of the two girls stated with excitement.
"Are you really going to help us," asked the shorter one, staring up at me with a joyful expression.
"Of course. It would be rude of me not to after I ran right into Shade."
"We were both running," stated Shade.
"I will still help. We can even form a guild if you all want." All of their faces lit up.
"In a guild with a beta tester? We would be unstoppable!" exclaimed the guy with excitement. Shade's expression suddenly turned to surprise.
"I forgot to introduce my friends," said Shade with her head hanging.
"That's alright," I told her, smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can introduce them now while you are still thinking about it." She lifted her head and smiled. I took my hand from her shoulder when she moved to the shorter girl.
"This is Moon. She is very sweet and caring but you don't want to get on her bad side," Shade said with a smirk. "I like to consider her my little sister." She moved to the taller girl. "This is Nightshade. She has a big attitude but a bigger heart. She is always willing to protect those she cares for."
"If you try flirting with me, you will die slowly and painfully," declared Nightshade with the straightest of faces. I was taken aback by the threat, partly because the idea had never surfaced in my mind.
"This is Hawkfury," said Shade when she motioned to him. "He lives right by me and introduced us all to this game. He bought as many copies as he could for his friends, which just happened to be only us. He can be a bit of a sore loser at times," Shade teased. Hawkfury gave her a quick disapproving look. "What do you think of us?"
"I think we won't be as slow to progress as I thought we would be," I answered. All of them lit up. Shade, the tallest of the three girls, hugged the other two girls.
"I will look out for you all, and, in turn, you all will look out for each other. Even though we cannot create a guild yet because of our levels and progress in the game, we can still consider ourselves in one," I stated. "Are there any suggestions as to what we should call ourselves?"
"The Unseen Hand," offered Nightshade.
"The Black Knife," offered Hawkfury.
"Death's Knights," offered Moon.
"All are very good choices," I said, "but I think I'll leave the decision to Shade."
Shade thought for a moment then said, "The Dragon's Claw." The three others discussed it among themselves then unanimously agreed to it.
"It is an excellent name without a doubt," I stated. "We shall be hence known as the Dragon's Claw!" They all roared and thrust their fists into the air. "I need to friend you all," I said as I brought up the menu again, "and invite you all into the party." I sent friend requests to them all and invited them into the party, which they all hastily accepted. "Are you all ready to level up?"
"Yes," they all shouted with excitement. "I can't wait to experience what this game has to offer," said Shade. The five of us set out to the fields outside the Town of Beginnings.
All over the fields, boars roamed around. There were a few small groups fighting some boars, some of which looked like they could use some help getting used to the game. Off in the far distance I could see two guys who seemed to be doing very well.
"Alright," I said. The whole group's attention turned to me. "I'll attract the boars' attention and bring them to you. Each of you will strike then switch out in a cycle. Shade will strike first, then Moon, third will be Hawkfury, and Nightshade will bring the cycle back to Shade. The cycle does not reset back to Shade at the end of each battle, so the person who was supposed to strike after the person who struck last will strike first at the start of the next battle." I looked at them all. "Any questions?" It was silent for a moment then Moon's hand went in the air.
"What was the plan?" asked Moon. I hung my head and stared at the ground for a moment.
"You hit the pigs after I hit them, ok?" Shade told Moon. She nodded and Shade smiled. "It's ok Nighthawk. She understands now. You just have to put it into words she can understand."
"Alright," I said again, clasping my hands together. "We are going out now. Remember that we are a team and that we need to work together as one. If you see someone struggling, try to help them out." They all nodded and we headed out into the fields.