Hello everyone and thank you for taking a look at this story. I wanted to say first off that this story follows original characters for the most part. I don't want to change or interfere with the way SAO is currently being written. The story I'm writing will be following the Progressive series and work independently from the events in those light novels. If OC type stories aren't of interest to you then this might not be very entertaining. Otherwise thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you find it enjoyable. I don't know how long this will take or how long it will be, but my writing tend to be quite long. Here goes! -V

Sword Art Online

Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 1

Sunlight streamed through the window of the second floor room. The room itself was situated on the eastern side of the building which meant the early morning sun would bathe the room in a warm glow. On a normal day one could say that the atmosphere from such a morning would be a marvel. A strange concept since the sun rose every day and it was an event that was taken for granted. What made it such an incredible thing now was that the light, and even the warmth was artificial.

Jayce blinked his eyes against the sun taking a deep breath before sitting up. The first time he had seen the sun had been one of the most memorable moments of his life. Everything he saw on that first day was like a dream. It all looked and felt so real regardless that it was only data being sent through his brain. If only this was a normal day, he could appreciate the technology that allowed him to be a part of this world. Almost three weeks ago he experienced what would be his last "normal" day.

Three weeks ago the Nerve Gear was released to the public. A headset that allows brain to computer connection. Alongside its release was a single program available for use. A program that in itself wasn't a completely new concept, but with the full dive technology the Nerve Gear provided, it was revolutionary. The program was a VRMMO called Sword Art Online. A fantasy MMO game where users would be able to experience all of it in a virtual environment that linked all of their senses.

During use the body of the individual would fall unconscious until they logged off. Or until someone removed the device from their head. Their entire consciousness was transferred through the connections of the Nerve Gear into Sword Art Online. Up until that point VR technology had been immersive, but nothing like the brain to computer connection that the Nerve Gear boasted. Thus the term full dive was used when describing the use of the Nerve Gear.

Ten thousand units were manufactured and sold. A large sounding number when said aloud, but in the grand scheme of supply and demand it was a small number. Acquiring the Nerve Gear felt like winning the lottery and nearly everyone, including Jayce, unpackaged the device right away wasting no time. This was the ultimate excitement for gamers. The ability to not only play an RPG, but to live it.

Jayce placed his hands on the glass of the window looking out at the town that was just beginning to wake up. NPC's and players alike were beginning daily routines. The NPC's all wore varying expressions fitting their roles in the game world of Aincrad. It was the players he noticed that all seemed to share the same behavior. Everyone looked tired, scared, and doubtful. His reflection was visible in the glass and he couldn't deny that his own face mirrored theirs.

Turning away from the glass Jayce flicked his finger downward opening the system menu and navigated to the inventory screen. He was only wearing a pair of black shorts and t-shirt to sleep in. After tapping on a few different places on the command window a leather cuirass appeared over his chest. A pair of black pants and boots materialized on his lower half and finally a hooded cloak fluttered into existence over his armor. With a final tap he attached his sword to the belt on his waist and looked towards the door of his room.

For nearly three weeks he had used this room in the Town of Beginnings. It took all his courage to leave every day to make just enough col for food and lodging. It was all he could manage before hiding himself away in the room once more. He was lucky if he managed to earn enough to have some left over after paying for the food and room, but all that meant was that the next day he had to earn less, and so, there was never any profit.

"Have a nice day sir." Jayce gave a slight nod to the innkeeper NPC who bid him farewell. The fear was already beginning to creep into the edges of his mind now that he left the safety of the room. For now, there was nothing to worry about so long as he remained within the confines of the town, but that wouldn't work. The sense of hunger, and sleep existed within SAO, and for that he needed to earn the currency of the game, col. The only way of accomplishing that was to venture out and find the creatures generated by the game and kill them.

His hand rested on the pommel of the sword as he walked through the streets of the Town of Beginnings, as if at any moment an unseen enemy would jump from the shadows and attack. In SAO, currently, there were two types of people. Those who braved the wilds with an almost fearless nature tackling the game. A decent number of people fell into that category, but three weeks ago when the game launched they were long gone from this town. Most of them had beta tested the game and had innate knowledge at least of this portion and were able to use that knowledge to their advantage.

The other group which equated out to the vast majority were like Jayce. Too terrified to do much more than venture out to the outskirts of town. There were a large number who couldn't even bring themselves to do that. They would squat where they could and scrape together what little food available to survive just one more day. The only thing that gave Jayce enough confidence to go just a bit further was that he wasn't new to MMO games. He had played countless other standard MMO games in the past. Each had its own unique flair, but still at their core were the same. Earn experience and level up was the basis of every MMO.

Leveling up could be accomplished by either killing creatures repeatedly until enough experience had been accumulated, or by undertaking quests. Quests could involve anything and lead anywhere which inherently was dangerous. Jayce had yet to even consider trying something like that. For now, there were creatures he could fight that were of low enough strength he felt safe enough. The downside was that the creatures were of lower level than him which meant lower experience and col. Eventually as he continued to level up they would be worth nothing and he would be forced to find higher level, and therefore, more dangerous creatures.

Nearing the gate that led out of town Jayce opened his menu once more to check his skills and equipment. The iron longsword he had been using since day one had served its purpose well so far. It was the bottom tier weapon for one handed sword users and eventually it would become obsolete. MMO games were a series of progressions where you outgrew not only the creatures you fought, but also the gear you used. As time wore on and as the enemies become tougher your equipment was equally important to maintain.

"Did you hear? They're meeting soon to try it."

"Really? Where did you hear that from?

"A lot of people are talking about it. Supposedly there's a good twenty if not more players preparing for it."

"That's insane, I don't know how they can do something like that."

The pair of male players turned down a different street away from Jayce so he could no longer overhear their conversation. He understood the basic premise of their conversation. Aincrad was a series of floors, a hundred to be exact, each one blocked off by a dungeon. Somewhere within the dungeon on each floor was a boss room that needed to be cleared in order to progress. Three weeks since the release of the Nerve Gear and SAO and the first floor had not been cleared yet. It hadn't even been attempted yet.

The very thought of taking on a floor boss was not even a wishful thought for Jayce. Those who broke ahead of the rest of the player base had to be higher than level 10 already. Jayce had only hit level 4 just yesterday. He harbored a mixture of jealousy and respect for those who were pushing forward through the game. If what the two men he overheard were correct then it meant that soon, a group of players would challenge the floor's boss and if successful bring about an extreme morale boost to the entire player base.

People needed that morale boost right now more than ever. Almost 2000 players had already succumbed to the game. Either by dying to creatures in the world, fatal damage from the environment, or the most disturbing cause…suicide. Just the thought of that staggering number of deaths made Jayce's skin crawl. Spending every day fighting the creatures of the world was terrifying enough without thinking about the people who had died.

This was an MMO game so dying was always a natural part of progressing throughout these types of games. Especially in regards to boss creatures like the one that blocked passage up to the second floor. A party of players would challenge it if this were a normal desktop PC MMO and die repeatedly to learn its patterns and mechanics. It was a fun challenge that made beating it all the more rewarding. At least that was how things in SAO should have been.

Jayce stared at the wolf ahead of him that bared its fangs and lowered its top half down menacingly. He pulled the iron sword from the sheath on his hip and tried to steady his breath. Why was he so scared of a simple level 1 Grasslands Wolf? He should be having fun diving into the game without care experiencing everything it had to offer. As the wolf pounced forward into a sprint he remembered why the terror refused to release its grip on his mind.

Three weeks ago the developer of SAO removed the ability to log out of the game. Ten thousand people were trapped within the confines of the digital world called Aincrad. The only way out was to beat all one hundred floors of the game. The catch, if you died in the game the Nerve Gear would send a microwave signal to your brain killing your real life body instantly. Put simply, it was safe to say that your in game body was now your real body and the wolf charging him was no less real than if this were happening in the real world.

Jayce screamed pulling his sword back to meet its charge remembering the developer's words about SAO. "This might be a game, but it isn't meant to be played."