It was supposed to be a game - a training exercise really. I wouldn't graduate Signal for another two years, which I would need to manage before I could even apply to Beacon. Yang was starting this year but my dream of becoming a huntress was a little farther off, my youth working against me. Sword Art Online was the perfect opportunity to slay monsters and live the life I always wanted to have a little earlier. I knew it wouldn't be exactly the same, what with the sword skills and the assortment of all kinds of beasts and monsters to slay instead of just the Grimm I learn about in class. I also knew it'd be close enough for now. But I never imagined the most important continuity would be the danger. It was supposed to be a game, not a deathtrap. It was never supposed to be real danger. It was going to be a rare opportunity for me to fight and learn and just enjoy the battle. But when the stakes rose, I wouldn't recoil and run. I was far too tenacious for that. I'd bought the game for a good fight, and I wasn't going to hold back just because there were a few new rules.

"…The logout button has been removed from the menu… Not a bug in the system… No longer a method to revive someone within the game… There is only one means of escape: complete the game… I wish you luck, players."

I couldn't see over anyone's head anymore. My avatar, which was standard sized just moments ago, had shrunk to match my actual proportions when the glowing subsided and if I wasn't careful I'd be trampled in the impending chaos. In of the corner of my eye movement glinted. I turned to see a boy around my age dragging a twenty-something man behind him. I took off in their direction, curious to see where they were heading and more than a little desperate to escape the disarray that was erupting behind me even as I fled.

When they stopped in a corridor to talk, I waited in an adjacent hall and listened.

"I'm heading over to the next village right now. Come with me." At the man's startled silence the boy continued, "If everything he said is true, the only way to survive in this world is by making yourself as strong as possible. The resources within a virtual MMORPG, in other words the money and EXP we can earn, are limited. The fields surrounding the Town of Beginnings will soon be hunted clean. To be efficient, we should set up base in the next village right now. I know all the paths and dangerous areas. So even at level one I can get there safely."

A second passed, before the man spoke up. "But… but you know, I… stayed in line with friends from another game to buy this software. They must be out there in the plaza. I can't leave them behind… Sorry. I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I? So don't worry about it. Go on to the next village. I used to run a guild in my last game, you know. I can use the techniques you taught me to get by!"

As they said their goodbyes my mind tentatively settled on a course of action. When the man ran back to find his friends, I sped forward. The boy stopped jogging then glanced back, no doubt hoping for a last glimpse of his friend who had already turned the corner, and saw me. I sputtered to a halt and looked down as he shifted to face me fully.

"Umm… hi. I'm Ruby Rose. I - uh - overheard you talking to that man about how you knew the path to the next village and what to avoid, so I thought you must have been a beta tester, right? I guess I was wondering if I could go with you instead." He wore a look of startled bafflement when I began, but nodded cautiously as I mentioned the Beta-testing. His expression was already guarded by the time I mentioned accompanying him to the next village so I rushed to explain. "I wasn't in the Beta so I don't know my way around the town very well, let alone on the paths. I'd be completely squashed if I stayed here and agree with what you said earlier about it being smarter to go now. I didn't come to S.A.O. with any friends from other games and really don't want to get crushed in the panic back in town. Please."

He relaxed a little, almost smirking before he thought better of it, at the thought of me getting squashed and I looked down sheepishly as he surveyed my short stature. When I lifted my gaze again he still looked hesitant, but more concerned than suspicious. Before he could get a word in I reassured him hastily, "I can defend myself against monsters just fine, I promise, I'm just not so good with people. But fighting and weapons I get, they don't have my specialty this early in the game as far as I can tell, but I'm decent enough with a curved sword and can use most blades and spears if necessary - my uncle teaches at a battle school in the real world and I've been training under him since I was eleven. Anyway, I'm not useless, just socially awkward. I've already leveled up, see," I quickly swiped my hand and brought up my menu, clumsily changing the viewing settings so he could see my screen and finding my player info turning so he could see. It displayed my username, gender, and current level. I was at level two with about two-third remaining of the bar remaining before I'd reach level three. "The way you were talking made it seem like you spent this afternoon teaching the guy from before how to play and probably didn't get the chance to grind at all. I played with my menu a little and went fighting after getting a good sword and… I'm talking too much…" I sighed sheepishly, " Sorry."

When I finally met his eyes the corners of his mouth were upturned at my rambling and he seemed a little more at ease with me. "It's okay. I'm not the best with people either. My name is Kirito by the way. And yes, you can come with me. You seem decent enough and it'd be nice to have a capable sword at my back."

I smiled brightly before he said, "Well come on, this way." He took off at a slow run and I hurried after him again. This time he knew I was following.

After a few hours of running, the quiet broken only by Kirito's occasional directions, we decided to take a short break. Pulling up our menus and bringing out a couple of apples to snack on, we sat on some of the larger rocks just off the path.

"So, what was the Beta like?" I asked. "I'm assuming there wasn't a death penalty or anything if your HP dropped too much. Did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, actually. I lived and breathed SAO for those two months, it was all I thought about. Seems like that will be nothing compared to what's to come though." He sounded off, the admiration and enjoyment the words should have portrayed dampered by the regret that leaked from his voice.

"Oh, umm… does it seem the same so far? Aside from the whole dying thing, is everything the way you remember it?"

Kirito quirked his eyebrows, curious. "Everything has been the same, yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oh, that's good. I was just wondering. I mean, if they can change something as huge as what happens when your character dies, then they can change anything: the sword skills, quests, the monsters and floors, anything. I was just worried some of the important stuff wouldn't be the same as in the Beta and it'd cause trouble - there was time in the month or so between when the Beta ended and the official launch, right? Isn't that what they usually do in Beta testing, find bugs and fix them? Change things? Anything could have been different…"

He was staring at me, mouth agape, as I rambled. Maybe he hadn't thought about other changes; there was a pretty glaring inconsistency to focus on after all. "I - uh," he sputtered, "Haven't noticed anything yet, but you have a point. I'll keep an eye out."

Nodding, I changed the subject to something less daunting. "I don't play a lot of video games, could you help me figure out these skill slots and points please? I really only worked out enough to buy my sword and equip it when I looked at it earlier."

He quickly agreed and within a few minutes we had distributed the status points - two to speed and one to strength - I was awarded for leveling up. He was a little surprised by my utter lack of prior understanding until I explained that "don't play a lot of video games" was a serious understatement. My life was dominated by Signal and training with Uncle Qrow to the point that I rarely did anything outside of killing Grimm and crafting or maintaining weapons. Sure, I ate and slept, but that was about it. You didn't have time to "dive" into online worlds at battle school. The only reason I was in Aincrad to begin with was inescapable boredom during summer vacation.

Apparently players are supposed start out with one open skill slot for fighting and one designated as "other" that was usually filled by shield or battle healing this early in the game. I chose sprint, hoping it would help compensate for my drastically diminished semblance, to go with my previously selected one-handed curved blade battle skill. Skill slots were supposed to appear as you leveled, the third slot appearing at six and so on at set intervals. A skill's usefulness and capacity grew as you used it, unlocking abilities as players became more experienced and leveled the skill. It was rumored that SAO had an infinite variety of skills - making up for the limited stats categories. (Agility and strength were the only options for status point distribution, the supposedly "normal" categories like intelligence and charisma were replaced with our personal ability.) It didn't really make a difference to me, I'd never played those games and this one was the only game that matter as far as I was concerned - those games couldn't kill me because I wasn't playing them. SAO was all that mattered.

After our brief, hunger-inspired interlude, we set off again. By the time we'd run maybe two miles we encountered monsters - likely stronger than those I fought near town. Kirito had told his friend that he could make it to the next town without danger, but I suppose without a guide I wouldn't have even gotten this far so quickly nevermind without fighting. The monster's red eyes reminded me of a the Beowolves back home in the Cliffside Forest, but closer resembled a traditional wolf in terms of movement. Kirito's eyes flashed when he noticed the dire wolf that somehow beamed into existence with a minor lightshow before he turned his head and looked at me. "Ready?" It was a challenge, a question and warning all at once, asking if I was really up to the task at hand and later escape via unyielding combat. I nodded and he took a few steps back, silently indicating that this was my fight. He'd lend a hand, or rather a sword, if he thought I needed help but was otherwise content to see how I'd handle the clash.

I breathed in then out, warily eyeing the beast, before running forward to meet the monster. Most grimm, Beowolves included, were especially vulnerable to neck and back wounds. I'd have to hope Kabaya followed that pattern and his creations had logical weaknesses. Though the dire wolf had spawned a good distance away from us, in the time Kirito and I made (mostly) wordless exchanges the beast had gained ground and I only covered a few yards before I could draw parallel to the beast. I turned away from it before we could intersect, spinning to power my strike with momentum as I slashed through its upper torso. A red streak appeared where I'd torn through fur and muscle as the health bar hovering beneath its red cursor plummeted. Just under half of the bar now remained. As it pivoted to counter attack I vanished - though much slower than I normally do - into the air, twisting when I reached full height and started to descend. I dragged my too-short blade through the wolf starting as I fell to the ground, already rolling into a crouch when the animal exploded into pixels and a screen appeared in front of me.

Result. EXP 34. Col 42. Items 1.

"Nicely done."

I rose from my crouch, smiling. "I did say I could fight, Kirito. I'm far better with weapons than I am people. Sometimes I think it's my redeeming feature."

He laughed and shook his head. "Well, you were right - about the fighting anyway. But why didn't you just use a sword skill? It would have finished the wolf on the first strike, though getting the kill in two blows without system assistance says impressive

things about your dexterity."

"Oh, umm…" I paused. I hadn't even considered using a sword skill though I had a general idea of what they did and had managed to use them a couple of times when I fought the Frenzy Boars this afternoon. "Habit, I guess. In the real word sword skills don't exist and that's where I learned to fight." I shrugged. " I hadn't really intended on using the sword skills in SAO when I bought the game, it was really more for training purposes. I also don't really understand what I need to do to use them, but I guess that will have to change if I'm going to survive this place."

Kirito raised his eyebrows, his face asking You left the The Town of Beginners not knowing something most of the beginners have figured out? but didn't say it outright. Instead, he offered a solution. "I can teach you, though we probably don't need to worry about it until we get to Horunka Village. It looks like you can fight well enough without them anyway. Let's get going, if we hurry we can reach town before nightfall. We'll find an inn for the night and sell our drops in the morning. We'll be able to buy better equipment there and then I can help you with the sword skills."

So, I'm pretty new to and writing fiction in general. That said I think I did a pretty good job. I have more of this written, probably enough for the second chapter, but I want to go over it a time or two again looking for errors and possible improvements. The second chapter will, however, be posted soon. I can't necessarily say the same about the third (stupid school, taking up all my time and making me learn stuff) but reviews may speed up the process *wink* *wink*. Complaints, compliments and all other comments will be graciously appreciated. Let me know if there is anything I can do to make my fic more enjoyable for my readers. Most authors write personal notes here as well so I suppose I'll follow suite. There was a huge wind storm

last week and we lost power. I was not happy. It was cold. They got it fixed this weekend though so now I'm warm and toasty:). Thank you so much for reading my fic (and author's note). Consider below a token of my appreciation.

*formatting update, not story. Sorry about the previous formatting, I used a different word processor when I was writing the story and it didn't copy well. I hope this fixes the issue.

**I think I finally got it right. So sorry about the delay. I don't know why there were random slashes and returns, but it won't happen again. While I appreciate being informed of the formatting error greatly, some of the reviews that mentioned it were less than pleasant to read. Please remember the writers on this site are not paid and politeness is not only prefered but expected.

Omake

"…The logout button has been removed from the menu… Not a bug in the system… No longer a method to revive someone within the game… There is only one means of escape: complete the game… I wish you luck, players."

"Are you… kidnapping me?"