A/N: Yeah, school copped out on me. Sorry for the delay.
Chapter 2: Monsters And Reunions
It honestly did feel weird. In a game where no magic should exist, well, no magic that the players could cast should exist; the feeling of having your body slowly disintegrate right in front of your very eyes was an experience that I'd chalk under jarring. The blue lights looked like they were eating me away as they landed on my body one by one. Soon enough, all I could see was the sickening color of blue everywhere and the next moment, all I could see was the «Plaza» in the very center of «Starting City» that was slowly but surely being filled to the brim with players. Players who, if I looked at it with an objective eye, had the most retina burning color combinations available in the game. I could see the rewards of that in a PvP match but as of the moment, I was a lot more concerned as to why I was brought here against my virtual will. I looked around, seeing as there was really nothing else that I could do at the moment, and with my ever-useful eyes did I manage to spot the confusion in the eyes of everyone and even some aggressiveness here and there.
Then again, I can't really blame them.
For all I know, they could've been hunting some rare mob and was about to kill it when they were forcefully taken away from their prize. I mean I'd be pretty pissed if that happened to me. I started to move around, and if my gut feeling was right, then everyone should be here. The word 'everyone' meant that my best friends should be here too. I did what I could to look for them, but the increasing amounts of blue lights appearing everywhere was distracting me more than I thought they would. Shouts of 'where the hell's the log out button' did, however, manage to catch my attention almost immediately. I told myself that these guys were just horsing around, that hey, what kind of gaming company doesn't include a log out button in the menu? That was a lot worse than not having the agility stat in a game. Despite telling myself that its just people being people, I could still feel the trepidation and dread in my stomach, my gut twisting in it as the feelings began to convulse. I had to lean against the wall in an attempt to keep my vision and myself steady as my emotions began to run high in panic.
"This is just a joke, right? I mean, it's probably around 2:30 am right now or something…I should probably log out. I…I still have to prepare for that meeting with Arvy…yeah; she'll be pissed if I don't get there on time. I need to study for it too…ha, yeah…"
I tried to keep myself calm, tried to give delusions to the reasons that I didn't want to believe that. I snapped myself out of it, cold sweaty hands achingly reaching forward. I didn't know what I was thinking, but I sure as hell knew what I wanted to see. It took me three tries to focus my fingers enough to have them open the menu properly. That comforting chime entered my ears through the chaos that everyone was falling into. I reluctantly tapped the [OPTIONS] tag. Slowly, I traced my fingers down the choices until it finally landed on empty space. Everything suddenly became a blur, my ears became deaf and my eyes began to simply zone in on that empty space.
"This can't be, right? Hey…hey! What the hell man?! Where the hell's the log out button?! I want to get out of this god damn game! Let me out!"
Who was shouting? He sounded familiar though, as if I've known him all my life. I raised my hands to my face and I could feel my jaw moving. It moved the same time I heard that ugly voice screaming. Right…I was the one screaming. My panicking state…calling it panic seemed to be an understatement compared to what I was seeing. And then, as if a beacon of attention shot throughout the sky, someone pointed upwards. Everyone I saw looked up and I felt my head follow their sight. I felt the air in my lungs vanish, my sweet, sweet oxygen leaving me like a fish out of water. I tried to breathe but all I could do was just stare at the darkening sky. I squinted my eyes at the sight, trying to focus on to anything, anything at all to get my head out of the fog of fear. Turns out I was focusing at the wrong thing. Yes, the entire sky dictating [SYSTEM ERROR] in the darkest shade of crimson I've ever seen was horrifying, as if there was something inherently wrong with the servers, but that wasn't what should have made me fearful.
No, it was the massive…thing that suddenly shot out of the ground from the horizon.
3 figures leapt from the tower but I was too out of it to really take into detail what I just saw. The shadowed lines that represented the figures then began to blur away as the floor of the «Plaza» began to change texture. I dared myself to look down, and the sight of blood and gore, bits of skeleton and clothing along with it, began to form itself around the fountain at the very center. I wasn't sure if it was bile that I had swallowed but I would have rather unleashed the contents of my stomach there and then as the blood began to form into a semi humanoid creature. The thing began to float upwards, the disturbing sight of guts and bones forming into the normal human body before a green and red robe thing began to encase it.
"Denizens of the Sword, welcome to my world. I am your new God, the creator of Aincrad, and the being that has trapped your souls into this plane of existence."
My ears didn't want to listen; my eyes didn't want to see. All I wanted to do now was to sit into a ball in some corner and wish everything were just back to normal. I raised my hands to my ears to cover them in an attempt to mute out this madman's nightmarish voice.
"I am in the mood of being generous, and thus, I shall…oblige to your pleas for knowledge."
I could almost hear the thing…that demon laugh at us.
"The disappearance of your log out button is not a bug, it is a design of my own creation and the only way for you or for anyone to be released from this…this magnificent world of sword and steel would be…"
A chance to escape? It was possible? I didn't even register it but I had begun to push people out of my way, trying to get closer to the being up above us. I wanted to know, nay, I needed to know. I want to leave this world and never come back! I pushed the last person in front of me that kept me from the fountain. I tried to climb up said structure but a barrier prevented me from doing it. The words [IMMORTAL OBJECT] began flaring around it and all I could do was fall on my backside and listen in horrid tantalization.
"To vanquish every floor and reach my castle, the most heavenly castle of all! If you can best me in combat, then, through the graciousness of my heart shall I set everyone free."
I could feel hope swell in my chest. There was a chance! All I had to do was find my friends, find anyone willing and we could charge in through the floors! We just have to combine our efforts and we'll be out in no time!
"However, anyone whose HP drops to 0 from here on out, be disconnected, or have the Nerve Gear removed from their body forcibly, will die not only here but in the other world as well. Sadly, 89 people have already left my world, and theirs. Forever."
And just like that, my hopes were dashed out akin to a candle flame being snuffed away. I felt my fingers grow cold once more; my body feels as if it turned into lead without me noticing. The other faces around me simply became blanks as I lost focus in the world.
"And as a parting gift, I have left everyone a simple item essential to the completion of their grand quest. This ends the official 'tutorial.' Once more, I welcome you all to Sword. Art. Online!"
My hands were moving at the speed of light, opening my inventory with practiced ease as I clicked at the blinking item without even bothering to check out its name. I quickly stood up and held the thing that materialized on my hand. It looked to be a simple red compact mirror. For something so small, so small that it didn't even cover up my entire hand, it felt heavy. No, I guess I was wrong at that. The compact mirror was very light, almost as light as a feather actually. What was heavy was the pressure that the 'God' had left behind. It was a blanket of fear, anxiety and a plethora of negative emotions. I wanted to sink down to my knees, surrender to the power of the deity…but if I do that now…I shook my head. There was no point of thinking like that right now. I raised the mirror to my face, expecting to find something to help me out in my journey.
I entertained the thought of seeing a map to locate some all powerful sword to help slay the demons that lay ahead of me, or maybe some sort of «Key Item» that signified something. What I got instead was a surprise that still gets me to this day. The glint of the artificial light bounced off of the mirror for a moment and I had expected to look at a face of my own creation. The red mane that could have rivaled rivers of crimson blood turned into a mop of messy black hair that was only long enough to reach past my nose if pulled down. The red eyes that could have rivaled the devil himself became a dull black, weak and soporific even. The over all aura of the Anti-Hero image I had painstakingly built to my preference was taken away from me and in return, left me with the face that I was born with. I had failed to register the polygons that appeared in front of my face, the compact mirror now dissolving into thin air as it rose up to the heavens. My eyes were looking straight ahead but I couldn't see anything. My fingers shook, and then my fingers began moving around in a twitch like fashion.
"Ha…hahaha…"
It felt coarse, my throat appearing to have been constricted by an Anaconda, as I couldn't breathe for a moment. I looked all around me and the familiar sight of polygons shattering into the air along with the avatars that I once held in secret admiration for the detail and effort put into it. Now, all I could see were normal looking people, some were subpar even. The 'beauty' I had enthralled myself with had been shattered much like the mirrors that revealed our true selves. Soon enough, my body began to wobble as my legs threw me back against the fountain I had so desperately tried to climb not so long ago. All I could do was sit there like a joke, looking at everything as if I wasn't even there.
That's right, I'm not really here. I'm just having a bad dream. I'll wake up eventually, maybe even go on Skype the moment I do and tell my sister how weird this dream is. She'll probably laugh at me, and I will too. Yeah, I'll just sit here. I'll be safe in the middle of the crowd. I'm in the «Starting City» so my health would never go down. I won't die inside the plaza, yes; I'll be safe here. Still, if I was just sitting here, then my environment shouldn't be changing nor should I feel as if I'm not touching the ground. I tried to move my arm forward and I could, it only took a bit more effort than I thought it would take. I moved it forward, my fingers tapping the 'X' on the menu in front of me. Something about the Harassment Code or something like that. I felt something land on my cheek and my eyes soon enough followed the lingering sensation to see what it was. It was black, leather and looked to be strong. I trailed my eyes upwards to see where it was connected to, a roll of cotton wrapped around something cylindrical, though not completely since I could see it bend somewhere along the way. I continued my little game of following the trail of cotton before I saw something sway into my vision. I saw a face and things began to register.
"Let go of me! I don't want to leave the City! I'll give you all of my equipment just don't take me!"
I fought with tooth and nail to get my body away from these monsters that tried to take me away from my safe haven. These weren't people, these were murderers, I bet they were planning to throw me to the Boars outside and kill me. No one needed a weakling anyway, but I wanted to live. I tried punching forward, kicking backward, waving everywhere in an attempt to get away. All I could get for my efforts, however, was a purple hexagon that displayed the message «Immortal Object». And then, a smack to the back of my head that was awfully reminiscent of brick making contact with flesh. I couldn't really feel the pain but the buzz that gave me a slight amount of discomfort coupled with the fear in me, I might as well have been stabbed in the kidney for all I cared.
"…we do? He's…out of…stop?"
I could only make out different voices spouting random things as I attempted to get my bearings back. Whoever these people were, they took a break and I was sure enough on the floor. This was my chance to escape! I took a moment to get my senses ready, and when I finally got a feel for my limbs again and the voices had stopped, I threw myself backwards into a roll and began running towards my left. I got on my feet; I had a better chance of getting away now! One, two, four steps, I was going to make it! I should be able to run faster than them too! I had put all of my level 2 stats to agility after all! I stepped hard with my left foot as I reached the corner. If I can make it through this alleyway, I'll be scot-free! These bastards won't know what got away from them! My face cracked into a small maniacal grin, confident in my own escape. And then I saw the wall rush to my face and I felt that discomfort ring all around my body once more. I couldn't move my arms for some reason and it felt like I was being manhandled.
"Stop running away, Laz! It's us."
I was going to attempt another 'great escape' but that voice stopped me. It wasn't commanding, no, it just felt familiar is all. And the hit to face and head probably cleared up the rush of fear I had been feeling recently. I cricked my neck to the right before raising it up. My hair fell to the side and my breath got caught in my throat. I tried to hold them back, but it was just too great. My eyes begun to sting and I had to blink to even try and get these damnable tears back to where they came. I couldn't help it though, and I could care so much less to see my friends see me cry. They were alive, they weren't dead yet. None of them were stupid enough to try and handle things without the rest. For who knows what time that day, I felt my knees buckle and it was only Franco's [STR] parameter keeping me upright. I let out a small, tired and weak chuckle. I had my friends with me right now, if we were together, there wouldn't be problems, right? We were the best group out there, be it in any game. So long as we were together, we could take down anything. I heaved a sigh of relief, but the painful reality…the painful virtual reality was that, if we die here, we die for real. Our bodies are just gonna stop working with our brains fried if we screw up even once.
"Look, we're all gamers right? And being in an RPG style one, it'll always be a race to who can gather the most resources!" I heard Keith explain to us again; by again I meant that these were the very basics. If we didn't understand this, then we had no hope of getting anywhere. I was still skeptical about what they were planning on doing, because for the most part I knew what they wanted to do. "With that, I propose we go off now while everyone else is still in shock," Keith gave me a pointed look and I had the sense to at least turn my head away in embarrassment. "And lay claim to the «Wolves Hill» so we can get a good farming area." I looked back at my best friend and for some reason, It was difficult to point out, I couldn't tell what had changed in him. His eyes were different, that was for sure. He may have had the same rugged and blemished face, the same long black hair that could double as a helmet if some sort of gel was applied to it, and that irritating stubble of his that he refused to shave unless in the most dire of circumstances, but he was different now. I suppressed a shudder; and here I thought Franco would be the one leading the charge for everything. Joe was being Joe, who stood off to the side but even I could tell that his posture was rigid. The sword he had on his back looked awfully out of place for the jolly guy I pegged him to be. Still, we were all in this together, and I'm sure that each and every one of us would do our best to survive everything. "Let's go." I mumbled and Franco, who stood half a foot taller than me as of now, finally let me go.
"First thing's first though," Franco announced as we all readied ourselves. "Share contacts?"
He said with that stupid smile of his. I tried to give him a reassuring smile back, but I guess it only came out as some sort of grimace. Still, the chime that came along with opening the status menu rang three more times and with a few clicks here and there, I've filled up my friends list with the people that were the most important to me. I breathed in and Franco, probably thinking that I was going to hyperventilate again, gave me a reassuring pat to my back. I looked up to his back as he caught up to both Joe and Keith. I stood there, breathing again to settle down my nerves. I closed my windows and looked at the backs of my companions. Franco, the guy who stood at his imposing height of 6'4", the person I thought that would be leading the charge stayed at the back. His buzz cut remained unchanged and his gait was the same. I took a step forward. Joe, the American who joined the group the latest, stood at the middle. He wasn't smiling like he used to, but he still had that annoying vibe at him that told me all I needed to know. I took another step forward. Then there was Keith, the guy who never took anything serious mostly because he was 'better' than anyone else. Still, I guess that's why he's at the very front. That confidence of his should and, being the friendliest in our group of 4, knew each one of us the best when compared to the others. I started running after them, because there was me. The shortest one of them all, the fastest one too and that annoying [Peasant] that refused to die. I tackled Keith by his neck, wrapping my right bicep around him, in an effort to drag him down to the floor with me.
"And who said you could act so damn cool?!"
I scolded him with the biggest grin I could try and muster at the moment. It wasn't much but it was enough to at least get Keith to laugh again as he pushed me off of him. It was enough of a challenge to the others too. I turned my head at them. "Where's the Hill?" Joe just pointed towards the North East and I hopped on the balls of my feet. We all grinned.
"Race you."
The four of us said it at the same time, the time we've spent with each other coming to light for a moment there, before Franco shot off first. Followed by Keith and then Joe. I gave them a second for a head start before I ran too. The concrete blocks of «Starting City», all of them tiled in the most organized manner, began to lose its shape as the buildings rushed past us. We could see the sun peaking at the edges of our vision, showing us that it had reached the break of dawn. Another day to start things off, another day to get stronger, and another day that we've lost on the other side; we might be showing smiles right now but we all knew it. The only way we were getting out of here alive was to kill monsters, rack up the rewards, and continue on doing this; over and over again. The scenery then began to change, our figures rushed past the guards that stood at the gate of the city and our feet began to hit dirt. Running like this, with the wind rushing past me and my eyes filled with the beauty that this world could over, it was so easy to forget that I was running towards what could be the most delicate part of my life.: the beautiful death game of SAO. The endless plains of greenery stretches as far as the eye could see and then some, the mountains behind the valleys stood tall and proud, which made me wonder just how huge the entirety of the 100 floors of Aincrad really was.
"Switch!"
The staggering form of the wolf entered my view as the light blue and white clothed back of Keith moved to the right after the execution of his sword skill. I charged in, my feet seemingly gliding across the vegetation that grew around us as the «Iron Sword» in my right hand sliced through the space that kept the staggering «Wolf» and me apart. The tip of my sword arced, the edge connecting with the throat of the wolf and a howl was torn out of it. It didn't do enough damage to kill it as only 5% of its total HP was shaved away with it. Still, the health dropped down enough that as soon as my swing returned to my side; I stood still to allow the energy to build up. The red glow grew and I leapt forward, my «Horizontal» aimed at the middle portion of the wolf.
A 'gasha' sound echoed out as the wolf I had aimed for was pushed away by another one of its pack. I grunted out a coarse Switch as I was stuck in the cool down period of the «Sword Skill» and staying like this with an active wolf right in front of me was just asking for trouble. Keith launched himself forward, his own weapon glowing in a sharp green color as he struck the underbelly of the monster that had been about to «Bite» me with an «Uppercut». Scoring a critical hit, the enemy in front of me shattered and I was released from my own cool down. Raising my sword up in a defensive position, I stood by Keith's side as the two other «Wolves» stalked a circle around us. I felt my grip slacken a bit, my fingers aching a dull pain as I focused myself to stay in the battle rather than be swept away by my train of thought. We've been fighting here for the past…4 hours. We've been lucky enough that we didn't have to deal with critical hits in that span of time and our rhythm had yet to be broken apart which meant that the use of the Health Potions were sparse. It did not change the fact that we had to use them. Draining half of the Potion of Minor Healing for myself and handing Keith the last dregs of it, I snuck a peek at my Iron Sword and I had to stop myself from outwardly wincing at whatever remaining Durability it had.
Both edges of the weapon had several chips running down it and I was surprised it even managed to last this long. If things continued on like this, I'll be fighting without a weapon and if I didn't have a weapon, I was as good as screwed. I hissed back in reflex at the snarls I received from the collection of data in front of me, my thoughts having been led astray enough that I didn't even notice Keith was already standing behind my back in the same position as me. I blew a strand of hair off of my face as I lowered the volume of my voice. "You get mine and I get yours?" I made sure to keep an eye to check on the wolves that were pawing the ground already. I could only hear a quick 'yeah' before the wolves leapt at us. I turned to my right and my partner turned around to my left. Our swords glowing in their respective colors as my arms had positioned themselves for a «Slant» and the wolves were closing in, their massive maws ready to chow down on our necks. I uttered a wordless cross of a shout and a grunt out loud and swung. At that moment, 2 things shattered into a million polygons. 2 mewls of pain could also be heard as the wolves landed on opposite sides again.
My eyes twitched in surprise, my body locking up in fear. My sword broke. I was weaponless. Both of the wolves were still alive. I had to make a move and quick. Fear gripped my heart as I saw Keith in the same situation as me. I pushed him away, and told him to run. He didn't want to have any of it. I heard the anger come back at an increasing pace and I shoved him again. I hissed to him that I had 'Hiding' in a skill slot. He stood in place as if bloody contemplating it. I was already telling him that I had a way out, and he needed to fucking run if he wanted to live. If there was anyone who was going to die because of a mistake, it was going to be me. Joe and Franco would benefit more with Keith being alive rather than me. We were near a ledge and I checked the almost full health bar that my friend sported. He was about to stand by me to the end, and it touched my heart, but he had to live. As the growls became as loud as they could, I kicked ZeroR off the ledge and saw him look at me with eyes of betrayal. I mouthed the word 'Sorry' before turning my back at him. He would survive the fall; it wasn't that high and at the worst, he'd end up with 50% of his hit points left.
"I swear. I should be shitting my pants with how retarded I am."
I uttered to myself, a wry smile on my face as I waited for the wolves to get closer. The first one leapt at me, to which I responded by sliding beneath it and managing to dodge the first strike. I wasn't good enough to evade the follow up strike as I felt my ankle get chewed on by the remaining «Wolf». I screamed in pain, the rational though of it all being virtual discomfort was drowned out by the psychological impact of seeing such a realistic wolf biting down on your ankle. I responded immediately with fear at the forefront of my mind. I lashed out with my foot, trying to shake it off with as much strength as I could. I rolled around and slammed my free foot on the top of its skull. It did squat damage to its life bar but it was enough to at least dislodge the fangs from my ankle.
I swallowed back the numbness that my fear brought with and threw myself forward again. The scrapes on my arms were very little compared to the bite that took away 40% of my total HP. I pushed my body to keep on running to keep on moving. I waved my hand in front of me, selected the Hiding Skill that I had grown fairly accustomed to. If the wolves could detect me with something else aside from sight, then I was screwed beyond all relief.
I gambled with my life and activated [Hiding].
