Kirigaya Kazuto, alias, Kirito, was currently not a happy camper. To make things worse, his current predicament was entirely his fault. Or rather, it was the fault of his curiosity. He just had to ask Argo the reason behind those whiskers of hers. Now he was stuck with an impossible quest to break down a big arse rock with his bare hands. Argo had just checked in on him again, so that meant this was the second day of not succeeding which was soon to be a third. The worst part perhaps was that he couldn't hold a grudge against her. He had promised after all. If he didn't get the damn quest done he'd be stuck with whiskers on his face for the rest of the game. That was just too embarrassing to contemplate. It was such that he refused to leave the little cottage above the mountain top on the southern end of the 2nd floor and let anyone else see him.

Speaking of which, he wondered if there were going to be any hints for the task. He knew the quest giver, which looked like an old kung fu master, didn't give out any. So there should be something nearby right? Come to think of it, he never really searched the NPC's house and it wasn't like he was barred from it. If it was then the game would have said something. It was a small cottage all said, with three rooms at the most, and one where the quest giver sat and spent most of its time simulating its enjoyment of tea. If there was something out of place it was the numerous spoons lying about in nooks and crannies within the house. Some were bent, some were not.

He was glad he did. It was a minor thing but easy to overlook if he wasn't paying attention. There was a wall scroll that fluttered inside the cottage. That meant wind and wherever there was wind there was some kind of entrance. He saw it in a game once already and SAO was notorious for having secrets that not even the Beta testers knew about. That was why he wasn't surprised to find an actual dojo space behind the whole thing.

The centre was well replicated tatami mats surrounded by pillars that demarcated the edge along with a normal wooden floor. A shrine proper rested on the opposite end. There were blinds that filtered the light that entered the dojo even. Kirito stepped inside. There was something here. He could feel it, even with the stillness of the air. The wall scrolls on both sides of the tiny shrine adorned with flowers read, Shaper of Dreams and Awakening of Self. Two weapon racks sat further back on either side, tucked away in an alcove, behind a wall of chains.

Another 'person' stepped in to the room and in to view. A black man, reminding him of similarly coloured player. The differences ended there however. This man was clothed in a black gi with white highlights and had the air of a teacher. His name was not revealed, instead being a trio of question marks. He stood silently, as if awaiting something, but he was undoubtedly an NPC with his yellow health bar. NPCs most didn't initiate conversation with the players. At least, the ones that weren't store owners anyway. His eyes followed Kirito's intrusion in to the dojo space. As soon as Kirito stood across from him, a quest icon popped up over his head. There were no preset prompts and the young man was rather confused by it all. Still he moved to speak before his quest log was updated, and the icon disappeared.

Inside his inventory was now a set of clothing, White Gi. It held no stats save for a small blurb of flavour text and a line indicating it was a quest item. Kirito assumed that he was required to put it on, if the context was any indication. Unlike other items, it materialised on him as a cascade of green alphanumerics and mirrored katakana. It was exactly what its name described, even the belt was white. The inside however was black, and served as a highlight when folded along his neck and down the length of his body. He was like a mirror then.

The quest NPC's name changed to Daniel yet his level remained obscured. So early in to the death game and already Kirito met a foe that he doubted he could walk away from. He tensed as Daniel raised his right arm and the door Kirito walked in from snapped shut audibly.

"This is a sparring program, similar to the artificial reality that you now inhabit," the NPC finally spoke, "It has the same basic rules, rules like death. What you must learn is that these rules are no different from any other ruleset. Some of them are flawed. Some can be exploited. Understand?"

Daniel was really stating the obvious to a gamer like Kirito but it was surprising to hear an NPC actually say it. Still, Kirito gave a nod in response. The quest wouldn't proceed otherwise he suspected.

"Then hit me," the NPC's health bar turned red, "If you can."

Daniel didn't move to attack but with challenging words like that it was enough to ignite his competitive gamer side. Kirito reached for his sword. To his horror, it wasn't there. Even now his inventory was empty, save for the clothes he had on. Most the other submenus had been greyed out too. The only other submenu available was the quest log and it had only one quest in it too. So either the quest where he had to break the rocks and this current one were merged or this was a subquest related to the former. The former was a quest to get the Extra Skill Martial Arts after all so in a way, Kirito wasn't surprised. This seemed more reasonable, and straightforward. Still he didn't know what stance to take so instead he raised his fists, imitating a boxing manga he used to read and dashed in.

The first blow was a straight from his right though it was more like a testing jab. Daniel casually parried it away. He wasn't discouraged and followed with a left as fast as he could chain the punches together. The NPC ducked, dipped, swayed and parried. Daniel was unconcerned by the onslaught. If Kirito attacked his head, he moved it out of the way. When Kirito aimed for his body he brought his own arms to parry. It was a zero sum exchange.

To be fair, it wasn't. Though their speed was the same, each blow seemed to reveal something new to Kirito. It wasn't figurative. Quite literally, game windows popped up around the NPC. After ten blows it revealed Daniel's level, which was surprisingly the same as Kirito's. After twenty blows it revealed his stats which also were the same as Kirito's. At forty, his skill slots were shown. Once again it mirrored Kirito's save for one major difference. It was the Martial Arts skill yet it wasn't full. It was set to zero. The surprise was enough for him to misstep. That was how Daniel caught his arm and whipping him away with a boot to the rear for good measure.

Turning, Kirito saw the windows disappearing as Daniel shuffled in place his legs. He assumed that was the combat pose as the NPC settled into. Hopping from one foot to the other the NPC beckoned. It was a clear invitation but Kirito was wary. He had forgotten that he had legs as well but it wasn't like he knew how to use them. Still it was something to think about, footwork that is.

He rushed in again, though his advance this time was non-linear. He opened with a left hook this time having moved towards the right. The NPC hopped on to his own right, spinning with his left foot raised. Kirito as well twisted in the opposite direction, anticipating a kick and raising his right to block. It was on the mark. In the instance that he caught the leg in a block, Kirito's left leg rose to answer in turn. The NPC was no slower, planting his left foot only to raise his right, only it was its knee that greeted Kirito's attempt at a kick. Daniel's right elbow was almost touching his raised knee and like a bullet, shot forward. It took all Kirito had to block it and even then he was sent stumbling back as Daniel closed in again.

They exchanged more blows, thought it was mostly just Kirito even if he was adding in more kicks to the mix. Like previously, windows would pop up, informing Kirito of what he already knew. The NPC was exactly like him in stats. It didn't explain how it caught his leg and sent him flying to the tatami again. His health went down by ten percent.

"Good, adaptation, improvisation," Daniel spoke again, "But you weakness, is not your technique."

Kirito got up slowly, nodding jerkily before he loosed another kick. The NPC was as ever unfazed by the sudden attack. For every attack, Daniel met him with another. They were fair in their exchanges but somehow, somewhere, he was getting outmanoeuvred. His kick was caught in a hold again and Daniel simply threw him down. He lost another ten percent. Was that the difference, the holds and the grabbing? Kirito wondered inwardly as he stopped with the kicking. It was too easy to grab and it wasn't like he was having much luck with that. Though to be fair, his punches didn't fare any better.

Daniel slipped through a haymaker and gently nudged Kirito in to the vacant space the NPC used to occupy. It was enough to trip the player who landed slightly roughly on the mat once again. Thankfully it was only a five percent loss. Unlike the other times though, Daniel elected to continue his attack. The NPC had leapt as high as his stats would allow, coming down with his knee first. It didn't take Kirito much to decide it was a better idea to be on the receiving end of the attack. The landing sounded like a crack on the wooden floor though visual feedback was an Immortal Object popup.

As he rolled out of the way and got up, Kirito's mind switched tack. It had to be the grappling then that made the difference then. So if Daniel followed the same pattern, he would be able to capitalise and counter attack when it came. Closing in on the NPC once again, he threw the standard combinations in. Kirito had to anticipate the grapple. It was a slim chance but he had to take it. There, in the middle of a block with his left, Daniel grabbed his helpless limb. That was his cue to retaliate with his right. As the counter flew in the NPC shifted his hold, parrying Kirito's blow with his own left hand. Daniel suddenly let go as Kirito's hands collided together and with both hands struck with open palm around his flanks.

The player landed with a soft thump and a shrinking health bar, down again by another ten percent. Daniel remained undamaged. That was certainly not a great idea, he thought in hindsight. Getting up slowly as Daniel shuffled over to stand across him at the centre of the dojo instead of the corner he had been pushed into. Kirito was fixated on the throwing now. He knew it wasn't rational but he had to try it. There had to be something there that he was missing. If that wasn't it then he'd move on to something else. He charged the NPC, throwing meaningless punches as he closed to grab Daniel's arm mid parry. Kirito gripped it, dragging, twisting, and trying to find some way to bring down the NPC. Daniel followed his movements, at one point twisting along with his arm in a somersault. The movement loosened Kirito's grip, leaving only his right arm clinging to the NPC's left. Daniel ducked below Kirito's centre of gravity and with his left pulling the player down and the right pushing him up, flipped Kirito over his shoulders.

The player lost five percent of his health. Kirito wanted more time to think but the NPC wouldn't let him, sweeping low from his crouched position. Hastily, he jumped back towards one of the pillars in the room at the edge of the tatami. As hit the apex of his jump another brainwave hit. What about the environment? He leapt and kicked off the pillar to gain some air and speed, aiming a kick as he did so. The desperate move and he had to admit to himself, he was desperate, didn't pan out either. Daniel grabbed the offending limb and threw him across to the opposite pillar dropping another ten percent of his health and prompting another Immortal Object popup.

"How did I beat you?" the NPC asked.

Kirito lay there for a moment before looking up feeling immensely tired. He also felt scared with the amount of health he lost for nothing in return.

"You're too fast," he offered lamely.

"Do you believe that me being faster, or stronger, has anything to do with my stats in this place?"

It was true. They had the same stats, even had the same amount of HP. Now that he thought about it, Daniel was about the same height and build too. Kirito shook his head, sighing exaggeratedly.

"You think that's air you're breathing now?" the NPC asked.

That was a curious question and Kirito knew his expression reflected his thoughts. Daniel's eyebrows rose as well but then he lowered them and backed away looking smug. For an NPC he was remarkably well-programmed to display that amount of emotion, Kirito thought. Then he froze. Programming? Was that the key? If Daniel was so fast then it was because he was programmed to do it. Or was it because he was programmed to read inputs?

"Again," the NPC said.

Kirito put up his dukes. Now it was the NPC that attacked him first. The motions were easy to follow. Kirito was reacting well blocking and then counterattacking. That was exactly what Daniel had been doing, reacting. Like a machine, for any given input, there would be an output. But Kirito wasn't a machine. The counter and the counter to that counter could be reduced to a pattern. His hands were swept aside from Daniel's last blow and his footing was unsure as he tipped forward. There was a punch coming, Kirito was sure so he firmed up and tried to right himself. The blow stopped short of his nose and the player retreated.

"What are you waiting for?" Daniel spoke, "You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are."

It drew back to beckon him to attack except it was the NPC who initiated contact first again. He had to follow its movements, but the fight didn't really follow a pattern, unless the attack-counterattack-countercounterattack counted as one. But that was it though right? The movements were guided based on this pattern and the arrangement of limbs, so all he had to do was anticipate them. Was this what it meant when he said he was faster? The NPC was programmed to react, it couldn't predict the future. It couldn't anticipate like a human could.

"Come on, strop trying to hit me, and hit me," Daniel said.

In his reverie he had been caught in a hold, though not a strong one, with his arms crossed over his chest. The NPC let go and they continued exchanging blows. Rather, Kirito started striking, trying to build a pattern in his attacks and seeing how the NPC reacted. It was the same, no matter which side he attacked from and that was how it fell in to his trap. Over the course of the fight, Daniel usually retreated when he was not on the offence and Kirito had pushed him back until his back had hit a pillar. That was where his final left straight caught the NPC. It would have struck home if it weren't for a different window popping up.

Quest Complete

Kirito was surprised by it since it popped up between his fist and Daniel's face.

"I'm trying to free your mind, Kirito," he finally spoke, "But I can only show you the door."

The door to the dojo loudly slid open with a snap.

"You're the one who has to walk through it."

As soon as Kirito had stepped out, his items and other things were returned. The only difference was that he now had a skill he hadn't seen before in his menu and that the cottage didn't have any more spoons.

Post Script

I was just wondering if parallels to the Matrix could be drawn with SAO. A thought exercise and a retake on a famous scene followed. Minimal editing was involved though this is still packed with various goodies.

2,820 words

~7 man-hours

Addendum

Due to the terrible mix up with the captcha system the story was not set as completed. This should be fixed. Sorry to get anyone's hopes up.