Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online
My name is Tanaka Niten, and I am seventeen years old. I tell myself this every day, just to keep remembering. It's been over two years since I logged into a game called Sword Art Online and couldn't log back out. Two years I've been fighting digital monsters and leveling up, just to stay alive and maybe get out of this death trap. Two years since Kayaba told everyone we can't leave until we beat the last floor and that we can really die in this world.
My arrow slams into the monster between its eyes and it shatters into polygons of light. My XP goes up imperceptibly, and I nock another arrow, taking aim.
Rogers' shield whirls past me, rebounding off several monsters that were sneaking up on me before returning to its owner. I nod my thanks to my friend and take out another monster that was about to attack Klein.
It's not a critical hit, but Klein draws his Bladestaff, activating Battoujutsu. The familiar white wave of light slices through the beast and several more behind it, destroying them all.
Kirito leaps forward into a group of monsters surrounding Asuna. His two blades disappear into wheels of fiery light that cut through the enemy as though they were made of paper. Within seconds, he's dispatched them all. Asuna doesn't look too happy about it; she's yelling at Kirito for hogging all the XP.
Nearby, Heathcliff moves seamlessly from defense to attack in blurs of white and red. The leader of the Knights of the Blood is an unstoppable force, smashing monsters left and right with his massive tower shield and cutting them down with his sword.
As always, I'm hanging back from higher ground, picking off the monsters that try to attack my fellow players from behind. Watching some of my fellow clearers, I can't help but feel as though I am in the presence of demigods, soldiers for humanity that are beyond mere mortals, unleashing devastating power upon the digital evils that Kayaba created. Thank God they're on our side; if the Unique Skills had been discovered by a Player Killer, we would have been doomed.
From a logical standpoint however, it's unlikely that anyone but a Clearer would discover a Unique Skill. Those of us who fight on the front lines are the strongest players in the game, constantly raising our stats through combat and experience. No single Player Killer could possibly hope to defeat a Clearer; we are superior in every way, and I say this with absolute honesty.
It is well into the third year of the game. Months have passed since Rogers discovered the Unbreaking Shield. Since then, even more Unique Skills have been found.
000
Several monsters seemingly drop dead, bursting into polygons for no reason. I know better, and following the path of destruction with my eye, I see a player with green armor and long black hair fade into view out of nowhere.
Not long after Vulcan's Forge, Khai and I decided to experiment with his Stealth ability, testing its limits. What we discovered was that my friend was capable of true invisibility, disappearing from the game entirely save for his name on the Monument of Life. To the untrained observer, it would seem that Khai had died, since his name vanished from party lists, friend lists, and other indicators that a player might be alive.
But the truth was far more incredible. Khai had mastered the hide ability to the point that he became the fifth player to gain a Unique Skill: Darkness Blade. When other players use Stealth, some form of their presence remains, whether it be a faint outline of their person or noise, however muffled it may be. With my friend however, there is no remaining trace that he exists. Along with this ability, Khai also became capable of creating clouds of black smoke that block out all light and prevent anyone besides him from being able to navigate the area for a certain time.
000
Tiny pinwheels of light whiz across the battlefield, finding their marks in the bodies of monsters. If one were to trace their flight paths back, the projectiles all originate from a short girl with a loose ponytail. Her name is Kotona, and she is a ranged weapon user like me.
Unlike me however, Kotona is a Unique Skill user, having discovered Shurikenjutsu, the sixth of ten. It wasn't an easy process. Like Rogers, she had to undertake a difficult mission to gain the throwing stars that are nearly impossible to dodge. If my arrows have one disadvantage, it is that they are easy to see, and can be dodged or even caught if the target is fast enough.
Kotona maxed out the accuracy stat, and was given a mission to enter a special dungeon on floor 88, where she had to survive a whole night fighting shadowy ninjas with only throwing picks. She nearly died during the fight, but she held out until dawn, and was rewarded with shuriken, a weapon no other player could hope to use.
000
Tendrils of power fill the air, and I feel my hair stand on end. Light flashes and sound booms as lightning cracks through the ranks of monsters. Such is the power of the Infinite Spear, the seventh Unique Skill.
It's user, Jaina, had perhaps the most difficult task of all. She accepted a mission from an NPC woman to rescue her child from a dungeon on Olympia called Hades. The baby's cries constantly drew monsters to her, but Jaina survived the attacks, protecting the baby the whole while. When she returned to the NPC, the baby's father, Jupiter, rewarded her with the Jupiter Bolt, the source of Jaina's power.
Jaina was given an electric spear, which would always return to her and could call down lightning to strike the enemy. No other weapon like it exists in all of Aincrad, and the trials that she had to endure to gain it speak volumes of her ability as a clearer and a player.
000
In the center of the simulated violence, I can see an unusual sight: a girl fighting using only her hands and feet, no weapons on her person. That girl's name is Alina, and she is arguably the most dangerous player in the game. Take Kirito's blades away from him and he is no longer the Black Swordsman. Take away my Windrazor Longbow and I am no longer the Lone Archer. Any player is helpless without their weapon. Any player but Alina that is. She alone can use her very body to defeat enemies, courtesy of her Unique Skill, Blazing Fists.
Of course, Alina is not the only player to use the extra skill Martial Arts, but she is the only one to master it to its highest capacity. In the real world, it would be the equivalent to holding ninth-dan black belts in multiple fighting disciplines. No other player can hope to match her skill, and she is actually faster without a weapon, which is why she fights with none.
To fight Alina is to combat a force of nature. Her speed can rival that of Kirito, and even with a shorter range of attack she might be able to beat him. Now that would be a fight worth seeing, much like Heathcliff's duel with Kirito. Sadly, we have no time for such frivolities when we are trying to end the game before our real bodies fall apart.
000
But not all Unique Skill Users are fighters. Next to me is a player with foppishly long golden hair and white armor. His name is Urian, and he is blessed with the ninth Unique Skill: Extra Sensory.
Urian can see things no one else can. To be more specific, he has a minimap in the corner of his vision, on the other side of his health display. The minimap displays his immediate surroundings as well as any enemies, allies, traps, or loot. Urian advanced his Search ability to the point that he can see through walls and around corners. Nothing gets past him, making him an invaluable strategist, watching over the other clearers from above and directing their movements.
Make no mistake however, I do not like Urian. He is by far the most cowardly Clearer I have ever met, so his Unique Skill is well suited for him, giving him the excuse he needs to hang back out of danger. His Extra Sensory is not perfect either; Urian still cannot detect Khai even with all his abilities.
000
"The big one is coming." Urian drawls, tossing his blond locks back.
"Get back!" I roar to the Clearers far below me. They hurry back into a rough approximation of a line resembling a rudimentary shield formation. The remaining monsters we've been fighting scatter as a tiny figure in a bloodstained white dress with black hair covering her face steps onto the battlefield. I take aim at the ghost girl and fire at the same instant Kotona throws a shuriken at her..
Just as my arrow and the throwing star are about to hit the girl, she moves. Faster than the eye can follow, she speeds toward the Clearers. Urian yells at them to hold the line, but she strikes Klein with such force that he is sent flying.
A name tag shimmers into existence above the girl: Yurei. She's got five health bars. I catch a glimpse of her face under the hair and it's terrifyingly blank. I don't mean that her expression is blank, I mean that she has no face, just smooth skin. Four black tentacles burst from her back and nearly impale Klein, Kirito coming in at the last second to deflect them.
Alina jumps in, moving fast as sound. Her fists begin glowing red, and her limbs disappear into abstract shapes, tearing into Yurei mercilessly. I can only catch glimpses here and there, but Alina's rapid fire blows are doing enough damage, accompanied by Kirito's slashes and slicing.
"Switch!" I clearly hear Jaina shout. Alina and Kirito get out of the way in time. The Infinite Spear and Battoujutsu hit Yurei at the same time, dealing massive amounts of damage. Of the five health bars, only three are still filled.
Rogers throws his shield at Yurei, knocking her back a few steps. Before his shield can return to him however, the ghost girl attacks. Rogers loses half his health in an instant to her slashing claws before he leaps back out of the way. If he'd been any slower, he'd be dead.
"Rogers!" I shout, firing arrows at Yurei. She knocks them out of the air and looks toward me.
"Great, now we're gonna die." Urian complains. "Good job, Naitama."
Yurei leaps impossibly high, arcing through the air towards me and Urian. Fortunately, she can't dodge, so I get out an Acheron arrow.
"Have you got a plan?" Urian sneers.
"Shut your face." I growl and let the arrow fly. It finds its mark and Yurei falls back to the ground, paralyzed.
"She's paralyzed!" I shout. "Switch!"
Heathcliff jumps forward, stabbing downward with his shield and sword. He manages to get a few good hits in before Yurei overcomes the paralysis. Stronger monsters like bosses are only temporarily paralyzed. She stabs through Heathcliff with one of her tentacles. The other three rear back to finish him off but suddenly they're sliced clean through, falling away. Yurei slashes at an unseen attacker, but Khai is too quick. He cuts off the last tentacle and pushes Heathcliff back. As soon as he's clear, Yurei disappears into a cloud of black smoke.
"Switch!" Khai shouts, emerging from the black smoke cloud.
"Out of the way!" I bellow, and launch a Death Rain arrow. Unlike normal, I don't fire it high into the air but directly at my target. At the last second, it splits into the hundred smaller fragments, smashing into the cloud. When the smoke clears, Yurei has the tiniest sliver of health left. Asuna and Urian, who joined the rest of them earlier, attack now, finishing off the ghost girl.
Yurei shrieks horribly, and bursts into polygons. The Clearers cheer. We've just cleared the 94th floor, and with no player deaths either, since the Unique Skill users led the charge. I can't help but grin. Even though Kayaba intended to slow us down and tear us apart with the introduction of the Unique Skills, they've only made us stronger.
We're not infallible however: Klein, Rogers, and Heathcliff nearly died during this fight. For all their power, the boss's programmed speed was too much for any one of them. Plus, there are only nine of the Users. The last Unique Skill is still out there, waiting to be discovered, and it's a prize that is still drawing away some Clearers.
I climb down from the high ground and join the other Clearers. We're making plans to go celebrate the victory when suddenly a large number of players in black armor teleport into the dungeon. It's the Aincrad Liberation Force, or the Army as people call them. They've gotten smaller since Kibaou's rebellion, but at just under a thousand players, they're still the largest guild in the game. At their head is a short girl with light armor and brown pigtails. On her shoulder is a tiny blue dragon.
"Silica?" Kirito steps forward smiling. "How are you-"
"Naitama the Lone Archer." The girl, Silica, isn't happy. In fact, none of the Army players look very pleased. "You are under arrest for poisoning and attempted murder."