Legacy
Introduction
Legacy, the most popular VRMMORPG in history, has taken the place of Sword Art Online. Launched in 2028, in just two short years every person on the planet knew about it and millions of players log in every day. In game Legacy took the form of a massive tower, though while playing it you would never know it. No one knows how many levels there are in Legacy and every level is an individual world. Some are huge, whole virtual planets, while others consisted of just a single town or building. Legacy embraced a no guns rule. Being a fantasy based game; it focused on the use of hand-to-hand weapons, anything including daggers and spears even fisticuffs, and magic, weaving spells that could cause any number of effects, from attacks to support, besides magic the only long range weapon are bows. The point of the game, for those who used it for more than just hanging out with friends or casual gaming, was to be the first reach the top of Legacy and claim the title of the Master of Legacy as well as a mysterious reward.
In the two years Legacy has been up and running, a hardcore class of gamers started to appear. They are the ones that spend most of their time in the game, dedicated to claiming the title and reward, which is said to leave you set for life in the real world. Our story starts when a gamer by the name of Dante logs on for the first time.
Chapter 1
Set-Up
"Alright time to set things up." Dante says to himself, brushing his medium length black hair out of his eyes. He put the silvery, Sensory Helmet over his head, lay on his bed, and pressed the on button. The visor lights up and information started to scroll across the screen. The Helmet was running its start-up program, calibrating itself to Dante's body. In just a few minutes it was done and the list of his games appears. He had been gaming for years but this was his first time logging into Legacy. He was actually very lucky he was getting to play the game. Even as popular as it is, Legacy is a very expensive game. When it first came out the only people playing were the rich, those that could afford the hundreds of dollars just to buy the game. Over time less well off people were able to save up to buy a copy but it was still expensive, especially for a seventeen year old kid with no job.
Dante was lucky he was such a good gamer. A local game store had been held a contest that he was able to win easily and the prize was a copy of the game. Now he had finished installing it into his Sensory Helmet and was ready to play. The screen started to ask Dante start up questions. When he was done he entered the game. The Helmet gave a beep and Dante closed his eyes. There was a small jolt from the Helmet and when he opened his eyes again he was floating over the world of Legacy. His cloths had changed, his everyday cloths replaced with light leather armor covering a long sleeve black shirt and loose brown pants, his appearance is the same as in the real world.
"Welcome to Legacy." A gentle female voice says all around him. Beneath him stretched rolling flatland and sprawling medieval cities. The scene changed, he was flying through a cave, torches placed at regular intervals, tunnels flashed pass and he could see monsters hiding in them. "This is Legacy, it is comprised of many different lands, all connected. Your mission in this game is to claim the title of Master of Legacy." The scene kept flashing every few seconds, an underwater city, a colony on the moon, a space station rotating in space, all these scenes passed under him. Suddenly they stopped; he started to float gently toward a sunny field, short grassing blowing in the gentle breeze. He landed softly on his feet and a screen appeared, floating a couple of feet in front of him.
"Please choose you starting weapon." The voice says. On the screen five symbols appear. The first is a sword then an axe. The list continues with a spear, a glove and a staff, representing magic. Dante glances at the options and, after only a second of thinking, presses the sword option. "You have chosen swords." The options disappear and a spot starts to glow on the ground. With a soft glow a plain, straight double-edged sword materializes, its point buried in the ground, and a scabbard appears alongside it. "Please claim your weapon." Dante picks up the scabbard and buckles it to his right hip, then pulls the sword from the ground and slides it into the scabbard. "Prepare for battle." The screen suddenly disappears.
Startled Dante quickly draws his sword. "Battle already, damn" Most games gave you a tutorial before throwing you into battle. He starts turning slowly, his sword held in one hand in front of him. Suddenly he hears the sound of hooves running across the grass. He turns toward the sound just as a large boar slams into his side, sending him flying backward. Dante notices a HUD screen on the outside of his vision. He can see his HP and Level, and as he watches his HP gage drops a few points. Ignoring the ache in his side, he gets to his feet and readies his sword. The boar turns and charges again. This time Dante is ready and dodges to the side, slashing with his sword, scoring the monster along its side. The boar squeals and vanishes in a burst of light. He hears a musical tone.
"Congratulation on your first victory." The voice says, and a white screen appears in front of him, announcing his growth. "This concludes the tutorial for Legacy. If you have further question, please consult the Help option in the Main Menu. Thank you for playing Legacy." The screen disappears and Dante is left to his own devices. He takes a few minutes to familiarize himself with the menu option then pulls up the map.
"Looks like there's a town a couple hours from here, well I guess I should get walking." He closes the map and head off in the direction of the town. During his trip he is attacked by more boar and a few wolves. He is just an hour away from the town when he hears howling coming over a hill on his left. He draws his sword and runs toward the sound. He crests the hill and sees someone surrounded by monsters.
He rushes to their side just as a wolf leaps toward the person, jaws gaping ready to bite. Dante raises his sword and the wolf bites down on the blade. With a twist of his wrist he yanks the sword out of the wolf's mouth and slashes through its head, killing it. He looks around and sees that they are surrounded by a dozen others, all preparing to attack. He readies his sword and gets ready to defend the person. Out of the corner of his eye he sees one leap at him. He dodges and takes it out with one strike, just as another lunged for him. He turns just as the wolf bursts into flame. The hooded figure twirls a staff extinguishing the flame on the end.
"Thanks for the help; let's take care of the rest before the Alpha shows up." It says.
"Alpha?" Dante asks.
"Yeah I'm on a mission to take care of this pack of wolves, so far the Alpha hasn't shown up yet but it will soon." With that the person takes up position at Dante's back and gets ready to fight. Dante does the same and the wolves attack. Dante and the stranger hold their ground, finishing the rest of the pack off in a few minutes. Just as they start to lower their guard a huge shadow barrels into them, separating them. Dante and the stranger quickly leap back to their feet, spinning to face the Alpha. It starts growling loudly, eyeing both players. They can see him sniffing the air, picking out his target.
"Are you still good to fight?" The stranger asks
"I'm good; we should wait for it to attack. Whoever it attacks will distract it, the other will take advantage and attack. Sound good?" Dante asks.
"Yes, get ready here it comes." The Alpha jerks it head and suddenly leaps toward Dante. Ready for it, Dante brings his sword up and deflects its gleaming claws. It lands in front of Dante and starts swiping with its claws, trying to slash Dante. He blocks every blow but is unable to attack back; Dante and the Alpha are equal in speed.
Then the tables turn. A bright fire suddenly blooms in the fading light, Dante watches as the fire streaks toward him and the Alpha. The stranger brings their burning staff down on the Alpha's head, a loud crack and a burst of embers following the strike. Dazed, the Alpha spins around to attack the stranger. Dante, however, makes his own attack, slicing along the Alpha's hind leg. The monster starts limping, slowed down considerably, and with a few more strikes from both players, it falls and disappears in a burst of light. Dante sheathes his sword and walks over to the stranger. As the Alpha disappears a white screen blinks on. "Mission Complete, Congratulations" A voice says. An experience display pops up showing both players had received Exp. The stranger walks to where the Alpha died and picks up what looks like a claw. The person brings up a menu and, with a few clicks the claw disappears into their items.
"Thanks again, my name's Flora." The stranger says. She pulls down her hood and long bright green hair falls down her back. Her face is soft and kind-looking but Dante can see the heat of battle flushing her cheeks, her bright red eyes sparkling in the setting sun's light. She holds her hand out.
"You're welcome, I'm glad I could help. My name is Dante." He takes her hand and shakes it. When he does Flora gasps loudly. She sees the right sleeve of his shirt blowing in the wind, empty.
"What happened to your arm, I didn't know that we could lose body parts in-game." She says.
"It didn't happen in the game, I was in an accident in the real world when I was younger." He tells her.
"Really but why didn't you alter your avatar to have both arms?" She asks.
"I figured I'm already used to only having one arm, why change it." He tells her. For some reason he feels very comfortable around her, he usually never talks about his arm with anyone. "Anyway, we should get back to town; it will be fully dark soon."
"Yeah, let's get going." They find the dirt path that leads to town and start following it. "So how long have you been playing Legacy, what level are you?" Flora asks.
"This is my first day and I've been playing four or five hours; I'm level five." He tells her.
"Wow, you're that good after only a few hours, it took me a week to get this far. The mission I was on is for at least level seven or higher, the Alpha Claw is proof that I finished the mission. I'm level seven now and I wouldn't have been able to do it alone. If you hadn't shown up I would have been screwed. Have you been to Variety yet?" She asks.
"If that's the name of the town then no, I've been out in the field hunting monsters." Dante tells her.
"Wow, most players go to town and stock up on items or party up before they do that. It's kind of impressive that you didn't." Flora says with a smile.
"Yeah but I have lots of experience playing these kinds of game, so I know what to expect."
"So what do you have planed when we get into town?" Flora asks.
"I was thinking I was going to quit for the night. Tomorrow is Saturday so I plan to play all day." Dante says.
"Cool, do you want to party up tomorrow, I know some missions we can do together and I have a friend who is meeting me in Variety tomorrow, we can all play together." She offers just as they are walking into the south gate of the town.
"Sounds fun, where should we meet?" He asks.
"There is a fountain in the middle of town how about we meet there in the morning?"
"Alright, I'm looking forward to it." He tells her. She smiles and walks further into town, off to finish her mission. Dante brings up the main menu and, after checking his growth, pleased at his progress, he logs off.
Author's Note: I recently watch the whole of Sword Art Online and an hooked. I love it! I'm eleven episodes it SOA 2. I thought with all the worlds made by The Seed the possibility's for fanfiction is endless so here's my part. i hope you like it (I'm having a lot of fun writing it) and please read and review!