ARCANA ONLINE
Chapter 3:The devil's might
"Are we there yet..." Kirito moaned with a bored expression on his face.
It has been 30 minutes since they left the forest, and all they saw were trees, trees, and more trees. As they continued walking through the vast plains of Arcana, time was also catching up and soon the sky was dark without them even noticing it.
Unlike it's previous decendants, Arcana Online has a unique program that speeds up the brain's calculations making time in the game 5 times faster than the real world. Players could roam this world for half a day when it is only in fact around 2 hours in reality.
Just when they almost gave up, Asuna noticed a faint glow in the distance.
"Hey, look. Isn't that light? That means we are nearing our destination!"
"Let's not waste time here!" Kirito said as he starting running towards the glow.
"O-onii-chan! Wait up!"
The gang ran forward towards the glow, and soon they came to a halt near the edge of a cliff. Asuna gasped. From the elevated view of the cliff, below it was a village surrounded by a swarm of moonflowers. And in the middle of the village rested a gigantic moonflower, approximately 3 storeys high. It's beautiful, and gentle presense illuminated the night sky and gave the town a tranquil kind of feel. Kirito was amazed and speechless. To think that such detail and hard work was spent into designing a town that was not even a main attraction of the game. The game developers must have spent countless sleepness nights creating this masterpiece.
When the gang arrived at the entrance of the town, a message appeared in front of them. 'Welcome to Tsukihana, the town of new beginnings'.
"Tsukihana...what a beautiful name for a town..." Lyfa said, still amazed at the beautiful environment.
"Hey you guys! What took you so long?" said a familiar voice from afar.
Kirito turned his head and saw Lizbeth and Silica waving to them from the balcony of an inn.
"C'mom, lets go! Everyone is waiting for us!" Asuna said as she grabbed Kirito and Lyfa's hand.
When they entered the inn, they were led to a nearby table and sat down to have a chat with Lizbeth and Silica.
"Hey! What element did you guys pick?" Silica questioned the gang
"Asuna's is light, mine is air, but onii-chan's one..."
There was a slight moment of awkward silence.
Kirito hung his head in dissapointment. So he really was the only who had this problem. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for this game.
"Kirito i think you should visit the gigantic moonflower. All the new players said it has helped solve their problems and answered their questions and doubts about Arcana Online."
"A flower that answers questions? Wow...the A.I.(Artificial Intelligence) nowadays are really smart aren't they?" Asuna said, trying to lighten up the mood.
Kirito stood up and clenched his fist.
"I'm going to visit it now. If i keep stalling, nothing is going to change." Kirito was determined.
"Right. Glad that you have motivation. We will be here waiting for the good news!" Lizbeth patted Kirito on the back.
Kirito ventured out alone, as entrance to the flower is surrounded by an APF(Anti-Party Field). What the APF does is it basically acts as a barrier, so that any players who enter through that area will automatically be transported to a private server that only consists of them, no one else. This function is commonly found in quests or dungeons that require a player to enter solo.
There was a long trail all the way to the base of the giant moonflower. The trail was enchanting, as several smaller moonflowers sprouted and gave off a beautiful sparkling particles, making the air look magical. Kirito's footsteps made a squishy sound as the sole of his boots dug into the deep soil. On the way there, Kirito couldn't help but wonder how amazing it is that people are able to experience a real, solid world, and even feel pain in a game, and how much gaming has changed from the consoles and keyboards to a helmet that can emulate virtual reality. Although it is virtual, the experiences, friendships, and bonds forged in VMMORPGs are still real.
After what seemed like forever, Kirito finally reached the base of the flower. There was a system console at the Stalk of the gigantic moonflower and it immediately responded to Kirito after detecting his presense.
"Welcome, adventurer. What wisdom do you seek?"
"I need an answer."
"What kind of answer?"
"I am experiencing a problem with the game. I have already cleared the forests of trails and yet i am still unarmed, and without an element."
"System does not recognize the problem. Now handing control over to an administrator. Please wait patiently."
A short while later..
"Hello, i am an admin of Arcana Online, and i have heard your problem. This is indeed an unfortunate and extremely rare problem with players and i am extremely sorry to tell you that i will not be able to directly fix this problem for you. But know this, this occurrence is not a bug in the game."
"N-not a bug? Then why?" Kirito was confused.
"All i can say is this. There is a rock behind the moonflower with an inscription on it. That is all i can do in my power. The rest is up to you. Good luck, player."
The console returned back to it's normal state. Kirito was even more confused and made his way quickly to the back of the moonflower. There, at the bottom of one of the majestic petals laid a huge rectangular piece of rock. The inscription was gold in color and it wrote: "Magic comes from the will". Kirito did not understood the meaning of the message. What kind of game would deliberately restrict any form of self defense on a player when fighting is a main mechanic of the game? What was the purpose in doing so? The disappointed Kirito made his way out of the APF, and coudn't help feeling useless.
Meanwhile, there was a commotion going on in the Inn.
"N-no! Get away from me!"
"What's wrong? We just wanna have a little fun!"
A group of men wearing red uniform cornered a girl. One of them then stroked her left arm, and the girl retaliated by kicking him in the groin. Although little pain was felt, the man definetely looked pissed.
"Why you little.."
"That's enough!" Asuna pointed her staff at the group of men.
"Sexual harassment online is an offence punishable by imprisonment!" Lizbeth added, trying to intimidate the group of men.
"That is if you can trace us! Our nervegear is specially programmed to mask our IP Adresses. Did you honestly think you can scare us off with such a lame threat?"
The girl's eyes were terrified. They were the only ones in here, and those group of men were high-leveled players. Even with a number advantage, it would be hard to determine the winner if a fight were to break out.
"Actually miss, that's some nice curves you have there! I wouldn't mind having you for dessert!"
"You sick pervert!" Asuna covered her chests with her arms, her face red with embarrassment.
All of a sudden, the health bars of everyone in the Inn popped out. This was it. Duel mode was activated and during this mode, it is impossible for players to log out of the game. Although running was an option, Asuna could not bear to leave that girl behind, and she was sure the others in the gang felt the same. Strangely, the names of the men were displayed in a weird coding, probably masked as well.
"Psst Asuna, i will distract them with my magic, and you grab the girl and escape this Inn." Lyfa whispered in Asuna's ear.
"Whoa! Hold it right there, who said you were going anywhere?" the man casted a spell that formed a thick wall of wood around them.
"You ain't running from us!" said another man.
Asuna readied her staff. She was not about to let an innocent girl get harassed by a couple of scums.
"So you think you stand a chance against us?"
In a split second, the man dashed swiftly and appeared in front of the gang. He then placed his palm on the ground, and unleashed a whirlwind knocking everyone back.
"Ugh...this guy is faster than he looks. Probably an air element." Asuna said while pushing herself back up.
Silica summoned a green magic circle infront of her.
"Divine guardian scaled in emerald, come forth and lend me your strength! Arcesso, Kumiko!"
A small dragon with green scales and tiny wings emerged from a magic circle. The dragon gave a weak squeal and glared at the man in front of it.
"Bwahahahahaha! That's a dragon?" the man said while pointing at the dragon that was three times shorter than him.
"I fought better monsters in dungeons than that trash!"
Silica clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. She was obviously pissed off by the remarks the men made.
"Go! Kumiko!"
Kumiko charged at the man in front of Silica. The man darted to the side effortlessly and grabbed the dragon by it's neck. Kumiko squealed for help. The defenseless dragon could not do anything in it's weak state.
"Let go of Kumiko!" Silica grabbed the arm of the man.
The man gave her a kick in the stomach that sent Silica flying and crashing through the wooden wall. As it's master was no longer able to fight, the dragon vanished. Due to the hole that Silica made in the wall, there was now an opening for them to escape, but everyone was split up and they were in a tense situation. Lizbeth saw her friend lying on the ground, weakened by that attack and was infuriated.
"Damn you!" Lizbeth shouted at the man.
A scarlet magical circle appeared on the side of Lizbeth's left arm, and she reached her hand into the magic circle and drew a huge , metallic hammer. Lizbeth glared at the man with killing intent, and all of a sudden, red hot flames engulfed the tip of her hammer. Lizbeth took a quick step in front of her and swung the gigantic hammer at the man. However, he summoned strong air currents from his arms and redirected the hammer's attack. In this moment, Lizbeth was swung off balance, and the man blew a strong gust of wind, knocking her against the wall.
"Lizbeth!" Asuna cried out.
"Don't you have more things to worry about?" the man said in a thretening tone.
The air element man leapt in front of Asuna. The distance between their faces became dangerously near. Right at this moment, Lyfa channeled and fired a whirlwind from her mouth.
"Gaaahh!" the man was flung quite a distance and crashed into one of his comrades.
"Luminari...ULTIMA!" Asuna fired the devastating laser at the confused men. The impact brought their health bars all the way down to zero and they shattered into powder-like particles.
Asuna regained her confidence. Maybe they could actually win this fight!
"So you killed 2 of my weak men, and now you are thinking that you actually stand a chance against me?"
The man raised his left arm, and in the blink of an eye, a huge vine erupted from the ground and lashed at Lyfa, putting her out of commission. In this game, anyone with a level lower than 10 will not disappear when they die, but will instead automatically revive when the battle has ceased. Those men took advantage of this, knowing fully that their prey had no means of escape.
"Lyfa!" Asuna cried.
"W-what is happening here?" Kirito said in a shocked voice.
He had entered through the hole that Silica made in the wooden wall.
"K-kirito-kun!" Asuna was glad to see Kirito back.
The man snapped his fingers, and in an instant, huge, hairy roots appeared from the ground and binded Asuna and the girl, rendering them unable to move.
"Let go of Asuna!" Kirito was enraged.
"What's wrong? Is she your girlfriend? If she is...then you will enjoy watching me as i slowly violate her nice, slender body!" The man licked his lips and gave a smug look.
An overwhelming sensation filled Kirito. He clenched his fist and red sparks of rage blurred his vision.
"You...BASTARD!"
Kirito tried to punch the man but just as his attack was about to reach him, the same hairy roots dug out of the ground and rooted Kirito to the spot. The man approached Kirito's left ear.
"I told you, it's useless. Anyway, this is a nice girlfriend you have here. I wonder what kind of naughty things you had done to her in bed.." the man gave a mocking laugh and turned his back towards Asuna.
"NO! STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Kirito was completely helpless.
Kirito felt powerless. If only he had magic...then he could save Asuna and his friends right now. But deep down in his heart, Kirito knew that there was nothing he could do. Logging out was impossible and all he could do was struggle hopelessly and try to break free. Kirito cried tears of despair and helplessness.
"I-i'm so...useless!"
Just then, Kirito remembered the words on the inscription: "Magic comes from the will".
"That's right, i never once believed that i could perform magic. My will was never there in the first place!"
Upon reaching his realization, Kirito started to give out an evil and dark aura.
"I had magic all along, i was just afraid to face the truth!"
The man turned his attention back to Kirito.
All of a sudden, an immense amount of power surged out from Kirito, breaking him free from the roots.
"You are gonna pay what you have done." Kirito said, staring right into the man with killing intent.
"Diabolus, Manus." Kirito muttered.
Immense power started gathering at Kirito's right arm, shrouding it in darkness. The power was so huge that it blew the man back, making him lose his balance and fall. The man recovered and glanced at Kirito. His eyes widened. Kirito's arm has been transformed, and it was black in color. His fingertips were transformed into huge, sharp purple claws, and there was a magical crest on the back of his hand.
Without warning, Kirito appeared behind the man, and gave the man a swipe of his menacing claws.
"W-what is this magic? I have never seen anything like it!" the man said as he backed away in fear.
Kirito gave the man a stern look.
"This is the magic that i chose to believe in."
"But you are just another low leveled player! I still have the advantage!" the man readied his next spell.
The man summoned three plants in front of Kirito. The plants has an opening in front of them and they started firing poisonous spikes at Kirito. Kirito sprinted towards the man, swiftly dodging every spike in his path. The man glanced at Kirito's health bar. It was still full and Kirito has sustained no damage at all. Then the man noticed the familiar name. "Kirito"
The man fell on his back and sprawled away in terror.
"Aren't you Kirito? 'THE Kirito'?"
Kirito landed in front of the man.
"That is correct. I am Kirito, the player that cleared Sword Art Online, and also the player with one of the fastest reaction speeds in the history of gaming. Don't think that some puny plant is gonna stop me."
Kirito grabbed the man by his collar and gazed into his eyes.
"May your soul be crushed by fear, and ripped into shreds, as those who deny the darkness, shall perish on the night of the devils. Aerturnus nocturna supressio."
The world started to structurally collapse, and a dark aura started to engulf their surroundings until only Kirito and the man were left, in a dark, deserted and infinite landscape.
"W-WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?"
The man started to lose his mind in the chaos.
"You hurt my friends, and the people i cherish the most. Now you shall pay the ultimate price. This is my world, and there will be no escape."
"N-NOOO! SPARE ME PLEASE!" the man begged in a pathetic state.
Suddenly, thousands of terrifying eyes appeared in the blackness, all glaring at the man.
"You will pay for your sins...you will pay for your sins..." a voiced echoed in the man's head, becoming louder and louder.
Kirito slowly approached the terrified man. Without warning, he dug his huge claws into the stomach of the man. An unbelievably huge amount of blood started to gush out form the wound, and the man's soul almost broke when he saw thousands of spiders crawling out from his stomach.
"GAAAAAAHHHHHH! MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP!" the man broke out in tears and was literally begging to be spared.
"On one condition. Remove the masking program on your name." Kirito demanded.
Overtaken by fear, the man immediately obeyed and disabled the masking program on his Nervegear. In a flash, the world was back to it's present state, and Kirito was standing beside the man, who was uncontrollably weeping. Kirito contacted an administrator using the emergency call function of the game, and the man was immediately transferred to a private server by the Cyperpolice of Japan, waiting to be arrested. The administrator then performed a rollback on the battle, refunding Asuna and the gang of any experience points lost.
"Asuna...i-i'm so glad.." Kirito hugged Asuna tightly.
"Yeah. Thank you, Kirito-kun" Asuna reassured Kirito.
In the midst of their reunion, they almost forgot the girl that they were supposed to save. Asuna extended her hand towards the girl who had short, blue hair, and an innocent face of an angel. The girl took Asuna's hand and lifted herself off the ground.
"Umm...thank..you...for saving me." the girl said in a shy tone.
"I hope you are okay...ummm..." Silica tapped on the girl and viewed her profile.
Knowing what Silica was doing, the girl saved her of her trouble and introduced herself.
"My name is Sinon."
To be continued...
Setsuna: *stretches* ahh...that was a tiring 3 hours. My back hurts haha. Anyways, i hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter of Arcana Online and as you can tell by the ending, i am adding Sinon in as one of the main characters! I know there are some of you who are huge fans of Sinon :3 Anyways, please do stay subscribed for more content and just a short note, this story will be updated at least TWICE A WEEK because i will be very busy with school and exam preparations soon. Have a nice day!