I do not own anything in this story but my characters and ideas (at least I hope so).

0Enjoy!

"This is talking."

'This is thinking'

'this is a system message.'

"This is a message from another player/a text message."

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He appeared in a plaza along with lots of other players. Around 990 to be (kind of) precise. Before anyone managed to get out of the plaza, red panels started filling the sky. When blue was completely covered by red, a viscous red fluid started pouring out of the between the panels. Instead of raining down on the players though, it started pooling a few meters from the players. As the blood-like substance fell, a cloak was shapen out of it. It seemed empty, but a few seconds after it was complete, a booming voice came from its hood.

"Welcome to Sword Art Online beta testers. Welcome to my world. I am Kayaba Akihiko. I am here to welcome you, as many of you must have noticed by now. You are the chosen ones. For better or for worse, you all will be here, testing the game for the next month… But testing will not be the only thing you will be doing. You will also explore, learn and even form relationships with other people. But don't just sit and expect everything to work out ay the press of a few buttons… No. Here, in my world, you will have to work, sweat and of course, as in any good MMO, die. Lots and lots of times. Now on to the good news. For the next month you will get double the experience from mob and boss kills. This is in order for you to explore as much as you can. So, make good use of this. Get as far as you can, find as many bugs and glitches as you can and make this game better, both for you and the 9000 other players of the full release. But most of all! Don't take this too seriously. It's a game, so have fun!"

With that, the cloak turned fluid again and rose between the panels. All the players cheered. Most of them went out to explore the town. Our blue-haired protagonist though, he wanted to see the wilderness and the mobs. And that he was going to do.

(nearby plains)

After plenty of thought on his weapon of choice, he settled on the spear, feeling its big range would be complemented by his build. Holding the spear in his right hand, he went up to a nearby wild boar, the game's equivalent to the all-mighty and amazing slime and poked it with the butt of his spear. It agroed on him in moments and rushed to gut him with its tusks. Sidestepping, he readied his weapon for a thrust, when the blade shone bright blue.

"What the-" He was cut short when he lunged forward, striking the mob at the side of its neck, shattering it to polygons.

"Whoa! That was something… What was that exactly?" He spoke to no one in particular

Imagine his surprise when somebody actually answered!

"That was a sword skill. I can't believe that you actually used one!" A feminine voice called. Turning around, his breath hitched in his throat. It was a beautiful girl. Long brown haired caught in a ponytail, tanned slightly tanned skin and mesmerizing blue eyes made her look like an amazon. The great sword strapped to her back wasn't helping either.

"A sword skill?" He said to cover his obvious gawking.

"Yeah, a sword skill. Didn't you know about them? They were in the manual. You… You did read the manual, no?" She commended after she saw his expression dropping.

"Well, about that….Would you believe me if I said that my dog bit half of it off?"

She deadpanned.

"Really? That lame an excuse?"

"It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" He answered with a dignified expression.

"Well… If you didn't read about them, how did you do one?"

"By accident I suppose. I just readied myself, then the blade shone blue and the boar was dead."

"That's kind of how they work. You take a pose that's unique to every skill, at least in its own weapon, and boom, the system will make sure you will hit where you aimed. It's almost like a cause-effect reversal. First, the hit happens and then, your trajectory is changed to make it happen. Or something like that."

"Well, enough chatter… Wanna go explore? VR is really awesome and I'm really curious of how Kayaba used it!"

"Sure! So…. We'll party or just go for a stroll?"

"I think partying might be the best choice… That way, if we meet a stray mob, we'll share the exp."

"Okay then! One party invite coming right up!"

'Atnisia has sent you a party invite. Do you accept?'

'Yes'

A green bar appeared under his own with the name 'Atnisia' next to it.

"So, m'lady… Where to?" He asked with an over-exaggerated bow.

"I think I saw some floating platforms on the way here. What about checking them out?" She suggested.

And of they went…

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(AN)

How did you like it? Was it good? Was it bad? The only way for me to know is for you to review…

Also, whoever finds the reference in the chapter gets a cookie.

Have a bloody amazing day, you magnificent people!