I awoke to the sound of birds outside my window, having completely forgotten where I was, I got up and examined my surroundings.
Then it all came back to me in seconds, I was still trapped in SAO.
"Guess, I'm definitely not dreaming then," I sighed
The almost non-existent part of me that had hoped this would be some horrid dream had been squashed completely.
Leaving the room, I went downstairs to the bar and asked for a drink.
"What'll it be?" the barkeep asked.
Sitting down, still only half awake, I mumbled: "Surprise me"
As the barkeep started getting to work, I formulated my next move. I should keep moving- more people will arrive soon and the town will be cramped with players, trying to earn experience or do quests. I'll go to the third town and-
My thoughts were interrupted as the barkeep placed my drink on the table.
"That'll be five col," he said.
Handing the barkeep the col, I took a sip of my drink. It was bitter, but warm and slid down my throat like warm milk.
"Get past the taste and it's not that bad," I remarked quietly.
After sitting and drinking for a while, I heard a ring as the door opened and a group of older players swaggered in.
Looking at me, the leader of the small band smirked. "Oi, tiny, fuck off. This is our bar now."
Ten of them and only one of me. I can't win this one.
Grunting, I stood up and made my way out. I was more than mad, I was furious, even though we are all trapped in a situation where our lives are in danger, people are still assholes.
I won't be able to make much progress, if no one takes me serious, what do I do?
Looking at my reflection in a nearby window. I noticed why. Even though I was fairly fit and had some muscle on my bone, one could easily tell that I was still young. My rounded features gave me an innocent look, and that was my problem.
Looking throughout town for a solution to my problem, I stumbled across a sign, that read:
"Lisbeth's Armoury"
I looked up- seeing a small wooden stall, upon it laid a small assortment of weapons and armour.
The smith must have worked through the night to make enough weapons to sell to all the players
"Are you going to keep looking at the sky or are you going to buy something?" Looking down, I saw that a girl was now standing behind the stall, her pink hair standing out like a blimp.
"Well, are you buying or not? I have work to do," she asked again. Approaching the stall, I looked at the assortment, which comprised mostly of heavy looking armours and weapons.
"Do you have anything lighter?" I asked, skimming over the last few items.
"Let me check," she said, as she ducked under the stall. Coming back up after a few moments, she placed a small package on the table. "This is my first and only attempt at tailoring," she warned as she pulled the contents of the package out. She unfurled the article of clothing and turned away as if she was ashamed of it.
Stepping forward, I examined the coat that she had pulled out. It was made of a dark brown leather and almost reached the floor. I noticed that halfway down the thigh the coat was split, allowing the user to move better in combat. A cuffed collar added to the intimidating impression of the coat.
"I know it's not that good, I should just pack it away," she said- as she moved to put the coat back, I stopped her gently, taking the coat from her hands.
"How much?" I asked as she turned her back.
"Err, what?" she asked, confused.
"You heard me, how much for the coat?"
"Tw-two hundred," she stuttered out shocked. Fishing around in my purse, I took out the last of what was in it. "Wait, you really want to buy this?" she asked, dumbfounded.
"Of course, not only does it fit my purpose, but it's also finely made." I remarked as I took the coat and swapped out my equipment.
"R-really?" the once cocky blacksmith asked meekly.
"Of course, if I should ever need another I'll come to you."
"Sure. As you probably already know, my name is Lisbeth. And you are?"
"Call me Seth" I said, extending my hand in a friendly gesture.
"Alright Seth, before you leave I need to complete your look" she said, having now regained her confidence. From under the stall she pulled out a matching fedora. When did she have the time to make all this? It's only been a day.
"Try it on" she said.
Taking the hat I put it on. "Well, what do you think?" I asked. She mused slightly to herself before going behind her stall and grabbing yet another item- a small brown bandanna.
"I think it's missing something, here try this on." Tying the bandana to my head, Lisbeth took a step back. "You look like a proper cowboy" she said while grabbing a mirror. Looking in the mirror, I saw that Lisbeth was indeed correct, I looked intimidating but not unapproachable.
Exactly what I had been looking for.
Thanking her, I turned to leave, but not before a window popped up in front of me.
Lisbeth has sent you a friend request. Do you accept?
Turning around, I saw her standing with crossed arms staring at me expectantly. Tapping the "yes" icon, I saw her smile. "Hey, don't go dying on me now! You hear me? You're one of my favorites!" She shouted.
"I'll try not," I said, continuing on my way.
Deciding not to use the forest as a "shortcut" this time, I followed the beaten road, which was supposed to lead to the third town.
The road was oddly deserted, not even a monster to see. As it got later into the evening and I still hadn't seen anything, I started to worry
Something is wrong.
On the outside, I looked like I was walking, calm and carefree, but under the rim of my hat, I constantly kept a wary eye on the bushes to my left and right. My caution was not unwarranted, as when I came to a junction in the road, the ground was littered with backpacks, and there were small patches of blood not far from them. Now officially spooked, I unsheathed my blade and went to examine the chaos.
Getting down on one knee, I touched the blood soaked ground- it was wet.
It must have been shed recently. Standing up again, I heard a muffled scream and quickly turned around. A girl was dragging herself out of the bushes, blood pouring from a wound in her shoulder
"Please, help me!" she screamed at me repeatedly, the blood trail now growing in size behind her.
Wanting to step forward, I stopped as I saw another figure come out of the woods, a blood soaked man with a knife in his hand.
What the fuck!?
The man laughed manically, following the girl who was bleeding out on the ground before noticing me and smirking. Striding towards me, sword in hand, the man attacked me.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I shouted, stepping back as the man lunged at me with his sword. Grinning, the man tried again and again to stab me
'This guy's insane! He won't let up...' my thoughts raced through my mind
Taking advantage of my distraction, the man managed to nick my arm with his blade, causing me to drop my sword. The man, confident in his success, decided to take his time, mocking me by slowly approaching.
Thinking fast, I pulled down my hat and kicked sand into the man's face who shouted in pain as he was blinded. I tackled him to the ground and pulled my knife from its sheath on my back. Attempting to end it fast, I aimed for his head, lunging the knife down, but he raised his arms to protect himself. My knife went through his arm and running on pure adrenaline, he threw me off. Landing on my back, I picked up "Judicor" from the ground. I met his incoming blade with my own. Now in a power struggle, we pushed at each other with our swords, but the blood loss from the wound in his arm was beginning to take its toll, and I was starting to win ground. The man was at a loss, his eyes twitching left and right, rapidly trying to find an escape route.
Big mistake.
Taking advantage of his distraction, I broke his guard and stabbed him in the gut. Falling back, he looked at me, shock evident in his eyes. Before he could react, I lunged and dug my blade straight through his heart. Gasping for air one last time, the man collapsed before bursting into a myriad of blue pixels.
Turning my head, I looked for his last victim, who had dragged herself out of the woods, but found instead only a trail of blood leading to a backpack.
"Fuck." I gritted my teeth.
I fell onto my knees. What have I done? I looked at my hands, they were covered in blood. What have I done?
You did, what you had to-the voice of reason in my head echoed.
„I could have restrained him I could have.."
And done what? He would have escaped and killed you or perhaps worse, he could have gone on to kill even more innocents!
"Killing him isn't right either though!" I whispered harshly to myself.
Killing isn't right but sometimes you have to- reason was beginning to override my doubt as I began to think.
"What about the girl?"
What happened to her is unfortunate but you could not do anything- you were under attack from a psycho, you didn't have the opportunity to help her.
Doubt had been cast-aside as the logical side of me began to function once again- killing is wrong but if I want to get out of here, I can't hesitate anymore.
I will have to kill again someday, it will never be easier, but I will have to adapt.
Arriving in the third town, I immediately set to work looking for something to do. This town is much smaller than the others, and the quests were fewer. Moving quickly, I looked for any NPCs with a golden icon above their head but it would seem, I was having no luck.
That was until someone approached me.
"You look like you're looking for something," she said.
"What about it?" I asked back, still searching.
"Maybe I can help," she offered.
"I somewhat doubt it- you can't have been here much longer than me," my nerves wearing thin.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I?"
Stepping in front of me suddenly, she looked me in the eyes "The name's Argo and I'm the best info broker there is around here".
"Lovely- I don't know what that means, so if you don't mind I'll be on my way," I said, walking around her continuing my search. But she was not to be deterred.
"It means I know things, lots of things," she said catching up to me again.
"Like what?" I asked for an example.
"Well for starters, I know where you can find a dungeon on this level," she said smirking.
Stopping, I turned. "And what exactly is a dungeon in SAO?" I asked my curiosity peeking.
"Well, a Dungeon in SAO normally contains treasure," she replied. "But," she continued "Also they are normally filled with various monsters and traps".
"What kind of treasures?" I asked
"Well, it's always different it could be Col, EXP or even rare armours and potions".
"Where?" I questioned
"Follow this path to a waterfall- behind it is the entrance," she said, showing me the exact location on the map.
Before heading off, I asked her one last question. "Why are you helping me? What do you gain from this?"
"I saw you walking through town and thought you looked like a good investment," she said, nonplussed.
Turning to leave, I was stopped as she asked "Who are you anyway?"
"Call me Seth". And with that we said our goodbyes as I headed off.
This looks like the place. Pulling down my map, I saw the waterfall Argo had described. Walking behind the wall of water, I found the door she had also mentioned, it was large and made of metal, covered in strange markings that I couldn't understand. A rather ancient looking padlock rested around its handle. Drawing "Judicor" out, I swung at the lock until it broke. Sheathing my blade, I grabbed the rusted handle and pulled the door open, behind which a long flight of stairs that led into darkness below awaited me.
Well, this doesn't look ominous at all.
As I headed down the stairs, my vision slowly adjusted to the low light, I could make out stranger markings all etched upon the ancient walls with extreme precision.
What could they mean?
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, I saw a hallway filled with glowing blue torches
Impossible- no one could have been here before me, the lock was still on the door.
Meaning they must have been lit the whole time.
Grabbing one from the walls, I noticed something even stranger, even though the torch produced light and a flame, it was not hot. In fact, it was the exact opposite- it was cold to the touch, like ice. Noting this down mentally for later reference, I made my way down the corridor to a large open room.
With nothing in it.
This can't be right.
Walking alongside the wall of the room, I looked for a way forward but was just met with the same etched glyphs upon ancient walls,that is until I came across a hole in the wall. Shining my torch in front of it, I saw that the light refuse to penetrate the darkness inside, as if there were a invisible wall blocking the light.
"Well, I could probably put my arm in there." I said quietly, placing the torch down and rolling up the sleeve on my right hand.
This is a really stupid idea but I refuse to leave empty handed.
Delving my hand into the hole, I felt around for something, anything. Feeling something that felt like a lever, I grabbed at it.
Big mistake.
Whatever it was, it grabbed at me instead and pulled my arm up into the hole.
"Shit!"
Trying to pull my arm out, I heard metal scraping on metal and felt more strange arms grabbing me.
This is bad-this is really, really bad.
Putting my leg up against the wall, I pulled with all my might but my arm still would not budge.
Then the pain began.
Something incredibly hot made contact with my palm and then spread across my entire arm. Screaming in agony I redoubled my efforts to escape but with no luck.
And then everything went black.
I awoke to pain running down my right arm. Sitting up, I looked up in awe as the entire room had now lit up, blue energy pulsing through the carvings. The largest image depicted a man fighting what appeared to be a reaper. Before I could investigate more, a window appeared in front of me.
Quest started: "Legacy of The Lost"
Wanting to shut the window, I stopped as my hand neared the button.
Why is my hand black?
Shocked, I examined my hand and then my whole right arm- it was all covered in black metal.
What is this thing?
Opening my equipment menu I looked but found nothing related to this "arm-guard".
Wait, perhaps the carvings.
Getting up, I examined the carvings.
They were all depictions of men fighting demons, but I turned my attention to the largest carving again. Looking closely, I noticed something. The man in the picture has the same arm-guard.
My thoughts were stopped as a doorway on the far right side of the room opened. Taking a step forward, I stopped suddenly as I heard unearthly groaning.
Something is coming out of there.
Drawing "Judicor" from it's sheath, I got ready for combat,as the monster approached.
"Living Dead- Lvl 5"
Oh crap, it's stronger than me.
But as it approached, the groaning became louder and louder as more and more Undead began pouring out. No longer hesitating, I rushed forward and slashed the first Undead- it fell apart and burst into pixels immediately after.
So the only advantage they have is numbers.
Slashing through another one on my left, I took a step back as the horde approached.
There's far too many of them.
One of them lunged at me suddenly. So raising my right arm in defense, I awaited the bite, but it never came. The Undead could not bite through the metal of the arm-guard. Swiping it's head clean in two, I stepped around it's body as it fell and I killed another that stood behind it, making an opening. I charged through the undead and ran towards the newly opened doorway. Rushing through the doorway and down a short corridor, I came to a stop at a dead end.
A large hole opened up in front of me.
Oh damn, what now?
Hearing the undead behind me, I took a deep breath and did the only thing I could.
I leapt into the darkness.
Everything was pitch-black as I plummeted deeper into the darkness. The shaft I was falling down must have been narrow, as every now and then my shoulder would catch on some rock. Then I felt the wind on my back as I tumbled through the air towards a large body of water, landing with a splash. I dragged myself out of the water onto the rocky shore and rolled onto my back.
I looked around the area.
I had landed in a cave.
Standing up, I limped over to a nearby torch and picked it up. It glowed with the same cold blue light as the others had from earlier. As I picked it up, more torches lit themselves, showing me a path onward. Following the path to its end, I was met with another large metal door like the one from before. Leaning onto it with my shoulder, I heaved the door open and entered the room beyond.
The walls of the room shone with bright blue energy and in the middle of it stood one lone pedestal, upon it an old looking tome. Approaching the pedestal, I examined it more closely.
"Tales of the Lost," I read aloud.
Skimming the pages through, I saw large blocks of ancient texts followed by diagrams of pentagrams among other ritualistic symbols.
What's with all the demons?
Landing on the last page, I saw something indescribable.
By God, what is that?
The picture showed a lone figure.
The Reaper, Bringer of Death.
And below it the only words, in the entire book that I could read "Lost are those who find no peace in Death.
Why put this kind of stuff in a game?
Kayaba is insane, we have no idea what goes on in his head.
My thoughts were interrupted as a cold chill went down my spine. Turning around, I looked towards the door.
The torches had gone out.
Approaching the door, I heard something running in my direction. Thinking fast, I slammed the door shut just in time as it collided with the metal causing it to dent.
"Oh fuck"
It slammed again against the door, causing it to dent once more.
It can't get in. I hope.
That's what I thought, until something sliced clean through the door, landing inches in front of my face.
The tip of a scythe
Fuck that, run !
Running to the other side of the room, I found another door but it was locked.
Crap
The thing beyond the door sliced into the door once again, making a large hole. I could see it's red eyes glaring at me.
Unsheathing Judicor, I wedged it within the frame of the locked door and pushed hard against it. The scythe-wielding beast had managed to slice a large enough hole into the door for it to climb through. and it was now making it's way through the door.
Pushing harder, I felt the door crack open and then suddenly give way. I fell through and landed on my back staring at the ceiling.
Sitting up quickly, I found myself at the waterfall from before.
"Wait what? How?"
Looking around, I saw that I had indeed landed at the entrance of the dungeon.
"Impossible"
The large metal door was still there. The handle, however, had disappeared, as if into thin air.
Standing up, I quickly made my way back to town.
Whatever that monster was, that had tried to kill me, it was definitely far stronger then me, and I don't want to hang around in case it somehow finds me...
I've had enough of the supernatural for one day.
