The Duel

December 4th,2022.

Illfang the Kobold Lord, the first floor boss, has just been defeated, opening access to the second floor of the floating castle of Aincrad. This story begins on the second floor, with our protagonist escorting two players at sword point.

"Keep walking." I said poking one of the guys in the back with my sword.

"Ok, relax man. We're doing what you're askin'."

"So start talking. Why did you go after the Rat?"

"She had information on quest. A quest for an Extra Skill."

Just then, one of the men elbowed me and teleported away. However, I managed to grabbed the other one before he could escape.

"Your friend really shouldn't have done that. Now I'm gonna have to start beating you to get what I want."

"Hang on, man. What do you want to know?"

"Where's your guild leader?"

"Um, I think... a village, here on the second floor. Our leader found it in the Beta and went to see if it was still there."

"Good. You're going to to take there."

As we walked, I got a message from a friend.

"Ben! Where are you!"

"Amelia! Use my contact info!"

'Good lord, that girl.'

"I'm impressed kid. So I'll tell you what, if you can beat me one v. one. The guild is yours."

"Deal."

We went into the center of the village and the guild members made a circle around us.

"How do you want to do this, kid?" Said the leader.

"Your guild, your choice."

"Ok then. One hit duel. First person to have their HP lowered half way loses."

I accepted the duel request, and the start timer began to count down. The guild leader drew his weapon and I placed my hand on my sword.

3 2 1

I drew my sword and we charged in at each other. I hit him once, bit he got a few good hits in, causing me to put some distance between us.

'He's fast. I'm gonna need to be careful, I'm a probably two or three more hits away.'

I took another look at him. Average build, maybe mid to late twenties. I had an idea and charged in. He swung and I slid under his blade, cutting his leg and causing him to kneel down, then placed my hand on his back to vault over him and slammed my knee into his face. I cut off his sword hand and placed the blades against his throat like a scissor.

"Yield."

He smirked as he resigned and I sheathed my sword and handed him his.

"You are full of surprises." He said. "The guild is yours."

I went to go shake his hand and pull him up, then I remembered that I had cut off hand, so I grabbed his arm and helped him. I had I feeling my life was in danger, so I turned around to face it head on

"What's the word pretty bi-"

A hand flew across my face. I've been slapped in the face before, but it still stops me in my tracks every time.

"What the hell were you think? Running off like that?" Said the voice.

My assailant was none other than Robin, or Amelia in the real world. Ameila's my... well, I don't really know what she is to me. Friend? Girlfriend?

"Was the slap really necessary?"

"It's necessary when you're being an idiot, which you are."

Behind Amelia was my friend, War Jackson or Jax, and Amelia's sister Eir or, in the real world, Sarah. These three are my friends in the real world, I've known Jax since childhood and we met the girls about three years ago.

"Can you guys give us a minute?" I said to the players around us.

They left, leaving just the four of us.

"So I see you guys found me."

"Yeah, looks like it. What is this place?" Jax said.

"Our new home."

"What?" Sarah said.

"I just won it from the guy with one hand. I think his name was Achilles."

"How you win it?" Amelia asked.

"In a duel. I also won the guild."

"I thought you hated working in guilds?"

"I do. But I'm pretty sure there's only so much a solo player can do in SAO."

"What are we gonna call this guild?"

"Same thing as the village."

"Which is?"

"Sinanju."

Scorched Earth

On the 20th floor, in a village called Sinanju. It was usually serene and peaceful, but on this April morning all that could be heard was the sound of a lovers quarrel.

"Robin... Amelia!"

Robin swung the door open and stormed out.

"You are impossible!" She yelled.

I picked up the necklace, I made for her, off the floor and sat in my chair and massaged my head. And then my friend Jax walked in.

"You guys keep fighting like that and people are going to think you two really are a married couple." He said.

"Piss. Off."

"What were you two arguing about?"

"My working habits."

"Again? She does have a point. You need to take a break every once in a while."

"Leading a guild is hard work, Jax. And you know that my habit has existed for years."

"Just be selfish for once. That's all she's was asking of you."

"Maybe you're right." I sighed.

"Of course I'm right. Come on, let's go relieve some stress."

We walked out of my room and out of the village. Everyone was looking at me, probably since everyone could hear us fighting.

"Where are we going? Dungeon? Bar?"

"Hunting."

"What are we hunting?"

"Anything. Deer, bear, dragon."

"Can we even eat dragon?"

"Oh, it's delicious. If cooked right."

We saw a group of deer in front of us, and hid behind some trees.

"How do you want to do this? Scare into an ambush?"

"Sure, that always fun."

I equipped my bow and climbed the tree as Jax equipped his two handed sword. After nodding to each other, I notched three arrows and fired one into a tree on both sides of the deer and one behind them. The deers looked up and ran in the opposite direction of the sounds, right into Jax. Jax activated Cyclone and slashed some of the deer.

"Nice work, Jax." I said as I hopped down.

"What's next?"

"Probably hunt for a few more minutes... Why don't we split up, meet back here in ten - fifteen minutes?"

"Sure."

We split up and I went in the direction of a cave. Inside was a bear.

'Everyone in Sinanju had no problem eating whatever we bring back. But Frederick hates bear meat, so let's piss him off, shall we.'

I equipped my sword and charged in. The bear clawed at me and I responded by vaulting over it and attacking it's back. The bear managed to scratch me across the chest, and I jumped back to evaluate the situation. The bear charged towards me and I rolled out of the way and stabbed it in the ribs. Then I activated Vertical Square and killed it. After I gathered the materials, walked out of the cave and check the time.

'I've still got some time left.'

I climbed up the branches of a tree jumped from tree to tree, until I came across a player harassing another.

"Bastard."

I jumped out of the tree and kicked him in the head. Then I got up and told the harassed player to run, before turning around, and picking the harasser off the ground.

"Note that I should kill you, hell I want to kill you. But I'm not going to." I pushed on the ground. "Remember that, and remember that I could have easily killed you."

The little weasel scurried off. After hunting for another minute, I decided to head back. Jax was waiting for me at the meeting spot.

"So what you'd catch?" I said.

"A few more deer and some rabbits. You?"

"I think maybe five deer and a bear."

"Only six? You're getting rusty in your old age."

"One of them was a bear. And I also had to deal with someone harassing a player."

"Ok, ok, I guess I'll have to take your word for it... What next?"

"Let's see, rabbits usually feeds up to four players, deers up to six, and bears easily feed ten. So we'll keep two rabbits, a deer and the bear, and give the rest of the meat to Achilles. Then we could probably sell everything else."

"Sounds good to me. Let's head back home."

We walked down the path for a few minutes, when we saw something alarming.

"Ben... Smoke."

I looked up and saw a huge cloud of smoke.

"It looks like it's coming from Sinanju."

Jax and I sprinted back to the village. When we got there, the village was indeed on fire. And holding someone by the throat and stabbing them in the chest was the man who I assume lit the fire. I charged into attack the man in front of me. Just then two guys with axes swung at me before I could react and cut off my legs. The man walked up to me kicked me in the head, knocking me out. When I woke up, the village was burnt down, the man was in front of me, holding Amelia. And next to them, were two other people standing behind Eir and Jax, who were on their knees. And all around me survivors of the massacre were on their knees.

"No. Please don't." I pleaded.

I heard the sound three blades piercing flesh, as Amelia, Sarah and Jax were stabbed in the heart from behind. Then the sound of several other blades piercing virtual flesh could be heard. All in what felt like eternity.

"Nooooo!" I yelled as the only three friends I ever had, exploded into pixels right in front of me. Then everything turned red.

"The sadness and rage. Its glowing in your eyes." He said with a smile.

"What's your name?" I said gritting my teeth.

"du Casse. But why do you care?"

"So I can find you. And rip your heart out!"

"Oh, I'd love to see you try. But... you'll be dead soon."

"No, I wouldn't."

I whistled and Stealth attacked one of the players holding me down. I overpowered the other one and teleported with Stealth.

A few hours later

I returned to Sinanju and made graves for everyone who died. After I made Amelia's grave, I fell to my knees and fought back the tears in my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Amelia. I'm so sorry."

I placed her necklace in front of the tombstone.

"I'll find du Casse. And I'll get revenge."

I walked into my private quarters and gathered some equipment. On the floor was Amelia's dagger that I made for her, The Talon. du Casse must have surprised her and she dropped the dagger. I picked it up and put it in my inventory and walked out. I grabbed some paint and walked down to the big rock next to the path, and painted an omega symbol. I'm going to war against du Casse.