Arc: Aincrad

The Power of Three I


The message was unequivocal. Clear the game, beat every boss on all 100 floors and you would be set free. That was the ultimatum they had been given, ascend the iron castle floating in the sky to attain their freedom or face being stuck within it for all eternity.

When faced with an unexpected obstacle there were two types of people in this world. The first of which would have no reaction, as if what they were told or what they had seen had not happened and as such. Either they would carry on as normal or, as was the more common reaction; nothing. They wouldn't react, instead standing still as they tried processing what was in front of them. In contrast to this you had people who were the complete opposite. They were able to make and act on a plan regardless of the unexpected obstacle and respond to the situation around them.

In a similar vein to a unexplained obstacle or an unexpected occurrence Kayaba's speech had elicited such reactions from those stuck in the main plaza of the town of beginnings. People screamed, they shouted, they dropped to their knees. Like the majority of people would, many of the players couldn't cope with the reality they had been given and thus chose to shout out their disbelief and frustration.

"You can't do this!"

"I can't be trapped here, I can't."

"Its ok, its fine. This is a dream right… Right!"

Each and every person within the plaza reacted in their own way. But regardless of what they said, or how much they shouted. The result was the same. If they wanted to leave, they would have to fight their way out and achieve freedom of their own accord.

One such player, Kazuto. Was in a state of disbelief, was this real? Was what Kayaba actually said real? Did they really need to beat all 100 floors if they wanted to get out of this nightmare and return to the real world? How long would that take, the beta had lasted an entire summer and they had only been able to reach the 10th floor. Based on that fact alone could he expect to be trapped in this game of death for a year? Two years? Thoughts of his life outside flooded into him, his sister who was actually his cousin, his mother who was actually his aunt. How would the two of them react when they found out what had happened. Sure he may have been keeping them at a distance after finding out their identities, but that didn't mean he didn't care about them.

Emotional heartache began to well within him, his hands feeling numb as they hanged at his sides. He hadn't been good to the people who had so graciously taken care of him until now, he knew that. And now, with this; would he not get the chance for recompense?

No! That couldn't happen, he couldn't let that happen.

This game wouldn't beat him. He had so much left to do, so much to apologize for. He had to repay his aunt for taking care of him from such an early age and he had to reconcile his relationship with Suguha. She cared about him, perhaps more than a sister should and he knew that. After all, it was what had caused him to push her away in the first place, not wanting her to get so close that it would ultimately hurt her. But that didn't matter now, this was his chance, his one last wake up call to say that if he didn't try and do something now then there was no going back.

He clenched his fists and turned his gaze from the brickwork floor below to the bright blue sky above. He would beat this game, he would get out of this hellish nightmare. And when he did, all those years of help and love and support would be returned in kind. Tenfold.

With his resolve settled Kirito trained his vision on the area around him, still filled with players in various states of disbelief and rejection. This was his chance, if he wanted to survive in this world he needed levels. Levels meant money and experience which both resulted in a higher chance of survival. Before long those who decided they wanted to fight to live would filter through the town and spill out onto the mob fields immediately surrounding it. If he wanted to get the levels and experience he was looking for he needed to move, and he needed to move now.

"We need to move, now." He spoke, little more than a whisper over the continuous cries of the players. Each of which were now a life like recreation of themselves in the real world.

"Huh," Came the reply from the intended recipient. Who, still coming to terms with what Kayaba had said, was slightly out of it when Kirito had spoken to him and subsequently reminded him of what had happened earlier that day.

It had been a meeting of pure chance. Klein and his friends had known each other since high school and had been using online gaming as a way to keep in touch after graduation and going their separate ways. Naturally, after the announcement of the first fully fledged MMO for full dive technology they had no choice but to jump in and experience everything that it had to offer. Like a group of children on Christmas day they had eagerly waited in line to make sure they could get their hands on some of the first copies on offer. Though they had decided to meet up at a set time. Klein had chosen to take his child on Christmas day act to the next level by talking himself into logging in an hour early.

A 'simple test of the system' he called it. Though in reality it was just that he couldn't wait. And so after starting up the device, logging in and creating his character he was dropped into the middle of the town of beginnings. Awe and wonderment consumed him as he looked around, the area so life like and the body he was moving made it fill as if he were actually there. The background sounds of the town filled his ears, the ambient chatter of daily life serving to help set the mood. Looking around people could be seen logging in and some had already formed groups of two or three, presumably in a similar vein to what he and his friends had planned to do later.

He wasn't sure why but it was during this moment of simple amazement at the technology on show that a movement caught his eye. A player dressed in blue with leather straps that signified the starting gear who moved swiftly past the exit of the plaza, perhaps it was the speed that they were moving at or the way they moved as if they had purpose. Whatever the reason the player had managed to catch his attention and not wanting to lose them in the thrall of the town he took off running.


"Oh god why! Why would you do that!?" The screams of an inexperienced player could be heard by all those on the plateau at the christening of his first attack. The screams in question were emanating from a man who had just been hit in that most delicate of places, his very manhood had been put on the line only to be punished for his owners inadequacies.

"You know it doesn't hurt right? There's no pain feedback in this game."

"Ahh, ah, ah." He's screams slowed before coming to a halt. "Huh, you know what, you're right I can't feel a thing."

A sigh of exhaustion could be heard from the player in blue. Kirito had been trying to help this new player, for the past half hour with little success. Though he had thought it was easy enough to pick up the combat in SAO, Klein seamed insistent on proving otherwise.

"I told you already, you're not going to make it anywhere just waving your sword about. You need to get the system to activate a sword skill if you want to do any sort of significant damage."

Still reeling from his unfortunate defeat, even if there wasn't physical damage it still affected him mentally. Klein merely looked at Kirito as if he were speaking in some foreign language. Sword skills? The system? Why was he talking about it as if the system was some form of sapient being. Whatever it was he couldn't make head nor tails of it and Kirito's explanations wasn't getting him anywhere.

Seeing that his advice had only served to further confuse the poor man Kirito instead decided that as always actions speak louder than words. Thankfully the boar that had just attacked Klein would serve as the perfect test subject, having merely backed off to ready itself for another attack. Pulling the starter sword from his back Kirito lowered his center of gravity, it wasn't necessary but it helped him get a better kick off the ground. Maneuvering the sword to sit pointed behind himself he turned it to lay horizontal with his foe, a move which would allow him to activate his chosen sword skill «Horizontal Strike». Waiting for the the boar to begin its charge Kirito narrowed his eyes as he focused on it, cutting out the view of the surrounding area. As if on cue the boar released a cry before kicking off with all four legs and charging towards him. Responding in kind to the impending attack Kirito too kicked off the floor before breaking into a sprint toward the boar. Waiting until they were mere feet apart he twisted the sword in his hand, ensuring that it would now be in the correct position for system to recognize it as the activation motion for a sword skill.

The key with «Horizontal Strike» was that unlike other skills it depended a great deal on the players own strength, as they had to physically drag the sword through their target. A fact Kirito was aware of and accounted for. By breaking into a sprint himself he would be able to build up a good amount of momentum, which he could then use to aid him in pulling his sword through his foe. A plan that came to fruition as he and the boar met, at which point he was able to easily slice along the side of it while taking a step to the right. Such an attack was overkill for a simple boar, considering its level and health count. But by doing so it allowed him to take them out in one fell swoop. As evidenced by the feral cry released behind him as the boar's health dropped to zero before shattering into a shower of sparkling polygons.

Satisfied with the results Kirito closed the popup window informing him of his victory spoils before turning back to face Klein, who up to this point had been watching in a state of disbelief.

"See," he questioned. "You just need to have the skill equipped and make the right motion, the system will take care of the rest."

To demonstrate his point he pulled his sword back, ensuring that the hilt was sitting next to his hip before once again lowering his center of gravity and rotating the sword in such a way that it sat at a 45 degree angle. Like before, the system recognized it as the motion for a sword skill, this time for «Vertical Strike» and the sword glowed a dim orange color. After reaching its peak brightness the sword was swung diagonally upwards, leaving a slightly luminous trail in its wake.

"Once you get the hang of it it's easy. Just takes a bit of practice to get the angles right."

Wanting to take full advantage of the advice that Kirito had given him, Klein pulled himself up from the ground before also removing his own sword from its scabbard on his hip. "l-like this?" He questioned, attempting to reenact the sword skill «Horizontal Strike» that he had seen just moments ago. Though unlike the version he had seen, it felt as though he was just slicing at thin air.

"Hmm, rotate your wrist a little more clockwise. You're positioning's good but you're slightly off on the rotation."

Klein had thought that he had the rotation and position the same as what he had seen, but apparently not. Wanting to at least be able to use one sword skill before going it alone he took Kirito's advice, continue to rotate his grip on the sword until finally he felt a jolt of extra weight hit his hand. Sure enough when he looked back there was the sword, glowing a faint red color to indicated that a sword skill had been activated. Elated at his ability to activate a sword skill, even if it was a basic one. He turned again to face in front of him before moving his arm forward slightly to trigger the skill. While releasing an accompanying yell fit for a warrior his sword lurched forward, leaving a red line behind it.

Despite his success the next thing that Klein saw was green, or more precisely the green and brown of the grass field that they had been practicing in.

"What the hell man!" He shouted, while once again pushing himself up off the ground.

"Ah, I probably should have mentioned that some skills require you to move with them." Came Kirito's frankly unconcerned response while he rubbed the back of his neck and showed a somewhat apprehensive smile.

"Yeah! You should've told me. I could've done without the face full of dirt."

"Well I had to learn the hard way so I figured you should to. Besides just be glad you were able to activate a sword skill, it normally takes most people a couple of hours to get the hang of it."

"Yeah?" Klein asked, surprised. "So I'm like some awesome prodigy that you only see every few thousand years." He cheered to himself while throwing a fist of accomplishment in the air.

The two of them would look back on this day in years to come, at which time Kirito would admit that in truth most players were able to get the hang of sword skills within 10 minutes. Though at the time, he didn't have the heart to tell him. Why crush a man's dreams when they were just that, dreams. Dreams in a virtual world.


"We need to move now, come on!" Still trying to remove his new friend from his trance like state Kirito had taken to shouting and shaking him.

"W-Wah, what?" He questioned, still processing what Kayaba had said.

"If we want any chance of surviving this ordeal we need to get moving, like now." His words came across as somewhat demanding, though the reality of their situation more than called for it.

By this point the plaza had all but descended into feverous panic and chaos. Filled with screams and shouting from all manner of people, those denying what they had been told and those crying over what they had been told. Some had dropped to the floor, unable to stand with the weight of the situation. While others began to scramble for the exits, either hoping to find solace within the town or looking to form party's with those they knew. Held within that plaza was a perfect display of humanity. The part of humanity that was everything that people would wish to deny. When faced with the very real possibility of death people scrambled, they fought, they forgot. What had once been a cheerful atmosphere had descended into a haven of chaos. Regardless of what people may say, when faced with such a fact all manner of civility fell away. Leaving nothing more than those who would do what they needed to, to survive. Relationships, friendships, party's and alliance's. They meant nothing in this cold virtual world, it was dog eat dog and only those willing to take that step, past good graces and into the realm of pure madness, would survive to tell its tale.

Having noticed that most people were in fact starting to scramble out of the plaza, Kirito once again implored his friend to get moving.

"Now!" He shouted. "Either you're with me, or you're on your own." And after giving such a deliberation he turned towards the closest exit, a crowd of people between him and it. Though if such an obstacle was going to stop him from making it out of the plaza, he may as well have just given up there and then. Using his superior build he pushed his way past people and in between groups, what he lacked in strength he made up for in his agility. Looking back he once again saw his friend, only this time it seemed that he had made his decision. With his aid the two of them were easily able to push their way past the large crowd and emerged on the other side.

While the main streets had been designed with the entire player base in mind, it was never intended to hold that number all at once. Thankfully for the two of them Kirito had been selected as one of the lucky few to participate in the beta and as such knew the layout of the town of beginnings better than most. Though it wasn't a fact that he would openly disclose now, he had a pretty good idea that beta testers were going to be at the forefront of people's anger. The information that he had obtained throughout the beta would serve him well, with the memory of the backstreets being first.

By utilizing the back streets to their advantage the two of them were easily able to make it past the majority of players and before long had arrived at the east gate. While the town was designed to be somewhat symmetrical people were more likely to head either north or west, both had easy to access fields that contained some of the easiest and most abundant mobs on the floor. By comparison to the south was cold ice mountains and to the east was a set of hilly, forested terrain, both of which could serve as a natural barrier to put off new players from venturing into them.

Pulling out a map of the floor he had acquired earlier in the day Kirito shared it to Klein.

"The main path through the mountains goes through here," He explained as he ran his finger along the map's outline of the mountain pass that cut through the east side of the map. "There's a town on the other side that has some easy starting quests and should let us level up pretty quickly. So what do you say?"

Having not spoken since leaving the plaza Klein had been content to watch and listen. By this point he had gotten a pretty good grasp of the situation and was starting to understand what Kirito was planning. The way he saw it players had two options, stay holed up in some inn in the town of beginnings and wait to be rescued. Or try and fight your way out and be the one to ensure your own survival, the later was apparently what Kirito had chosen and by the sounds of it he was acutely aware of how important it was that they got a head start. Being at the forefront of the games progress may have put them at greater risk, but it would also give them the best chance of survival if this was the option they were going with.

Despite the logic with which the two of them had analysed the situation and that ultimately they had reached the same conclusion…

"Sorry." Klein apologised. Sending his new friend into a state of confusion.

"You've already done so much to help me and I really want to pay you back. But, " he paused for a moment, looking back in the direction of the plaza that they had come from before turning back to face Kirito and pointing a thumb in it's direction. "My friends are back there. I've known them since High School and I couldn't just abandon them."

For Kirito, his response was troubling. The mountain pass was tough enough for a experienced group of players, but by making use of hidden trails and a small but agile party it would be possible to make it through quickly without the need to fight every mob they came across. If it was just him and Klein then it would be a cake walk, but if they were a party of three or four. He didn't like the odds of success.

"How many?" He asked.

"Huh,"

"How many friends, if it's just a couple we can meet up with them and still make it through today."

"Oh, umm six? Yeah it'd be six including me."

Six was a steep number, way beyond his own calculations. That was less a party and more a small guild. He wouldn't be able to use the same strategy as in the beta if he had that many people with him and then there was the fact that six people would be following him, looking to him for some sort of leadership. If he was being honest it wasn't something he thought he could do. After the incident with his sister he had slowly began to withdraw from people. He stopped meeting up with others and the only significant IRL contact he had was with his family, which even then was more out of necessity. It had been easy enough with Klein as the both of them were hidden behind the mask of their avatars, something about talking to people from behind a screen just made it a whole lot easier. But now, with that stripped away and his real identity revealed his social anxiety was coming back to him.

Then it hit him, this was the exact resolve he had been talking about earlier. This was the very reason that he had grown so distant from his family. Hadn't he said that he was going to be better? That he wasn't going to push people away again and that he was going to reconcile with them when he made it out of this ordeal?

So, with the fire of his resolve within him Kirito delivered his answer.

"That could work, I'd have to make some adjustments but we can still do it with a party of seven."

"You sure." Klein questioned, apprehensive at the answer. "We'd just be slowing you down and halting your own progress."

"Its fine," he replied. Putting a hand up to stop Klein from interjecting. "This is as much for my own sake as it is for yours."

A sense of overwhelming relief flooded over Klein as Kirito gave his answer. He was sure that him and his friends could make it alone, they had played all manner of different MMO's and each one had turned out just fine. But with Kirito's help then they could be sure of their success and so, in an effort to officially form this new partnership Klein extended his hand.

"Name's Klein." He spoke, the happiness at being able to secure such valuable help still evident in his voice.

"Kirito." Kirito responded before taking hold of the presented hand and in essence, cementing their friendship for the future.


Not long after they cemented their agreement Klein had gone back to the main plaza in search of his friends. Leaving Kirito to stand near the east gate and contemplate his decision. Had he made the right call when agreeing to help all of them? Klein seemed like a logical choice given that the two of them were together at the time, though that was merely in regards to him. Moving so many people through the mountain pass would be difficult for a experienced party let alone a group of new players. A thought that gave him some measure of doubt in his decision. Should he just go? If he left now he could easily make it through the pass, reaching the town on the other side by nightfall and Klein's group would be none the wiser.

While contemplating his actions Kirito's attention was pulled towards the main road that led up to the east gate. A party of three players had apparently decided that they would also be taking on the mountain pass, foregoing the ease of the open fields offered by the west and north gates. Given the fact that the party was running to the gate rather than walking and were equipped with no less than two mace users it was evident that they were likely beta testers. At the very least one of them may have been. Their choice of equipment being all the evidence he needed, as the main mobs in the mountain pass were feral mountain goats. Who, unlike the boar's of the open field had a much tougher hide, leading to the amount of damage that swords, daggers and spears could deal being halved. In contrast to this they were weak to blunt attacks, making the weapon choice of mace an excellent counter to their unique design.

Not wanting to be caught out Kirito backed himself into one of the alley's, allowing the darkness cast by the surrounding buildings shadows to consume his figure. As he had hoped the group of players passed without incident, apparently more focused on getting to the next town over than looking for other players to bolster their numbers.

Moving back into the light he continued to look back down the road in search of Klein and his party. Though this time he felt more confident in his decision. The previous party had reminded him that this decision could also prove to be an opportunity for him. By helping out such a tight knit group of friends now, he was likely to build up some form of standing with them. If he played his cards right he may be able to use them in the future. The idea sounded almost barbaric and the thought alone disgusted him, though he was beginning to see the situation for what it was.

'If I want to survive here I've got to do what I need to. Regardless of the consequences.' When everything else was stripped away that was his true feelings. He had made a decision to make it out of this hell and get back to the real world, if he had to use others to achieve those aims then so be it.

Having talked himself into this being the best option he was pulled from his musings when he identified a group of players in the distance. A hyperactive player leading the front as they ran towards him and waved their arms about. The sight was reminiscent of two old friends meeting again for the first time in years, though the look on all of the trailing players faces proved otherwise.

"Hey!" Klein shouted, hoping to catch Kirito's attention before reaching him. "Hey Kirito, I found em!"

Slightly embarrassed at being called out by name Kirito hung his head before covering his eyes with his hand. Yes Klein he could see that you had found them, but you didn't need to announce it to the whole player base.

Coming to a stop just before him Klein killed over as he placed his hands on his knees, attempting to catch the breath he had lost from being so overzealous and running to meet him. An act that the rest of the party quickly followed as one by one they also reached Kirito, only unlike Klein some of them dropped to the floor panting in exhaustion.

"D...Did you have to run all the way!?" One of them asked, out of breath and slightly annoyed at being forced to run half the length of the town.

Apparently unfazed by his friends complaint Klein simply turned to the side to face him before returning a thumbs up in reply.

"Come on Dale, we're about to go on an adventure and you're complaining about a little running."

"What's that go to do with it!?" He asked, still sitting on the floor. Trying to recover from the impromptu marathon.

"Yeah he's got a point Klein, " one of them joined in. "The way you we're running I thought you'd found a cute girl to party up with."

The man, Dynamm looked to Kirito before apologizing, "Sorry, no offense or anything but normally the only thing to get Klein so enthusiastic is cute girls and short skirts."

"Ah, " Kirito said, having been giving a little information to better understand Klein's character. "None taken."

"Hey! I don't just run after cute girls, I mean sure I've never had a girlfriend but I'm not that desperate."

"You sure?" One of them asked, "See I still remember your 21st birthday."

"Yeah, yeah I remember that, " another joined in. "He couldn't even walk straight after drinking and we had to carry him home." The man showed a smile and rubbed his nose at the memory, "Still didn't matter how drunk he was. He still asked every girl we saw on the way home out."

The memory was a sore one for Klein, even if his own version of it was nothing more than a blurred haze. Though for what it was worth the memory gave his friends a good laugh as they each remembered the night. He had good friends, he knew that and if he was to be stuck in a game of death with anyone, he couldn't have asked for a better bunch.

Slightly bewildered at the lightheartedness of the group given their current situation, Kirito instead put it down to a shared defense mechanism. Everyone dealt with the unexpected in a different way and apparently this close group of friends did so at the expense of each other, though they remained friends regardless.

"Ahem." Klein coughed, causing the laughter to calm down a little. "Well as I was saying, Kirito here said he's got a few ways to help us kick start our leveling."

At Klein's statement each member turned to face Kirito, a action that resulted in him taking a small step back. He hated being the center of attention and Klein had just shined the spotlight directly on him. Sensing that perhaps Kirito wasn't one for big speeches he decided to make it swift.

"Anyway moving on, guess I should introduce everyone first."

Shuffling his way over to the first person who had arrived Klein placed a hand on their shoulder before speaking, "This here's Dale." He said. The person was slightly shorter than Klein, sitting at about shoulder height, though for what he lacked in height he made up for in his size. Allowing him to carry one of the larger starter swords and shields on offer to new players. "Hey." He said as he lifted a hand in a universal symbol of greeting.

Standing next to Dale and with a slightly mischievous smirk on his face was the player who had previously commented on Klein's love of cute girls and short skirts. "That's Dynamm" Klein interjected as he saw Kirito's gaze wonder. "Yep name's Dynamm and make sure you remember it." he said as Klein moved onto the next member.

"And this..." He said, placing both hands on either shoulder of the man in front of him. "Is Harry One."

"You don't have to lean on me everytime you know Klein." He complained. His short stature providing the perfect height for Klein to lean on, something which he apparently did a lot as the unimpressed shield user complained.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to, it's just you're the perfect height for it." The player simply grumbled in return, something about showing someone who's short and what not before Klein moved between the last two.

"And these are..."

"Issin." One of the men responded. His hair slick back and one hand on his hip while he did a mock wave at Kirito.

"Kunimittz" Answered the other. Who unlike the rest of the group seemed to be the logical quite type as up to that point he had not spoken.

"And that's it." Klein finished. "Well now that introductions are out of the way I guess I should ask what the plan is." He asked while having a arm over the should of both Issin and Kunimittz.

Right, Klein had done his job. He'd brought them all together and now it was Kirito's turn to hold up his end of the deal, and what a deal it was going to turn out to be.


After about four months of on and off planning it's finally here. As you may have guessed from the top couple of lines this story is split into a number of arcs and sub arcs, so know that when I say it's going to be a long ride I mean it. I have big plans for this story which I hope I can achieve, though even if I don't. If this story can at the very least inspire others to write then I can consider it a success.

Now for the important part, as I had previously mentioned much of this story has been planned out. This naturally also includes the characters, each of them now have their own personality with backgrounds as well as things they like and dislike. So if they seem somewhat out of character just keep this in mind.

In addition though I have planned out much of the story I still want it to be organic in nature, so if you have any suggestions or advice feel free to let me know and maybe I'll try and incorporate it. Naturally this also goes for any criticism you have, any feedback; good or bad is much appreciated.

Finally a note on the rating and pairings. To get this out of the way this story will aim to go for a Harem ending, kind of. I hope to make it feel natural, at least as natural as it can be. So hopefully you don't recognize it happening and there isn't just a sudden change to everyone is with Kirito and is fine with it. Additionally, as you should have already seen this story has a M rating. As I'm sure you can guess that means all of the story elements you would expect to be associated with it, so consider this your advanced warning.

With all that said I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions, as well as what you would like to see in the future. Guess that's everything for now and be sure to keep an eye out for chapter 2!