Depending on when you read this I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. I unfortunately don't have a stable schedule for uploads but I can assure you that I'll definitely upload once a week. I apologize for any grammar mistakes you might find while reading since I'm not a native English speaker. All reviews are welcome as they help me improve my writhing skills a lot more than you might initially think. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Chapter 1

34th floor, 11th January 2024

It has been over a year the start of the death game and the pkers are the most they've ever been, hunting loners and low-lever players. It was just another quiet night on the 34th floor. The floor itself was populated mostly of dense forests and low-lever players.

Two girls are walking through the forest with their small swords in their hands and a terrified look on their faces.

"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to leave the rest of the group."

"Agreed. Let's just get to the nearest town." They're shaking but it's not the monsters they're scared of but rather the pkers and criminals since their level is high enough to kill a monster but not a pker. They were rather young, sixteen years old, and they were both beautiful. The one that was leading had bright brown hair and brown eyes while the other one was slightly shorter and with purple hair and blue eyes.

They continue walking until they spot a green player in the distance. He approaches the two girls and although they are scared he seems to be friendly.

"Are you lost girls?"

"No we were just walking to the town to get some sleep."

"You shouldn't be out here on your own."

"We can take care of ourselves." Only one of the girls spoke since the other one was too scared and was hugging to her friend's arm.

"Pkers are everywhere these days. Case in point, me."

"You?"

"Yes me. With, my friends here we're going to steal your stuff and probably kill you." As he said that five other orange players revealed themselves from behind the trees with their weapons already drawn out. The girls were surrounded and probably had their fates already sealed.

"Wait we'll give you anything just don't hurt us." They were now shaking even more intensely than before. She threw her sword on the ground and was shortly followed by her friend. It was clear to them that they stood no chance and that their only chance of surviving was to plead for mercy. The pkers laughed at the embarrassment of the two girls.

"Thou shalt not kill. Have you ever heard of that? " Another man appeared from the trees behind the pkers and he was no different from them since he wore a black cloak and a black cowboy hat so the girls assumed he was another pker but he was something completely different. His face was hidden in the darkness and he somehow seemed more intimidating than the rest of the pkers despite the fact that he had a green indicator.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Me? I am Judgment."

"If you know what's good for you, you'd leave."

"What if I don't want to leave?"

"We're six and you're one. You can't beat us."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe not. I guess we'll find out." He was strangely calm and confident as he drawed his sword from his side to face the pkers. The girls were as surprised as the pkers at this player's braveness or stupidity and although he stood no chance he did the sign of the cross, took a deep breath and charged the unorganized pkers.

He is fast and precise with his blows. A slash of the stomach knocks the first pker down while another one approaches him to strike with his spear. He is blocked and the man breaks the spear in half and proceeds to slash his neck. Two down, four to go. The rest of the pkers took a step back but they mastered the courage to charge. The man ducked or avoided their swings and took out another two with almost no effort.

"Ready to give up?"

"Go to hell." The pker said as he charged with his long axe in his hand. Before he can even hit him, the pker is cut down. The last pker throws down his sword and gets down on his knees. The man made it seem easy, he didn't even shed a sweat while he was fighting.

"Please don't kill me." He cried out. The man approached him.

"You really are an idiot. Take a look to your friends. Are they dead?"

"No. I-I don't understand." Indeed the pkers weren't dead as their bodies where still there but they were rather paralyzed as evident by their health bar.

"I don't kill. I punish and I give the chance of redemption." He took out a teleport crystal he had ready and handed it to the pker.

"What's this?"

"Your chance of redemption. It's set to teleport you to the prison in the starting town. Go there with your friends and pray that you're forgiven." The man said these words with a gentle voice and not as an enemy but rather as a friend giving advice.

"Thank you. I'll do that." He did as he was instructed and the man approached the girls who were even more terrified. He took one of their swords that was lying down and took a look at it.

"This is a pretty nice sword. A bit too small for my taste but whatever fits you best."

"Wh-Who are you?"

"Name's Gideon. And you are?" She handed her the weapon back.

"I'm Elisa and my friend here is Phoenixia. Thanks for saving us."

"I'm just doing my duty."

"Your duty?"

"It's a long story we don't have the time for. Where were you going before the pkers showed up?"

"We were heading to the town."

"I am intrigued as to why you're all alone in the night."

"It's a long sto-"Before Elisa could finish her sentence, Phoenixia sprung to life.

"We got separated from our party."

"I see. I can escort you to the town just to make sure you arrive safely."

"Thanks but we can take care of ourselves."

"Yes I can see that." He was obviously referring to the pker encounter. She was instantly silenced.

"So what were you talking about earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know the whole 'thou shalt not kill'."

"It's the sixth commandment. I don't expect you to know it since I highly doubt you're Christian."

"We are not. Are you a Christian?" She said that in a suspicious voice, not completely trusting him.

"You say that as if it is a bad thing." At that point they had already started making their way towards the town.

"From where I'm standing you look like a fanatic." As strange as it may sound he wasn't offended at all.

"Maybe I am. You're going to have to find out for yourselves."

"Wait are you the Hero of Faith everyone's been talking about."

"What do you think? Am I?"

"I think you are."

"Are you really him? I always wanted to meet him." Phoenixia said with a voice full of excitement.

"Why do you want to meet him?" He said with an intrigued voice.

"Because he is really cool and a great fighter."

"Well are you him?"

"Do any of you know where the name came from?" They both looked at each other and realized that neither of them knew.

"My name, Gideon, isn't just a random name I came up with. It's the name of a saint from the bible who came to be known as the Hero of Faith."

"So you are the Hero of Faith."

"I am. But a name is nothing more than a word or a decoration or perhaps even a warning. These things mean nothing."

"Your name strikes fear in the hearts of pkers. In my opinion it's not nearly as cool as The Black Swordsman but it's still pretty cool."

"Thanks." A silence followed as the group walked through the forest.

"You girls have any idea who those pkers were or why they would want to kill you."

"No we don't know anything." Elisa clearly became nervous as evident by her shaky voice.

"Calm down it's just a question. I don't expect you to know anything."

"Yeah I don't know what happened to me there. I'm fine now."

"How come you don't talk much, Phoenixia?"

"I usually screw up when I talk so I let Elisa do most of the talking."

"I see. I once had a friend like that whose mouth almost killed us."

"Where is he now?" Phoenixia said naively but Elisa already knew the answer and gave her friend a serious look.

"He's ummm… in a better place."

"I'm sorry."

"Have you ever lost someone close to you?"

"No. We joined together to SAO."

"Then I'll pray that you never experience something like that."

"Thank you, I guess."

"It's a great thing to have a real life friend in this 'game', someone you can trust and you know." He got lost in his thoughts for moment, remembering his past even though he didn't want to.

"Are you ok?"

"I know it might seem strange to you or even weird that a teenager, in the same age as you I presume, is so religious. But I can assure you that in this godforsaken place there are far worst things than a fanatic to worry about. If anything it should comfort you that I am a fanatic and not terrify you."

"And why would it comfort us?"

"Because I'm not going to kill or steal from you which are both forbade in Christianity as in most religions"

"I guess you're right." As they continued to walk they finally spotted the lights of the town in the distance and they entered the small but safe town. Quickly they entered an inn to get some sleep. At last Gideon's face was revealed in the light of the inn but his appearance wasn't anything special as he was pretty normal with dark brown hair and eyes. They had a quick meal in complete silence and rushed to their bedrooms to get some sleep.

"Good night, girls."

"Wait! Are we going to see you again tomorrow?"

"Do you want to see me again?"

"Maybe." She said in a quiet voice, unsure about her answer.

"If you truly want to, you'll see me."

"I want to see you again!" Phoenixia said as she came out of her room to meet them at the hallway.

"Good night." He said and immediately shut his door. Elisa thought of knocking his door but why would she do that. Gideon couldn't sleep. Perhaps it was his memories haunting him or maybe he just didn't want to sleep but all the time he spent in bed, his mind couldn't think of anything else but his past. He was trapped in never ending circle of memories and he couldn't think of a worst pain but that was his routine since a long time ago. He just wanted it to stop.

But he was saved when someone knocked on the door. He rushed to open the door and to his surprise it was Phoenixia that had knocked.

"Hey I can't sleep so I wondered if you were awake as well."

"Why didn't you go to Elisa?"

"If you don't want me here I can leave."

"No please don't." He sounded desperate and as she turned away to leave he grabbed her hand but after an awkward moment he let her go. "It just seems strange that you'd come to me first."

"I know Elisa's asleep since she's so tired every day and I don't want to wake her up."

"Please come in." He was relieved to see her since a friendly conversation is exactly what he needed to calm himself down. They sat down, Gideon on a wooden chair and Phoenixia in his bed.

"So where are you headed now?" She asked in an attempt to break the ice.

"I am headed to the starting town to check on the pkers that attacked you and to meet some friends."

"Great we're headed there as well. We can leave together."

"Sure although I think you should ask Elisa first before you ask me to accompany you."

"I'm sure she's fine with it."

"If she's fine with it then I'd be happy to join you."

"Great!" She was really excited and as she calmed down Gideon began to talk again.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"What happened and you got separated from your party?"

"We had a disagreement over a drop and Elisa started to fear for our lives and we sneaked out the night we got attacked."

"Was she just paranoid or did they really threaten you?"

"We weren't on the best of terms with the 'leader' of the party but I'm sure they wouldn't have done anything."

"I see."