I do not own Sword Art Online. Happy Reading!
-Prologue-
And this concludes the tutorial for Sword Art Online," finished the large figure cloaked in red as it disaparated.
And then began the screaming.
I, too, scared the first day. Who wouldn't be worried about dying in this now nightmare of a game.
I walked around aimlessly in the Town of Beginnings , my eyes glazed with the vancancy usually gotten after some sort of psychological trauma, which, in this case, is rather appropriate.
All day, I walked, unthinking, uncomprehendingly, until I bumped into someone.
"Sorry," I mumbled, moving along.
The person I had bumped into put a hand on my shoulder.
"There's no need to be afraid," he said.
"We could all die, do you fail to comprehend this?" I asked incredulously.
"So until someone beats the final boss, you're just going to walk here, all of town, with no emotion, no thoughts, nothing at all?" he asked.
I opened my mouth the closed it. I opened it again and then closed it once more. And then a third time. My thoughts raced through my mind at breakneck speed.
He has a point. Is this really who I am? A coward who's afraid to fight. No, if this game is now life then I must live to the fullest extent that the parameters of this game allows. I will live!
"Thank you for your advice," I thanked him, a bit less somber than before.
As I walked to the fields, where I hoped to kill some boars on my own, I recieved a friend request. Diabel.
-Chapter 1-
I slashed the last tree ent with my sword, bronze and of normal size, killing it and gaining 60 col and some experience. Still no sign of the item I had been recruited by an NPC to obtain from a tree ent.
The NPC had asked me to search for a necklace that had been in the family for generations. I highly doubted that considering the it had only been nearly a month since the start of the game but who was I to disagree?
The reward was what interested me. I had chosen beast taming as a skill and it had a quest that led me to the NPC that had recruited me to find the necklace. The reward was 3000 col (money), a hefty amount for the first floor and an egg. Rumor had it that it was a phoenix and also unheard of within the game. Of course, no one even bothered with the quest because there were far too many tree ents on the first floor to bother accepting the quest. Besides, some of the tree ents were on par with the levels of the highest level players, so why risk the possibility of getting killed?
I accepted the quest on a whim, mostly because I had nothing better to do. But nearly a week on a single quest was far too long and very draining on patience. I had killed all where the locations of tree ents rested but one. The tree ent field boss, Nam the Wood Queen.
I, like most other top tier players, did not want to solo field bosses because of the near certain mortality rate . A rate I greatly wished to avoid.
I sighed. I'd have to go on that other quest that I had been asked to complete because I did not yet have a shield.
I left the wooded area, that began to respawn wood ents and used a teleport crystal.
"Teleport, Village of the Grass Sea," I said as I held the crystal high.
I arrived in the village, located in the middle of a grassy area. It was a small village with not many inhabitants and because of the high leveled monsters outside the village, many players did not bother coming here. However, the people who did live here gave quests, rather rare quests that was only given once in a while. Of course, whatever task needed to be completed had a high difficulty rating and as a result, no one bothered doing these quests. Except me, of course.
The village with a layout typical of most villages on the first floor. A cleared area in the center of town where food shops, clothing shops, armor shops, weapon shops, and other similar necessities in Aincrad. Then, three or four roads leading outward to either the housing district, skilled NPCs and players, and the town hall, and then finally, the edge of the village that went on in a sea of grass, until the edge of the woods.
I walked towards the skilled NPCs district where I looked for the blacksmith who had offered me the quest.
Within a city, town, or village, there was no danger of losing your life which is why I dressed simply, a lapis lazuli colored tunic and black pants. I searched through the district and finally, I found his workplace and entered.
"Ah, adventurer, you have come to accept my quest?" asked the rugged man, crossing his broad, smithed-trained arms together.
"I do have need if a shield so yes, I accept your offer," I replied while tapping yes to the quest that appeared on my menu.
"Your task is to obtain lizard scales, 1000, and some copper and tin ore about 10 of each should be enough," intoned the blacksmith, turning back to his work.
I left the place. 1000 scales was a great amount but I had trained against them for a time until I had reached level 7 so I had many scales that no one had wanted to buy so in reality, I had maybe half of that amount still to get. Still a great amount but reduced by half and far more tangible. The lizard-men often dropped copper and tin ore so that would be easy to obtain.
This time, I used the teleport in the village heading to the village named Forest Edge. Quite obviously, Akihiko, the creator of this game, wasn't too creative in naming things.
I arrived in the village, immediately heading out to my former hunting spot located within the forest.
I arrived at my hunting spot fairly quickly. It was a small clearing within the forest, a log at the edge of the clearing and not many other objects, at least not of a large size. In the clearing were many lizards, ripe for killing.
I entered the clearing, not bothering to hide myself as I could easily take anything the lizards could throw at me. I was right. The lizards, all swords- and spearmen charged me but one hit with my bronze sword sent them into a million shards of data, to respawn where they had been killed at a later time.
I had taken minimal damage, even without a shield, my defense was of a high level as well as my other stats. It was soon evening and I decided to stop for the day, satisfied with my progress of obtaining 300 scales and needing only 250 more until I completed the quest. I had surpassed the ore requirement, even gaining an occasion iron ore.
I walked back to the village an entered its boundaries, now safe from losing hit points. I went to the center square and found a cheap yet comfortable inn that offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I ate dinner, went to my room and went to sleep.
I, being a fairly early bird, woke up four hours before noon, dressed in my usual tunic and pants and went down to eat breakfast. I ate a hearty breakfast of crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, and a tall glass of juice.
I was not a fan of the clunky, heavy armor that most tanks wore, preferring speed over defense which is why I wore an improved version of the basic leather armor given at the beginning of the game. I went to the clearing and fought lizards, never having to use a sword skill.
By noon, I had finished. 1000 lizard scales along with the required tin and copper now laid in my possession. I went to the village and used the main teleport to teleport to the Village of the Grass Sea.
I walked to the blacksmith's shop and entered.
"I have the materials," I said to the blacksmith, sending the materials to him.
"Excellent, I'll make that shield now," he said, smelting the ore.
I sat in a nearby chair and walked him work. From my experience with other MMORPG's, it was not the usual way of making a shield. He called me over when it was finished.
"I have finished your shield," the blacksmith said as he gave me the finished product.
Quest Complete
Items gained:
-Scale Shield Type 1
-5000 experience
-2000 col
-New skill obtained
I first looked at the description if the shield.
Scale Shield Type 1
Description: An upgradable shield made of scales. Its unique feature of having three spikes made of ore makes it the ultimate combination of attack and defense. Upgradable twice more. Speak to Horace, the blacksmith after reaching the tenth floor.
My only thought was that this shield is going to be a huge asset in the game. I then pulled up the new skill I had gained.
Skill: Shield Crush
Description: The user crushes the opposition by smashing the scale shield into the designated creature. Ignores defense 5% of time. Recharge Time: 20 seconds.
I hoped that the recharge time would lessen as I upgraded my shield. I now examined the shield itself. The basis of the shield was formed by the lizard scales but fused within were spikes made of bronze that jutted out two feet. Deadly to any monster that attacked and the ridges on the spikes were to catch weapons such as swords or spears and disarm by twisting my shield. Because of the infusing, I doubted the spikes could be broken off.
Horace talked to me no more and so I showed myself out.
Time to go to hunt the wood ent field boss. Of course, no one dared solo a field boss which is why I used the teleport gate in the center area to teleport to the town with the most commerce and as a result, the most players.
There was nothing special about this town other than being the second largest settlement in the first floor. As a result, most parties were formed here because it was near the middle of the first floor.
In the center of the town, there was a message board in which players could post things that asked for a party to join, so on and so forth.
I went to the message board and looked for a party needing members to take on Nam, the Wood Queen.
Some of them read:
Searching for members to complete a dangerous quest.
Joining party for tournament.
And I found one hunting the field boss I was going for
Searching for member to defeat Nam, the Wood Queen. Have four members. Apply by sending a message to Willowkiss.
So I sent a message and received one back telling me to Ent Village, so named because of its close proximity to the location of the highest leveled tree ents and their queen.
So, using the town teleport, I teleported to Ent Village, the only village located in the middle of a forest. I searched for a while and then messaged her, for Willowkiss is a she, and asked her where she was.
"Here we are," exclaimed a voice, coming out from the teleport portal.
I spun around and saw four people coming put, two boys and two girls.
"Pleased to meet you," the girl I assumed to be Willowkiss said, extending her hand.
"Pleasure to be here," I replied, shaking her hand.
She had a sort of gothic-emo flair to her, with black hair that had a few pink streaks, deep, green eyes surrounded with black eyeliner, alabaster skin, and all black clothing. By many standards, a very pretty girl.
"We," she said, gesturing to her and her companions, "thought that we should start immediately, what do you think?"
"I don't mind, I'm ready," I said,"lead the way.
So we went, and I studied them and their weapons.
Willowkiss used, surprisingly, a two handed scythe. It had attack power that rivaled a spear because it also was a two handed weapon. Of course, her defense and hit points were unusually high due to a lack of a shield.
Shauna and her brother, Mobius, were both redheads and wielded a bow and heavy shield and sword respectively. They made a powerful duo that relied on Mobius's shield to keep attackers at bay and forced them backwards while Shauna picked them off using her bow. Both were rather jovial in personality.
And then there was the solemn Perseus. A silent fellow with brown hair and eyes, dedicated only to whatever task needed to be completed next. I personally thought he named himself after the Greek hero to get some of his good luck. Although I couldn't blame since my own name was a combination of the two founders of the Roman Empire of legend.
Slaying tree ents was easy work for a level 12 like I so I only used my sword. It was reasonable progress towards the field boss and after a couple of hours if hacking, slicing, shooting, and in Willowwit's case, beheading, we finally arrived in a small clearing where in the center was a large tree.
"What formation will we use?" asked the ever focuses Perseus.
"We could send Mobius out in the front, Shauna in the far rear, Willowkiss and I to attack and Perseus to switch in," I said.
"I'd prefer you to be the one who switches in, seeing as how you're the strongest damage dealer here," Willowkiss argued.
"Reasonable," I accepted knowing I was the highest level.
"Now that we have our battle plan, let's go," said Mobius, leading the way.
We edged our way carefully, on guard for any movement or surprise attacks. When we got within twenty yards, the center tree rose. Nam, The Wood Queen had the typical build of a regular tree ent, with a face on the upper levels of the trunk, branches for arms, and a leaf top for hair. Nam was faster than her subordinates and had two bars of health but it was nothing we couldn't handle.
Mobius had a large, bronze shield that easily absorbed hits from Nam's branches. Shauna steadily depleted her arrows into the trunk of the boss although it didn't do much damage since the arrows stuck in only half the time they were shot.
Willowkiss slashed her scythe attacking from the left and Perseus did the same, his blade that would eventually turn katana stripping health from the boss. I switched in occasionally, taking the place of Perseus or Willowkiss whenever they got tired and hacked and slashed to my heart's content.
Once Nam's second bar of health had been taken to yellow, things went wrong. Very wrong. Nam gained a huge strength bonus and sent Mobius flying straight into Shauna. Mobius's shield shattered.
"Uh-oh," he said as his health went to half.
"Get off me!" yelled Shauna, struggling to escape.
With the tank and archer out of commission, it was up to the rest of us to kill the boss. Nam decided I was the main threat and lumbered towards me, her arms outstretched to attack.
I was still in green and knew that my sword alone would not be enough to parry so I materialized my shield and began running towards her, getting ready for a final showdown.
I brought my shield to block the first arm, sending both our arms reeling and shaving off a few points of health in the process. I then proceeded to use the momentum of reeling to spin around and slash my sword at the boss dealing significant damage.
Then Nam countered my counter attack using both her arms to pound me into the ground, like a hammer to a nail, I, unfortunately, being the nail. I rolled to the left and activated Shield Crush and slammed my shield into Nam, killing her.
I sat down, breathing heavily due to the intense workout I had just completed.
Final Attack Bonus
Items received:
-Quest Item: Necklace x1
-Grass Cloak x1
-Health Potion x20
-Teleport Crystal x5
-20000 col
Experience gained: 15000
Level up!
"Good fight," I said, dissipating my shield, standing and leaning on my sword.
"You were amazing," Willowkiss gushed,"where did you get that shield."
"Trade secret," I smiled, finally warming up from my serious side,"we should head back to Ent village, get a room in an inn, and divide the spoils there."
So we all returned and sat at a table in the room we had rented.
"So what did everyone get?" asked Willowkiss.
"I received an iron shield from the boss and 10000 col," said Mobius, materializing it on the table.
"My sword was upgraded into a katana and I got 5000 col," said Perseus.
"I got a new bow and 7000 col," said Shauna, grinning.
"I obtained an iron blade scythe, 5000 col and a pendant," said Willowkiss, putting her pendant on the table.
"I got a quest specific item, 20 health potions, 5 teleport crystals, 20000 col, and a grass cloak," I said, putting the crystals, potions, and the grass cloak on the table.
"How do you divide the spoils of war?" I asked them.
"Typically, we only divide the money, potions, and crystals and then keep whatever items we gained," explained Willowkiss.
"What description does the pendant and grass cloak have?" asked Perseus.
"I don't know, I haven't checked yet," I said as I looked up its description.
Grass Cloak
Description: A cloak that increases defense by 20%. All earth based monsters attacks are reduced by 30%.
I repeated it and everyone stared in awe.
"What? Why is everyone looking at me like that?" I asked.
"Most creatures are earth-based..." Shauna let on.
"I see...oh, I see!" I exclaimed, looking at the grass cloak again.
"That's a super rare item," said Perseus.
"So it is," I agreed,"must be from the final attack bonus."
New Message Received
I opened the message.
"My team and I have found the boss for this floor. Care to join us, Remulus?" -Diabel."
I smiled and asked to the group,"Care to fight the boss?"
-Chapter 1 End-