Monday, November 7th 2022

Richard's Journal:

"Well, it's the end of day two in Sword Art Online, God only knows how long I'll be here so I may as well start recording everything that happens. Supposedly this will save to my NerveGear so when this is all over I can look back and read all of this. Who knows, maybe I can publish it and make millions like those Chileans that wrote that story about their time trapped in the mines. Or maybe they'll have something to read at my funeral so Mom can share my last moments. . . yikes.

Anyway, day two. I think we all wanted it to be a bad dream, especially Andrew. He was the first one up this morning, I guess since he's in Guam he's better adjusted to SAO's time changes, which should be identical to Japan's. That and all his military stuff. He probably couldn't help it. He went out and killed some of the level one boars and wolves around the village. He didn't make it out to Sheila, said he wouldn't face her alone until he got a better feel for the game. I'm sure he still finds combat here frustrating. In the real world he fights professionally, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Muay Thai, MMA, the whole shebang. I wanted to get into that stuff too but I think I'm too small for that right now. And I don't like getting punched in the face.

Francisco looks like he's taking all this the best, with a sort of quiet acceptance. I've never seen him as ferocious as he was this morning and yesterday. After we woke up and everyone had some more of our lamb stew, we headed out to Sheila's den. Just like yesterday Francisco volunteered to initiate. He's always been protective like that, I guess. A couple years ago I was getting picked on by a bully at school. I ignored him like they tell you to but one day he actually started beating me up, gave me a bloody nose and busted lip. Francisco was twenty-four at the time. When I came home crying he jumped in his car, drove to the kid's house, and threatened to be up the child, his siblings, and the parents. He's not as much of a martial arts enthusiast as Andrew but he's twice as intimidating, despite being shorter and thinner. I remember he used to do karate but he never went super far with it.

I heard him and Santos strategizing this morning during one of our breaks from Sheila. Santos is by far the smartest of us four, and he's got a really good feel for SAO. The Army is paying for his college right now, putting him through Pre-med then later probably Med school. Everyone is super proud of him but especially Dad and Andrew. Dad is happy one of his children is going to be a commissioned officer just like him, and Andrew his brother has what it takes to join the military. There's a running joke between them that one day Andrew will have to salute Santos since Andrew is enlisted. I don't know if I'll join the military or not. I don't want to kill people, but neither do Andrew or Santos and they joined.

I'm worried Francisco, Andrew and Santos blame me for getting trapped in SAO. They would never say it but I'm sure they're thinking it. Maybe not Santos since he was super excited about SAO on his own but definitely Francisco and Andrew. I wish I hadn't forced them to play with me.

That being said, I'm glad they're here. If what Akihiko Kayaba said is true, and we can't leave until all 100 levels are cleared, we are going to be here for a LONG time. I tried to downplay it for Andrew but I died more than two dozen times just trying to get through floor 6. I know the other Beta-testers had similar experiences on the other floors. There's no way we are going to get to floor one hundred in a couple months. Maybe a year, maybe. I'm going to keep that to myself though, no need to worry my brothers.

We have yet to see anyone other players. It's only been two days but so far nobody has made it out to Deda. All the Beta-testers know how tiny and crappy it is so none of them will come this way but I half expected a mob of newbies to come fleeing out of the Town of Beginnings. Maybe everyone stopped in Horunka Village. There's a blacksmith that gives you a quest for a decent sword there, the Beta-testers will want to knock that out asap.

Tomorrow will be probably be the same as today. Nobody gained any levels but we killed Sheila a bunch of times. No more "Sheila's Shawl" were dropped but we each have one already. I think we look pretty cool in these furs, and nobody else will have them for a while. I wish SAO hadn't converted back to my real size. I'm average size for a 14 year old but I look like a baby next to my brothers. Santos is only eighteen but he's already 6'4". Francisco and Andrew are even taller than that.

Well it's getting late, I think I'm going to call it a night.

I wonder what Mom and the girls are doing in the real world right now."


Sunday, November 13th 2022

"It's been a week," Francisco said as the brothers gathered in the center of Deda. They had taken to eating their meals outside instead of trying to cram themselves in the tiny hut. "Our contract on the hut expires," he continued, "so we can either renew it and keep grinding away at Sheila or we can move on to another village and new hunting grounds."

"I'm ready for the next village," Andrew said. He was finally getting used to the sword skills and combat of SAO, and was ready to press forward with beating Floor 1. "We should press on to Tolbana and start working on the first dungeon."

Santos interjected, "We need better gear before we try to push through the forest."

Richard nodded in agreement.

"Our starting gear has gotten us this far because we've only gone up against one opponent at a time, usually all four of us against Sheila," Santos continued. "According to Rich, there's a chance we'll get swarmed by monsters in the forest. We need better armor as a minimum, and better weapons if we can afford it."

"Alright," Andrew said seeing the logic in what his younger brother was saying. "Where do we go to get armor?" He pointed at the nearest NPC. "These guys don't sell shit besides cleavers, blankets and lamb stew."

Richard answered, "The Town of Beginnings. It has the largest population of NPC's in all of Floor 1, maybe all of Aincrad. Lots of different shops and armorers to choose from."

"Are we sure we want to mix that closely with all the other players?" Francisco asked. "I bet the majority of players haven't wandered too far from that place." He looked at each of this brothers. "That's roughly ten thousand people inside one square kilometer. It could be dangerous."

Santos shook his head. "It's impossible to hurt anyone inside a city so there's nothing to fear once we make it inside. Since you can't pick up the items from another player that you kill," he looked towards Richard to confirm this then continued when he received an affirmative head bob. "And players don't offer a whole lot of EXP so I can't imagine many people will be attacking each other. Not to mention the orange icon over their head if they've committed a crime."

"So if we avoid any orange players we should be good?" Andrew asked.

"Should be, yea," Santos answered. "We're all at level 5 so we shouldn't have any problems with monsters on the way back."

Francisco climbed up to his feet. "Then it's decided, we'll head to the Town of Beginnings, spend the night there, then head for Tolbana."

The other three brothers all rose to their feet too in agreement.

"I'm gonna grab one more cauldron of lamb stew," Richard said heading for Cathy. "This is the only place on Floor 1 where you can get it so maybe we can sell it for a profit."

A fresh pot of lamb stew, and their pile of fur's and cors in tow, the Mashadou brothers left Deda and headed for the Town of Beginnings.

"Do we wanna say hi to Sheila on last time?" Andrew asked jokingly. The brothers chuckled amongst themselves.

"She's kind of like family now, huh?" Francisco added.

Richard was looking out in the direction of her den when something caught his eye. "Actually guys, we may want to stop by." He pointed and the brothers turned to see what the youngest had spotted. A player, equipped only with his starting sword and clothes, was running away from a dire wolf, headed directly for Sheila's Den.

"He's gonna kill himself!" Andrew cried. Without waiting for anyone else he took off at a sprint for the boy.

"Andrew, wait!" Francisco called, hot on his younger brother's heels. Santos and Richard shared a look then followed, drawing their weapons as they ran.

Richard could see that the boy running was terrified, tears running down his reddened face as he ran for his life, his health bar already in the yellow. Just as the player approached Sheila's Den, the wolf chasing him gave up, it's programming telling it to return to its spawn point. The boy didn't notice. He disappeared from view, running through the boulders that surrounded Sheila's enclave.

"Crap," Richard said between breathes as he pushed his legs as hard as they would go. He could actually feel SAO limiting his max speed as he hadn't earned enough levels to run at his top speed in the real world.

A frightened shriek echoed through the boulders and into the field. Francisco and Andrew had their weapons out and barreled into the lair. Just as Santos and Richard reached the edge a pathetic cry for help escaped the player's lips. Sheila had the boy's throat in her jaws, and was yanking the boy's body about. Richard gasped, momentarily stunned by the ferocity. This was Sheila's special attack. The brothers hadn't seen it yet because they hadn't been careless enough to lower their guard.

Tears welling up in his eyes the player, a boy barely older than Richard, reached out for Francisco and Andrew. He exploded into a mess of blue polygons just as Andrew's sword cut into Sheila's hide.

"No!" Andrew screamed as his sword bit into the beast. Francisco was right behind him, equally furious. Santos and Richard joined the fray in an instant.

A week of fighting the same monster every five minutes of every day, and they had never defeated Sheila as quickly as they defeated her just then. Richard landed the last blow.

"Dammit." Andrew said when Sheila disappeared. He put his hand on his face and clenched his eyes shut. "What the hell was he doing out here alone? Why would he run into this pit?"

Francisco put his hand on his taller brother's shoulder. "It's not our fault, Andrew," he said in his soothing voice.

Andrew growled and shook his head, then dropped his hand and sighed. "I know, I know, you're right." He turned to Richard. "Why couldn't I run any faster? It literally felt like a hand was pushing on my chest preventing me from running at full speed."

"It's the game," Santos answered for him. "Running is a skill that goes up with your level. That was our top speed at level 5."

Andrew kicked the ground in front of him. "God I hate this game."

Richard didn't want to say anything but he was confused by the window in front of him. They had been awarded no experience, money, or items for that kill. He was just about to speak up when he heard a yipping noise from the side.

Francisco, Andrew, and Santos spun around, swords at the ready. Out of the cave that served as Sheila's shelter came a little wolf pup, waddling about on tiny legs.

Francisco snorted. "What is that?"

The wolf pup ignored the three brothers and their swords and waddled over to Richard.

"It doesn't have a health bar," Santos commented as it walked right past him.

Curiously enough the puppy stopped immediately in front of Richard. A window appeared next to its fluffy face. Richard squatted down to examine what looked like a ton of writing in the window.

"What's it say?" Andrew asked walking around to get a better look.

Richard skimmed through the paragraphs of writing then started shaking his hand excitedly.

"It's a special event!" Richard practically squealed. "It's offering me the extra skill "Beast Tamer" if I accept the wolf pup as my pet!"

"Nice!" his older brothers said.

"What are you waiting for? Accept it!" Francisco insisted.

Richard flicked through the window until he found the "Accept or Reject" option. He pressed "accept" without any hesitation. An empty bar appeared over the wolf pup's head asking for a name.

"What should I name him?" Richard asked. It had taken the boy almost an hour to decide on his SAO character's name. He ended up choosing "Leonhardt" so he could dub himself "Richard the Lion Hearted" with his friends.

"It's your pet," Andrew said. "What would you name a pet wolf in the real world?"

Richard thought for a minute and examined the puppy. Right now it looked like a cute ball of fluff, with mostly gray fur and a couple of dark brown and black parts. Despite its cuteness Richard thought he could see intelligence in the creature's eyes, wisdom and knowledge. He knew that it was just the graphic design of SAO but he couldn't shake the feeling.

"Socrates," he announced as he typed in the name.

His brothers nodded their heads approvingly.

"An original name for a wolf," Santos commented.

Richard hit "enter" then stood up, waiting excitedly to see what would happen. Suddenly there was an exploding pain in his chest.

"Aaargh!" he cried clutching his chest. His vision swam and he felt himself falling down. The pain was incredible, and way too real for anything in SAO.

"Rich!" Francisco cried out, catching his brother before he collapsed onto the ground. The eldest brother watched helplessly as his youngest sibling spasmed in his arms. After fifteen painfully long seconds Richard was still.

"Oh man," Richard said rubbing his sternum. "What was that?"

"Are you okay?" Francisco asked. He helped pull Richard up to his feet.

"Yea, the pain is gone now." He looked around his brother, "Look!"

Right before their eyes the wolf puppy, "Socrates" now visible above a green health bar, started growing. His nose stretched longer, his ears grew bigger, his legs too became longer and thicker. The fluffy fur was replaced with a real fur coat and his body fleshed out. The puppy was now only a little bit smaller than a fully grown german shepherd.

The brothers stood there stunned by the creature's transformation. Socrates wagged his tail excitedly then barked, causing all of them to jump.

"Well," Andrew said slowly reaching out to pet the juvenile wolf. "He'll be much more useful at this size." Socrates turned his head to the side then started licking the man's outreached hand. Andrew chuckled. "Check it out Rich, he likes me." Andrew glanced over at his brother. The boy looked like he was about to cry. "What's wrong, Rich?"

Richard shook his head. "I should have read the whole thing," he said in a voice that was about to crack. He pointed up to his HP bar that only he could see in the top left corner of his vision. "It said that I had to permanently sacrifice ten percent of my max HP to accept the extra skill."

Francisco and Santos winced, Andrew pulled his hand away from the wolf.

"Can you undo it?" Santos asked concerned.

Richard didn't bring his eyes up to look at his brothers. "No," he said. "It's not an option. And if Socrates dies, my HP stays at 90% forever." He finally looked up, embarrassed and ashamed.

Santos looked from Richard to Socrates. He seemed to be considering something important. When he turned back to Richard he said, "No, this is a good thing. Even if you'd read the whole thing we would have decided to accept," he insisted.

Richard rubbed his nose. "You think so?"

Santos nodded confidently. "Right now ten percent of your health was what? Maybe one hundred hit points? How much health does Socrates have?"

Richard looked at the health bar that now sat closely under his own, above the bars of his brothers.

"He's got half as much health as I do," Richard answered.

Santos held out his arms. "See? Simple arithmetic. You traded ten percent for an extra fifty percent that can fight on its own."

Richard smiled, feeling a little better. "He'll level up too," he said remembering that one of the Beta-testers he'd met a while ago had this extra skill. "So he'll gain more HP with each level."

"Very nice," Francisco said. "But in the future, let's make sure we read everything before ever clicking 'Accept'."

"Try him out," Andrew said rising back to his feet. "Tell Socrates to do something."

"Okay!" Richard turned to his new familiar. "Come here, Socrates." With an excited wag of his tail Socrates ran over to his master and sat at his feet. His pink tongue was hanging out of his mouth between long white canines.

"Good boy!" Richard rubbed his new pet's head. Socrates nuzzled him affectionately.

"Let's get out of here before Sheila returns." Andrew said glancing at his timer in his personal window. "I don't really feel like fighting her again after today."

The brothers all nodded and left her den for the last time.

On their way to the Town of Beginnings nobody mentioned the player that had been killed by Sheila. Instead everyone's attention was on Richard and Socrates. They picked fights with several of the low level boar, wolves and mantises in the field to gage Socrates's abilities.

They learned that Socrates could be ordered to attack an opponent on his own, or he could be set to guard mode, where he would only attack monsters that targeted Richard. He was way faster than any of the brothers but his attack damage was just under theirs. His attack patterns were also incredibly basic but Richard was convinced that would change as he leveled up. They determined that Socrates didn't level up on his own, but that he shared Richard's level. Interestingly enough they also discovered that Richard's skill levels in hearing and spotting had skyrocketed well above everyone else's and his sense of smell had even increased. The sensation was a little nauseating for the boy at first.

When he wasn't sending Socrates into battle, Richard devoted time to reading the "Tamed Monster" window while he walked. The most important detail, emphasized multiple times in the info window was that Socrates had to be fed every day. On top of that, every time he let Socrates's health fall into the red, the wolf's affinity value would depreciate, and eventually it could turn on him as a regular monster. He read the whole thing twice but couldn't find an option to view Socrates's current affinity value. He tried asking Socrates himself but all he got was a sopping wet kiss and a yip from the wolf.

Richard determined that Socrates was not one of the familiars that could heal its master. The extra levels and a fighting companion would be all he was getting. That was fine with him though, he'd always wanted his own dog.


Author's Note: So "Beast-Tamer" wasn't an actual skill in the SAO universe. Anyone could tame a wild monster, it was just a matter of chance that was affected by the level of the monster, its type, the food that was offered to it, and so on and so forth. I changed that up just a little bit for the sake of my story. Even the name "Beast-Tamer" was just a phrase used by players to identify someone who had tamed a monster. It wasn't a class in its own right.

Hope you guys at least find this decently interesting. More words and chapters will follow later. Thanks!