"There are many ways to tell a story. There are many ways to listen to a story. Each of us have our own view on every story we hear. Every story we tell. It's what shows our character. How others can understand us. The greatest part of life is to create the one we never get to live. That's what SAO is for me. The idea was to create my own little world. A world where every single person could create their own life they would otherwise never get to live. I don't write the story. I just give them a prompt to follow."
(Akihiko Kayaba, MMO Today Magazine)
Chapter 1:
Kirito waited with dozens of other nervous players at the door to the boss room. Beside him stood Asuna, his sole party member in the fight. A whole month had passed, and nobody had managed to make their way to floor two. Most people had started to feel that they might never make their way out of the game. Some groups had already given up hope, and were already wasting their lives away just doing enough fetch quests to feed their hunger bar and to pay for rent at the local in.
All hope seemed lost, until a wise player known as Diavel managed to use his charisma to create a team in order to kill the boss of the main dungeon on the first floor. Kirito touched his hand on the handle of his sword. He couldn't wait to fight the Kobold Lord again. His first encounter with the boss threw him off a bit, and lead to his first death in the beta-test. This time he planned to make no mistake.
"Alright everyone," Diavel said, turning around to face his audience. "This is Illfang's chamber. I could say a lot right now to you all, but I believe there's only one thing that fits. Let's do this!" Everyone's cheers echoed throughout the hallway leading to the entrance to the boss room. Scrambling, they pushed open the humongous door to the chamber. Most fumbled into the dark room as quickly as they could. The hallway was long and dark, with a wooden doorway in the back of the chamber, guarded by a figure shadowed by the low light. At least they kept that part the same, Kirito thought to himself. As he expected, the chamber began to shimmer with a blinding rainbow like glow coming from the ceiling. Some of the players covered their eyes, before they adjusted to the glare.
"Stand back!" Diavel warned them, holding his arm out in front of the group. They all waited. From the back of the room, the large monster known as the Kobold Lord crashed down from above in the center of the chamber. The red skin almost reminded Kirito of blood, and his dog-like face growled at them. Illfang let off a grand roar, bringing his axe and buckler out, and summoning several minions in the process. There wasn't any need to lower a stat from intimidation. The fear struck through everyone did the job no debuff could ever accomplish. "Alright men," Diavel cried out, "Get into position and CHARGE!"
The players overcame their emotions and rushed the towering beast. Kirito clenched the Anneal Blade in his hand. "This way!" He directed Asuna as they rushed the smaller kobolds. He parried an attack giving her just enough time to strike the creature in the chest. It felt strange to be in a party during the battle. Kirito had spent countless hours rebattling the boss for experience. After the first few attempts, he could win easily all on his own.
Even with the extra players, the thrill was only higher with the hardcore factor. Every point of damage he took felt ever more precious, and the need to press on was ever more present. He took a look to the main squadrons, who were busy fighting the villain itself. Although a few's health seemed to have reached the yellow area, they seemed to be doing fine. Most of the archers in the group were lined up in a formation that had taken hours the prior day for them to perfect. Nobody even tried to correct the fighting styles of the sword users. They would always charge in full force no matter what anyone advised. Kirito looked back at his partner. Her rapier danced through the air as if she had practiced her whole life. Even if she wasn't a beginner as she claimed, her skills out matched many of the beta testers even by the end of the testing period.
Illfang let off a roar in the distance, and the minion all instantly vanished. Kirito whipped his head around, and immediately check the boss's health. Sure enough, he was on the last quarter's worth of health. Everyone watched as the beast casted away his European weapons for the expected Indian blade. As the large red hand reached behind him, the gigantic sword slid out of sheath. Unfortunately, it wasn't a talwar as was expected. It was too long, as the curve was much to wide. The seemingly useless report on sword types Kirito did in seventh grade seemed to have paid off, as he recognized the Japanese blade on spot. It wasn't a talwar, it was an odachi. To most, it didn't seem like a big deal. However partially due to cultural bias, the odachi was a lot more powerful in SAO than the talwar. And that meant a lot of trouble for the fight.
Unfortunately, in the midst of Kirito's internal conflict on swords, Diavel had gone against the plan. Weapon drawn, he rushed Illfang alone, instead of the original idea for everyone to surround him at the end. His health was already in the orange, and with the upgraded weapon one shot could prove fatal.
"Diavel wait!" Kirito tried to warn, as he tried to get to their leader's side, "You can't go against him alone! Besides, he isn't using a talwar, that's an oda-". It was too late, Illfang's speed was increased by dropping the heavier weapons. In a matter of seconds, he took Diavel by surprise, knocking him flying across the room. Time seemed to slow down as he landed, and the entire raiding party seemed in shock.
Many players tried to run to help him, but Kirito got there first. "Go hold off the boss!" he ordered, "I've got potions, I can help him! Just finish this!" Hesitantly, the nodded and charged the warlord once again. "What were you thinking there?!" Kirito demanded as he pulled out one of his health potions for the dying general.
"It's no use," Diavel pushed the potion away, "I can already tell, my health's just dropping into the last words point." Kirito stared solemnly in silence. The last words point existed when you died, but your health was dropping slowly enough to give you just a moment to talk, but nothing could save you.
"Wait," Kirito gasped, "No newbie is going to know about that. How did you?" Diavel gave him a faint smile.
"You were in the beta too," he coughed, "Weren't you." Kirito nodded, setting the potion down at his feet.
"You were wanting the last attack bonus weren't you," he realized, "Don't you know how much of a risk that is?" The item was always awarded to the last hit on a boss, if the player hadn't beaten the boss before. It was a rarity to achieve even during the beta. Diavel chuckled softly.
"Everything I've done," he said, "Was for everyone else. I figured," he paused, "I could do something for myself. Funny my one selfish act would be my demise." He tilted his head so he could see the others fighting the boss. "They need a leader. Show them they can win. Show them, this game can be beaten." He gave off one final smirk, as he shimmered away into nothing, leaving behind just the trophy that symbolized his items to be looted.
Kirito stood up. Right beside him, Asuna was already prepared to assist in combat. "I'm ready for battle. What shall we do?" Both players drew their swords.
"Same strategy as we used against the minions," Kirito answered, "I'll counter, you strike!" Asuna nodded, and they sprinted to join the other fighters. With one look, Kirito realized how drastic the battle had become. Most players were in yellow health, with some even down to red. People were beginning to retreat to the entrance in hopes to regain some health from the natural regeneration. "Alright it's all or nothing Asuna!" Kirito let his voice fill the whole room, "He has a natural rhythm of attack, so all we need to do is time it right and we won't take a single hit!" Already, people's head began to turn to the pair as they charged.
Illfang made a grand jump at both of them, with a wide arc of attack. Kirito waited for just the perfect moment right before it hit them. "Now!" His sword skill shot him upward, countering the attack. Asuna followed his lead and made a flying leap at the kobold's stomach. However, she was too slow and he attempted to stop her with a powerful blow. "Asuna, watch out!" Almost stunned, she saw the incoming attack and ducked, letting the sword only cut off her hooded cloak. She continued to attack, smashing the monster for critical damage. The boss stumbled backwards. After just a short pause, it ran at them again. "Here he comes!" Kirito called, "Are you ready?" Asuna nodded, and prepared to attack.
Once again, Kirito countered right before they were hit, setting the enemy off balance. This time not waiting at all, Asuna jumped up and thrusted at Illfang again. Once again, he stumbled backwards, before running back at the heros. Kirito readied his sword, and attempted to stop the attack. Sadly, he realized he was too early, and he failed to counter altogether. The powerful strike sent him flying backwards to the ground. Preparing to strike again, the kobold loomed over him, raising his sword. Just as the blade came down, a green flash of light appeared, parrying the oncoming attack. Kirito looked to see the source was Agil, one of the more powerful members of the raiding party.
"Stay back for a moment," the practical giant reassured, "We can hold him off for a moment." Kirito looked and saw many of the other members of the raid group running in to help. He nodded, and gestured to go fight. Agil joined the others.
Kirito found Asuna offering him help standing up. "Thanks," he smiled, and reached back to pull out a health potion. His health bar quickly filled back up to full, and he charged back into the fight, with his partner close behind.
The other players still were having difficult getting any hits on the boss. Everyone was too focused on blocking. Kirito sprinted faster. This is for Diavel, he thought to himself. This is for Asuna. He ran even faster. "This is for everyone here!" He lept at the monster, flying over an incoming sword attack. "Asuna, counter!" he requested.
"On it!" She answered and knocked the beat's sword away.
"Die!" Kirito brought his sword right down into the head of Illfang, dealing just enough damage to finish the job. The Kobold Lord staggered backwards, before falling down, crashing to the floor, and disappearing into glimmering particles.
Kirito knelt on the ground, as the word "Congratulations" appeared in front of everyone. They all celebrated in excitement amongst themselves at their victory. They had done it. They could officially say they had defeated the first boss. They could win. They could beat Sword Art Online. Kirito looked at the rewards window in front of him. He scrolled past most of the experience, and the smaller bonuses to the larger prize. Sure enough, his prediction was correct. He had gotten the last hit. Therefor, he got the bonus. The "Coat of Midnight", which normally would be found closer to floor fifteen.
"Congratulations," Kirito looked behind to find it was Agil speaking to him, "We can only thank you for this victory. We would've all died without you." Kirito was in shock.
"No," he humbly denied his credit, "I can't take credit." All the other players began to shout and cheer for him. He couldn't believe what was happening. He felt honored. Unfortunately, his personal victory was short lived.
"Stop cheering!" a yell came from the back of the crowd. Standing there in anger, was Kibaou. The previous day, Kibaou had attempted to use Diavel's meeting as a source to channel his hate against the beta testers. He was quickly shut down by Agil, but he left quite the impression on the rest of the raiding team. "Why'd you do it?!" Kibaou demanded, "Why'd you let Diavel die?" The entire crowd looked at both of them in confusion.
"Let him die?" Kirito asked, just as puzzled as the rest of them.
"That's what I said!" Kibaou called back, "Admit it, you knew the boss's attack patterns! You could've told all of us! Then he wouldn't have had to die! He could've stood a chance!" The rest of the players began to murmur to each other. Thing seemed to only be getting worse.
"Wait, I know how he knew!" One of the other players exclaimed, "He was a beta tester! That's how he knew how to fight the boss so well! He knew everything and kept it from us!"
"That's right!" Kibaou followed, "He's probably not even the only one here! Reveal yourselves you cheaters!" Eyes of suspicion began to be cast on everyone. Kirito began to worry. Ideas ran through his head on what to do. He looked around at everyone. He needed to act fast. Suddenly, the message in front of him caught his eye. He suddenly knew what to do.
"You know," Kirito said as he stood up, "Today was a really long day. We just travelled through a whole dungeon, fought a boss, and now we're all accusing each other of being beta testers." He turned at looked directly at Kibaou. "You'd like us to reveal ourselves, correct? I know two off the top of my head. One of them is me." He paused, to give himself a dramatic build up. "And the other one, was the very player you accuse me of letting die!" Shock crossed the entire group, even Kibaou seemed to be stunned.
"That's a lie!" Kibaou accused, "You're just trying to defend yourself!"
"Oh am I?" Kirito asked, "All the facts point to it. He had a perfect strategy for the boss fight, he was in the party who found the boss room. Why do you think he was trying to have you buy my sword from me?" Kibaou didn't respond. "Sorry, was I not supposed to know about that? The dots weren't that hard to find out. You picked a pretty bribable person to ask me for the sword."
"Stop struggling!" Kibaou responded, "Nobody believes you!"
"Then let me finish and they will!" Kirito yelled back. "Listen, everyone. Diavel was a great guy. He wanted us to succeed. His goal was to win. However he did try to do one thing for himself. He wanted this." Kirito equipped the Coat of Midnight. "This is the rare drop item from the boss for the last hit. Unfortunately, he never lived to earn it. And think about it, he tried to buy my great sword, and fought the boss alone. He knew all along. You can't deny that he was a beta tester." Kibaou gave a huff, but chose not to interject.
"However, you can't say he wasn't great either," Kirito said, "He ran a great team. He was a great leader. This group of people has potential. And he saw it in all of you." Kirito pointed at the door. "Through that door is the second floor. About a kilometer south of there, is Urbus. It's the main town on the second floor. We have two reasons to go there. The first, is simple. Once we activate the teleportation gate, all of us should be able to warp there and back from the second floor. The second, is more complicated.
"Now I can't say I know Diavel's motives for leading this group, but I have a hunch that he believed in all of us. In Urbus, there's a building known as the Guild Agency. It's where all guilds can be formed. And maybe this is a bit sudden but," Kirito took a deep breath, "I want to invite all of you to a guild. In honor of Diavel. Who's with me?" He waited for an answer. Most of the players were hesitant, to confused by what he had explained to fully decide.
"I'm with you," Kirito was overjoyed to hear that Agil was the first person to agree.
"I guess I will." Another player agreed to join. Slowly but surely, almost twenty-five of forty sum people in the raid chose to join Kirito. Even Kibaou and his friends eventually agreed to joining. The number willing to join was more than Kirito could imagine. However, not among the ranks, was Asuna.
"I'm sorry," she told him, "But I don't think I'd belong in a guild of the most skilled players." She frowned at him. "Not yet at least." Kirito gave her a reassuring smile.
"I won't force you to join," he said, "However, although you can become powerful as a solo player in SAO, it's only to a limit. One day, if you're invited by a player you trust to join a guild, don't turn that chance down." Without another word, Asuna nodded and ran off through the door.
It was agreed to give the non-guild members a head start into the floor, so they wouldn't have to wait to pass by the guild. As Kirito waited for everyone to be ready to press forward, he took a few steps over to where Diavel's trophy statue remained. He scanned the items and gear. Most of it was useless to him, such as a weaker sword, food, or worn armor. However Kirito noticed a small, rather useless looking ring in the list. Curiously, he withdrew it.
It was mostly golden, with a small blue gem in the center. Inscribed inside, it said the words "Trust no one, but make everyone trust you". Kirito slipped it on his hand.
"Are you ready?" Agil asked him.
"Yeah," he answered, "Let's go." And the guild set forth into floor two, to see what adventures awaited them.