Welcome, everyone! This is my seconds SAO fanfic, and I do hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online.
Chapter 1: Another Incarnation of SAO
A man in a white coat sits in a dark room, the only illumination coming from his lone computer monitor. The woman standing behind him clears her throat.
"Kayaba. Why are we still here? I thought the game was already in its preparation for release. Why do you still need this computer."
The man, Kayaba Akihiko, smiles. "I'm just awaiting confirmation from one of my overseas contacts. I'm sending the game worldwide, on separate servers."
The woman purses her lips, but it is invisible from the darkness. Kayaba taps a few keys on his keyboard, and a chat window comes up. The contact reads: "Steven Appal".
Kayaba begins typing. He awaits the message confirming that his project is secured in America. After another ten minutes of grueling waiting, he gets an email. He reads it and smiles. He quickly shuts the computer off, leaving the room in complete darkness. "And so my dream will come to fruition."
My name is Leon Parson, I am 5' 7" with blond hair that spikes naturally, and blue eyes. My friends find it to be a good joke when they call me 'Cloud Strife'. My friends are all good ones, but their jokes usually come at others' expense. I am 16, and in my junior year of high school. I was one of the lucky few 1000 players who got to beta test a new VRMMO called 'Sword Art Online'. My friends were all jealous of me, and told me that once it came out, I needed to teach them what I know.
The day Sword Art Online came out, thankfully, school was out. we were on break, and I spent the entire day preparing for it. I went over everything I knew, decided on my weapon style, and found out my friends' future usernames. I had my NerveGear set up, SAO installed, and was ready and raring to go as I put the NerveGear on at around 11:50, 10 minutes before the game's launch. I smiled as the clock struck 12:00.
"Link Start!"
I felt like I was being lifted out of my body, and thousands of colors and letter flew past me. I signed in under the username 'Cloud'. My friends had convinced me to use it, since they planned on calling me that anyway. I had changed little on my beta avatar, and when it asked me if I wanted to use it I accepted. I heard a monotone, female, computer-generated voice welcome me to Sword Art Online as the world materialized around me.
I quickly navigated my menu, and put my stats in Strength, Vitality, and Speed, while selecting [2-H Sword] and [Acrobatics] as my skills. I had figured out during the beta that this combination made me a tank-like character who was fast and able to take hits fairly well. I quickly walked to a blacksmith and purchased the cheapest broadsword they had for 75 Col, a big hit early on, but worth it. My next goal was the inn the five of us were meeting at.
My friends were there, sitting around laughing and cheering. They had found immense joy in making themselves into more of the cast from Final Fantasy 7. The oldest of our group, his real name was Joe, had made himself into Sephiroth. His girlfriend, Jill, had made herself into Tifa, my other two friends, Kyle and Luke, had made themselves into Zach and Angeal. I sat down next to them, and Kyle gave me a pat on the shoulder.
"'Bout time you made it, Cloud!" He said in his usual cheery way.
I sighed. "You guys, I don't even know how you convinced me to name myself that."
That got a good laugh out of everyone. "Well, Cloud, how about you teach us the stuff you know. I mean, you did promise." Joe said.
I stood. "Well, follow me then."
We walked out the North Gate of Starting City and out into the wild where all the [Blue Boars] roamed around. I explained to them how to spend their stat points, and how to get their skills. Once I had done that, I attracted the attention of a [Blue Boar] and demonstrated a Sword Skill.
"Now remember, this is just the Two-Handed Sword Skill. Your skill menu should have the position for starting yours."
I held my blade over my left shoulder, and waited as the Boar charged. When I felt that the energy was about to explode, I let the system take over, initiating Vertical Crush, smashing into the Boar. It took out half the Boar's health, and stunned it. I took the opportunity, once I had control over my body again, to slash the Boar again. I only took out another 10% with my normal slash.
I finished the Boar off, and sheathed my sword. "Alright. It's your turn, guys. I wanna see you all do the same kind of thing I just did."
They all scattered, and I watched all of them take down a Boar quickly. I knew that Jill and Kyle, or rather, Tifa and Zach, were able to do it easier, having four Sword Skills in their arsenal at the start. I hope I remember to call them by their character names. They won't have a problem since they call me Cloud already. To my surprise, Sephiroth was the first done. I looked and saw he was using a katana, and made a mental note to make sure he got that extra skill.
What was even more surprising was that Angeal was the second one done, and Tifa the last. "Well, now that that's done, we can get leveling." I said, and they all had massive grins on their faces. I sent them all party invites, as well as friend requests. They all accepted both, and we killed a couple hours killing [Blue Boars], and getting closer to level 2.
We were taking a break, when I felt the sudden sensation of being teleported. A Mass Teleport? An admin must have some message for us. When the teleportation ended, I saw that Angeal, Zach, Tifa, and Sephiroth were all dazed. I looked at them, and told them I was almost as confused as them. We saw a hexagonal shape appear in the sky, and then mass of them dominate it. Then, a red liquid that looked like blood poured down and formed a hooded figure with white gloves.
"Hello, players. I am Steven Appal. I would like to personally welcome you 10,000 to Sword Art Online."
I had to take a step back. Steven Appal? The man who is currently in charge of the American branch?
"I'm sure all of you have noticed by now that the log-out button is absent from the menu. This is not a bug, nor a glitch. That was an intentional feature."
There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and murmurs began.
"In addition, if you die inside the game, your NerveGear will emit radioactive microwaves and fry your brain. Also, if an attempt is made from an outside source to take the NerveGear off, the same result will occur."
I looked around, and saw how worried people were. I looked at my four friends, and I looked down at the ground.
"Also, you will find that, in a few moments, your avatar will be made to look exactly like you do in reality. The only way out of this game is to clear all 100 floors of this place, Aincrad. Good luck players, and may luck shine over you."
With that he vanished. I looked around to see everyone's appearance completely altered from before, some men became women, and vice versa. Some people who were tall became short, and some who were mid-height became tall. I knew I looked almost exactly the same. I turned to my friends with a solemn look on my face.
"Guys. I'm sorry..." I started.
Sephiroth put his hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. We all know you are a solo gamer. Just don't die on us. We expect to hear from you again."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and I turned to leave. "I'll see you guys later." With that, I began running. I ran towards the second town, Horunka Village. Thanks to my knowledge as a beta tester, I would be able to efficiently level there. When I finally reached it, I felt exhausted. It was almost night, and I decided that I would be better off sleeping outside for the night. I found a bench, and got as comfortable as I could, and fell asleep.
When I awoke to the alarm, I noted that it was 6:00 AM. I got up and stretched. I knew that the only quest that I would be able to complete was the [Secret Medicine of the Forest] quest, so I headed towards the cabin it was in. I ignored the questgiver's spheal and accepted the quest. I ran out into the forest, and rechecked my level. Level 1 at 50%. I have a decent lead... I saw the first [Little Nepent] when I was a little ways from the village. I noticed that it had neither a fruit nor a flower, but knew it was all I was going to find for a while.
I got within range of it, and initiated Vertical Crush on its weak point, cutting away 25% of its life in a single swing, and stunning it. I began slashing at it during this short period, effectively getting another 20% knocked off. I had to dodge its vines as my Vertical Crush recharged, and I repeated the process until it died. It had managed to knock 15% off my life as well, but I saw another plain one and repeated the process again. I kept this up for a while, until I was at the 35% mark. I rested then, having leveled up and drank a potion.
I went into my menu and divided my three points evenly between Strength, Speed, and Vitality. Of course, Strength and Speed were ahead by one point from my initial five points at the start, but it wasn't that large of a difference yet. Once I was fully healed, I resumed my process. I was able to take the Nepents out in two Vertical Crushes now, and they only managed to get 7% on me now. I spent another hour doing this, and almost gained a third level. I moved back from where the Nepents were, and took a break.
I leaned against a nearby tree, and opened my menu. I pulled up my friends list, and tapped on Sephiroth's name. I began typing my message out to him.
How is your guys' leveling coming along? Are you guys level 2 yet? I'm almost level 3. I feel really bad about leaving you guys behind. Is what I taught you of use yet? Message me back as soon as you can. -Cloud.
I sighed quietly. It's hard leaving my friends behind...but, I work best alone. I stood up, my health back at full, and turned to the Nepents. I was elated to see one that had a flower on its head. I ran at it, and used Vertical Crush. I realized too late that there was one with a fruit right next to it, and it released its stench, calling god-knows-how-many more of them. I cursed myself for not noticing it before now. I took the one with a flower out as quickly as I could, but it was too late, and I was surrounded.
I pursed my lips, and looked around. Twenty or so...not good. I followed my normal strategy, but had to account for all of the Nepents surrounding me. I managed to take out seven of them before my health dropped into the yellow. I was also panting heavily from the mental stress. I was about to give in, because I knew it was hopeless, when I heard some yelling from my right. I saw Sephiroth standing over me, along with Tifa, Zach, and Angeal.
Sephiroth gave me a grin. "We followed you. You have a habit of getting into trouble, so we figured we'd come make sure you didn't die this early."
Angeal turned his head to me. "Now get yer ass up off the ground, man! We didn't let you be a wimp in reality, we ain't gonna let you be one now!"
Zach laughed a bit. "Yeah! Where's all the spirit you had when you were teaching us? Don't tell me a few little monsters are gonna get you down!"
Tifa smiled warmly. "Now, come on! We all wanna help you fight, so get up and fight by our side!"
I picked myself up, and gripped my weapon tightly. I saw the popup that told me Sephiroth had invited me to a party, and I accepted. I took my battle stance, and we charged at the Nepents, the five of us taking them out efficiently and with little struggle. When all of them were dead, I collapsed onto the ground, my health hovering just above 29%. Everyone else seemed to have their health around 40%, telling me they were a lower level than me.
I noticed that I had gained a level, and a considerable amount of Col from that last fight. I went in and distributed my stat points a little differently. Two went into Vitality, and one into Strength. I picked myself up, and we all walked towards the cabin where I turned the quest in, earning myself an [Anneal Blade], though, I didn't have much use for it, since I used two-handed swords. I gave it to Zach, who equipped it quickly. We all went to the inn, and rented a room. We said goodnight to each other, and each went to our respective rooms.
I plopped down onto my bed, and stretched myself out. They followed me. I left them, and they followed me. Why? And why risk their own lives to help me? I sighed, and rolled over. Well, I guess they are my friends...so maybe that's why. I yawned, or at least it felt like I did, and I slowly closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
Well, there it is! 'Till next time~