Question: Are you going to stick to canon?
I want to play with Aincrad. I want to play with Cardinal and SAO mechanics and the AIs and NPCs, I just wanna play the game!
ARC 0
No Crown No King
Chapter 0.1
«Kirito»
Clearing Field, Edge of Northern Forest, Floor One
When people go into VR, especially action and adventure-oriented virtual reality, they were literally here to experience the world by going through adventures. Kirito himself was intimate with the obsession of collecting collectibles in games, but he was pretty sure no one would come into a VRMMORPG to read. So what is this for?
Kirito looked at the loot he just got from his latest kill. A very thin book containing a family-oriented short story. He's not sure if the book was in English or if the words were English because he had set his language from the default Japanese to English due to being more comfortable with the universal language and having already had to experience SAO in Japanese back in the beta test, but he had an easy time skimming through it and found that the story was fairly morbid, fairly satisfying. What was puzzling him was the reason why Kayaba would code actual books into the game.
Like the trees, the buildings, the air, etc., the book was also programmed in detail and the development team recorded the sensations involving the item just like nearly everything in SAO too. It could just be little extras, maybe there would be a quest involving a library or something of that nature, but Kirito just couldn't quite get rid of the nagging feeling that there was a more ominous reason as to why books are offered in a game that totals to 3797 square kilometers* (practically the same as the 11th largest city in the world**).
"Yo, Ki-bou!"
This is way too soon to deal with Argo. Kirito put the book back in his inventory before slightly turning his body to look at her in irritation. He trusted she wouldn't be petty enough to stab him right at the start of the game, so he let the viscid girl glomp him.
"Oof!"
Well, he knew she likes to one-arm hug people out of nowhere but he wasn't expecting she would literally jump on him.
"Argo, get off of me," Kirito said. His voice were muffled as his face was currently being intimate with the green grass. The type that wouldn't trigger an «Uncommon item» pop-up when Scanned.
"No~" Argo mewled in a familiar tone of a tired cat. He couldn't feel her hands but he could guess from the position of her arms that if he had «Throwing Picks» on his belt she'll steal them and unfortunately she's the type to be encouraged by a mean AFK.
Bending his right arm and using it as a crutch he arched back up and let her fall down with a yelp. He immediately scooted away from her.
"HEY! You don't go around throwing a lady away!" Argo barked. She still appeared the same as he had known her from the beta test. Chocolate hair under a tattered brown hooded cloak, and her cheeks still sporting the whiskers war paint. If he was honest, they were too sloppy and messy to even be mistaken as a make up.
"You fell. I didn't threw you."
Argo blinked, but then she sported a coy smile he had grown to be wary off, "Ufu fu fu, of course I will definitely be happy to fall for you," she cracked a grin.
Kirito rolled his eyes. She could come up with better comeback than that. "How did you find me?" He asked. "And pretty fast too. I don't use the same avatar as I had in beta." In the beta test, he had edited his avatar to sport a slightly bulkier body model. He had set his base stat to lean entirely on speed so he tailored his avatar to intimidate his opponents into thinking he had more strength than he actually has. Aside from that, he had sported a darker complexion and made his hair a dark shade of spiky green.
"Oh, you could try going at it as a girl but I will still recognize your fighting style," she smirked. "So! We need to talk."
Kirito snorted. Ah, it's a good thing Argo was not his family member. Or his romantic partner. He didn't suppose anyone like that sentence. "About what, exactly?"
"Hmm... Oh, there's this guy who wants to battle with the famous Black Swordsman who promised to pay me 500 col to find you,"
"My worth is 500 col to you? You could have at least tripled it."
But Argo just ignored him and called out to the male who has been standing slightly away behind her, "Hey, I finished the end of my deal. The deadline's a week! I know how to find any player here so don't bother avoiding it!" Then she turned her head to address Kirito. "You forgot to pay up the last info I gave you a month ago."
The raven haired boy blinked, "You mean… our talk at the last day of the beta? I thought that was no strings attached!"
She instantly invaded his personal space. Argo bonked his head, "Nothing from me is free!"
"Snoopy Trilby Thief."
She gasped dramatically. "Pay up, mister!"
"You heartless tax collector," Kirito declared but he didn't make any move to open his menu.
"And I revel being one."
"That information was expired, you'd change your favorites by now, so it's no use," he stated with a challenging eyebrow, daring her. Not able to come up with a retort, she huffed and left, and ran towards the «Starting City». She must be having another client. She doesn't usually gave up on teasing him this easily.
Now, Kirito turned to the man whom he had ignored in favor of bantering his informant. Beginner gears, straight posture, and he was pretty confident on himself from overall demeanor. Dark blue clothes, but lighter than mine. He knows about his… title… So it's possible he was a beta tester too.
"You must be the—"
"Yes, I'm the guy. So you wanna duel?" Kirito asked, almost eagerly, not particularly willing to hear that title being repeated over and over again. Thanks Argo, for the opponent. What's his level again? He glanced at his HUD, always hovering slightly in the corner for every player. Only Level 2. Well he did only kill 3 packs of «Dire Wolves». And it had only been an hour, so he supposed he shouldn't be so surprised. Besides, he has another 4 hours to spare and get to level 5.
"Alright. Let's have a mock fight."
Kirito nodded, satisfied to have the opportunity to gain better experience points. It's always more fun to duel another player than mobs. Mobs were predictable. Low-level mobs on the first floor were just boring in any RPG, though not because of how many and everywhere they would spawn as many players would complain but in his opinion they were boring because they were always designed to simply be nothing but a stepping stone. A person, on the other hand, had nearly infinite choices if they were smart enough. He simply hoped this person will be a challenge.
A pop-up showed that he got the request for a duel from Heathcliff.
Pressing the blue circle for «Accept», Kirito was minimally disappointed that Kayaba didn't create an extra type of duel for this official release of SAO. He eyed the three choices presented to him.
One was the option for a «Fight to Death». That was pretty straightforward. The second was a «Half-way Duel». It was basically a fight that declared the winner would be the one who managed to reduce the opponent's health bar down to its exact half amount. The third was «First Blood», where the winner would be the one who managed to land the first virtual 'blood'.
Pondering for a moment, he tapped the option for the first blood. In an official PvP duel, one, two, or a thousand damage attack wouldn't be converted as experience points. He could choose the third option and still get the same amount of exp should he chose the first option. The first would save him some time, he'll PK later. He wanted to level up first.
Unsheathing his sword he settled into his personal stance. He had real experience with sword styles, and he was a nitoryuu-style combatant, but in Sword Art Online he could only use one sword so he had to develop a stance for a one-handed sword style during the beta testing.
He bent down to the traditional stance, with his left hand wide open in about 120 degrees, and his left foot positioned on the same angle. His other foot bent down 160 degrees to allow a higher range to leap up for supporting my weight. His right hand held his «Beginner's White Ore Sword» away from his back, leaving his front open. But truthfully, the further it is the more momentum he will gain, making his attacks stronger so he won't have to focus too much on increasing his strength stats. Being a Solo player, he needed to have a wide range of skills if he wants to survive this world.
He had developed this kata during the beta, so no one IRL ever saw this stance, since he had long since quit Kendo and he hadn't talked much to Sugu. His opponents usually laughed at his glaringly obvious openings, underestimating him until the very last second when he slashed his sword through their necks. Overtime, the stance lost its awkwardness and he had become accustomed with using two types of styles.
Heathcliff's stance, though, was pretty basic. Tense knees, rigid right elbow holding his sword in front of him with the tip right at his left eye, and his left hand parted from the body loosely. But his ankles, is he preparing to run left? And why is his left hand—ah. A shield user. A shield user that doesn't depend on the traditional shield—early players can't buy one until they at least reached level 4.
«Begin in 3… 2…»
"Are you a Beginner?" Kirito asked.
«1… START!»
Kirito's sword met the Heathcliff's arm guard. It was made of the cheapest steel and doesn't possess durability points more than 200, but Heathcliff didn't use it to block – he parried Kirito's sword with it. Nice. Noted. Copied. Kirito spun to deflect Heathcliff's strike on his neck using the same trick, turning his back to his opponent and shooting out his leg to kick Heathcliff on the face. The support from the sword block gave Kirito more strength to put on the blow and Kirito rolled under before Heathcliff's sword effectively met his artificial jugular vein.
A sword's blade was flat and thick, not fast enough to pull off a rapier-style jab attack, but its distance to Heathcliff's feet was close to none, so Kirito shot it forward.
He sensed the tide of the battle shifting when Heathcliff barely managed to turn his feet sideways, and Kirito's sword point dug on the ground a centimeter away from it. Kirito stopped himself from falling flat on his stomach, and successfully rolled over Heathcliff's next strike.
"What if I am not?" Heathcliff responded.
Kirito had a strong suspicion that this man had never fought IRL. He had good grasp on close combat to use the more effective attacks, but his reflexes were rather slow.
"Nothing in particular. I'm just curious as to how you know of me," Kirito tested. His sword slashed vertically and Heathcliff's guarded arm protected his front. Kirito's sword slid against the arm guard on the sharp side and he idly noted that its shiny metal had gone dirty, an indication that the item is close to disintegrating because of low Durability point.
"You're avatar name is quite famous, and Argo the Rat was the best chance for me to find you. She claimed she believes you would be one of the first to come to this world."
This world. The way he refers SAO… So he appreciates the place and doesn't think it's just a game. Kirito's lips tugged. Nice. And my name's still famous? I thought people would forget about that. That title was a bit embarrassing for him. Its lack of creativity was unflattering.
"Why do you want to fight so soon after the release? Why not do it later after leveling up?"
"I want to try it before you gain much experience."
Too late, I'm a quarter to level 3.
Heathcliff paused his movements, his elbow bent back and his sword's tip glowing blue. The sword skill «Horizontal» was executed 1.15 second later and met with Kirito's sword's tip. A «Horizontal» attack had 2 times the strength of a normal horizontal attack, and Kirito's sword would have not been able to parry to lean wide against their bodies had Kirito not put made his base stat even between strength, speed and luck this time unlike back in the beta test, making it 14 against a newbie's 7.
The boy bent down and his leg shot up to Heathcliff's sword hand, using gravity to knock the weapon off of the man's grip. The sword skill broke, and Kirito's sword was free to open a wound on Heathcliff's right elbow, just above the arm guard.
The artificial flesh gave away to reveal condense red codes of Heathcliff's data, imitating red meat that doesn't bleed. The harsh pressure triggered the appropriate amount of HP loss, and the game declared Kirito the winner.
He caught a familiar stretch of translucent blue in an otherwise empty gray bar on his HUD, indicating he had gained experience points. Light blue filled up the bar, glowed slightly, and became empty.
«Kirito elevated to Lv. 3!»
Kirito dismissed the upgraded stats by swiping the air with his finger, briefly noting that some of Heathcliff's col was transferred to his account. Only 150 col, a standard payment for defeating a Lv. 1 player.
He turned to see Heathcliff picking up his fallen sword. "Thanks. It was a nice battle."
Something reddish poked its head out of a bush nearby. A Folain Fox—! Before it can attack the players, Kirito had already reduced it into polygon shards. Lucky. They only show up 25% of the time around the city. Kirito picked up the «Uncommon» berry drop.
He checked his sword's durability: 98/300 Durability points. It could stand about a dozen of «Frenzy Boars» before it shatters.
Kirito sprinted towards «Southern Forest», not exchanging another word with his fellow player.
A short distance away, he got a notification.
«Player 'Heathcliff' invites you to be his friend. Accept his contact in your Friend List?»
Kirito tapped Decline. As if he wanted to be traced.
.
(╮°-°)╮┳━━┳ ( ╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻
.
Town of Beginnings
"Oi! You there! Wait up!" Kirito looked behind him. A male, with brown eyes, and wore a red bandana with a couple of 1 inch width yellow stripes around his long pink, well it's more purplish mauve, hair. He had a small bit of stubble on his chin, not enough to be a goatee. His gear's the same as Kirito's, aside of the color of their shirt.
His hope that that player was calling out to someone else was dashed when it was obvious that the player was heading to Kirito's direction. The boy didn't really want to deal with n00bs right now. His sword finally broke. He needed to buy another one and rack up his level before any newbies catch up, or worse, any other beta surpassed him. If he spend the next four hours killing «Dire Wolves», or «Folain Foxes» if he gets lucky like earlier, he could go up to level 5 at most by the end of the day. Maybe reach level 6 if he PK'd enough players. Enough chances for him to get that special quest from Horunka and procure the «Anneal Blade». There are a lot of mobs to pick off. Damn, it feels like it's been several years since the last day of the beta. And at the same time it feels like it has only yesterday he had logged out in distaste and heavy reluctance.
Equipping «Anneal Blade» would make his STR +61, making it the greatest weapon that'll last to the fourth floor. And it was the only weapon that can be upgraded 8 times instead of 7 as far as Argo knew, meaning it'll be one of the best weapons until about the eighth floor. He wanted to get it fast before someone else got that quest and had the flag toggled off.
After catching his breath, the red haired man stood up straight. He's about Kirito's height – well, this avatar's height, "You look like you knew every nook and cranny of this place, so I guess you're a beta tester, right?"
There was no animosity in his tone when he said that word. Kirito thought that people were going to be—still—jealous towards the betas. The internet was pretty obvious about that. I mean, we DO get a couple of month head start. "Yes, do you have a problem?"
"No! No! Not a problem!" He flailed his hands. "I just, well, kind of, uh, I'm Klein!" he seemed to gather up his courage and stop stuttering. He puffed his chest and walked towards him and put his hands on Kirito's shoulders. Kirito's eyes followed the motion made by the long limbs. He highly doubted this guy would sneak a strike in the middle of a busy road, but, you never know. "And this is my first time playing Sword Art Online, and I'm kinda lost. Please, will you teach a newbie how to play?"
"You do realize SAO's a PvP game, right? Why should I help you?"
"There are guilds, right? We don't have to do PvP all the time. Come on, please? I'm begging you, man! Just teach me how to get by and level up a bit!"
Oh? He's practically begging for me to kick his ass until he either swims or sinks. Kirito calculated his targets and time tables. Guy's only a Level 1 freshie, but between pulverizing AI mobs of Floor 1's early clearing fields which would give around 10-60 exp and winning multiple duels against a player that would yield him 200 exp, he might actually be guaranteed to past Level 6 before dinner. "Okay."
"Really?! I'm Klein! Thank you very much, Kirito!"
Klein then made a show of his gratitude, which is bowing on his knees like a Knight of Honor in the middle of the busy market of «Town of Beginnings», often called the «Starting City».
"Would you just stand up, like right now? Because you're drawing people's attention here and it's—you're in public." You don't just bow in the middle of a busy street. "Learn some shame."
"Ciaaa! Yosh!"
Conversation with this guy doesn't seem to be quiet or professional, so Kirito hoped this guy would at least not make things awkward. Kazuto wasn't an expert in talking and Kirito wasn't much better.
Well, he could. But it's all fake.
Kirito put up a smile on his face. "Okay, but first I need to buy a sword."
"Didn't you get one before?" Klein patted his weapon on his belt sash, most likely the basic sword. First options during the process of creating one's avatar were «Beginner's White Ore Swords», «Beginner's White Ore Daggers», «Beginner's White Ore Claws», the latter being not very popular as it has the shortest range, and not powerful enough to pierce a target as one had to apply their strength to each blade attached to the gear. Plus, it's not as stylish as swords and not as preferable as daggers.
"Mine has already disintegrated. Besides, we need some potions too. I know a good NPC store not too far from the clearing we'll be using."
The town was designed to resemble a citadel. Shops and restaurants and inns were situated around it. The two passed various stalls – Kirito noted that there were a lot of female-looking players – and reached their destination. Klein followed him tentatively, at least, until he gaped at the inside of the store. Really, it's like he never even entered a supermarket.
Kirito reprimanded himself. No, he was being too harsh. Of course Klein had never entered a supermarket that displays potions and weapons of a wide variety. It has been something of culture shock beta testers had to experience too. Guns are illegal in Japan, one can only own it after going through a lengthy licencing procedure***, so it's a bit hard to adjust the ingrained value that you must not possess dangerous weapons under normal circumstances, namely when you're going shopping.
There were racks of weapons ranging from swords, daggers, katanas, curved blades, talwars, nodachis and odachis, throwing picks, spears and even some battosai. There were also stale bread, water, potions and shields. It had nearly everything a new player needed to go out into the field.
Although, most of the items were unable to be equipped until players reached a certain level. And for Level 1-2 players, they could only buy swords, daggers and curved blades. Claws are only obtainable as monster drops (excluding the one that was given as a freebie on the avatar making process), which is why it loses the appeal to the more laidback players, and why it could be sold for a decent price because they were «Rare» items.
The large variety of items sold are to attract more people to frequently travel to the first floor with all the luxury, as the higher the floor the harder it is to find drops in most areas and the higher the price of limited items.
He turned his head sideways to face his oblivious EXP contributor, "Klein, do you have any weapon preference?" Kirito asked. The boy checked his arm guards' durability – a small defense gear granted as a freebie from the avatar building that only contributes +1 to DEF slot – just above the yellow zone. He eyed a neat cluster of «Beginner's White Ore Swords». He checked his menu briefly and dismissed it. 612 col (A pack of «Dire Wolves», which consist of 5 wolves, would only drop 13 col at maximum. Mobs rarely drop money, they mostly drop hides. But he had been farming since 1:02 PM, and he got some money from defeating Heathcliff). The beginner's sword costs 140 col… He had to level up as soon as possible; he wanted to get the «Anneal Blade» after dinner before someone else accepts that quest. But he'll be farming constantly, and the quest would be tough… he'll buy a couple? No. Kirito decided to purchase only one sword, as he would get the «Anneal Blade» soon enough so he won't be wasting two spare swords.
"Well, I always wanted to wield a katana. Can I have one?" Of course you can have one, if you can pay for it. Though, katana? No wonder, Klein must be role playing the samurai-type.
"You haven't spent your starting col on anything, have you?"
"Nope! I just arrived back there and I saw you running," he answered
Kirito nodded, "Good. Every player received 250 HP and 130 col for starters. Katana costs 300 col or so. And we still need to buy at least a couple of small healing potions, so that means we'll both spend 30," Kirito explained while gathering 4 small vial about the size of his palm, excluding the length of his fingers, "You'll have to get your own money soon."
"How?"
"By grinding of course, didn't the system explain that in the tutorial?"
"There's a tutorial?!" His exclamation attracted three players huddled together in a corner of their section aisle.
Kirito frowned. How could Klein be aware about the guild system but not something as basic as the availability of a tutorial? Kirito turned to the NPC merchant. Same face, same styled magenta hair. "Hello, Yoneya."
The NPC Focused on him and smiled brightly. "Heya, Adventurer? Do you want to buy anything?"
Hmm. Standard response phrase. So NPCs won't recognize him as a beta tester. Great, that's one worry off his shoulders. He had been harboring a paranoid thought that beta testers may not be able to accept the same quests because the NPCs would recognize them to have already helped them two months ago. "A couple of small healing potions, and one «Beginner's White Ore Sword»."
"Great!" She named the prices, and Kirito Focused on her to transfer the requested amount of col. "Thanks!"
"Hey, so I can't buy the Katana?"
"Even if I lend you my money, you won't be able to equip it. I have never wielded a katana back at the beta. But another player told me they can only be equipped after achieving high enough strength stats at level 7."
"WHAT?! I'm only Lv. 1! Then what should I use now!"
"You have your own weapon already on your sash. You can get your katana once you fulfill the requirements."
After Klein finished his purchase, they exited the place. 2.7 square miles. Last time I crossed the distance from this shop to outside «Starting City» in 9 minutes with all speed base stats. Let's see how fast I can go with my current SPD and AGI parameter. Kirito opened his menu and selected the stopwatch. He threw a glance back at Klein. "Keep up."
"H-HEY! WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND, MAN! DUDE! BUDDY! OH GOD, YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN ME YOUR NAME!"
.
(҂ `з´ )
.
Clearing Field, Edge of Southern Forest, Floor One
They quickly made their way to the clearing field near «Southern Forest», far away from the other clearing where there were more «Dire Wolves». Klein was green, Kirito would have him deal with the weakest type of SAO mob first, «Frenzy Boars».
«Frenzy Boars» give less exp, but spawned faster and gave more drops than «Dire Wolves», almost 90% of the time. Most were its meat, black and weak hide. and small, inexpensive ivory Kirito could collect and sell – but at rare times they could drop berries they had 'picked' up in the woods, and berries were precious. Easy and cheap to be used to cook food or make potions, and on average, berries were «Rare». Although, that doesn't mean that all berries are good or useful to be consumed. Some gives debuffs, some were poisonous, and some gives buffs that actually increased your chances to date danger.
Although I like the somewhat bitter taste of that last one.
"You're an asshole!"
Kirito ignored the jibe. 8 minutes. Right, I'm more familiar with the roads. Just an extra minute whenever I'll transport back to «Starting City» but that's fine. "There is no stamina ribbon in SAO, only health ribbon. Your avatar is capable to run marathons all day provided you have strong mental capability to stay awake and fresh for all that time, and if your real body doesn't starve to death. You're panting because you're convinced you're tired."
Klein coughed and cleared his throat. "Yeah, okay, got it. But you still haven't told me your name."
"My name is Kirito."
"Kirito!" Klein repeated in order to memorize it, and perhaps to make sure he pronounced it right. "Kirito?!" The second repetition was fueled with more shock. "Whoa, you don't happen to the player who's famous for kill-steals in MMOs, do you?!"
Kirito brandished his sword. "Yes. Do you have a problem?"
"NO! This is just so awesome! I mean, what are the chances that I found the infamous MMORPG kill-stealer to teach me the ropes of Sword Art Online?!"
"Considering «Starting City»'s slightly larger than Iwate Prefecture and there are ten thousand players spawning at different times, the chance is small, but not impossible," he smirked in jest. Also, 10,000 players! And the game hasn't lagged even once. This is so awesome.
"Right. Right. So, Kirito, there are lots of skills right? How do I use it?"
Kirito bestows his full attention on Klein, happy to execute the idea that's been forming in his head. "We'll duel first. I'll teach you the ropes, and we'll have duels to keep track of your progress so you can improve, yeah?"
"Osu!"
Looking back, it was a 5 second battle.
Kirito hummed, pleased with the addition of another 200 exp and 100 col (standard gain should have been 150 col but Klein only had two thirds of that) gained from defeating a Lv. 1 player. Soon he'll be a high level player and he'll only get satisfaction from defeating dozens of opponents, so he was enjoying the easy progress at the moment.
"Aww man. I'm out of money already!"
"You're lucky this isn't MOBA, n00b," Kirito's lip twitched upwards. "Yet."
"Oh man, the player base isn't going to be as hostile as MOBA's, is it?"
"Unless they make guilds mandatory for starters, no," Kirito clicked his tongue. "I might just instigate PvP to get rid of them every time they enter mine*."
"You were too fast! Did you spend all that base 5 points to speed? I dumped mine evenly, and kept 1 point."
Slow on his feet, good focus on predicting my attack but lacks the reflexes, and way too open with his sharing his stats, Kirito thought, and decided to reciprocate."No, I actually only put 1 point on speed, the rest I dumped on STR. You're probably used to fist fights but in sword fights intimidation factor gets kicked up a notch, so of course you're a bit slow at it first."
"But that should mean I'm faster than you, but I could barely catch your sword for a block!"
Kirito hummed, giving the question deeper thought instead of dismissing it. "Say two users enter SAO without manipulating their stats, as both new players we have the same SPD stat but that doesn't mean they're both exactly as fast as each other."
"Er, I don't get it. If both have +1 STR or SPD shouldn't they be the same?"
"STR definitely, but SPD, or AGI and DEX too, now that I think about it, are different. Inside the NerveGear numerous signal components that send fake signals directly to the brain. It doesn't block or stop but reroutes the brain's orders for the body to the body of our avatars. If you naturally have faster neural signals, your avatar would move faster than another avatar whose player has normal or slow neural signals. Just because you're assigned with base numbers doesn't mean you suddenly lose your ability to move as you've always have done. But the higher your stats the stronger and faster you are."
"Eeeeh, that's kind of unfair. So even though they level up at the same time, one would still be better."
Kirito simply shrugged. "As unfair as a newbie starting to play an old game that's still being played by veterans? As unfair as a potato couch trying out for yoga in the same class as someone who is an expert at it? It is what it is." That, and I'm two levels above you.
Every level ups give +3 on each of the player's stats, so Kirito's SPD was already on 9 to Klein's 2 plus 1 extra point.
Klein mockingly hissed. "I can feel the frost, man."
A familiar sound reached his ears, and Kirito didn't bother to see the familiar blue light of a mob spawning. While Klein turned around (and gaping, maybe), Kirito picked up a pebble, stilled his hand to focus a basic energy build up around the impromptu weapon and shot it at the one of the two «Frenzy Boars» that had just spawned. It was a tiny pebble, not a sword, so even Kirito's 6 STR didn't take out more than 2 HP of its bar.
Not that he was planning on taking it out. The provocation successfully triggered the AI's aggro and made the boar rear its head towards them. Kirito stood rather laid back; the weight of his sword strapped on his back was comforting. "Klein, build up the energy for «Vertical» now."
Klein grunted in affirmative and did as he was told. When the boar charged, Kirito was pleased to see no tremors or hesitation in Klein's stance. The pre-motion was executed perfectly, and once the system recognized the skill the weapon glowed and the attack's speed was more than what Klein's avatar is supposed to be able to do, dealing more damage to the boar who the brunt of the damage with its small ivories. It huffed and prepared to bash its skull on the player but Klein wasted no time in swinging his sword horizontally, this time at its back. Klein hacked it twice before it finally shattered, and though it dropped nothing, it gave the player 10 experience points.
The pink haired man cheered. "Yes, victory for me!"
The younger male shot him a lazy smile. "That boar's the equivalent of a slime in RPGs."
The man - although he could be a female IRL, who knows; there could be anyone behind the avatar called Klein - grumbled in embarrassment for a bit. "Kirito, that one you hit with that pebble attacked us, but why didn't the other one didn't?"
"Every mob has a certain level of aggro, or you can say level of aggressiveness. If it's high, and if we're in its range, a mob would turn and attack us even if we're only passing by. If it's low, it'll ignore us, and only give off a warning if we're in their range. «Frenzy Boars»'s aggro is one of the lowest. You have to attack them for them to attack you. That other one spawned about 5 meters away, well outside each other's aggro range."
"What if there's a monster that has a really wide aggro? We'll have to fight it, what if it's too strong?"
Kirito shrugged. "Which is why you don't go around carelessly. And you can, not to trigger it, if you improve your Hiding skill slot. You can check your stats on them in your Skill Tree. In any case," several more boars spawned a bit further away, one just 4 meters on Kirito's left. Kirito unsheathed his sword and slashed the grass a horizontal line, as if separating him and Klein. Not being an «Immortal Object», the ground was damaged, but it would eventually disappear. "I want you to kill the boars on your side of the line, when I call out 'switch', we swap places immediately and kill the boars on that side – it's the most basic tactic in team attacks. Every time they're finished, challenge me to «First Blood» duels so we'll keep track of your improvement while we wait for the next spawn."
So the two continued finishing off mobs of «Frenzy Boars», gaining measly 10 EXP points for each kill and some hides and meat (Klein, that's a Saurian berry, pretty good to make into a low healing potion later on. You have to get a glass flask first and an NPC potions stall that gives the service). Kirito called out 'switch' frequently, training their foot reflexes and body adjustment – helping Klein whenever he fell down. When a wave is over, they dueled – Kirito winning every time, though Klein did get close one time when he got creative. When all of Klein's money got transferred to Kirito's and Klein realized he's utterly empty on cash, Kirito promised to return them later (Duels afterwards only gave Kirito EXP points, and no col from Klein). Klein's sword's durability was nearing the red zone, and Kirito had to explain that he doesn't have to buy another sword, he can go to a blacksmith and ask for a durability fixing which would be cheaper, but risk the possibility of the weapon shattering.
By the time Klein reached Lv. 3, Kirito was 90 exp away to Lv. 5.
Klein checked his HUD – ever present in player's peripheral vision. "I have to log out in about two hours. I ordered teriyaki, mayo and ginger ale pizza!"
He only got a raised eyebrow. "No jealousy on my part. That is one disgusting pizza." Cheese, spice, and meat forever, in his opinion.
"Aw. Party pooper. Hey, we can eat here, right? Do we have to?"
"Not really. Back in the beta version, eating food is optional in SAO. Cheapest ones are just rough bread, doner kebab and salad. Anything other than those three are too expensive for beginners. I tried a simple apple juice before, and it tasted nice – restored some of my HP too – if a bit off. You know how there's a slight difference between the artificial flavored food and ones that uses "natural" ingredients**? It's a bit similar to that. Kayaba promised to make it feel more realistic, among others. I'm holding judgment on the taste department. But. Considering the high fidelity graphics right now…" Kirito sighed, lost in a little happy world as he gazed above the clearing field and took in the sights again. The trees, the grass, the mobs – especially the fact that a player has to move their body and weapon without any system assist meant that leveling up is because of your own skill – the sheer level of detail Kayaba devoted in every aspect of SAO is mind blowing. All of it coded by hand for 10 years. And Kirito hadn't even reached the Ruby Palace!
"Yeah," Klein sighed in agreement. "And we don't even feel pain here. It's like we're invisible and totally free! Like, free free!"
Kirito rolled his eyes as if telling him he was dumb, thought about elaborating the mechanics of the system's pain absorption, but eventually simply agreed wholeheartedly.
"Well, someone IRL should come and take our NerveGears off later."
"IRL?"
"IRL means In Real Life. It's a common phrase for regular Full Divers. The more you spend your life in this world, you just can't help but differentiate it with the real world so distinctly."
"Oh… well, this is my first time to Full Dive. But, uh, I live alone in my apartment. What about you?"
Kirito frowned. "Much like MMO chats, it's considered rude to talk about your RL life. Keep that in mind. That said, I have a sister who should be home in about another hour."
"Really? A sister? How old is she?"
"Klein," Kirito smiled lazily. "She loves sports, she hates games, she once broke a man's arm who tried to grope her in public, and you don't want to be what that flea ridden sorry sea dog ended up to be after I was done with him." They would've been fined for some medical payment if the guy hadn't done it so painfully obvious to the people strolling at the park.
Well it worked, Klein's face was paling, "E-eh… so she hates people like us?"
Does she hate people like Kazuto? She didn't really go so far as to hate gamers, just the addiction, "No, she simply doesn't like games in general. She thinks it's a waste of time and people should exercise more instead of sitting all day burning their eyes out."
"Bummer," then Klein looked up; he just spotted something, "Oi! You there! You lost or something?"
Kirito tilted his head to see a player walking towards them, almost shyly. He had noticed the player's presence but Kirito had been ignoring him, assuming he was just a player trying to farm too. A boy who looked to be around Kirito's age with blond hair, blue-eyed, and his avatar's looks were sort of American.
"No, I'm not lost, though I would like some help if I may," he said. "I am PoH."
Yay, he told me his name, I'm so excited. "Please call me Kirito."
"My name is Klein! What'd you need help with? Maybe we can help!"
Four «Frenzy Boar» spawned a distance away. PoH seemed to catch Kirito's irritated and impatient expression and hurried his explanation. "Would you be willing to party with me? Some newbies teamed up together and I saw where they were heading. I wanted to try ambushing them through the trees but there's 5 players and I'm only 1."
"Sure! I'll party up with you, man! I want to get experience on PvP! So far I've only been killing a bunch of boars. Kirito?"
Kirito's shrug was the epitome of laziness. "Sure. Though I'm not partying." Sharing EXP points? No. "Lead the way, PoH."
"Into the forest. I am no professional but they were probably below rookies. They were singing and cheering, all excited."
"All the more reason to show them reality," Kirito grinned, and PoH paused at his words, and then let loose his own little grin, "Well said, Kirito."
"Uh, PoH, are you a beta tester?"
"No. This is my first time using a FullDive Gear."
"Really? Me too! What did you think when you first came here? I felt weird but pumped up all the same!"
"I played a lot of regular RPG. To be honest, I felt like one of my childish dreams come true. I'm inside one of my favorite type of games."
They have been walking for a few minutes and they're near the other side of the «Southern Forest» already. Very convenient, «Horunka» should be across the «Northern Forest». After his business with PoH and Klein is done, he can get the «Anneal Blade» and—
A movement caught his eyes. It was blurry white, and definitely fast. Maybe it was that rare AI?
"I'm gonna go ahead. I think I saw something. Klein, Friend me. And I'll find you guys with the trace."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You can find your friends locations by using a trace on your personal map. Let me do it." Slashing his fore finger and thumb in a familiar motion, he opened up his menu and tapped his least used icon.
«You have no Friend contact»
And it better stay that way. He'll milk profit of his contact to Argo this time.
«Player 'Kirito' invites you to be his friend. Accept his contact in your Friend List?»
After Klein tapped yes, Kirito nodded at them and ran towards the spot where he had seen that white blur.
.
.
.
Southern Forest, Floor One
He found a girl with long, orange-brownish chestnut hair wearing a white long-sleeved leather tunic.
.
*Film Theory: Is SAO the most expensive game ever?
**Beijing, China (source: Wikipedia)
***Overview of Gun Laws by Nation (source: Wikipedia)
*How to Fix MOBAs and How Blizzard Already Did It (source: LeeLaughhead's Video Game Success)
**What Do 'Natural' and 'Artificial' Flavors Really Mean? (source: SciShow)
P.S. AFK means Away From the Keyboard. Snoopy is an odd-synonym for foolish. An there's a brilliant 2D stealth indie game called Trilby: The Art of Theft by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (guy behind Zero Punctuation), the motormouthed game reviewer who hates everything but also one of the few game journalist who actually talks about gameplay and looks for golden nuggets in them.