A/N: Please read the author's note at the bottom after finishing the one-shot. It'll make it just a little more clear.
ALfheim Online.
Colloquially referred to as ALO, it is one of the many VRMMORPG games out on the current market — and before the advent of the Seed, bore the distinction of being the second, and only existing one of its kind, succeeding the tragedy of Sword Art Online. Being the first VRMMORPG game of its kind to allow for a free-roaming flight mechanic, the game was attracting many players from various ages, countries, and backgrounds; young and old, many people around the world could find a place in Alfheim.
It was due to this, at least in part, that a certain Sylph, Erika, was currently racing through the skies of the Land of the Fairies. It had been a week and a half since her first true FullDive, and she'd finally mastered flying without an assist controller. The trick to it was a little complex, more than she'd initially given a VR game credit for, but in the end, the effort had paid off.
It was the idea of flight that had drawn Erika to this world, Alfheim. She hadn't been fond of games — and to be fair, that was putting it lightly — but recent changes in her life had given her reason to be curious about this world that so many people had fallen in love with. At first, she'd been skeptical; the idea of stepping into another body, especially one so pre-adjusted, and having it work like her own was odd to her at first. But once she'd taken to the skies, and truly gotten used to how this body moved, she couldn't believe it wasn't her's.
Tearing over the vast landscapes of Alfheim, Erika knew where she was headed. Swilvane, the Emerald Capital. It was home to her race, the Sylphs, and is considered one of the most beautiful lands in all of Alfheim.
"My race?" Erika thought to herself, blinking. It had only been a week, but she was already adjusting to the simple usage of possessive nouns in this world. My body. Mydagger. My wings. "It's still rolls off the tongue so strangely, but it's true; right now, all of this is mine." Erika took a nosedive, folding her wings along her back to minimize the wind resistance. As she picked up speed, she immediately unfolded the wings — her general inexperience caused only the slightest bit of lag, but Erika was able to pull herself back up into even flight, breathing a sigh of relief.
The Sylph took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air of the virtual world as easily as she would in the real world. "This feeling...it's so freeing!" She thought to herself as she felt the wind on her body; as a Sylph, the wind felt twice as good to her as to any other race. Sylphs were the fairies of the wind; she felt as home in the sky as she did on the ground. Her attention, regrettably, was diverted from the soothing feel of wind on skin as the air temperature began to heat up.
Erika pulled up into the air, and a sphere of flame shot beneath her like a luminous meteor. Breathing a sigh of relief at the near miss, Erika frowned. "That spell is the fire-element Fireball...so that means...a Salamander!?" Her brain was working for terms that were new to her; useless in the real world, and yet so critical to survival here in this new world. "Why is a Salamander here?"
Pirouetting gracefully in the air, the Sylph saw her suspicions were confirmed; closing in on her at high speeds was a Salamander. Clad in crimson armor, the man seemed to be elderly in appearance; this, however, was merely character customization choice. In actuality, he was a young man, who merely adopted the guise of an elderly gentlemen in ALO. To her surprise, it was a face she recognized; one of the few players she'd become acquainted with during her rather short foray into the virtual world.
"Lathlaeril?" Erika crossed her arms, looking at the man with a look of perplexity on her face. "Was it you who cast that Fireball?"
"Hello to you as well, Erika," Lathlaeril replied in a wizened voice that befit his appearance.
"You're avoiding my question, so I'll rephrase it," Erika continued sternly. "I'm asking if you were the one who cast that Fireball?"
Lathlaeril let out a prolonged sigh, the moustache on his lips trembling. When he spoke, his voice sounded weary, but also rehearsed, as if he'd been planning out to confront the Sylph woman for awhile. "Yes, I am." The Salamander continued to float freely before speaking again. "You abandoned the group yesterday, Erika, just prior to the boss raid in Aincrad. Hadn't we agreed to half an hour's notice if you intend to log out before a raid?"
Lathlaeril was the leader of a multi-race guild — one of many that had cropped up in the wake of 'New Aincrad' appearing in ALfheim Online — and Erika, in an effort to make her sojourn into the virtual world easier, had joined forces with Lathlaeril at his own suggestion.
"I don't remember agreeing to such terms," Erika replied, almost stubbornly. There was a part of her, a very strong part of her, that was not accustomed to dealing with the demands of others. In the real world, Erika tried to keep her own will absolute; this was true in her family as well. Granted, she'd reached certain compromises before, but there was a difference between concessions to someone important and following the rules and regulations of someone who she'd met nary a week ago.
"To work with us is to agree to our terms, Erika," Lathlaeril stressed.
"I told you before that I had obligations in the real world that would cut heavily into any time I spent here," replied Erika, "and I had more pressing matters to attend to at the time. Speaking of time, Lathlaeril, you're taking a lot of my time away right now."
Lathlaeril fingered the hilt of the sword at his waist; the weapon was his prized possession. It wasn't quite on the level of the sword Gram, much less Excalibur, but the blade was still a reliable enough plow horse to see him through many boss fights and dungeons. "If you don't intend to willingly side with us, then I suppose I'll have toconvince you."
Erika raised an eyebrow. Being challenged by another player was certainly new; she wasn't used to fighting other humans in the game yet, her best experience was against monsters, and their A.I. would be far more predictable than a human's attack patterns. An emerald eye cast an aside glance to the open landscape behind her; Sylphs were fast, very fast, in fact. But if she tried to escape, would she succeed? He could very well cast a much higher level spell than a simple Fireball and do her in.
"Is this how all people are in this world? Violent and unruly over something like this?" She frowned. No, that wasn't possible. Otherwise she wouldn't see so much in this world.
Attached to Erika's side was her own weapon, a dagger. It wasn't one she was entirely familiar with, but as she gripped it, the weapon felt just right in her hand. She hadn't truly bothered to check up on her stats lately, but she did know one thing; this body was strong. "I might be able to get in some proper practice with this," She thought to herself, gripping the weapon.
Without warning, Lathlaeril lunged towards her, his sword thrust forward with a flash of crimson. Smoothly, Erika bent around the strike, landing a solid kick to the Salamander's back and sending him plunging to the ground. Lathlaeril was able to regain his own momentum and torpedo back up to face the floating Sylph girl. Erika had figured Lathlaeril was going to be persist, and readied her blade. "Even if I'm practising, he's eating into my time; I want to try and end this quickly."
Erika extended a hand, and began to chant. "Ek létta með reginkunnr vindr!" The Words of Power encircled her, with only the words of the chant maintaining their presence in front of her, highlighting themselves. Lathlaeril, in desperation, was quick to strike again, but he wasn't quick enough. The words were converted into two half rings, which moved into the fore and formed the symbol of the Sylph race; the incantation was completed, and he felt himself wrapped in currents that slowed his movements considerably.
This forcibly created lag was just what Erika needed, and she didn't hesitate to press her advantage. After her successful incantation, she immediately activated a skill, and felt the system take over for her body. With great speed, Erika was moved from her spot, flying high into the air as her dagger lit itself up bright blue. She then felt herself forcibly flying downward, dagger poised to strike Lathlaeril. With a slicing motion, she tore through him, slicing off his left arm, as well as causing a large amount of his HP to deplete.
Lathaeril cast an aside glance to his missing limb, and tightened his grip on his sword. "W-Why is she so strong?" To be truthful, he'd never seen her level or stats since he'd been helping her — or at least never paid such close attention he bothered to remember — and while he'd seen her fight before, seeing one's power and experiencing it were two entirely different things.
"Ek!" Erika began to incant again, and while Lathlaeril made a movement forward, it was for not; the binding spell still made him sluggish. "Stinga þú með hjǫrr vindr!" The Words of Power appeared before Erika again, before the two half rings merged and formed the Sylph symbol. From her extended palms were fired multiple sharp needles of magical energy, each and every one of them piercing Lathlaeril in multiple places. These incisions into his body only served to further slow him, and it was only moments until he felt himself be sliced in half.
Erika had activated another Skill and utterly destroyed his remaining HP. His vision distorted and colour was lost as Lathlaeril lost all physical form and became a floating mass of flames that fell to the ground. With Erika as the victory, Lathlaeril had been reduced to a Remain Light.
"Apologies, Lathlaeril," Erika watched as the man's Remain Light form descended to the ground. "I suppose I'll have to make it up to you in the future." Turning away, she thought she could almost hear the Remain Light curse her as she tore off through the skies. Quickly, she put the man to the back of her mind, and swiped the air with her left hand. From this swipe was generated a set of buttons — a touch-controlled, holographic interface — and she pressed the Maps/Quest option, signified with a balloon icon.
Her purpose for coming here today was quite simple — relaxation. While she'd been trying to get into the world before, right now, she simply needed a day away. A way to relax, and take her mind off of thing. This world, as much as she had against it before, was beginning to grow on her more and more.
Even if it wasn't something she could admit out loud in the real world yet, here, she was someone else. Turning towards the general north eastern direction in relation to Sylph territory, Erika cast a glance at the holographic map. According to this, she was heading directly towards the Ancient Forest. She was sure she'd been there before, but her memory wasn't hazy. This body had most certainly been in that forest, at least.
The Sylph found herself flying over a forest that caused her eyes to light up. This was the Ancient Forest, and true to the name, was hundreds of years old. From her altitude, the trees themselves look much like an ocean of foliage, and the river running through the forest glistened, reflecting the bright sunlight of Alfheim. Erika took another, her wings folding themselves back. She headed directly for the water, spreading her wings back out just moments before she hit the water. Unable to help herself, she laughed as she skimmed along the surface of the river; she turned onto her side, arms extended, her fingers leaving a trail as they entered the cool water.
Shadows flickered over Erika, and she saw the reflections of multiple fairies flying over her head. Wherever they were going was beyond her. Taking a closer look at the water, she saw her own reflection, and even now, it still surprised her. "To see a face that isn't yours looking back at you...I wonder how players adjust to that?" Descending closer to the water, she saw her emerald eyes sparkling and her yellow tresses blowing in the wind.
However, the most startling feature of her current appearance was her smile. Erika was enjoying this.
Her wings spread wide, and Erika took to the skies. High above the Ancient Forest, the sky was littered with multiple floating islands. These islands were suspended, entirely defying gravity, through the Ancient Forest's rich magical energy. With great speed, Erika was headed towards one of the floating islands; there wasn't much to be seen there, unless a player was arriving simply for sightseeing.
As she approached one of the islands, a familiar monster was approaching her, and there was more than one. "An Evil Glancer!" Erika thought, gripping her dagger. The weapon began to glow blue, and she dashed forward, spearing two of the lizard-like creatures with one fell swoop, causing them to disperse into polygons. "Ek skýt tuttugu smár striða!" As the Words of Power became the familiar half-rings, and then the symbol of the Sylph; needles of pure wind magic shot from her palms, piercing the remaining Evil Glancers and dissolving them into polygons as well.
With her path clear, Erika made it towards one of the larger floating islands, landing neatly onto the mossy ground. This island was one of the higher floating islands that hovered above the Ancient Forest, and unlike the others, this one possessed an amenity that players would often come to enjoy: a naturally occurring onsen. "I heard that these onsens in the game provide natural character buffs depending on which one you visit," Erika thought, traipsing through the mossy forest; with a thin hand, Erika pulled vines out of the way. She could sense that she was getting closer to it; a Sylph was capable of feeling the rising and falling of air temperature at a rate other Fairy races couldn't, and she could already feel a slight warmth in the air.
Her trek through the isolated forest was uneventful, and for this, she was grateful. It meant that there were no other players on this island; perhaps they were frequenting the other islands, or the players she'd seen earlier had already left after receiving the stat enhancement. The air began to smell truly enticing to her Sylph nose, and she realized when she saw it that she'd hit her destination.
The steamy springs bubbled of suds and clear water, swirling around in multiple spirals around a rocky ringed enclosure bordered by a handful of woodland trees. Steam rose up and the sound of the boiling liquid permeated the air with an inviting orchestra of evaporating and heated moisture along with a entrancing scent of unfiltered H20 around the trees. Unoccupied by any player or creature, it was untouched and looked clean from first look by any passersby, making it a for sure location to relax a weary body that traversed this far.
After checking to make sure the area was truly devoid of any other players, Erika generated the familiar menu again with the swipe of her left hand. She pressed her finger to the Inventory/Equipment icon, and proceeded through the sub-menus that popped up. With the press of another button, the girl's traditional Sylph armor vanished, leaving her bare to the elements. Gently, she dipped a toe into the warm water, before giving in and simply sliding into the water in full. She let out a sigh as the warmth of the water overtook her; her MP was fully restored from the first dip into the water, and she could feel her aches wash away.
The Sylph cast a look towards the trees that blotted out the majority of the sunlight, causing only dappled rays to hit the area, and she felt another smile cross her lips.
"You were right, Asuna. This is a beautiful world."
A/N: So, what's with the random SAO one-shot, right? Well, for the longest time, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with SAO. I'd heard enough about it that I couldn't take the series; my girlfriend doesn't like it, most of my friends look at it with disdain, so I more or less just listened to their opinions and left the series be. But another friend of mine got me into SAO and...well, I think I like it a little more than is healthy now. So, after watching SAO II, and seeing Asuna's mother, an idea for a story hit me. A ridiculous idea, but it hit me nonetheless: 'What if Asuna's mother tried to play ALfheim Online?' I originally had this as a mini-series where she'd play the game using Asuna's sub-account, and I would always end the chapter as she logged out, but never reveal who it was until the very end of the story. But as of the writing of this series, I have The Erased Chronicles ongoing, and I can't manage two series at once (Heart of Adventurers is being co-written, after all). But I really wanted to do the story, so I decided to do a brief one-shot just to get the idea out of my system.
I'm sorry if it seems a bit nonsensical, or if I messed up somewhere, but I am new to the series, and it is Asuna's mother, who would probably be the last person to play a video game. Regardless, thank you for reading, and also, a thanks to the user BeneathThisMask, a good friend of mine, who supplied the Old Norse for the spells I used in this story that didn't come from the series.