[Author's Note: Kirito is OCC at the start, but considering the circumstances he isn't really that OCC]
6/8/2026 - The start of the Second Death Game
Players - 23 + Host
Kirito and Asuna were among these 23 players.
Science behind how the second death game kills you…
Using Sugou's research, the brain sends shock, fear, and panic to the brain, giving those with weaker hearts heart attacks. The moment after this the Amusphere sends pain signals to the brain. This then turns into a cycle, simultaneously the Amusphere sends signals tricking the brain into thinking there are rapidly flashing lights in front of the viewer. This is on a cycle, so while the lights are rapidly flashing, the brain is making you feel like your whole body is in unbearable pain one second, and terrorized the next.
If the player ignored the host's commands, he would kill them.
One of the commands was to play, so you couldn't wait for someone to force you out.
And since no one was informed of the death game trapping people, no one was doing anything about it.
After 12 players died, 3 were force-logged out (Safely), one managed to survive the attack on his mind with only minor brain damage, and so only 7 remained, two of whom were Kirito and Asuna.
"So, Kirito, the Black Swordsman, and Asuna the Flash. Your final challenge will be to defeat Gleam Eyes. Of course, Kirito, you won't be able to use dual blades, but I am willing to give you Elucidator, and Asuna, her rapier from back in SAO." A cackling figure, disproportionate in size to his clothing due to the fact that while he was but a child (In appearance), his clothing were for that of around a teenager, was floating in the air, wearing a red king's robe, a crown that could probably hold two of his heads, and holding a golden staff in his hand.
Kirito sneered at the small pseudo-boy, whose glowing golden eyes leered down upon him, "So, Kuro-tan, when we defeat your beast, you'll let us go?"
"Of course! I may be a murderer, but I'm honest. Well, usually. Anyhow, I can't let you go right away, as then you'll tell the cops, but I will deactivate the killing-mechanism in your AmuSpheres," Game Master Kuro nodded, a vicious smirk worn by his face.
"Your logic is flawed as there have already been people who've been forcefully ejected." Kirito silently deadpanned.
After this dialogue, the Game Master made Elucidator and Lambent Light appear, and had them float to their corresponding users.
A timer appeared, showing 5:00 on it, and soon 4:59, then 4:58, and so on. This timer continued to tick, so Asuna and Kirito sat down, leaning upon the wall of their prison.
The time limit for the command 'Play, do not wait the time out' was 4 minutes. They had to do something at least once every four minutes or else they would be killed.
At the timer hit 0:56 Kirito's mind was suddenly filled with an unearthly panic, and after that he forgot everything.
He, still Kirito, his avatar, rather than his real life form of Kazuto, was now in a room of whiteness. Blinding whiteness to be more specific.
As he looked around, covering his eyes with his arm so as to be able to see despite the brightness of the surroundings, noticed a floating yellow Halo in the air.
"Some time of console?"
Thinking that this was not the time to be careful, but rather to hurry and understand the situation, Kirito went over to the yellow halo.
As he extended his arm so as to reach for the halo, a figure under it appeared.
An angel…
You think I'm an angel, but you're wrong. I'm not an angel. I'm a god.
Huh. That voice was in my head, but it isn't mine. What's going on?
I'm a god. We prefer not to talk through our voices unless necessary. Anyways, due to all the good you have done for your world, Earth, I would like you to save another world. A world not unlike those of your virtual reality, though real rather than virtual. Of course, I will grant you a gift in return. Name your price.
Not even thinking for a moment, Kirito shouted out loud, "Asuna!"
Asuna will already be accompanying you in your new world. Name a different price.
Is this reincarnation or just being put in a new world?
Reincarnation
Then my memories. I would wish for my memories to stay in tact in this new world. And my mind. Not just my memories. Language, knowledge, intelligence, personality, everything in my mind.
Seriously, I'm having you save a world, you'd be no different from any other plebeian if you didn't have at least that. Please think of something more unique.
How about my body being run like an avatar? I get an inventory, str, dex/agi, int, wis, chr, cons, HP, MP/SP, spell list, note window, settings, all that type of stuff.
Very good. Unique. Helpful. Powerful. I'll allow it. Your Int, Wis, and Chr stats will stay how they are in your new body of course.
Goodbye.
Have a good time in the world of Eluci.
You have 15 years until you must set out on your journey to save the world, maximum.
You will not meet Asuna until after that point.
Also, make sure to keep your eye out for her wish. The form winked.
The world blinked.
About 2 tenths of a second later everything went black.
Kirito felt weak.
He felt as if he were naked.
And as if his skin was really soft and squishy.
Then he realized he was in a crib, a really large crib.
Like 5x his size in length, and 4x in width.
He also couldn't move well.
He then saw a beautiful blonde European woman, around 17 in age, and wearing peasant clothing of the Renaissance European.
"George, what - we name him, our - child?" The woman asked, smiling at him. Kirito, only knowing a small amount of English, struggled to remember the meanings of each word.
"I - know why, it's a - name. But a name just - - into my -. I - help it. Kirito. K-ear-e-toe." A blonde man, probably a little over twenty in age, with blue eyes, also wearing peasant clothing, looking more or less average for a European.
"Yes, I -. It may be a - name, but for a child of two - to have a black haired child, he will - be a special child." The woman then gave Kirito a look, and he realized that he was who they were talking about.
That's when the memories of his meeting with God flowed back into his head.
"Hello Keereeto, I'm your mother, Mary," She then slowly and gently picked him up, "And this over here is your father, George. We're your family."
Family. I may be in a new world, but I still have family. As he thought this, he saw a blue light and then the world slowly faded, and he fell asleep.
Kirito, First Person View
When I woke up, my first thoughts were, "Huh, where am I?" but soon after I remembered, and pondered, "What was that blue light that I saw before falling asleep?"
Soon after, I shrugged, figuring that an answer would come eventually.
So, I should test my power before anything else. This power of mine may help me develop faster than others, and if I have to set out to save the world before I even turn 15, then I really have to develop faster than others.
My first instinct was to drag my hand down in the air, much like how I would do to open my ALO menu, but when after a while I finally managed to do it, (Damn baby arms) no menu opened, so I tried it with my other hand, which also failed to do anything.
Wait, this isn't a game, so there must be another method of doing it.
I tried poking things with my index fingers, clicking with an invisible mouse, and using my feet rather than my hands to open the menu. None of these works.
Damn menu! Open already!
To my surprise, this worked.
I see! So concentrating on my menu, or wishing for it to open, or something along those lines will open it. I guess that makes considerable sense.
I perused the menu, finding my name (Kirito) spelled in Romanji, or I suppose English on the top of it, and my avatar, or I suppose my body to be more accurate, was shown in the top left hand corner, making me sure I was now European as my face didn't look Asian in the least, the armor slots to its left side, and accessory slots on its right. Although I had twelve armour slots, ten of which were open, (My mother had put socks and underwear onto me) there were only 3 accessory slots. Below the final slot, there was a message.
'{Unlock +1, Cost = 50 EXP}'
To the right were my level, EXP, HP, MP, SP, Total Defense, Race, Class, Class-Rank, Job, Job-Rank, and Nationality. My level was 1, my EXP was 0 out of 50, so that probably meant I needed 50 EXP to level up, my HP was 3 out of 3, my MP 4 out of 4, and my SP was 2 out of 2. My Total Defense was 0, my Race was (thankfully) human, and I didn't have a Class or Job, so those, along with the corresponding rankings, were all labeled as N/A. My nationality was Repaul, so I can figure that is the name of my rebirth-country.
Below these were my stats. To my shock, Wisdom was at the top of the list with a 12. Although I was shocked at first, until I read the description which read as '(Wisdom, quick wittedness)', and as I was definitely quick witted, it made sense. Next on the list with an equally high score was Charisma, which shocked me even more than Wisdom. Then I remembered that I was in the body of a baby, and since babies were cute, you couldn't really argue with them having a high Charisma stat. Next was Intelligence '(Intellect, cleverness, memory)' with an 11, which gave me a fairly good estimate to how the stat system worked. Since my intelligence was fairly average for someone my actual age, maybe a little above so if I were to include the fact that I'm fairly clever and I have a fairly decent memory, that would mean that 10 was probably around the average for a 17-18 year old. Next on my list was AGI, DEX, CONS, then STR. Confused to how come there was both AGI and DEX, I checked their descriptions. While AGI was body speed and reaction time, DEX was more sneaking, gracefullness, and being quick with your hands. Constitution was endurance, and strength was strength. Due to the fact that I was in the body of a child, these stats were all 1.
Below my stats was the menu icon for Inventory, which was empty, and then below that was notes, which would allow me to write things that could never be seen by anyone other than myself. Useful if I ever do anything illegal.
Below Notes was my money. There seemed to be 4 types of currency. PP, GP, SP, and BP. I assumed they were Platinum Pieces, Gold Pieces, Silver Pieces, and Bronze Pieces. Needless to say I had no money. I was only a baby after all.
Finally, below my money was my Class Ability List, which I assumed was kind of like a spell list but for any class.
Hmm, speaking of classes, is this a world of magic and/or a world of science? I mean, this game menu is a sort of magic, and this probably isn't the modern day, so I suppose anything is possible. Well, now isn't the time to think about that. I need to train my muscles to make it easier to move and I need to finish learning my English. Even if the world has magic, my MP is only 4, so I won't be able to cast any more than a single weak spell, and probably only once a day.
A little over a month later...
My new mother and I were walking, she was carrying me in her arms, when I suddenly heard a small ding, and my menu opened. I suddenly had a single EXP point! After a couple seconds, the menu closed, and my attention drifted into pondering what could have been the cause for my new experience point.
Another month later...
This time while breast feeding, an act I had only just gotten used to, (I could only hope Asuna would forgive me when she found out.) another experience point was received.
That's odd. I do this everyday, yet only now do I receive an EXP point?
Yet another month later...
This time it happened while I was sleeping. I was woken up by a small ding sound in my ear, and when I got up, something that I had only just gotten strong enough to do, my menu opened and it showed I had another EXP point.
Hmm… what could be the trigger? Wait, I'm a little over three months old, I have three experience points, it must be that I get a free experience point a little over every month! If that's the case, then about 35 times 50, that would be… about 1750. If I divide 1750 by 365, that's a bit under 5. So, if I just wait I'll get to level two when I turn five years old? Well, since I don't want to just wait, if I wait until I turn three, I should already have around 30 EXP points. At that point I can experiment to see what gives me Experience.
Another three months later...
I'm finally able to crawl! And I think I've finally finished learning English!
Suddenly my menu appeared, and the word EXP was glowing a bright blue. Deciding that I should click it, I did, and a submenu opened up.
Achievement - First Language, English - EXP Reward = 10 - Unlock?
Achievement - Learn to crawl - EXP Reward = 5 - Unlock?
After excitedly clicking 'Unlock?' for both achievements, I had reached 21 EXP points. That was nearly half of what was required to level up. After pondering it a moment, I realized that at this rate I'd be level two by the time I reached three and a half years old, supposing that I did nothing else to raise my EXP that is.
A month later...
It was less than a half-month later that I finally managed to learn how to walk, and it only took another week to learn how to run, if you could call a baby running running.
This increased my dexterity to two, along with granting me the achievements.
Achievement - Learn to walk - EXP Reward = 5 - Unlock?
Achievement - Learn to Run - EXP Reward = 10 - Unlock?
I pressed 'Unlock?' for both achievements, raising my EXP value up to 37.
Now that I could run, I could exercise. Despite my small physique and low endurance, I did my best to increase my stats. Even if I was something of an avatar, I was still human, so physical training should increase my strength, constitution, and agility.
I was right, but it seems these stats weren't as permanent as RPG stats. In RPGs once you get a stat, unless you or someone else specifically does something to it, those stats are permanent. But in this it seemed that stats, at least those gotten from things besides level ups and natural aging, could go away.
It's kind of like real life. If you exercise for a while, your endurance will increase. But if you slack off for a while, it'll go back down.
After about 2 months of exercising, my parents began to notice my muscles were sore and did something in my crib to keep my in.
By this point I had managed to get my strength and constitution to three, and my agility to 2. Thing is, they didn't show as STR - 3, CONS - 3, and AGI - 2, they were shown as STR - 1 + 2, Cons - 1 + 2, and AGI - 1 + 1. Naturally, I was confused by this, but I decided it was best to ignore it for now as I didn't want to accidentally remove the effects.
I was forced to stay in this bed for five days without exercising, bringing my strength down to 2, my constitution back to 2, and my agility back down to 1.
Well, if my parents are gonna stop me when I get sore, lowering my stats, I gotta make sure I don't get sore. I need to exercise in moderation, as annoying as this is.
So that's what I did. Rather than exercising whenever I got the chance, I made sure to exercise as least two hours a day if possible.
A few months later, 11:55, 364 days since reincarnation...
My natural strength, dexterity, and constitution were now all 2, and strength and constitution were coupled with a +2 bonus from exercising. Meanwhile agility was still naturally as 1 but it was also coupled with a +2 bonus from exercising.
I was now at 42 EXP points, leaving me 8 points away from level two.
"Kuso. This is all taking too long," I cursed, making sure to use Japanese in case my parents were listening.
I suddenly heard a small beep, and found that the phrase EXP was glowing yet again.
Clicking it, I found that there was an achievement for reaching one year in age. Clicking the 'Unlock?' button corresponding to the achievement, which was the only one this time, I gained another two experience points, only worsening my mood.
Why couldn't it have been at least 8 EXP points? Ugh.
I then decided to go to sleep, which didn't take long
When I woke up, my parents were in the room, talking.
"It's his birthday but we can't afford to get him anything! Not even a cake!" My father, George, growled at the floor, "That damn Sir Edward William Spencer Cavendish! His tax rates are exorbitant! 20% sales tax? For every silver piece I pay I gotta pay another 20 copper! Our tax for living here is a gold piece annually, and the tax for entering and leaving the town is a silver! It's Kirito's first birthday and we can't even afford a small treat!"
"Consider who the boy is. The only thing he finds entertaining is exploring, exercising, and sleeping. The few times we actually carved him toys, he immediately got bored with it. Remember the time we got him that wooden toy with the holes and the wooden blocks and shapes that matched each hole? He solved that right away without even hesitating for a moment! The kid's a genius! To actually occupy him with something we'd probably have to give him some sort of puzzle that would challenge a young adult! (Which here would be considered anywhere from 7 to 14)" My mother Mary attempted to comfort her husband, to her relief, she succeeded.
No longer thinking about his hatred for the ruling noble of this town, George nodded, "I agree. If he was older I'd take him hunting with me in the woods, but he probably couldn't even hold a blade at this point, none the less traverse these woods. Besides, there are kobolds there at the moment. I may be strong enough to fend them off, but doing that while protecting Kirito would be tough."
That had caught my interest. Kobolds. A mythical creature. They were typically dog-headed reptilian humanoids I recalled.
I stood up inside my crib, and facing them I asked, "Neh, neh, whashts uh Kobauld?" Despite me knowing the language, I was still a child, I had a child's mouth and vocal organs, I couldn't speak that easily.
Stunned by the fact that I had talked, as I had never done it in their view before, they didn't know how to respond.
Mentally groaning, I did my best to look like a cute little child, and asked again, "Mama, Papa, whashts uh Kobauld?"
Both of them looked at me like proud parents with the most adorable child ever who was also a genius and a celebrity millionaire. After a moment of this, my father answer, "Well, Kirito, a Kobold is something like a person of about 3 feet in height, except they're reptilian and have heads that are dog-like in shape. Well, usually. Some have crocodile-shaped heads. But the ones in the forest have dog-shaped heads. They're usually evil and live in hordes. They hate intelligent species besides themselves, unless that species or member of that species is ruling over them," Then remembering he was only speaking to a child, not even at the age where most children knew how to use the bathroom properly, including myself at the time due to the fact that children at that age don't have developed enough muscles at the time to hold in their urine and excrement, even if they knew how, elaborated, "A species is a group of animals or races that can make babies that can also make babies. For example, a dog and a cat are different species, and so are a horse and donkey, as a mule can't make babies, but an elf and a human are the same. But, although elves and humans are the same species, we're not the same race. A race is a group within a species that have very different traits compared to other races within the same species. I suppose with even this amount of elaboration though, you still don't understand, do you?" He then gave a little embarrassed laugh.
So, if Kobolds and elves exist, that would mean magic (Besides my menu-magic) exists! I'll have to find out more about this later
Slightly irritated due to being looked down on so much, I shook my head without letting any irritation show, "No, I unduhstud, Kobaulds are eval dog-heashded lishard-men that live in horshdes, and dey haysh other speshies like Umans and elveshs."
Shocked by how easily their child understood, they both stood there awestruck, until finally a few moments later, my mother smiled and patted me on the head lightly, "What a genius child! I knew you were smart, but not nearly this much so! We definitely need to get you a gift!" She then covered her mouth, remembering that it was supposed to be a surprise.
"Hmm… how about a toy sword?" I requested, knowing that I was surely out of practice. It might not be the most efficient re-training, but it was the only one I could get in a body such as this. I doubted that the only other thing I would find helpful would be something my parents could afford. A book. And even if they could afford one, I doubted they had the ability to read, which would make them apologize and tell me that they couldn't teach me how.
"Hmm? Want to be a swordsman, eh? Alright, I'll get you a toy sword, and I'll even teach you how to use it when you're old enough!" My father smiled, laughing gleefully. I supposed that he really wanted a swordsman as a son or something.
After a little while, my parents left the room and I went back to sleep.
A couple days later...
"Happy birthday!" My parents shouted, handing me a small box, but relative to my body size, it was pretty large.
"Thansh!" I smiled back at them. Despite them not being my original parents, they were still the parents I had in this reality, and they were still my birth parents, so I cared for them. Because of this I also, as cutely as I could, ran up to them and gave them a hug. I then went over to the box, opened it with my currently 4 strength, which I estimated to be the natural strength of an average 5 or 6 year old, and I saw a wooden broadsword. Picking it up, I felt that it was actually pretty heavy. Of course, due to the fact I was only a couple days over a year old, this was what I thought would happen.
From then on every day I would do fifty swings, fifty straight downward arcs in the air. So, exactly two hundred days later, or about 7 months later, when I was at 49 EXP, an achievement bell rang in my head, and I checked my menu.
The achievement was 'Practice 10,000 sword swings,' and the EXP prize was 15. I also noticed that there was another achievement, one that I should have noticed earlier, but was focused on something else at the time, 'Potty training,' for 5 EXP. I pressed both of the 'Unlock?'s and a golden 'Level Up!' pop-up appeared, nearly making me fall backwards in surprise. I pressed 'Level Up!' and another pop-up opened.
Unlocked
Level 2
+1 Accessory slots {Next at 500 EXP}
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 SP
+1 Defense
10 BP
Show [Holding] slots on menu
Free location of 2 Stat Points of your choice
Next level at 150 EXP
Sliding the pop-up aside, I looked at my main menu, and found that I was now level 2, I had an extra open accessory slot, an extra HP, MP, SP, and Defense, along with 10 Bronze Pieces, and the ability to allocate 2 stats of my choice. There was also the Holding Slot, located a little under the accessory slots area. There were three slots open there, though the third one was faded. In the second slot was a sword, so I assumed the second slot was for my right hand, as that was the hand I was currently using to swing. Every day I would switch the hand I used for swinging, much to my father's confusion. He told me that proper swordsman either used both hands, one hand for a shield, the other for a sword, or a rapier, which someone of our wealth could never afford. I ignored his advice as I knew what I was doing.
Deciding to allocate both points into strength for now, I did so, putting me at the strength level that would probably be average for around a twelve year old.
From that day forth I continued to do my training, which including 50 sword swings every day, 10 laps around my family's house, which wasn't that large, 100 pushups, and 20 pull-ups using a branch on a tree located near my family's house.
Second Birthday...
As I was perusing my menu, a pop-up appeared. It was my second birthday, or, two years after my transition to this world, 6/8/2028. This time it seemed my parents were wise enough not to discuss my present in my room. I pressed the 'Unlock?' that glowed on the pop-up, and, rather than EXP, I got stat boosts. My HP, SP, DEF, CHR, and AGI were all increased by one.
Later that day I was given a hatchet for my birthday.
"You like swinging your sword so much, I figured it would be good if you had something to slice, but as I don't think you could slice something with a toy sword, I got you a hatchet. From now on you can chop the firewood!" My father told me, laughing near the end.
Is this a gift or your way of getting out of doing your chores?
From then on, I chopped the firewood. My daily quota was 20 logs a day.
A month after I started doing this, I found that I had gained more than the usual 1 EXP I gained every month. I had gained 7 EXP. I realized that I must've been getting a small amount of EXP from cutting logs. And I found I was right. Every 100 logs I chopped I was getting a single EXP point. My total constitution had also gone up a single point from all the exercise.
3 years old...
My father, who I had just learned was capable of reading, read me an excerpt of the Holy Scripture of Euranum. I asked why it was called that and my father told me it was because it was the religion of all people in the continent of Euranum. I asked why the continent was called Euranum, and my father told me.
"Euranum is a combination of the name of an ancient princess named Europa, and the old word for human, humanum."
He then continued on to teach me the religion of these people, though I only listened as I knew how humans were about religion back in my world during the earlier eras. I personally did not want to be put up on a cross.
After he finished reading it to me for the day, I took the book and read it for myself, and after a few months of doing this I had learned how to read, earning me 15 EXP and a total INT bonus of +1.
I had also gained another level, now being at 173 EXP.
Unlocked
Level 3
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 SP
50 BP
Free location of 2 Stat Points of your choice
Next level at 300 EXP
After thinking for a moment, I decided that I'd put a stat point in agility and another into dexterity. My sword and hatchet swings may have been strong (For someone at that age), but they were slow and clumsy.
At this point my stats list looked like…
Level: 3
EXP: 173 / 300
HP: 6 / 6
MP: 6 / 6
SP: 5 / 5
Total DEF: 2
CHR (Charisma) - 13
WIS (Wisdom, quick wittedness) - 12
INT (Intellect, cleverness, memory) - 11 + 1
STR (Physical strength) - 5 + 2
AGI (Body speed, reaction time) - 4 + 2
CONS (Endurance, natural defense) - 3 + 3
DEX (Gracefulness, sneakiness) - 4
2 years later…
Kirito is now 5 years old…
In the last two years I had gotten 190 EXP (20 from birthdays), which put me a little past level 4. I decided to put a point into agility and another into constitution.
Unlocked
Level 4
+1 HP
+1 SP (Special Point)
1 SP (Silver Piece)
Free location of 2 Stat Points of your choice
Next level at 500 EXP
Level: 4
EXP: 343 / 500
HP: 7 / 7
MP: 6 / 6
SP: 6 / 6
Total DEF: 2 + 1 (CONS)
CHR (Charisma) - 12
WIS (Wisdom, quick wittedness) - 12
INT (Intellect, cleverness, memory) - 11 + 1
STR (Physical strength) - 6 + 2
AGI (Body speed, reaction time) - 6 + 2
CONS (Endurance, natural defense) - 5 + 3
DEX (Gracefulness, sneakiness) - 5
It was my 5th birthday and so my father, and my mother, thought it would be good if I were to meet someone else my age. You know, to make friends.
How should I put this? The kid was a brat.
She was the daughter of a merchant, and so I thought that my parents were trying to do a little bit more than just get me a friend.
"Ahh, excuse me a second Ayda. I need to talk to my father," That was her name. Ayda. I was miffed about how my parents thought that I might fall for her. And no, don't think that that wasn't what they were trying to pull. In this type of society marrying at the age of 6 or 7 was not a weird thing. Sure, many waited until they were closer to 14, but some still chose to marry at age 6 or 7.
"Yes, Keereetoe." She moaned. I had interrupted her in the middle of her telling me about how great it was to order her slaves around and make them do things. (I really wanted to slap her while she was talking about this)
I ran over to my father, pulled his head down so I could talk to him, and hissed in his ear, "Just what exactly are you trying to pull?"
Pulling away from me, he adorned his face with innocence, shrugged, and said, "I really have no idea what you mean."
"Don't say that. I know very well you're trying to make her and I a couple! I am not marrying her! She's a total brat!" I seethed.
My father's face took on a whole new level of befuddlement, "No! That isn't what I was trying to do! I thought you could be her bodyguard when you grew up! Or you could become her family's Page and eventually become a Scribe, then eventually a Knight!"
It was my turn to look miffed. After a few moments I asked, "Aren't there any career choices involving swords besides being a Knight or bodyguard?"
"Well, you could become an adventurer, a person who takes on quests and slays mystical beasts as a job. But they have a high death-rate and only the good ones make as much cash as a good bodyguard or knight." My father answered hesitantly, already figuring what my answer would be.
"I want to be an adventurer!" I grinned up at him, but before he could comment back, I inquired, "Could you please tell me more about these mystical beasts?"
"They're beasts that can either use magic or are physically stronger than a bear, or their strength is disproportionate to their size." My father answered, and tried to add something else, likely about how being an adventurer isn't the best career choice, but I interrupted.
"Could you tell me about magic?" I inquired, excitedly as I finally had a chance to learn more about it.
"Magic can be anything from breathing fire to casting spells. Intelligent humanoids get their strength for magic from intelligence (INT) or religious belief (WIS). Both types are taught at churches or temples." He then waved his hand at me, and said, "Now, how about you go back to your little friend, she's looking impatient," I think I gave him a heated glare at that, but sighed and went back to talking with her.
I ended up inventing Checkers (Also known as Draughts) in order to be able to play a game that would entertain us both. We played the variety with th board, and each team having three rows of checkers.
I obviously won. My intelligence was much higher than hers, and I had played this game before.
We played 10 rounds, and so I made a deal with her. If she won within another ten rounds I'd do any one thing she asked within reason. (Not within reason would be like marriage or suicide) This fired her up and she managed to actually do pretty well one round, but I still defeated her.
I later learned that her father ended up selling checkers without my permission, but I let it slide as it wasn't mine to begin with.
After they left...
"Hey, Kirito, how about you start training your swordsmanship with me, your old man, from now on!" My father grinned down at me, a look that told me that he wouldn't go easy just because I was a kid.
I, like anyone else my physical age would do, enthusiastically agreed.
I was defeated within a minute of starting the duel.
My swordsmanship wasn't off, in fact, despite not actually practicing my moves for 5 years, my swordsmanship was better than his, but my agility, strength, constitution, and dexterity were all way lower. My strength, agility, and constitution were all at 8, with a dexterity of 5, and his strength and constitution were probably around 14, while his agility and dexterity at 10 or 11.
"Not bad, you're definitely strong and fast for your age, but your not very dextrous. If you want to make a good strike you need to be dextrous. You can be fast and strong, but if your body doesn't move how you want it to, you can be defeated easily. Though, despite of this flaw, your swordsmanship was good. And what's more, it's an original style, so no one will know how to defend against it." After thinking for a moment, my father made an offer, "How about I buy you some throwing knives, or some darts! If you practice with them you'll increase your dexterity!"
I grinned at the idea. It had been a while since I'd used throwing weapons.
And so, I added throwing darts and throwing knives at a target to my training regimen.
A year later...
While looking through my stats, I found that my + 1 bonus to intelligence that I had gotten for learning how to read English was gone.
I must have lost it from lack of mental strain. I haven't really used my brain much since learning how to read. I suppose playing checkers was good… I got it! I'll add playing checkers to my training regimen.
"Hey, Mother, do you want to play the game I made? I call it checkers." I then took the checkers board I had made from a piece of a log, some charcoal, and a bunch of different colored rocks. (2 rocks on one space meant it was a king. They were small rocks.)
"Sure sweetie! How do you play?" Her smile was fake. She definitely thought this was going to be boring. Afterall, to her and my father, despite my genius I was still only a kid.
I then explained the rules, showing her so it didn't seem I kept making up rules as I went along.
I ended up beating her for a while. It took her 3 rounds until she actually got into it, and 5 until she actually seemed to understand. And then it took her 12 rounds before she was actually doing fairly well. She managed to beat me once, the 23rd time, but I beat her the time after. I then sat up to go do my other training, when my mother apologized.
"I'm sorry I didn't think this was gonna be a fun game, but I was wrong. This game is really good!"
"Thanks!" I grinned at her.
Some time later I found out that if I played games of checkers with the turns timed I'd gain a +1 WIS bonus along with a +1 INT bonus.
A couple months later...
"Who's the kid?" I inquired, looking at a black haired little girl. She was maybe a little over three years old.
"She's a cousin of yours. We don't know her name. But her parents were killed in a fire, but a heroic individual who knew her parents, also knew us, and therefore knew we were her relatives. He brought her to me and I brought her here," Mother answered.
"Hmm… Can I name her?" I requested, knowing that it was fate that had allowed this to happen. I had to name her.
"Hmm, I guess, sure," She nodded.
"Suguha. Her name is Suguha." I stated, smiling down at the young girl.
"Hmm… strange name. But then again, so is your's." My mother sighed, a small grin appearing on her face. I could tell she liked the name.
Another year later...
My EXP had gotten to 540, and I was now level 5.
Unlocked
Level 5
+1 Accessory slots {Next at ? EXP}
+1 HP
+2 SP (Special Point)
+1 DEF
1 SP (Silver Piece)
50 BP
Free location of 2 Stat Points of your choice
Next level at 500 EXP
I decided to allocate my two new points into dexterity and agility. Thanks to my stat points that were added thanks to my aging, along with these two new points and those I got from exercise and practice, I now had the AGI, STR, and CONS about equivalent to a 15-17 year old. Meanwhile my DEX was about equal to a twelve year old.
Level: 5
EXP: 540 / 1000
HP: 8 / 8
MP: 6 / 6
SP: 8 / 8
Total DEF: 3 + 1 (CONS)
WIS (Wisdom, quick wittedness) - 12 + 1
CHR (Charisma) - 12
INT (Intellect, cleverness, memory) - 11 + 1
AGI (Body speed, reaction time) - 8 + 2
STR (Physical strength) - 7 + 2
CONS (Endurance, natural defense) - 6 + 3
DEX (Gracefulness, sneakiness) - 6 + 1
"Kirito! Come at me!" My father taunted. We were practicing swordplay, but little did he know that I'd leveled up, so now my agility and dexterity were a little bit better.
For the first time since we started dueling, I managed to get a strike on him. It wasn't the best strike, I only managed to strike him in the leg, but by the rules we set, I had won the match.
"Father, you remember the deal we made a while back, don't you?" I smirked at him.
He looked desolate and miserable. We were tough on cash and what I wanted required it.
Education.
I wanted an education.
If I were to be a hero, I needed to know about the world, and the best way to do that at the moment, was to read about it. It would also increase my intelligence stat, and in this era, swordplay, and potentially magic, skills, which were considered part of the common curriculum of the time.
"F-fine. I'll bring you to the church for some education for now, and as soon as I can find a suitable master, I'll pay him. I suppose you want a retired adventurer if possible?"
I nodded, giving him a huge grin.
I'd finally be able to experience part of the wonderfully amazing feeling of adventure!
Sure, it wasn't the most exciting part, but it was still part of it.
Research.
This part of adventuring was very prominent in SAO. The infobrokers sold information, and we adventurers took anything we could afford. Especially when it came to doing something dangerous, like a boss fight. Scouting ahead of times, looking at maps, information on mobs encountered, were all things that we players did back in SAO. And that was something I could do here.
I might not be able to scout ahead, but I can read information or listen to first and second hand account to those who have. I can buy maps, which shouldn't be too tough once I get money. I can get information on 'mobs' or in this case, monsters, encountered with books and first and second hand accounts. Of course, all of this requires either money or knowing someone who can talk about it or lend me the books and maps. Of course, who would be better for this other than a retired adventurer?
I quickly hurried to my room, which wasn't very big, maybe 2 by 3 meters in size. I then went to my drawer, and opened the bottom one. There was my dress shoes, dress pants, dress shirt, a clean vest, and some clean socks. I quickly changed into these, and since I wasn't that dirty, (By the standard for commoners of the time) I didn't bother cleaning myself first.
As I left my room and hurried through the hallway, I saw little 4 year old Suguha, whom I nicknamed Sugu, and she shouted, "Kito! Kito! Where are you going Kito!"
"Ahh, Sugu, I'm going to the church to get an education! But don't worry, I'll be back later today!"
"Kito is leaving?" Sugu frowned. I was definitely her favorite member of the family. Not to mention she admired me. When I wasn't using my toy sword, she would attempt to. Though she failed. So I helped her train a little, and although she still can't lift the sword easily, she's at least able to pick it up.
"I'm sorry Sugu. I'll make sure to play checkers with you tomorrow morning or when I get back!" I patted her lightly on the head.
"Okay! I'll hold you to that, Kito!" She grinned up at me, and I realized that I'd been tricked.
I sighed, and patted her on the head.
I then hurried out and saw that my father had prepared a saddled horse.
When I got on with him, I asked, "Where'd you get the horse?"
"Oh, I got it from the neighbor," He answered, but for some reason something felt off. And now that I thought about it, something felt wrong earlier as well.
When we arrived at the town, I found out why. At the entrance was a merchant's wagon, and the owner of the wagon was someone I recognized. He was the father of Ayda!
As my father walked the horse over to the man, I asked, "Father, did you let me beat you? And did you just pretend to be upset about having to fulfill your promise? And did you lie about getting the horse from the neighbor, when in fact you got it from that little brat Ayda's father?"
My father cringed slightly. No matter how long you live, you don't get used to having a kid smarter than you are. Especially not when they're also about as mature as you are, and also end up scolding you.
"A-alright, alright. Yes. It seems that Ayda fell in love with you when you last met, so her father who had gotten rich off that game you made, decided to hire me to have you guys meet somehow. I decided that since you're both now old enough to be eligible for education at the church, that it would be a good place to meet. Now that you know, I expect you to be kind to her. I don't mean that you need to fall in love with her, that's your choice, but you have to at least be kind to her. Also, pretend you haven't realized."
"Fine, fine." I shrugged, showing my displeasure. During the era shrugging at one's superior (For example, a father) due to indifference or displeasure was considered rude. Not that it wasn't in the modern era.
My father, ignoring my cold shrug, greeted Ayda's father.
"Hello Sir Somsak!" My father shouted, waving his right hand in the air.
[Author's note - Somsak is a name that literally means Power of Worth. This man lives up to his name.]
"Oh, hello George! It's been a while. What a coincidence seeing you here!" The merchant grinned charismatically.
"Yeah, it just so happens that I'm sending young Kirito over here to the church for some basic education. Once he's done with that I'm gonna find him a retired adventurer to be his master." My father conversed.
I spotted Sir Somsak covertly handing my father a bulging bag of coins. Whether copper, silver, or gold, that was a decent amount of money.
My father then brought our horse back over to the end of the line where we were inspected by a guard, and then ordered to pay 1 Silver Piece and 20 Bronze. A vein bulging on his forehead, my father did so.
If my calculations are correct, that is about 14,000 yen. No, I need to think in Western terms. So, about $120. Such an outrageous amount of money for just entering a town.
As we crossed through the gate, my father began to talk, "So, since you're starting your education, you need to have the basic supplies. That is, a couple scrolls, some quills, ink, a container to hold the ink, a broadsword, and a glove of mana supplementation," My father then took a look at my face and realized I didn't know what a 'glove of mana supplementation' was, "The glove of mana supplementation allows nonborn-magic users to unlock the ability to use magic, and allows natural-born magic users to have a little more magic power. Because of this they usually cost around 50 Silver Pieces."
$5000!
"C-Can you afford that?"
"Of course I can! I just got a bag filled to the brim with silver!" This is worth at the very minimum 150 Silver Pieces, and likely more!"
Turning back to face me once again, he grinned at me, and I grinned back. This was my father, not some man who I don't even remember back from when I was little the first time.
So, after going to a couple shops, getting a couple scrolls, some quills, ink, a container for the ink, and the glove of mana supplementation, we headed off to the blacksmiths.
"There." My father pointed at a shop with a circular bronze sign with an armoured knight on it. Also in bronze on the sign was Dicey Cafe.
I blinked twice when I saw that.
That circular bronze sign belonged to Rika's [Liz's] Smith Shop from back in Aincrad, and Dicey Cafe was the name of Andrew's [Agil's] cafe from back on Earth.
"Is something wrong?" My father asked.
"N-no, nothing. Just confused about how come we're going to a cafe?"
"Oh, it's actually half blacksmith, half cafe." He explained.
"..."
After bracing myself for seeing people who may look identical or very similar to Rika and Andrew, we entered the shop, and my Dad immediately went over to the 'cafe' portion of the shop, though it looked more like a bar rather than a cafe.
"You go talk to the apprentice blacksmith, I'll be over in a couple minutes." my father shouted to me, grinning as he greeted the owner, a man who looked identical to a younger Andrew, and I soon found out he even shared the same name, "Hey, Andrew, long time no see!"
Thankful that I braced myself, I braced myself further, and I was right to. A male version of Rika with a European face was standing behind the counter. Although he was definitely feminine for a guy, even having a similar hairdo to the one Rika had, a female would never be able to work here, and their clothing was different.
I walked over, acting completely natural due to a combination of my charisma stat, and the fact that I had braced myself.
"Hello, what would your name be?" I inquired.
"Rico, you?" A rough voice came out. It was enough to make me suspicious. Could it be that this male Rika was actually a female Rika crossdressing?
"My name is Kirito."
"Hmm… seems familiar… Have we met?" He seemed to immediately regret asking that. Suspicious.
"I doubt it. I don't live in the town and I've rarely met anyone around my age."
Does he recognize me from his previous life? No! She didn't die! Maybe he recognized me from his alternate self's life?
After a few moments, he asked, "Well? What type of blade would you like?"
After hesitating a moment, I remembered the Anneal Blade from Aincrad. I then described it to a tee for her, and she answered, "I think that may be possible. It doesn't sound too difficult. It should be ready in six to eight weeks."
She then noticed that there was something stuck to her shoe, and she lifted it backwards and picked it off.
"Amazing! Thanks! Oh, one more thing… you're actually a girl crossdressing as a guy, am I right?" I gave her a piercing look, as if I could see into her soul.
"N-no, of course not! H-why would you think that?" Her rough voice denied, but I shot back an answer.
"Your voice. It's too rough. Unless you'd been used to clean chimneys I doubt it would be so rough. Also, you immediately regretted asking if we'd met before. There's only two reasons that I can think of for why. You either don't want to be recognized as yourself from that time or you don't want to remember that time because of something that happened. I'd say the first is more plausible, especially considering that the way you move is more like that of a girl than a guy. You see, when a guy is picking something off their shoe, then usually bend it up and to the side so that the foot is above the other knee, but a girl will bend their leg backwards, since they're more flexible."
"Okay, okay, yes, I'm actually a girl. Please don't tell anyone! Please don't tell Master!" She begged.
"Don't worry. I'm all for equal rights between men and women," I assured, her, then inquired, "Anyways, what's your real name?"
"Rica." She answered.
"Well, Rica, this'll be our little secret. I won't tell anyone. In return, make my sword as high quality as you can."
Grinning as widely as human possible, possibly even wider, she nodded, and agreed, "Yes!"
I then waved my goodbye, and my father did the same with Andrew, and we both left.
"I think I made a friend." I told him.
"Good for you! Finally. Mary was beginning to think you were a loner."
"I didn't exactly have many chances to make friends." I growled quietly at the insult.
When we arrived at the church, which allowed both girls and boys alike to learn, I saw a boy attacking two girls. One of which resembled Shino Asada [Sinon], and the other Ayano Keiko [Silica]. Before I could run in and beat the kid up, a fifteen year old boy who resembled Tsuboi Ryoutarou [Klein] stopped him with a good punch in the face. He seemed pretty strong. Suddenly a group of reinforcements came for the boy who the Klein-lookalike had beaten up.
"Sorry father, it looks like I have a errand to run," I then leaped off the horse and ran over to help Klein and the two girls.
"Hmph, a little seven year old wants to die? Well, who am I to refuse to grant you your wish?" The leader of the boys, the one who had been punched, sneered at me, to which I jumped over him, something that I could only do due to my strength being so disproportionate to my size, and landed on the back of his head. Then with the 15 year old boy that was helping me, we beat the rest up.
"Wow, thanks for the help man. You took out nearly as many boys as I did!" The teenager thanked me.
"Nearly as many? I think you mean it the other way around. You beat up nearly as many people as I did! I beat up 3, you beat up 2!"
The Klein-lookalike then went over and looked at the five boys laying down at the ground. He then thought for a moment, and agreed, "Oh, I guess you're right. But wow, to do math that quickly, you must be going to the church, right?"
"Ahh, yeah." I didn't find it necessary to tell him it was my first time.
"Well, we're going too! Care to come with us?" He then pointed at the Ayano-lookalike, "This is my younger sister, Ayana, and this here," He then pointed at the Shino-lookalike, "Is our cousin, Asha. Oh, and I'm Klein. What's your name?"
"I'm Kirito. And… well, sure, I can go with you. I just need to tell my father first." Before they could respond I bolted back to my father and explained the situation, then bolted back. I use bolted, because relative to my size, that's what it seemed like. I did run as fast as a teenager afterall.
The four of us walked to the church, and while we walked we talked about what careers we wanted to go into.
"I want to be an adventurer." I told them.
"Same here! I want to be an honorable warrior adventurer who saves many women!"
Some things never change, not even between universes.
"I-I'm not sure what I want to be…" Asha frowned.
"If Big Brother Klein wants to be an adventurer, than I want to be one too!" Ayana, who was about 5 years old, grinned.
"Silly Ayana, girls can't be adventurers!" Klein patted her head.
I got a little mad at this.
"Why can't they? Is there some law that forbids them?" There was a little bit of bitterness in my voice.
"Sadly, there is," Klein sighed, assuring me that his opinions weren't anti-feminist, "You can only sign up to be an adventurer in your home-town, or the closest town to where you live, but this town forbids girls and women from becoming adventurers."
Darn lord. Damn Sir Edward William Spencer Cavendish.
"High taxes, anti-women's rights, seems like a rotten nobleman to me." I sneered, spitting upon the ground.
"Shh! You shouldn't say that! If someone hears you they'll kill you!" It was Asha. She was looking rapidly in both directions, and then a few moments later, sighed in relief, "It's illegal to say anything bad about Lord Cavendish!" She was my age. 7. But still, she seemed mature for her age.
"Oh, sorry. I'll keep that in mind." I groaned, and then we reached the church.
I steeled myself for the meeting of anyone else I may know.
The nun who was teaching the children was Sasha, the head of the orphanage from back in SAO.
I also saw a frail girl who I recognized as Yuuki, the girl who had died of sickness not to long before the reincarnation while playing ALO with Asuna, our friends, and I.
At this point she was 5 years old.
I'd make sure the first thing I'd do if I found some way to do healing magic was to heal her.
"For the…" The stopped a moment and counted the students, "5 students who are new today, my name is Sasha. I'm a nun here, and I'll be teaching you." She bowed, and then continued, "Could the four new students please introduce yourselves. You, with the ginger hair, could you go first?"
"My name's Klein!" He shouted, grinning widely.
Ayana went next, "I'm Klein's younger sister, Ayana."
Then was Asha, "I'm Asha, their cousin."
Then I stood up, receiving weird looks from the other three, "I'm Kirito. It's nice to meet you." I bowed.
"What! You're not new! You already knew math!"
"It was only simple arithmetic." I grumbled. I knew that many people weren't that good with math in this era, but simple arithmetic should have been within the realm of the ability of a fifteen year old.
"Simple! You counted 5 people without even thinking about it for a second!"
"I wouldn't even call that math. Besides, I counted the amount of goons there were while we were fighting, so it wasn't a single instant!"
Everyone in the room was staring, taking sides. Most were with Klein in shock that I could count so easily, the others, including Ayda who I had seen in the crowd, and other middle to upper class children who had had some form of education outside the church, and a couple of the older children around Klein's age, agreed with me. You could tell by the looks on their faces. The ones who agreed with Klein were looked a bit awed or jealous, while the ones who agreed with me, or the minority, were just rolling their eyes or sighing things like 'peasants.'
"Ehem! Anyways, let's get to class!" Sasha interrupted us, "Now, today I'm teaching addition. The other subjects being taught by the other teachers is beginner's magic, and simple multiplication. If you already know addition you can go to one of those classes."
I immediately stood up, along with Ayda and a couple others. As we walked through the hallways, Ayda began to walk to multiplication, and she said, "Hey, Kirito! I haven't seen you in a while! What a coincidence! How about we go learn multiplication together!"
"Ahh, sorry Ayda, I already know how to do advanced multiplication. I don't think I need to relearn the basics." I apologize.
Not seeming to believe me, she suddenly shouted, "What is twelve times nine?"
"One hundred and eight." I answered immediately. I may not have had need to use multiplication in many years, but I still practiced math so that I could do stuff like this without using paper or my menu's note screen.
She then those about it for a couple moments, and she asked, "How'd you get that?"
"12 times 10 is 120, right? So, 120 minus 12 would be 12 times 9, understand? In which case, 9 times 12 is 108 because 120 minus 12 is 108." I explained.
After a moment of doing the math in her head, she agreed, and followed me down the hallway that led to where magic was being taught, which we knew where was due to asking a priest who was walking through the hallway.
So, when we reached the classroom, or to be more accurate, outside, we found a eccentrically wardrobed teacher holding a long wooden staff. Or at least that's what I thought he probably was.
"Is… is that a teacher?" I inquired.
"A Sorceror. A magic user who uses magic with staffs rather than their hands, a wand, a book, scroll, or any other sort of focus," Ayda explained. Obviously as a merchant's daughter she had met many during her travels.
"Hmm… Well, guess I should put my glove of mana supplementation on." I said to myself while doing so, and then walked over. I saw Ayda do the same.
I noticed a girl I recognized in merchant's clothing. She looked to be six years old.
After scratching my head a little, I realized it was Argo. I'd need to find some way to become her friend…
"Hello class! I'm Eban! I'm a travelling sorcerer, but I also dabel in the other foci. First things first, you need to know what a magical art is. There is fire, water, wind, earth, light, shadow, necromancy, and summoning. Fire, is the only one that only does what you'd think. It summons and controls fire, along with related things. Water is the same, but it also allows ice control and the ability to heal. Wind is similar, except rather than healing and ice, it has gasses and buffs. A buff is like increasing how high someone can jump, or their strength, or a debuff is the opposite, decreasing it rather than increasing. Earth allows control of earth, metal, and things related. If coupled with water magic it can be used to help make potions, though this can be done without any magical art. Light is holy magic and controlling of light. Along with water this includes healing magic, except this healing magic is also extra efficient against the undead. It also includes the curing of ailments, such as paralysis, poison, or debuffs. Then is shadow. This includes illusions, manipulation of evil, translocation, and poison magic. Then is necromancy. This is control of the dead or undead. This also includes limited mind control, and the animating of unusable limbs. Necromancy is considered illegal in nearly all of the human world. Finally is summoning magic. This allows you to summon beasts of any other type of magic besides necromancy. For example, you could summon a fire elemental, but a fire mage could as well. But a summoner could also summon a water, wind, earth, light, or shadow elemental. Or even multiple at once. There is also activation magic, but that isn't a magical art. It basically allows the creation of potions, and can also be used to unlock things with a weak lock on them." He then lifted his staff up, then forced it into the ground, and suddenly a glass of clean looking water was in his hands. After drinking it, he continued, "This was a cantrip. It's basically a very basic form of magic that requires very little mana. This is what you'll be trying to do. If you have a foci get into groups of three on the right, if you don't, get into groups of three on the left. In case you were informed otherwise, a glove of mana supplementation is not a foci!"
Six of the 18 children that had come to learn magic went to the left. That included Kirito, Ayda, and the Argo-lookalike.
"Hey, you, care to join Ayda and I's group?" I asked the six year old Argo.
"Sure." She smirked up at me, and it gave me the creeps. She was just like a little merchant, or more accurately, an info broker.
Once the teacher, Eban, came over to our group, he explained how to channel mana as a mage, which was just focusing on your hand and imagining the spell you wanted. He then asked which magical art we wanted to specialize in, and which we wanted to sub in (Secondary specialization).
I chose Dark then Wind. I figured that a sickness like Yuuki's was more of an ailment than damage.
Argo, who I had found out was named Arya when we introduced ourselves, chose the same as I did, though I assumed for different reasons. She wanted them both for stealth, I only wanted Dark for that, I wanted Wind so I could cure Yuuki.
Ayda chose Fire and Earth. She wanted fire to use in self defense, and Earth to check the quality of coins she was given.
Eban first helped Ayda. With the cantrip she successfully able to make a couple small fireworks.
With her secondary element of earth, she was able to make a 'sand castle' out of the dirt we were standing on.
Arya was next, with shadow she managed to make herself a second shadow. It was a bit disorienting.
With her secondary element she was able to make a cool breeze.
I was next, I decided with my shadow element I wanted to make an illusion around me that made myself look like my old self from the other world. Kazuto.
As I concentrated on my hand, a dark orb slowly appeared, and then the shadow it was began to spread along my body, and when in completely enveloped me, I began to grow, until I was my old size, and then it slowly faded, and I looked like my old self.
"I-impressive! You look like what you would if you were seventeen. Well, except your face. It looks like that of an easterner. But still, it is impressive to be able to use this level of magic on your first try! Really, I wouldn't even call this a cantrip! You must have a natural affinity for dark magic." Eban congratulated me, his look of astonishment above any I had seen since I had first talked.
After dispelling my illusion, I tried some wind magic, but I only got out a small breeze before I heard a beep and a red light formed in the side of my view. Suddenly it blinked away and in its place was a status bar. I was no longer using my the magic of my glove of mana supplementation, but my own. It seemed I used 5 mana from the first epll, and one from the second. Well, I then tried something harder with my wind magic. I tried to form an orb of status ailment healing, and it worked. Or at least it looked that way. I didn't have anyone to heal at the moment.
He then told us to continue practicing until we felt tired, and then to rest.
Deciding to do so, I practiced cantrips, each of which only used one of my MP but since I had used 3 of my MP from the orb of status healing spell, I could only cast three spells until I felt faint.
It took the others a little longer, Ayda made two more fireworks, a small fire-mouse which soon disappeared, and a small earth golem which also soon disappeared.
Arya on the other hand was able to make herself look a little older, though not so much so as I did. But, on the other hand, she looked like what her older self would, rather than her Japanese-older self. After that she also made herself float in the air a little bit, but it soon dispelled itself and she was forced to rest.
Suddenly I saw my status bar fade.
Hmm, must only appear when something happens to it.
Around two hours later, in which everyone was resting due to the exhaustion caused from using up all our mana, we all ended up leaving. Some of the people went to the multiplication classroom to learn, while others, who were either too exhausted or already knew the basics of multiplication, decided to go to the church entrance to wait for their guardian.
Ayda went to multiplication, grudgingly leaving me behind, while Arya followed me. It seems she was smart for her age. No figure.
"So, you already know multiplication?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything.
"A little. But you seem like you'd be a better teacher than the people here. This isn't my first day here, and that sorcerer was probably one of the best teachers they've ever brought. Most of them are confusing and don't explain things," Arya explained.
Oh. She wants to use me.
"Okay, I'll teach you. You seem like the type of person who'll end up needing it when you take over the world of whatever business you work in." I smirked when I saw her face when she realized that that was my way of saying I'd seen through her manipulation.
So, I ended up teaching her multiplication. It turns out that the way moderners do multiplication was very different from the way people in this world did it. I ended up teaching her my world's methods of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, though of course I told her I thought up the methods myself. I also taught her the basics of squaring and square rooting, along with fractions, decimals, zero, and negatives. She picked up everything except zero and negatives easily. But I managed to explain it to her before too long.
"Hmm, what interesting concepts you have thought up!" She exclaimed, a look on her face that would make anyone chill down to the bones. This look told me that she really wanted to use me.
Well, if she plans on using me, I'll make her know I'm doing it of my own volition when it comes right down to it.
A little while later I saw Ayda exit the church, and then soon following, Klein, Asha, and Ayana.
Looking up to the sky, I noticed I probably had around two hours until my father would pick me up in front of the church. So, when Klein asked if we wanted to check around the shopping district, I nodded.
I did have my 2 silver and 110 copper pieces I had gotten from leveling up to spend after all.
So, the five of us went shopping, looking around and such. To hide the fact that I was just making coins appear out of thin air using my inventory, I temporarily left the group and bought a pouch for 5 copper pieces.
After attaching the pouch to the top of my pants, I hurried back over to where the others were and offered to buy them some Dire Boar pork, to which Klein, Ayana, and Asha all gratuitously accepted, while Ayda and Arya politely declined.
So, now with 2 silver and 90 bronze pieces, we continued on our shopping trip. That is, until I saw a familiar board being sold in a shop.
A vein bulged on my forehead, and I growled, "What is that doing in a shop?"
Everyone, save Ayda, gave me a peculiar look, while Ayda looked away, suddenly taking an extreme interest in a doll.
"Kirito, you alright man?" Klein asked, his face showing concern for his new friend.
I pulled Klein's arm off of mine, walked up to the clerk of the shop, and asked, using the full extent of my charisma stat, "Clerk, could you please tell me about that game with the checkered board over there?"
"Oh that! That's a new game that was invented recently, it was called Checkers I think. It was invented by a guy named Somsak. He's a powerful merchant that has completely revolutionized the humanland's economy!"
"Thank you Mister Merchant!" I smiled up at the merchant, and then walked up to Ayda. I growled, "Ayda, why is your father selling the game I invented?"
She was about to cry. She was sniffling, and her eyes were beginning to tear up.
I realized then that my charisma stat was only active when I tried to use it, and that my people skills had still gone down over the years of not meeting many people besides my family.
"Ahh, sorry! Don't cry! I'm sorry! It's fine!" I attempted to calm her down, but it wasn't working, "Please don't cry! It isn't your fault!"
She spoke through her tears, "R-really?"
"Yes! Of course!"
That calmed her down and she wipe the tears out of her eyes.
Klein was snickering.
While Ayda's face began to wear a crimson glow, mine wore an indignant glare.
I think I managed to get the message across to him.
I ended up buying Klein a checkers board and a set of pieces, both of which looking similar to the ones from my world, except wooden rather than plastic, and rather than kings the pieces had generals on their backsides.
That costed me a whole silver.
"H-hey, Kirito, I noticed that we borrowed a lot of money from you… we didn't use too much of it, did we?" Klein asked, his face showing a small amount of guilt, but as he still has a small mark from the meat he had eaten earlier thanks to my money, it didn't seem as sincere.
"Nah, it's fine. Just… just don't mention it to my parents if you ever meet them." I smirked as I saw his eyes open wide. He obviously thought I stole the coins from them.
"Alright." Klein grinned, and we shook hands.
Next Chapter
Chapter 1
Kirito kills the city's noble…
Kirito leaves home, with him and his friends signed up as adventurers…