"I have big plans for you Makanosi Sashi."

I didn't even dignify that with a response. "Initiate link."

And so it begins.


I open my eyes to see wooden rafters above my head. Blinking my eyes a couple times, I looked around. I was in a bed, probably in an inn, but as to where I was, I had no idea. A glint of metal caught my eyes and I turned towards the source. Next to the bed were two beautifully crafted katanas in different colored sheaths, one black one white, and on the table sat a foot-long rod attached to a strap that I assumed was to go around my thigh. A small sign appeared in front of me that said 'Welcome to SAO! Click *Tutorial* to begin.' and ended with a smiley face. I snorted at the irony and clicked the proposed button. I read through all of the material about weapons, skills, items, etc... twice before closing the menu. Picking up the katana in the black sheath, I examined the blade and saw that it was made up of an extremely strong, onyx metal. The white katana was made up of and equally strong, gleaming, white metal.

Re-sheathing them, I picked up the small rod and examined it. Before I could finish my examination, there was a creak as my door opened. With an instinctive flick of my wrist, the small rod extended into a long, sleek staff with electricity dancing along it that, oddly enough, didn't harm me at all. A woman came it with a platter of food, but stopped when she saw my weapon.

"So-Sorry Miss! I didn't mean to disturb you!" She quickly place the food down and scrambled out of the room. i felt guilty, but I was too fascinated with my weapon to care at the moment. Before risking any more mishaps, I decided to check my weapons list to see what I had arms-wise. Looking at the list I saw that the katanas were called Yin and Yang or, collectively, Dragon Fangs. The rod-staff's name confused me though; it was called the Soul Blade. It described the weapon as taking the form most suited to the user. Most users would only have one form for the weapon, two was extremely rare, and three forms was considered a legend. Many Beta users searched for this blade during their playing time here, but were never able to find it. The Soul Blade chooses its user.

Great. I chosen by an upgraded stick. I felt a shock go through my fingers at my thoughts and, before I knew it, I was apologizing to the stinking thing! Great. A stick with a personality. Even better! I felt the staff getting ready to shock me again. Don't even think about it buddy. If you do, I'll throw you off a cliff. The staff settled down with a sligth hum and I felt smug until I realized something.

"Why am I talking to a stick!?" whatever, lets just get started. Somehow, I was able to mentally communicate that I needed the staff back in rod form and it complied. Strapping the rod to my thigh and the katanas to my back, I realized what I was wearing: form-fitting black pants, knee-high supple leather boots, a blue tank top, knuckle-plated fingerless gloves that went up to my elbows, and a black cloak with blue designs on it. Looking in the mirror I saw my regular old face looking back at me: "creepy" silver eyes fair skin, regular copper-blonde hair thrown into a pony-tail, and the small scar on my cheek from when I was young. I sighed in relief at the familiarity and left my room. I went down the stairs and paid for my room with the money I found in my storage. I was on floor 1 according to the signs; and level 1 too apparently. Deciding to level up, I went to the outskirts of the Town of Beginnings and wandered for a bit.

About 10 minutes in, I heard growling. Six pairs of glowing red eyes came out of the trees: I had encountered a pack of wolves. Deciding to try out my new weaponry, I unsheathed one of my katanas. How did mom say do do it? Focus attack energy on the sword and wait for it to charge up then...STRIKE. Instinctively, I turned around and cut the wolf that had tried to get me from behind into ribbons. It disappeared in a shower of blue shards and the rest of the wolves snarled at me; I snarled back. They hesitated before all attacking me as a group. I unsheathed the other katana and diced them all up before coming face to face with what I assumed was the alpha of this little pack He was bigger and meaner than the rest and, it appeared, more intelligent. He didn't attack me straight out, instead choosing to circle around me. Darting in fast, he took me off guard and almost clawed me before I jumped out of the way. Unfortunate;y, he knocked away my swords; and seemed to be gloating about it.

I pulled out the rod and she, somehow it told me it was a 'she', elongated into a staff without me asking. The wolf eyed the new threat before pouncing at me. I powered up my attack in my new weapon and readied myself for his approach. Right before he reached me, I spun to the side and slammed to but of my spear into the wolf's side. I didn't realize what powering up my weapon would do and it ended up frying his ass with 20,000 volts of electricity...Oops? The last wolf disappeared and the 'items dropped' screen came up. On it was a new pair of gloves with retractable claws (A/N Like Wolverines claws) that I immediately equipped and a 'Chameleon Cloak' that could apparently help me blend in and hide with my surroundings; I equipped that too. My level went up to level 5 because, apparently, the wolves were level 10 enemies.

I collected Yin and Yang and began reading trough my new stats. I was interrupted, however, when a slow clapping began behind me. I turned around and saw a guy with spiky red hair and a couple other guys with him. He was grinning and so were the other guys.

"that was incredible! A newbie defeating monsters four levels above them! Amazing!" The guys around Red nodded in agreement to his words. "My name's Klein, what's yours?"

"i know your name already, It's on your Stat bar. You should see mine as well." I replied, not trusting the bubbly red-head just yet. My words seemed to deflate his energy and he pouted.

"i asked because it's the polite thing to do..." his words shocked me. I wished SAO had more people like him.

"Makanosi Sashi, but you can call me Maka." I said, surprising him.

"Hi Maka! Nice to meet you! Is that your real name? Is this your first battle? Where'd you get those weapons? Where'd you learn to fight like that? Can you teach me? Can you join us? What about-" I cut him off before he could ask a bunch of questions. God, he's like a puppy!

"Ok, let's see...Yes. Yes. I found them. I picked up pointers from the town. Maybe. Maybe...I think that was all of them..." I say to him.

It takes a while for all the answers to register, but when hey do, hi face lights up like a Christmas Tree. Oh dear, I feel I have done something wrong. He pulls up his menu and presses a couple of buttons. His menu disappears and a party invite appears in front of me.

"How 'bout you join our party? We can work together, see how you like it, then you can decides if you want to stay or go!" his smile is infectious and I smile back. It feels weird to do do though. I haven't smiled for a while... I shake my head of sad thoughts and accept his invite with my smile back in place. This could be fun. I see his face has a tint of pink on it, but before I can ask if he's feeling well, he turns away and starts walking. His friends follow him and I follow them. As we walk I study all of their stats and they are all about the same level as me: Klein is level 7, there's a level 6, two level 5's other than me, and two level fours. All in all, it's a very well-rounded group: it even has a healthy mix of offense, defense, and healers. This will be interesting...