A/N:This is, admittedly, my first story and many of the concepts had been inspired by SAO: Australia, The Prince of Swords, both of which are SAO Fanfics, along with other fan fictions I've come across. This is a completely OC story told from the Main OC's POV. I'll be taking liberties here and there for the Game Mechanics and a few other Technical stuff. Critiques are welcome, flames too if you can back it up.
One Time Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online and I deal with it. Some concepts are borrowed from other authors.
Prologue: The Big Bad Wolf
It was nerve wracking. My fingers were twitching uncontrollably as the grip I had on both my daggers began to tremble. I sucked in my breath; the sensation of the steel sword singing through the air just next to my ear had released a plethora of goose bumps on my arm. It almost felt as if I lost my hearing for a moment there. I threw that disturbing feeling at the back of my mind, a feat that I wouldn't have been able to do had I been an inexperienced twat like I was a year ago. I could see the cyan glow of the enemy's steel scimitar fade as the weapon missed my body. The resounding 'clang' of steel meeting concrete rang in my ears as I threw my body upwards from the barrel roll I had initiated to survive that «Sword Skill». I felt my fingers twitch again and I had to stop myself from letting that overwhelming fear, that oh so poisonous fear eat me from the inside. If I let the fear in now, my grip would slacken and I won't be able to strike back when I need it the most.
The silence began to blanket down on us as my eyes began to register everything as if time itself began to slow down. Whatever adrenaline I was feeling in my body began to pump it into horrendous amounts as my fingers locked on to the black leather grip of my twin daggers. I threw my body down and almost hit the floor, my left leg sliding backwards with my right leg becoming the pillar of support for my body. A stance I had so long gotten used to that it felt like second nature. I spread my arms apart as if I had wings as my wordless roar shattered the blanket of quiet. The daggers in my hands began to showcase its familiar red glow, a glow that had matched perfectly with my hooded red cloak. « Jack The Ripper » was the « Sword Skill » I had activated. Being a practitioner of the « Dagger Class» weapons, my attacks have a tendency of being many, quick, and destructive when applied to the correct area unlike those who practice « One Handed Sword » or « Two Handed Sword » skills that usually focus on hits that deal enough damage even without the Critical Hit Bonus. All these facts, however, were absent in my head as I pushed my right foot against the solid concrete supporting both my opponent, a monster that was commonly known as « Draconic Squire », and me. With inhumane speed, the kind that would be unreachable by normal humans, my body lurched forward and my left arm swung towards the clothed left leg of my opponent's anatomy, the dagger primed and ready to take it out. Before the monster could even lift his scimitar from its place on the floor it had struck not too long ago, I was already behind him, the first strike of my « Sword Skill » connecting splendidly just on top of the knee, a knee that now supported a pink gash across it. The monster would have, should have, tried to turn around but as its preferred pivoting leg had been damaged, all it could do was growl in defiance with its green snout facing the ground. Many could see that if this had happened to them, the battle would have been concluded.
I wasn't part of that many.
Thus, my body kept moving. My feet seemed to glide above the grey concrete floor as my body spun around with my right hand's dagger glowing its eerie crimson. The hit connected, causing the right leg of the enemy to attain the same attributes as his other damaged leg. And I continued my onslaught, my body moving of its own accord as the « Sword Skill » « Jack The Ripper » continued its sequence. My right arm raised itself in an almost lightning quick fashion as my left arm did the opposite: coming down with a mighty slash that could very much imitate a lightning strike. Both strikes hit their mark, the right on the right and the left on the left. Both attacks left pink gashes across their respective biceps as the « Draconic Squire » screeched its pain for the heavens to hear. My arms, however, did not let that screech finish as in a blinding fashion, a final red 'X' highlight showed itself in front of its throat as the monster was decapitated. The prematurely finished scream began to fade moments after only to be replaced by the sounds of a million different polygons exploding in front of my face. Everything seemed so real, as if I was really living my life in the real world. I relaxed my stance, my long red hair over shadowing my face as I gingerly poked the close button of the screen that appeared in front of me. I ignored the Col and EXP I had received from defeating the Draconic Squire in favor of reprimanding myself again.
This is life. This is my only life.
Be it virtual or not, should I die here, I will die on the other side.
My feet then proceeded to give up on me as I crumpled to the floor, my red cloak being trampled over by my body as my hands let go of my daggers. I lifted my head to look at the hauntingly beautiful view of the sky: ashen gray with silver root like lines extending everywhere at irregular intervals. I would have called it tantalizing, but beauty barely ever registered with me when I was fighting for my life. I strained my eyes to stay open, years of hard work having drilled 'safety' and 'caution' into my very being and falling asleep in a Dungeon of all places was tantamount to suicide. It was then that my eyes lazily drifted to the upper part of my screen. The name [LAZARUS] could be read just below a bar that was filled half way through with a sickly yellow-greenish color. I gave a wry smile. I was only 50% away from dying…dying just like that « Draconic Squire » that I had fought. My body suddenly froze. Whatever wry smile I was about to express was held back as I heard footsteps. Footsteps that clanked very much like the armor that my just killed opponent gave away. I berated myself for letting my guard down after defeating a difficult enemy, and would have continued to do so if I was given more time. Right now though, survival was my priority. Expertly, my fingers weaved through the menu screen and selected the « Teleport Crystal ». Said item materialized itself in front of my palm and I gripped on to it as if it was a lifeline, which, in a way, it really was. I quickly raised it into the air and was about to shout 'Algade!' when the clanking stopped.
"Laz!"
And for the second time in the span of 10 seconds, my body froze up like a deer caught in the headlights. I have to stop doing that, then again, when one is high from pants shitting fear, yeah. I turned my head awkwardly in trying to greet my would-be saviors but the teleportation crystal I had in my hand stayed there because you never know. Still, they were in my friend's list for a good reason. I tried pushing my body to stand up, knowing all too well that whatever physical exhaustion we should've felt did not, in any form, exist within this world. Mental Exhaustion, however, ate at me like there was no tomorrow. So despite my body not really protesting at the action of pushing myself up, my mind was, and it proved to be more of a Boss Quest than anything else. Just as I finally managed to wobble up on my feet, a charging tackle once more took me down and said tackle had the pleasure of depleting my health bar by a small margin. I could just hear the sobbing in her voice as she dug her face deeper into my outfit and all the while reprimanding me that I should take care of myself better and stop going out to solo monsters of all kinds. I would have shot off another of my remarks but I was content to just let her win this time. The other 2 of the 'party' finally caught up and slowed down to a walk when they neared the mess that was I.
"Not even a minute past and you're already laying it thick on her. I swear Laz, you have to stop doing that." [ABEL] reprimanded me in his lighthearted way, which meant that he was more envious of my current 'predicament' more than anything else. I shot him a glare that told him to drop the subject. I could be allowed to be grumpy. I did just fight for my life. "Where the hell were you three?" I asked with a slight edge to my voice. Abel seemed to have adopted a look of embarrassment and thanks to the System's Enhancement, everyone could easily see it regardless of how hard he had tried to hide it from us. The other member of the party, however, stepped up to the plate. [THRALL] coughed first to get the girl on me to stop for a bit before he began to tell me a tale of excuses for them not being there. "We were ambushed by a pack of Draconic Pages and since our main damage dealer wasn't there, we took a tad bit longer when it came to finishing them off." He said in that calm tone of his, a tone that I couldn't refute. I gave up on the scolding part of the message I brewed in my head and just attempted to stand up.
"We also have important news." And again, Abel had lost the mischievous attitude he perpetually had. I hated it when I saw that face of his. It was either a really good joke or something seriously dire. I nodded my head towards him; an action that told him to continue.
"The Boss Room has been found. Celine's calling for a conference for the 68th Dungeon Raid."