Death's Hands

It was winter; cold and desolate. Soft flakes dotted the open air and the trees were covered with a light coat of permafrost. Spring was close, but for now Marcus was used to the cold feeling the NerveGear implanted; he might have even preferred it to the warmth of his bedroom.

The glistening snow fell through the open starry sky, the silent battlefield danced with black silhouettes.

It's just shadows…

His heart was steady, undead, and cold; his breath crackled with electricity, forking and spreading through the crisp air. He crouched onto his knee, reaching to touch the snow.

…Tracks…

They were faint, but visible, and they led deeper into the forest. A dense tree line was impossible to hunt through, but as for the tracks of his prey…that was another story.

He advanced, trudging through the virtual blanket. He kept his hand close by his side, hovering over the a single dagger sheathed at his belt. His other hand was raring to reach behind his back, ready to grip the bastard sword. Or, as people liked to call it, a 'sword-and-a-half'; just long enough to be used with one hand, but not big enough to be called a Greatsword. To him, It was the perfect balance. He obtained this sword, Wolfclaw, after delivering the final blow on the floor 9 boss. It was the perfect sword; if he found the right blacksmith he could use the sword for the rest of the game when it came out.

Marcus often forgot this was just the beta. If he wanted Wolfclaw, he would have to kill the floor 9 boss again. He chuckled at the thought; he would be so lucky to get it again. Hell, when he received the sword, people tried to kill him over it. Some said he didn't deserve it, others just wanted the loot.

Focus…

He continued to stalk, keeping close to the ground. His black, fur-lined coat was clinging to him well as its hem scraped along behind him. It covered his own tracks and removed the ones he followed; a good passive perk to his tracking skill. He kept quiet.

People often relied too much on their sense of sight, either while hunting or being hunted. But weren't limited to basic human nature, so keeping completely silent and out of sight was the best way to sneak in a MMORPG. Because you'd never know who you'd run into out in the wild. It would be unlikely for it be a player, let alone a orange one, but anything could happen so he kept his guard up.

The mist seeped into his clothes, making them moist to the touch. The snow glazed the top of light brown hair. His character shared a striking resemblance to himself IRL: spiked up brown hair. Tall; not too thin, not too muscular, but he was in decent shape. He waded through the snow, it had gotten to deep, he silently thanked himself for creating it tall. If it was in his likeness, he would have been buried waist deep.

He scanned the much larger snow pile he had blue eyes that were strikingly vibrant and moderately handsome features. He was no super model, but he wasn't bad looking. He was the typical sports gamer; liked to go out with friends online and offline. He was the only one of his offline friends to have gotten into the beta. Of course coming from an English speaking country made it difficult to get in, but he was more surprised when he found everyone spoke English in the game. It was only then he found out that all languages were translated to the one you chose at login, so that everyone understood each other; a beautiful system to a fantastic game.

Marcus shivered a moment, bringing a hand up to break the glaze of snow that sprinkled from his light brown hair. He crisply retracted his grip, letting his hair spring up into spikes again as his hand hovered over his waiting blades. Though Marcus prided himself at making his avatar resemble him IRL, there were minor setbacks. At times maybe a lither frame would be more convenient, though his average, healthy build offered him more health, maybe a small avatar would have been more suitable.

He blinked to bring more of the darkness into focus, squinting so that his eyes became blue slits that twinkled in the night. He briefly thought of messaging the rest of the team, yet again he was thankful for universal translators.

The rest of the assault team was mapping out floor 10, trying to find the Boss room. Of course they would wait and plan accordingly; nothing wrong with levelling and searching at the same time. He had joined a guild while in the beta: the Belladonnas. Proficient in Alchemy and with an aptitude with creating healing crystals, a key ingredient that they used was the Belladonna flower hence the name or more commonly Nightshade in game. He was with them hunting and killing in-game bosses for their loot. They had split up. He broke away from them to go alone. He preferred working in groups but the tracking part, he preferred doing on his own.

The Guild Master, Blake, was leading the group through the forest labyrinth. Once they found a targeted sub boss mob they would rally the information to Blake, then Marcus would co-ordinate the response. There would be two members of the party ready to assist in the next five minutes, then two more soon after.

The Belladonnas always worked in groups of ten for safety; nothing more, nothing less. It wasn't a big guild—not yet anyway—but with thirty members out of a thousand beta player, it was pretty good. All thirty members no matter how bad or how good, were all promised leadership status when the full game came out. As beta testers were almost guaranteed a copy of the game, it was likely Marcus would see all of them again. And Blake was tactically seasoned; having banded with them at floor 3 he knew exactly how Marcus functioned and how to utilize his skills, letting him take point on most operations, letting him take lead when sneaking up on PvE bosses and using his proficient sword skill to take front lines.

Once the tracks began to grow fresh, he pulled up his chat. He messaged Blake that he was close to finding it, whatever it was. The mob was big, much bigger than the rest of mobs in this section of floor 10. He received a reply, already expecting the usual drill.

'Wait for backup'.

Marcus scoffed. Yeah right…

He didn't like waiting around too much; one could thank his short attention span for that. He dismissed his chat and pushed on, quickly gaining pace while trying to stay as silent as possible.

That's when he saw it. It was so big that his eyes could barely register the monster. It was covered in thick white fur, like the Yetis from legend. Although this one had large goat horns and was clad in leather armor. Marcus flicked over the beast's stats.

Health's pretty weak. It's probably got high strength and speed to make up for it…

He inched his fingers closer to the hilt of the dagger, drawing it from its sheath. A slimy, clear liquid dripped soundlessly from the blade.

Good, Marcus sighed in some relief, The poison's still active. He furrowed his brows, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

As the Yeti took another step, he threw the dagger and it sailed across the snow. Liquid sprayed in all directions as it spiralled and twisted forward, and the blade plunged deep into the thick hide of his enemy. The effects were instant: its movement speed was cut in half. Marcus acted just as quickly as the Yeti's stats depleted. He drew his sword holding it high as he pointed the tip at the monster. His sword began to glow red: the default sword skill. He let the program take control. His body gave into the violent dash and his sword streaked across in a blinding speed. A long red gash slashed open on its skin, dealing massive damage. Marcus spun around, swinging with unbridled vigor as he chopped into it multiple times.

"Whirlwind Fury!" His sword reacted instantly, glowing black with a blue hue. Wolfclaw spiralled in his hands, its already formidable length extending out. With a great, cleaving strike, he destroyed the monster with one full swing. The lower level boss was decimated with the single hit.

Too easy! Marcus rolled aside with a smirk.

The Yeti struck the snow behind him, making a vast, white cloud billow from the ground and blind his sight; a misdirection ability. Well two can play at that game. He opened his inventory and equipped the amulet of temporary darkness. He activated it, disappearing into his own shadow. He moved behind the searching mob, bursting out to strike. He held Wolfclaw back for one last, grand swing as it started to glow green.

"Piercing Strike!"

Marcus blasted forward like a bullet, exploding through the creature's heart. But he came to a standstill as his body froze from using his ultimate sword skill the cool down much longer then regular ones, unable to see whether he had killed the monster.

…Did I kill it…?

"RARGHH!"

Obviously not.

Marcus grit his teeth; the cooldown immobilized his body completely. His heart accelerated in panic, beating rapidly, only a few more seconds but he may not have that time! His eyes flashed as he heard the rustling in the trees. Soon, a hailstorm of daggers pelted the beast. Two members of the Belladonnas burst from the trees, their swords drawn for combat. They charged the monster, distracting it while Marcus recharged.

As his body freed itself and he could move again, the boss was near death. He charged his finisher and the sword turned blood red. He tore into a sprint, running straight at the monster as he dragged the steaming, searing hot blade through the frozen earth.

"Grim Executioner!"

Marcus brought the sword over and behind his head as the program shot him upwards over the monster. For a brief second he paused, looking directly into its eyes. They both knew…it was going to die. A streak of red cut straight down its belly and its health dropped to zero. It exploded. In a shower of light.

A small notification expanded into view It said;

XP: 4000

COL: 10000

ITEMS: 1

Marcus frowned at the screen. Huh?

The Yeti boss of the Cold Harbour dungeon supposedly carried three rare items the NPCs in the local village told him. He opened his storage, finding that the only thing new thing he obtained was a set of gloves.

Death's Hands…?

He flicked through its description, only finding a single line of text.

"Embrace…the death game…"

Marcus cocked a brow up, scratching his head at the strange detail before opening up its stats.

Let's see…way below average. Prerequisites…none. Marcus sniffed in disappointment, Pretty shitty for dungeon boss loot. Could sell it to a collector…or give it to some poor sod on floor 2…

"What you get?" one of the grunts asked. Marcus turned, pursing his lips a moment; he found it a little difficult to say the fruit of their efforts was pretty useless.

"…Some low level gloves." he said with a shrug. He looked back at his inventory, going back to staring at the nondescript, yet alluring item sitting in his inventory.

"Was it worth the trip?" the other asked the annoyance in their voice was so clear it made Marcus feel guilty.

There was only a few more days till the Beta was over. People didn't appreciate time being wasted.

"…I'm not sure."

The fiery crimson sun was setting, casting a beautiful effect on the virtual world that could never be replicated IRL. The green grass was shaded with a dazzling glow of red, and the lakes shared the same golden hue as they reflected the rays of the artificial sun. It mesmerized Marcus as he rested on the backs of elbows. He couldn't wait until he could just nestle in the grassy hills whenever, just to watch the sun set. It was better than the real world; he could be a hero in here. Trying to be one IRL would just end with a bullet in the head. But here, he was allowed to be whatever he desired.

Hell, I could be a fisherman if I wanted to… he chuckled, indulging in the mindless, peaceful moments before the game was about to end.

Marcus sighed at the thought, a relaxed smile gracing his face. After the game ended, all of them would have to wait for the official release. It was a calm feeling of subdued anticipation. The red sky emulated his emotions a faint glow burning in his chest with its embers burning through his breath. He felt happy to have been apart of this wonderful beta test; it provided him with a few friends he could have in the official game.

Thank god almost no one from London's getting it…

Only ten thousand copies and only fifty of them were going overseas. Ten were being shipped to England, One of them's mine, guaranteed. Marcus thought with a smirk and the other nine were being sold for a fortune. One of his much richer friends had pre-ordered it for a couple thousand pounds which certainly made his brow raise at the time but at that moment, he didn't care about anything else. He couldn't. The world of Sword Art was just…too beautiful for idle thought.

Even though he could spends days - weeks even, traversing just one floor of the virtual lands, it was through the other players that he really lose himself. He had met many of the one thousand players, and had friended about two hundred. Of course not all of them would remember him, and vice versa, but having contact with the other beta testers was a good thing; they could offer each other inside advice and provide occasional support during raids.

Definitely gonna stay in contact with the Belladonnas, though… He owed them that much after providing him with one of the times of his life.

They had created a page online where members could congregate and discuss raid times, one of the more popular aspects of the site; the live streams. Marcus and a few others in the Belladonna's streamed their gameplay. It had generated a significant number of followers outside of the beta test and they already had a hundred people pledging to join the guild when the game came out. Blake, the guild leader, had said that having a promised strength in numbers early on was a good thing so they could quickly dominate the lower floors with ease. Marcus didn't question his judgements on matters like those, considering he knew better about them.

"Room for one more?"

Well speak of the devil…

He didn't even have to turn as Blake's toned voice rung out from behind.

"Sure, it's not like I own this hill." Marcus shrugged, "Not yet anyway. I think when I get the game I'm going to buy it, and build a house here." he smiled at constructing the idea in his head: a quaint house overlooking the small lake and a view of the sun over the horizon. It wasn't an idea more so than a promise to himself.

"That sounds like a lovely idea." Marcus could imagine Blake's eyes flashing a bright pink at the sentiment before he could even see the guy, "Why aren't you with the others trying to clear the 10th?" Blake asked as he came into view, blocking a fraction of Marcus's vision with his giant frame.

Marcus got a good glimpse at him and he stifled a laugh.

He was a pale guy with a deep voice, a giant in comparison of size to everyone else. He had long blonde hair that was just short of his shoulders, and otherwise looked pretty goofy with his pink eyes and cocksure smile. But Blake was never to be taken lightly on the field; deadly and precise in combat, he had earned the name Black Cat for his feline-like grace in battle. He was extra confident in his abilities and otherwise was easy guy to talk to. But many of the guild members thought he was metrosexual through his incredibly feminine characteristics. He would always cross his legs, sometimes questioning his weight as if it was a bad thing 'Does this make me look fat?' was often the accompanying, disparately deep whine that was as much of a cringer as how he tugged on the waistband of his new pants. And on one occasion it was like he was on his period, throwing stuff and having an emotional hissy fit. But he always assured the guild that he was male IRL, so they believed him, Marcus shrugged never buying into it too much.

"I'm guessing the same reason you aren't leading them," Marcus lightly ripped a handful of grass from its roots. "You'd rather sit and enjoy the final moments of the beta." It disintegrated, dissolving into rendering cubes until only tiny, glowing outlines of shapes lingered in the air between his fingers.

"…What are you like IRL?" Marcus looked over at Blake stretching and examining his own leg out towards the horizon. Somehow the habitual memory of Blake's whining complaint about his weight disturbingly painted in his baritone voice flickered in his mind before he promptly blinked it away. "You never talk about yourself all that much."

Blake was right; he didn't. The other players didn't know him personally, so there was no point in telling people what he was really like. However this was Blake; they were friends, so he didn't think it mattered that much.

"I look the same as I do online; I modelled my character off my own body." He began to pull out more blades of grass watching them dissolve into their respective bright lights "Nobody knows, of course, but I do it anyway. I live in London, I speak English, I live alone. I just turned twenty one and I'm starting my second year of University." His words started flowing mechanically as he read out his 'backstory' to the other guy. "I study law, so that keeps me busy, but the beta just happened to be released on one of my school breaks. I'll be playing a lot less when the actual game comes out." His head tilted upwards back towards the falling sun "…That's all there needs to be known about me."

Blake just sat beside him, staring at the sun, they were both thankful that in game they could do that, it would otherwise hurt IRL. Because in Sword Art they can't feel pain. He gave a simple nod of acknowledgement as Marcus finished.

"Ten minutes till Beta ends," Blake laughed. He went back up onto his feet, turning to head towards the town of new beginnings. "Any last words?"

"Yeah," Marcus grinned, propping himself onto his feet. He looked out towards the sun dipping into the hills of the vista one more time. "I can't wait till the Noobs show up!"

FULL DISCLAIMER! Must read.

I do not claim to own SaO or anything related to it. I own my OC's nothing else. Notable mention goes to RWBY who I reference multiple times and named the main guild after one of my favourite characters. The OC Blake, is named after said character. I do not claim to own the character Blake Belladonna or anything related to her, but since I also write RWBY fiction. I thought It would be fun to include her in a crossover type sense. Note that this isn't a RWBY crossover, I just decided to throw a character named Blake, who happens to lead the Belladonnas as a reference , into the death game. I hope this isn't an inconvenience to any and hope you to see you all in the near future.

I like to play a game. If you can write in the review the reason behind the chapters title, you can suggest a story arc to me and I may write about it! Also, you get 1 Million hypothetical fanfiction dollars, and who doesn't want that!

One final note. My work is riddled with references to multiple fandoms. I do not claim to own any of these fandoms and their respected references. Thank you for reading. Hope to see you all in the chapters to come.