A/N
My name (pen-name is probably accurate) is TheInsightfulEmissary, and I hope I can be a great time killer for you in the days to come. This is pretty much my first serious story ever, and I would very much appreciate criticism, good or bad. Since I'm just starting out, I need all the help I can get. This is the prologue chapter to my story, and starts immediately after the end of the first floor's boss. Anyway, thank you for taking time to read this, and I'll hopefully see you at the bottom. Just in case though...
I do not own Sword Art Online in its parts, as well as its entirety.
CHAPTER 1
December 4, 2022, Second Floor 19:30
I was fairly familiar with the layout of the second floor, it being a popular meeting place for front liners during the beta. The first sight that assaulted my eyes was the endless string of mountains trailing along the bottom of a pink-orange sky, speckled with the flight of birds into the distance. For a moment, all my problems had vanished. Only for a moment, though. I absent-mindedly began making my way towards the city of Urbus, which was tucked away safely between two great mountains a good distance away.
How could you let him die? This one question was still echoing through my mind. Only a month into the death game and I had already played a part in the deaths of two players. I didn't hold any grudge towards Kibaou; he had just lost a friend, and a leader… no, not just him, we all lost Diabel.
I was momentarily brought out of my thoughts by a rustling in one of the nearby bushes. I slowly and quietly drew my Anneal Blade and began inching my way towards the sound. Steeling my nerve, I decided to use a simple stabbing skill called [Linear]. It would do minimal damage to my opponent, but had just enough knockback to reveal the stalker and stun him. As I pulled my sword back, it adopted a feint green glow and power started pulsating through my blade. As soon as my Anneal Blade was as far back as allowed, it shot forward with the speed of a bullet. I felt the accompaniment of flesh on the end of my blade and the shrill cry of an animal. I watched as the Argon Rabbit leapt backwards out of the brush and scurried away from me. I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding, and felt the relief from stress on my teeth, immediately signifying that my jaws had been flush together during the encounter. "Heh, I'm really out of it, aren't I," I said to no one in particular. I had been tense ever since I gave my Anneal Blade one last look, before placing it back in its sheath on my back. That blade, my silent companion, it had helped me when I needed help the most. However, my thoughts soon wandered back to him, the life lost because of this blade. The second friend I had found in this new life, Coper.
Coper was a beta tester, like me. I realized we had many similarities, in fact. I learned that he was into computers in the other world, like me. He was also a solo player, and chose to come to Horunka in order to obtain the Anneal blade, which was my plan from the beginning. I had felt something I never thought I'd feel in a game of death: companionship. We had both undertaken the quest, [Secret Medicine of The Forest], to get the quest reward, the Anneal Blade. It was Coper who had suggested we work together until the two of us had received the Anneal Blade. I had whole-heartedly agreed; this way was much safer than my original plan of soloing the quest. So together, we began to strike down the Nepents one by one, looking for the Nepent with a flower on its head. After at least three hours of destroying more than a hundred Nepents, I found the Nepent that had the flower on its head, and killed it, obtaining the quest item, [Little Nepent's Ovule]. I was about to tell Coper of my success when I saw him slash at a Nepent with a fruit on its head. I immediately knew the after effects of this "mistake". The Nepents would swarm around us and we would have a very low chance of surviving the assault. I quickly turned my head back and forth awaiting the arrival of the cavalry, which was making itself known with the appearance of vines in every direction. However, I realized that I had made a misconception when I called this situation a "mistake"; Coper was nowhere to be found. I was stunned for a few seconds, constantly replaying the same truth in my head over and over: 'I've been betrayed by my first friend.'
A vine to the face quickly woke me up from my realization, and I soon found myself converting my feeling of shock and betrayal to power and anger. Raising my blade to the sky, I quickly brought it down upon the Nepent that previously knocked me back. More and more Nepents took the last one's place, and I soon found myself stuck in a pattern of dodging the maelstrom of vines and retaliating with a tornado of furious swipes of my sword. After about five minutes of this exchange, I noticed my health bar was at 45%. I needed an opening, but I was surrounded on all sides. Realizing the only realistic course of action, I steadied my breathing and moved into a crouch fast enough to dodge a vine headed for my face. As soon as I did this, I heard a screech from behind me, and with that I realized an added advantage to incorporate with my idea; the Nepents were capable of attacking the other, and that was all I needed to carve my way through. With a burst of determination, I channeled all of my fury into my blade in the form of [Slant]. My blade took on a dark purple light, and I let the power guide my sword through a diagonal cut across its chest, from top to bottom. I used my downward velocity to crouch on the ground once again. However, I followed that through with a circular spin on the ground, cutting all the surrounding enemies. I heard the satisfying sound of shattering glass, signifying that all of my surrounding enemies had been killed. All but the one in front of me, that is. I took this small window of opportunity to leap up off the ground, getting grazed by a dozen vines belonging to the newly arriving Nepents in the process. Once airborne, I planted my foot on the remaining Nepent's head, and kicked off before the new Nepents could have the chance to strike at me.
Once I had landed, I began to make my escape. The land ahead of me was clear of danger, so I sprinted in that direction. However, the Nepents had different plans for me, as one behind me managed to entangle my right leg with its vine. As I stumbled, I had chanced a look at my health bar, and saw that my health was sitting just under 25%. I landed on my knee, and immediately cut the vine. I jumped off my left foot, just in time to dodge what seemed to be the relentless flurry of whips. Even though I was grounded for a few seconds, that was still plenty of time for a few of the Nepents to block my initial route of escape. I rapidly took in my surroundings, and soon realized that it was near impossible to escape. 'Wait a second, what is that!?' I had spotted a figure hiding in some nearby brush. COPER! He was just behind the few Nepents that blocked the exit up ahead. He was waiting for me to drop the quest item. Gritting my teeth in frustration and resolve, I dashed towards the bushes he was hiding in. This was my last chance.
Normally, using the hiding skill would hide you from the sight of other players and monsters. However, thanks to my higher-level searching skill, I was just able to make out his figure. Two Nepents awaited me, attempting to end my life before I could reach my destination. The pain in my hands grew intensely as the grip on my sword hardened further. As I closed the distance between myself and the Nepents, I jumped sharply to the left in an effort to confuse them. It seemed to have worked, and thanks to my speed, the hundreds of Nepents behind me were at a safe distance away from me. I landed on the side of one of my enemies, and quickly initiated [Horizontal], creating a deep gash in its side. The sword skill didn't have enough power to kill it, but thanks to [Horizontal]'s extremely quick cooldown period, I was able to follow up my strike with a [Slant]. Once again, the light shattering of glass filled my ears, and no matter how many times I heard it through this battle, the sound was still most welcome. I spared the second Nepent no glance, and continued my run towards Coper.
The friction of my boots against the grass created a crushing sound as I came to a stop in front of Coper's hiding spot. For a second, I stood frozen, pondering on the decision I was about to make. I looked through the shrubbery once more, and I knew his eyes were locked with mine. Unable to cope with this silent stand-off any longer, I averted my gaze. It was then that all the fatigue caught up with me. Dizziness settled into my head. The shadow of the Nepents crept up upon me, signifying they were at most ten feet away. I had to do it now, or I would die. With one final push of vigor, I jumped over the bush Coper was hiding in and ran. Coper must not have known that Nepents were reliant on their sense of hearing and smell, making the hiding skill useless. I ran so far, senses almost blacked out, nothing else existing except for the sound of my panting and a terrified scream from behind me. I couldn't stop moving, my body wouldn't stop moving, not until I was far away from that place and those creatures…. No, it wasn't the creatures or the forest I was running from; I was running from death.
December 4, 2022, First Floor Boss Room 19:30
"Ok everybody, listen up! My name's Kibaou, as most of you already know. Today, we lost a great man in the fight against the boss. It was all because of the greed of a dirty BEATER! However, we still accomplished our mission, and the second floor has opened up. Let me get to the point; I want to start a guild. We will be a massive force of strong players that will clear floor after floor, in addition to putting criminals to justice, especially that beater who stole all the good items and left Diabel to die! You all know the saying, 'there's safety in numbers,' and with my guild, this statement could never be truer. So, who wants to get out of this deathtrap as fast as possible? I say there's no time like the present to get started, and the sooner we start, the sooner we finish! Who's with me?!"
A loud cheer rang out through the boss room where Illfang the Kobold Lord once occupied. Of the forty members in the boss room, at least half of them were supporting Kibaou's ideas. While most of them were encouraged alone by the prospect of a large fighting force with a higher safety margin, a few people had found talk of the beater's punishment just as promising. Among the other half of the clearers who didn't show support of Kibaou's plan were Asuna and Agil, neither of whom trusted in Kibaou's "leadership skills."
"Well timed advice, Kirito," Asuna mused, "but I don't think I would have needed it for this case." Asuna clearly recalled the parting words of said solo player; 'If you ever meet a guild you trust, don't hesitate to join them.' Asuna noticed that the tall man who saved them earlier, Agil if she recalled correctly, was making his way back to the first floor. She too had decided that it would be best to take her leave now as well. Deciding to check out the second floor, she slowly made her way up the stairs, the sound of Kibaou's speech and its resulting cheers reverberating off the walls of the boss room. She knew that Kibaou's temper, ego, and irrational behavior would most certainly threaten much of the population if his popularity continued to rise. "I guess when people are desperate, they'll look for any source of hope to put their trust in," she concluded.
Looking at the beauty of the second floor, along with knowing that she was one step closer to leaving this game, made Asuna's heart swell with pride. She was proud of herself for being able to contribute so much as a single effort to escaping this nightmare which she had once deemed hopeless. At the same time, she felt as if she were in control of her fate, that she could do something for herself and get results, especially outstanding results like these. Asuna felt powerful for the first time in her life.
December 4, 2022, First Floor Starting City 20:00
Agil had finally arrived back at the starting city, and the sun was almost completely covered by the horizon, making him aware of his time consuming trek. Before heading to the bar he planned to meet his friends at, he decided to go home so he could prepare for the news he would have to give and, more importantly, so he could gather his bearings. On his way to his apartment, he passed by his place of business: a simple wooden stall off to the side of the still lively commons. This stall had given birth to many warriors during the month spent in the game. In fact, about one quarter of the players that showed up at the raid today were previous customers of his. To know that his hard work had made a significant effect on the floor boss, in addition to creating the foundation for the frontlines, he had never felt more elated. Thinking back, he also remembered the time where his hard work almost cost him his life, if it wasn't for his newfound friends.
Klein and Agil had become acquainted with one another early on in the death game. Agil had been struggling to fend off three Manthul Wolves in the plains far from the starting city. These wolves were known to drop higher quality items than ther beasts roaming the floor. However, unbeknownst to Agil, the wolf he attacked was the Alpha Manthul Wolf, and had the ability to call his pack. Luckily for him, Klein and his friends had been out grinding in the same area, and rapidly came to his aid. Together, they defeated the Alpha Wolf, along with its shabby two wolf backup. After that, Agil insisted that he buy the warriors drinks as thanks for the assist. At least once a week after the incident, Klein would make sure to visit Agil to trade information with him or just to offer a grinding session with his friends. After these exchanges and tons of competitive banter between the two, they became the best of friends.
'Being stuck in this death game hasn't stopped me from living my life. I can still do everything I could do in the real world in here. I guess I should be grateful in a way; being able to lead a different kind of life, where I live and grow through my own labors.'
Agil felt his lips uncontrollably tug upwards into a smile. He was brought out of his reverie when he noticed the familiar scent of cinnamon and the calm chatter of other players sitting on the patio of the inn he lived in. He entered through the front door of the inn, and was immediately greeted by the sight of three of his regular customers.
"Iroh, Mistrigil, Al, what's up," Agil greeted.
"Yo, Agil! We were just passing by and thought we'd stop by and say hello. Thanks to all the equipment you gave us, we've jumped up three levels in one day" Al relayed cheerfully.
"You should have seen the kid, Agil. Squirt goes up three levels, and he thinks he can take on the world," Mistrigil added.
"Hey, I'm not a kid old man; I'm sixteen!"
"Well you sure don't act like it! And who're you callin' old man!?"
"I apologize for my two lively teammates here," Iroh interrupted, "This is their special way of showing affection. Anyway, we heard that you went to go confront the first floor boss today, so we stopped by this amazing sweets shop in Horunka, and we decided to get you a cherry pie as a small token of our appreciation." Iroh then handed Agil the pie. The sweet aroma that the warm delicacy emitted reminded Agil of the hunger that had crept up on him during his treks to and from the boss room.
"Oh trust me, that wasn't all we got. Gramps over here had to eat about 20 cakes before he was satisfied. Even the kid could hold himself back!"
"Hey Mistrigil, this is the only world where an old timer like myself can eat as many sweets as he wants without fear of having a heart attack!"
"Well guys, looks like you've made quite the team here. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and I'm glad I could be of service," Agil finished with a respectful bow, to which he received a wide smile from Al.
"You really don't give yourself enough credit Agil. You've been making heroes and kicking ass without even breaking a sweat. I think we wouldn't be anywhere if not for your dedication."
"Thanks Al, that really means a lot"
"Well, I think it's about time to head out, guys," Iroh announced, to which he received a nod from Al and Mistrigil.
"By the way, we are having the first raid's celebration party at the bar around the just down the street. You guys should show up, especially if you're considering helping out with the next floor boss"
"Ok Agil, thanks for the info. We'll try to make it in time for the celebration, but in case we don't," Mistrigil, along with Al and Iroh, opened their menus and tapped a few buttons, before a friend request screen popped up in front of Agil, "try not to be a stranger. After all, everybody in Aincrad needs all the connections they can get. It's one thing to brave a new world, but another all together to do it alone. Do us a favor and keep in touch Agil. Try not to work to hard, and again, thanks for all the help. We'll see ya!"
With that, the three made their way out of the inn, unaware of the healing effects their visit had on Agil. As he watched them walk off, Agil couldn't help but laugh. 'Those guys sure do know how to live, don't they…' With that final thought, he made his way over to the clearer group's meeting place.
December 4, 2022, Second Floor 21:00
'It sure is a good thing I over-leveled on the first floor. Otherwise, I'd be getting aggro from just about every monster I've passed.' Kirito was still making his way towards the main city on the second floor, the grand city of Urbus. Night had fallen over the mountainous terrain of the second floor a mere hour ago, and Kirito felt lucky that the Coat of Midnight was the last attack bonus from the boss. 'Kayaba sure did a good job making the game realistic. He even nailed the cool temperature, no doubt a result from being in the mountains.' The leaves of the trees were constantly rustling from the steady breeze that was currently plaguing the forest. Despite knowing that he took a relatively safe path, Kirito couldn't help but tense up from the atmosphere he found himself in. However, Kirito collected himself as he came to a clearing at the end of his route. The first thing he noticed was his high vantage point, signifying he had reached the valley in which the city was situated. He saw an array of different buildings bathed in a yellow-orange glow, outlined by granite walks branching from the entrance of the city. The light emitted by the city's lamps weren't too bright, nor were they too dim. The glow was a calming one and Kirito instantly felt a warm feeling creep up into him. With a sigh of pure relief, he marched his way down the hillside with thoughts of warmth, food, and sleep occupying the forefront of his desires.
A/N
Thanks once again for reading the first chapter of my story. It will be focused on Canon characters, but I assure that this story will be different from the original in many different ways. I originally planned to write the whole story out, but decided against it. This was because I needed feedback on my writing style so that I could improve accordingly. The second chapter is already written out, so I'll post it in about a week. That way I can stay ahead of the game... Feel free to PM me and reviews are appreciated.
Thanks again for reading
