Sword Art Online – Side B (Chronic Perish)
Chapter 2: Element's pulse (Element no static)
Author's Note: *sigh* I lost the page I had for the beginning of this chapter; I'll have to write the beginning portion again. So, without further ado…
Link Start!
As I looked forward I was instantly devoured… by flames. My body was now floating in a space of fire. The flames enter my body. My eyes opened wide and my mouth opened as flames burst out through all the openings of my body. My eyes were starting to bleed and my body was started to feel as if it was melting. I succumbed to the flames.
Is this the end?
No, I didn't want to give up. Not now!
My body twisted so that I was now on my belly, within this flaming orb. I crawled desperately, trying to get out. Then, a flame rushes over to me and engulfs my burning body. Through the flames however, I was standing. The flames moved away from me and I endured the pain my whole body was going through.
I smirked. "Good; I'll be able to make use of this." My burning pain was hidden in my overconfidence. I raise my right hand, holding an assault rifle pointed in a 45º direction. The flames had risen to my sword in two different spiral formations. When they had reached the tip of my blade, the flames sparked; the sword vanished from my grasp and was replaced by a white silhouette which then changed into the shape of a rifle. Flames circulated around the barrel of the white form. When I grabbed the handle of what seemed to be a rifle, the flames sparked once more. Then to my surprise the flames changed into an identifying black aura-like surge of tiny energy. I definitely felt energy being emitted from these strange things which seemed to move about like fireflies. I raised my assault rifle.
Instinctively, I could feel a presence behind me. I looked back to my right and fired without a second thought; killing a flame greater than the ones surrounding me. There was no reason to verify the flames identity; out of all the persons I've met, there was no person with such a great unconcern for the world and intent to kill that they would bother to play this game.
The flames around me burned less than before; it wasn't because it was getting weaker. In fact, the flames were getting stronger. The flames which had surrounded me now all moved towards the flame in front of me which continued to grow bigger as fewer flames were around me. My mouth gaped open as I looked down curiously at the grassland which was now present as my body slowly descended down to the ground. When my feet reached the ground I looked forward; my eyes widen. I then smirked. In front of me, the flames had created some sort of 'flame golem' which was about 5 stories high. At first, it had surprised me because of its intricate structure, unique design and of it tremendous height; however, what made me happy was that it seemed like it would give me a good fight. Then its name appeared 5 inches above its head.
The Burst Golem
My lips moved up even more; forming a malicious grin. "Seems like this'll be a good fight." I spoke with thrill. The Burst Golem took the initiative; moving its right fist down towards my head. The fist was only as fast as a plane readying for takeoff; it wasn't that fast. I smirked as the fist was only 5 inches away from contacting my ear. In a split second my body felt light; I had moved my left foot forward onto the ground while raising my right foot off the ground, allowing my upper body to fall back as my lower body slid forward. The ground was dry and rough so it definitely hurts more to slide however it was nothing compared to the burning flames I've felt.
My body slides forward on its own. The golem's fist barely touches the top of my head; its fist moved 5 meters past me and created a crater on the ground. As the golem was slowly moving its fist back to itself I use this chance. My heels were still sliding against the ground. I turned my body left to face the golem with the assault rifle held in my left hand as I was in a position to shoot it. With the push of the trigger, several bullets burst out and pierce through the golem's right shoulder. I smirk in success as the golem's right arm separated from his body. However to my surprise the golem formed another flaming arm which seemed thinner than the one before. In a few seconds the golem thrusts its right fist forward towards me. My eyes widen in surprise to its speed; it was totally different from before! "What's going on!?" I questioned. Its fist was now only 3 inches away from me. I turned my upper body to face the left and moved my rifle in front of me in a protective manner so that its tip was pointed to my right shoulder. The golem's fist contacted my rifle and I was flung back into the air 150 miles away; or at least, that's what it seemed like. I had hit right in the middle of a mountain in the distance; a crater forming upon contact. I let out a pained gasp as my body had struck the mountain. The crater formed around me was a 10 meter radius in each direction.
I looked back within the crater in disbelief; it was this huge. I then looked forward. To my surprise, the golem was flying towards me! The golem had its right arm in front of it as if it was ready to tackle me; as a matter of fact, it was going to tackle me! I looked up desperately to my right arm which was out against the wall, in a 45º angle. I looked forward once more. My rifle was held tightly in my left hand. My eyes widen and my mouth gapes open in realization. That's it! I smirked. With the remaining strength I currently had in my left hand, I point my rifle towards my left foot and take a few shots at it. My left leg arched forward in pain and instantly I was dropping down towards the ground. As the wind brushed against my body I could feel my arms moving ever so slightly. I looked up with a smile on my face as I saw the golem crash into the mountain in the same place where I had been hit into. Serves you right…! I insulted the golem through verbal abuse which was not even necessary since he couldn't even understand me to begin with.
I turned my body within midair to face the golem completely with my back facing the ground which was only 11 meters away. Come on. I have to get at least this attack in…! Then the golem turned within the huge crater it had formed in the mountain so that the right side of its huge colossal body was now in my field of vision. I grinned. Perfect!
It was then that I could hear the magazine/cartridge clip 'pop' out of its slot as I switched the rifle into my right hand. I grabbed the falling clip into my left palm and then on the corresponding side of the rifle where the handguard was, there was an empty slot in which the magazine could be slid into. I slid the clip into the empty compartment so that the bottom was now against the rifle; the clip clicked right into the compartment. The side of the handguard which the clip was inserted into was actually a clear tube which allowed me to see what was inside it. The ammo left in the magazine made a 'pop' sound and then… there was static. My fingers which gripped onto the rifle began to feel a slight static shock before the tube now had a blue electric wave flowing inside it at a relatively fast speed; similar to a bird flying.
In these few seconds, I moved my left hand out as much as I could so that I could grip onto the magazine and adjust the angle which my rifle was pointed at. Come on…! My eyes widen; I was locked on to my enemy which had merged with rocks as if my eye was a scope which zoomed up to the golem's movement in order to perfect my precision and accuracy. Fire, my bullet!
Dark Correlate Burst!
In a matter of two seconds, a plasma beam, a railgun had shot into the very chest of the golem and caused it to collapse; breaking into several tiny pieces as small as 3x3 inches. I flip within the air and landed on my two feet. Afterwards a small screen hovered in front of my HUD; congratulating me. I stared at it intensely before closing it and then looking out into the distance.
Aincrad, it is an iron-and-stone made floating castle that has about ten kilometers floor base diameter and consists of a hundred floors stacking straight upwards, meaning that each floor's diameter is a bit smaller than the previous one.
The goal of Sword Art Online is to clear all 100 floors by finding the floor boss for each respective floor and defeating it.
However, this isn't Aincrad…
As I was flung by the golem's fist prior, I was able to analyze most of this region. There's an endless loop; there's no end to the forests, caves, etc. And Aincrad does not have a creature like that flame golem which I just fought. To this, I chuckled slightly. I didn't even have to think about this. I guess it's because of my sister that I can be laid back at a time like this.
"Hey, there's someone here right? You can come out now." I spoke with a certain authority in my voice.
"Heh~ to think that you would notice my presence..." A girl's voice spoke to me. It was certainly young; maybe around 15. From the forests in front of me, she came out; illuminating her presence. I narrow my eyes as I examined her; she wore a brown ragged mantle which was slightly torn at the bottom and was definitely used frequently to have caused that. Her chubby face and long hazelnut colored hair which went into her mantle was definitely a good quality revealed when her hood wasn't worn over her head; it made her seem to be around the age of 16 or 17. Her blue eyes caught my attention as she smiled up at me; she was innocent… and clever. "Using my power like that… you're such a brute." The girl said playfully. My eyes widen as I taken into consideration what she had just said.
"Wait, that was your power?" I questioned. The girl simply nodded with a smile still on her face. She was 4' 8 if I had to say… It was hard to make out any other proportions since she was currently donning a mantle.
"My name's Element. I am the one who gave you that power; the power of darkness. Or to be more specific, my heart." The girl, Element had explained. I looked at her questioningly.
"Eh? What do you mean 'your heart'?" I questioned. Element simply smiled.
"Just as it implies."
"Wow, I got to owe it to some little girl; you did make me stronger."
"Ah, that's rude! Wait, I guess that was a compliment, huh?" Element questioned; looking up curiously at me before closing her eyes with her right paw in front of her lips and her head moving down as she giggled.
"How old are you anyways?" I wondered.
"I'm 17." Element replied with a startled expression as she looked at me, confused.
"Young…!" I muttered in surprise.
"My, thanks for the compliment." Element said as she smiles.
"Not that it was much of a compliment." I mumbled in thought.
"There you go again!" Element said playfully. I looked at her questioningly. "Ah, sorry sorry. You wanted to know the reason why you're here, right?" I nodded in response to her question. "Basically, because of your pestering meddlesome so called 'enhancements' to the NerveGear, the system treated you as a foreign object; thus, you were brought here. Inb4, the Cardinal System was trying to eliminate you in the white realm you first appeared in during your first log in, and probably to be your last one as well.
"Cardinal system…" I muttered.
"Cardinal system, it has a number of monitoring systems designed to either detect bugs or to keep track of the mental health of the players. Cardinal has a sub-program that continuously checks the main process for errors and corrects them. You were found by that sub-program and was sought to be eliminated. However, you could say in a way that the Cardinal system had also saved you. The main program considered you as a player and decided to abort the destruction of the foreign object. The sub-program and main program had a battle to determine whether you should stay as a foreign object or become a player. Ultimately, the Cardinal system determined you as a foreign object, thus, when you got onto this main server the Cardinal system's main program tried to destroy you."
"I see… So?" I looked at her, waiting for a certain answer.
"Hm?" She looked at me, confused.
"Why did you decide to help me?" I wondered. Element smirked as she jumped back to sit on a big tree log that was laid on the ground. When did that show up? She placed her palms at her sides, against the log as she looked down at me with a mischievous smile.
"You see, I didn't have much of a choice anyways."
"Huh?" I questioned.
"Like me, there are several other AI's who possess a functional defect, that is, to have emotions." Element looked up with sorrowful eyes; she then looked at me with a smile on her face. "However, that is not necessarily such a bad thing as Kayaba Akihiko and the Cardinal System considers it to be. The Cardinal system has no emotions. However, it is my responsibility to complete its actions even if its decision were to change as a result of an overriding by the sub-program; such as this case. My mission… is to protect you." Element said; her expression changing into a serious one before she smiled simplistically at me. "Well, it looks like I didn't have to help you at all."
"Are you kidding me? If it weren't for those dark powers, I wouldn't have been able to survive those irresistible killing flames." I explained seriously.
"Ah, about that… The darkness is more or less your power… merged with mines."
"Huh?" I questioned, confused.
"While it is true that I helped you control that darkness, most of the power of the darkness comes from you. The electric darkness and the assault rifle are my powers helping you amplify your darkness to best capabilities." Element explained. I was even more confused as she then looked at me analytically; she noticed my confused expression. Element then smiled. "The assault rifle is basically me changing your powers into a physical form which is also a representation of me. Then the electric is a symbol of my soul and it's the second key to activating the most vital weapon of the assault rifle, the railgun." Element explained.
"I see…" I mumbled as I looked down to my sheathed sword which I held in my right hand. "So…? How do I get to Aincrad?" I questioned. Element chuckled slightly.
"Already and you want to go back home, huh?" Element said with a mischievous voice.
"Not that I could do much here anyways." I replied truthfully.
"It's simple. You just go up there!" Element explained cheerfully with closed eyes as she playfully moved her legs forwards and back separately. I looked behind me; up and to my right, to the floating castle.
"You've got to be kidding me…" That's easy, huh?
Is it truly easy for Kirie to get up to Aincrad? Element, a piece of advice, why don't you? And, If he's not in Aincrad, where is he? Next time, Aincrad.
Music of the week: "The world" by ナイトメア Nightmare (Love his voice so much X3)
