It's a long time coming, huh? Super sorry about the HUGE gap in update time, but I have been absolutely swamped with schoolwork, and family troubles on the side, so I kind of put writing on the backburner for a while. But I'm back! For how long, nobody knows, but I will try and do better.
I will explain some things after this chapter about how I am going to be doing things in this Fic, but first, some thanks.
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for all the Faves and Follows I got on the first chapter alone! Honestly, I did not expect to receive such positive reviews, which were all wonderful, even the ones begging me to upload more.
Big thanks to Xavier Rall, for your advice in certain areas regarding things, and your wonderful review.
Well, enough lollygagging and such. On with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the nonOCs in this fic, nor do I claim to have any part in the creation Log Horizon. If I did, Shiroe and Akatsuki would be together already and making beautiful BEBES! (P.S. I totally ship that, if you couldn't tell.)
Atsuko groaned as she attempted to gather her wits. She doesn't know what that light was, but it had one hell of a punch. She still can't see very well; her vision consisting of blurs and dots.
She reached out to her side, trying to find her table for balance. That's when she put her hand in water. "What in the hell?" She shook her hand off; coming to the conclusion that she must have spilled something. She really hopes she didn't wake her mom up.
Atsuko sat up, trying to gain some semblance of her balance. "That's odd." She said as she finally found something she can grab onto. Her vision is still a major blur, but she can make out that it is a tree she is now holding onto. "When did I get outside?" She then cringed at a thought. "Oh, Christ, mom must have seen my computer! I knew I would be thrown out if she ever caught me hacking, but I didn't think it would be literally!" She also cringed at the fact that it seemed to be in the middle of the day. She must have been out for hours.
Atsuko scratched her head to think about what she was going to do about a place to stay, when she felt something strange. She put her hands down for a moment, laughing nervously. "That's strange." She said to herself. "I can almost swear that I have animal ears on my head. But that's impossible, because…" She felt them again and began to freak out slightly. "Nope, those are definitely ears." She gave them a nice tug, to see maybe some kid pulling a prank was the one who put them. "Those are definitely attached!"
Her vision finally almost completely coming to her, she looked around for that puddle she put her hand in earlier. She is definitely outside, with what looks like a small lake and a large tree next to her. Everything looks like it is covered and grass, and if she wasn't mistaken, there are what look like some abandoned building in the distance.
But she can worry about "the where" later. Slowly, she walks up to the lake. Once she is finally in front of it, she is completely silent from the shock. She is blond, like she wanted, but instead of being a cat-girl, she is the same race as her sister; a Fox Tail, if she remembers correctly from the creation screen. But that isn't her main concern right now, seeing she has a freaking foxtail and ears! And completely aside from that, she is absolutely gorgeous!
The character has her measurements, which were never anything to sneeze at, but she could still be considered quite curvaceous, with a modest bust size. Aki was always jealous her in that way, seeing as she was always flat as a washboard. Her hair, as said before, is long and silky blond. Like her tail, which is actually quite cute with how bushy it is, and her ears, the edges of her hair are tipped white and that even includes her bangs. She's never had bangs before, and she has to say, she really likes it. She's glad her bangs don't cover her eyes, because she loves the purple color in them, despite the fact that she is freaking out internally.
What Atsuko's really interested in is what she's wearing: a long midnight-blue robe with long sleeves that even cover her hands, and an opening in the legs, revealing her black leggings that go up to her thighs, and she is also wearing a pair of combat boots that match her robe's color.
There also seems to be a wooden staff strapped to her back. She grabbed it, examining it intently. If she stood it up next to her, it would only come up to her hip. It looks like it was carved out of an old tree branch, the wood on the top twisting in various intricate patterns, completely encircling a Crystal that is the same blue as her robe. She put it back when she noticed something else about herself.
She also seems to be wearing a pair of half-frame glasses. She found that strange, seeing as she had always had perfect eyesight, but also because she didn't choose it for her character. Then again, she didn't choose to be a fox either. The game must have a few bugs in it.
That's when it hit her. It was the reason she became the character that she created. She look for a place she could get a better view of the area when she remembered the tree. Looking up at it, she hesitates. She is a fox, and they have been known to be excellent climbers. She looks at her hand, trying not to think about how cute her nails look, all long and colored light pink. They look good for climbing.
"Okay, Atsuko; you can do this." She said; beginning to hop from one foot to the other, punching the air to get her self pumped up. "You never climbed a tree in your life, but hey, it's never too late to start!"
With one good jump, Atsuko almost screaming with how high she went. As if on instinct, she dug her nails into the wood, surprised they didn't break. "Oh my God!" She made the mistake of looking down, seeing a fall that would definitely hurt. Catching her breath, she began her ascent into the massive tree. It was surprisingly easy, and for a second, kind of fun.
She climbed and climbed for a good while before she finally emerged from the top. And when she did, she gasped at the sight before her.
In front of her looks like a beautiful city that nature has almost completely taken back. There are people in her enhanced vision, walking around and buying from vendors, talking to each other, and a few of them are actually leaving on horses. She hid in the brush on the off chance that they could see her just as well as she could see them.
She can see the variety of the people walking around: some of them the same species as her, others looking like normal human beings, a few of them being those cat people she should have spawned in as.
A realization hit her at that moment. All those people that disappeared, all the men, women, and children; all of them are here, in this world. They went into the game. And that could only mean one thing.
Atsuko's eyes began to tear up at the fact that her sister is more than likely to be here, too. She can finally be reunited with her sister.
As she rejoiced, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She looked up to see some kind of green bar with her name on it. Curiously, she reached up to see if she could touch it.
She screamed and almost fell off the branch she was standing on when some kind of screen popped up in front of her face. She barely managed climb back up, and once she did, she examined the curious screen. "Is this about… me?"
There's some basic video game stuff: HP, MP, Level… She groaned at the fact that she was only level one. Then she saw something. "Abilities." She then became excited. She chose to be a Sorceress: someone who could use freaking magic! She touched it and opened the separate window. There are only four spells there, but hey, it's a start.
"Fireball: Basic fire magic." She read out loud. "Has a slight chance to inflict target with a burning effect, inflicting DoT." She looked up, trying to remember what "DoT" might mean. She snapped her fingers. "Damage over time!"
She moved on to the next spell. "Frost: Basic ice magic. Has a small chance to inflict the Freeze effect on target, halting their movement for a short time." She nodded her head. "Neat."
The next spell got her especially excited. She quickly read over the text. "Shock: Basic thunder magic. Has a small chance to inflict the stun effect, slowing enemy movement. Cool! I am so going to use this one a lot."
The last spell looked interesting. "Familiarity?" She read. "A rare spell that a select few with a Magic-based classes start off with. It can only be cast once, but once cast, summons a random familiar, which will have varying abilities."
Although it sounds interesting, Atsuko can't help but feel like some kind of cheater. She used her hacking skills to get where she is, but so far, she seems to be getting very lucky. What if she accidentally gave herself this stuff.
Speaking of, she looked at the inventory button next to her name. It brought up a small list of items and their current status: Basic Cloth Robe, Equipped; Basic Mage's Boots, Equipped; Basic Mage's Hat, Unequipped…" She clicked it and laughed when a deep blue hat that looks like it belongs to a witch appeared on her head, her ears popping out of two holes on the top. It really pulled off her outfit, so she decided to keep it on for now. She continued reading. "Yggdrasil Branch, Equipped."
She guessed that was likely her staff, so she clicked it to see if she could get any more information on it. It says, "This mystical staff was carved out of a small branch that broken off the mythical Tree of Life. The crystal in the center makes for an excellent focus point, allowing for incredibly powerful casting. Though it has potential for great spell casting, Novice Mages often use it as a practice staff."
She noticed that that sounded pretty exaggerated for a beginner weapon, but then remembered Aki talking about something like this; something about "flavor text", which is basically there to make weapons sound cool.
Once she finished looking over her very little amount of things, and even less amount of money, she decided she was going to investigate some more.
Using her new foxlike reflexes, she hopped from branch to branch, making her way down the tree. Finally reaching the bottom, she looked around to try and find the entrance to that city.
Spotting it, she traversed the little bit of forest to get to her destination. Even though she is still slightly confused as to her current situation, Atsuko can't help but feel excited. She is inside an actual video game! That's the kind of thing that only happens in Manga or Anime! And on top of that, as said before, she can use freaking magic!
Then she remembered that "rare spell" in her inventory. Although she feels like she got it in less than honorable means, she doesn't really know what else she is going to do with it. So, she decides that there is only one rational thing to do.
She is going to cast the damn thing and get it over with.
Reaching over her shoulder, she grabbed her Yggdrasil staff. Not really sure what else to do, she pointed her staff outward. She then said the name of the spell. "Familiarity!" She closed her eyes, expecting some kind of bright flash of light, or an explosion, but opened them again when nothing happened.
She checked her current stats and the description of the spell. She has enough Mana do cast it.
She decided she was going try again, but this time, put some actual feeling into it.
She focused her energy on her staff, getting excited but remaining composed and focused when it began to float slightly away. There was a slight shift in the wind among the trees. Her staff stopped, and as if on instinct, Atsuko yelled, "Familiaritas!" If she didn't know any better, she just spoke Latin. Maybe she has to do that for the more advanced spells.
As she expected before, there was bright flash of light, almost blinding the freshly made Sorceress. She fell on her backside while shielding her eyes from the light. Luckily, it quickly subsided, revealing her staff lying in the grass, as well as an interesting little creature.
The creature is very small, and looks like a little dog, its body being covered in pink-tipped white fur. White angel-like wings sprout from it's back, what looks like a little talon on the top of each one, the feathers being tipped pink like the fur on the rest of its body. It is sleeping, it's four appendages spread out in a rather adorable fashion.
The small beast opened its eyes, revealing bright pink irises. It looked around curiously before its attention finally landed on Atsuko's surprised expression. It then did something that resembled a smile and jumped at her. "Mama!"
It all but tackled the girl, it's small paws landing on her chest, and it proceeded to lick her face. Once Atsuko got the creature off of her, she then looked at it, or rather her, with amazement. "You… have wings."
The little creature giggled. "Of course I have wings. I'm an Icarus Pup!" She wagged her tail. "My name is Tsubaki, like the flower. But you can call me Suki!"
Atsuko it too shocked to really react properly, so she just said, "You… can talk?"
Suki giggled again. "Not really. You summoned me, so that makes you my master. Only you can hear me."
Atsuko was having a bit of trouble processing the event before she realized, "I summoned you using that spell I got." She said, and then smiled at the little creature, petting her head. "I created you, so I guess that makes me a mom." She laughed, picking up the little winged dog as she continued walking to the city. "So, Suki, what exactly is it that you can do?"
Suki hopped out of her arms, proceeding to fly in front of her, her little angel wings making her all the more adorable. "I'm you familiar, Mama. My reason for existing is to serve as your companion and help anywhere I can." She said, beginning to explain her abilities.
Suki is a rare light-based familiar known as an Icarus Pup. She is only level one, so her attacks are rather weak, but the more she participates in battles with her master, the stronger she will become. Once she reaches a certain level, her abilities will, but so will her physical form, basically meaning she is going to "evolve".
As of right now, she has small Light attack, in which she blasts the enemy with a small ray of light; simple physical actions, such as tackling or biting the opponent; and a weak healing spell, which she can use to restore small amounts of Health to Atsuko should she become injured. Outside of battle, Suki can act as a guide, as she has certain knowledge about the world.
The must be technically already in the city, because they didn't run into any "video game" enemies on the way, making it a "Safe zone" of sorts. Just as they reach outside the entrance to the main part of the city, Atsuko asked Suki a question that has been nagging at her. "Suki… am I actually this game, 'Elder Tale'?" She said, looking at the imposing city that actually looks slightly familiar. "Am I just dreaming, or is this actually happening?"
Suki didn't actually know how to answer that question. The Icarus Pup was well aware that she is in a world know as "Elder Tales", but it would seem as though her master isn't. She decided to do her duty as a familiar and help her master.
Suki floated down to the ground and walked over to Atsuko's ankles, and then proceeded to bite down hard on one of them. Atsuko yelled, noticing 30 of her mere 350 Health go down. She glared down at small creature, which only smiled at her. "If this were a dream, Mama, wouldn't that have woken you up?"
Atsuko accepted her logic, smiling down at the adorable little creature. She crouched down and pet her head. "Clever little girl, aren't you?" Suki then nuzzled the little bite mark with her nose, Atsuko smiling as her HP bar went back up. "That will definitely come in handy." Atsuko picked Suki up and held her in her arms again, liking the feeling having the creature near her.
As she walked forward, the words "Akihabara" appeared in her line of view, likely as an effect of her first visiting the city. Atsuko smiled, now knowing why it looked so familiar.
Suki noticed the smile and looked up at her master. "What is it?"
Atsuko giggled at the little creature as the words faded. "I always did want to go to the big city."
So, fist things first, this fic will be canon, but with terms. First of all, instead of following the weird Elder Tales time, I will make everything go by regular time. For example, apparently, 2 weeks on Earth in an equivalent to 1 year in Elder Tales, or something like that.
No. No. No. I will not be doing this. Elder Tale time shall be the same as Earth time. I HAVE SPOKEN!
Second, due to the timeline being as it is, Atsuko will be arriving shortly after Shiroe & co. rescue the kids from that evil guild whose name escapes me and I am too lazy to look up.
Get it? Got it? Good. Thank you for your time, and double thanks for reading! Updates will be soon(maybe).