Note: Dang, sorry for the really long gap between releases! the good news is that I have a lot of the plot development and future chapters sorted out, so releases should actually be reasonably frequent. There are going to be a lot of things in the note at the end explaining my inspiration and crediting some people.
Aincrad Floor 2 Fields
My eternally messy dark hair blew against my face as the pair that Isuca had enigmatically referred to as the Midnight Sun ran across the flat plains of the second floor, heading directly toward an unremarkable mountain barely visible in the distance. "Hah, hahhh… I swear this mountain is farther away than it was in the beta." Sinon panted as we took a brief rest to let our ingame and mental stamina recover.
I lightly rapped my knuckles on the girl's head. "That's because it is. The full release is 1.5 times larger than the beta." she ducked backwards out of the way of my offense and pouted at my teasing tone. "I knew that, I was just checking to see if you did." I laughed at the childish response of my companion and patted her head, a gesture I could tell she enjoyed despite how much she protested whenever I did it.
The reason we were taking a "break" from grinding by doing this nice cross-country run was to get a skill that was core to both Sinon and me during the beta: Extra skill [Martial Arts]. Although few people knew it, this quest was the source of Argo's trademark whiskers. During the beta she'd been so pissed at this quest for giving her those permanent lines on her face, but over time she grew to like them. Although Sinon and I would remind her teasingly about the time she committed suicide in the beta to see if the whiskers would disappear when she respawned.
As the sun began to dip behind the horizon, we finally reached our destination. A small, ancient looking dojo stood in front of us. It seemed deserted, but we knew that inside there was an old sensei, sitting seiza in front of a single burning candle.
Sinon and I entered, the scene inside being the exact same as we both remembered from the beta. We both bowed upon seeing him, but he didn't even open his eyes to acknowledge our entrance. He he almost seemed to focus on us, still not opening his eyes. "Do you come seekin-" his speech was suddenly cut of by a sound almost like static and his body twisting and twitching weirdly. It was barely within the range of what the human body allowed, but both of us involuntarily stepped backward at the disturbing sight.
A moment later, as if nothing had happened, he started speaking again with the same serene expression. "Do you come seeking the path of the heavens?" Sinon and I exchanged a puzzled glance at the deviation from the speech he had in the beta. Instead of giving the reply that, in the beta, had been the trigger to receive the martial arts quest, I chose my words to match what the NPC had said.
"I come seeking the knowledge of the world around me and of the power within me." Sinon looked at me oddly, intrigued by my strange response. "Ahaa. It's relieving to come across someone with the mark of a true martial artist." The man opened his eyes and the back of my neck prickled as his gaze bore into me. The prickling grew even more intense as I realized something. The man was blind.
I simultaneously noticed a few things. He was blind yet I could feel his gaze on me, this man was certainly not the same person who was the sensei in the beta, and he had a strange, slightly orange aura around him. But most importantly, there was a hint of killing aura in the air. I hadn't noticed it when we walked in because it wasn't directed at anyone, but it was certainly faint. My heart started to beat harder as it finally registered. 'Killing aura and killing intent aren't something that should exist in this game, let alone something that an NPC should be able to emanate. It doesn't even make sense that a simple NPC should be able to imitate an aura that only surrounds powerful killers.'
The NPC smiled lightly, perceiving that I had felt the killing aura he was emitting. "Interesting, not only do you have the mark of a martial artist, but you also have the eyes and heart of one. I'd be willing to bet-" "shut up." before he could say another word, I cut him off with a voice sharper than a knife. Sinon unconsciously stepped back a step from me as I glared murderously at the NPC, my black eyes changing from calm pools to terrifying abysses.
The NPC simply smiled, cutting off his dialogue. I calmed down slightly, enough to spot the elephant in the room. "You, you're no simple NPC, are you?" the old man smiled at my comment and nodded. "As you say, indeed I'm no normal Non-Player Character. But then again, what exactly constitutes a player?"
Sinon looked confused, but I couldn't help a sharp intake of breath at his words. He smiled again at my reaction before continuing. "You've met someone similar to me, correct?" my eyes narrowed as I tried to figure out what he was talking about. "Wait, you mean that boss? The 33rd floor boss?" the old sensei gave no response to that, but the enigmatic smile on his face remained.
After a small gap of time, the old man sighed before responding. "Of course, I can't come close to comparing to any of the children of Cardinal, even the 13th." A sad look appeared on his face, the look of a man who had fought through hell, had lost all worth living for, yet was somehow still alive. I was against struck by the fact that this man was an NPC.
'Is it possible that there's more to this world than we thought?' My mind went back to the words that Kayaba Akihiko spoke during the release. "I hope you all will be able to learn what I've created this world to teach you, a concept that few in the real world ever have the pleasure to comprehend." 'Damn Kayaba, what is your purpose of creating this world? Why are there NPCs that act more alive than the majority of people in the outside world?'
The NPC(?) continued in a hushed voice, interrupting my musing. "I'm the last remaining knight of my Mistress. Alongside her we fought the Ascended, driving them away from the Castle. We tore the false gods down from their thrones, taking revenge against the ones who ravaged the home of our Mistress. The children of Cardinal are nothing compared to the might of her loyal knights at their height! Yet they dishonor the last of them by placing him at such a low location in this god-forsaken castle!"
Both Sinon and I were stunned by his claims. Sinon and I both spoke at the same time, starting to ask questions, but the man spoke over us. "Conquerors, ones ascending this cursed castle in the sky, with my authority as the last of Her knights, I grant you a trial." he paused for a moment and pulled a rock the size of a man's head out of nowhere before addressing Sinon.
"Young lady, if you can break this rock with nothing but your own physical strength, I will grant you the power that you came here seeking." Sinon bowed to him, accepting the rock before stepping back. He then turned to me, but his next words were beyond my imagination.
"Young man, ye with the mark of an artist, I wish to offer you a test. If you are able to defeat me with nothing but the strength of your body, I will pass to you the legacy of the Crusaders." I was taken aback by this offer, having seen nothing like this in the beta. However, within a moment I was able to suppress my astonishment, and accepted his offer.
I readied myself, unequipping my gear and dropping into an all too familiar stance. The man stood up and closed his eyes, merely standing there. I stood my ground, waiting for him to approach.
All stray thoughts fled from my mind as I stood there, staring at my opponent. By the aura he was emitting, I knew this was an opponent that I couldn't afford to underestimate, especially since my life was on the line. 'Heh, it's not like this is the first combat I've fought that my life is on the line, and I'm sure it won't be the last.'
After nearly a minute of standing there, trying to find an opening, my opponent finally made a move, launching himself at me with a speed far faster than anyone I had ever encountered, in the game or in real life. I gritted my teeth and swayed to the side, deflecting his punch past me.
Of all the bizarre things about this entire chain of events, a single one struck me as by far the most odd. 'Just how are his movements so precise when he's blind? No way the system would give him some cheat ability. There has to be something he's using!'
We exchanged a few more blows, neither of us gaining an advantage, but I still was unable to figure out how he was "seeing". I was forced to retreat a few paces as he suddenly changed up his fighting style, favoring heavy kicks and rapid punches instead of his previous rapid but comparatively weak attacks.
A few seconds after I adjusted to his new fighting style, he changed his style again, forcing me even farther back. However, I was able to use this rapid changing of styles to my advantage. To my opponent's obvious surprise, I stepped back out of his range and began to circle around his left, staying out of his attack range as I did so.
'Crap!' just as I thought I had him where I wanted him, he swapped to a style of martial arts I had never seen in my entire life. 'Crap, is it even possible for a game to come up with a new style of martial arts!? This is totally unfair!' He lunged forward with an odd, shuffling gait, one that made it nearly impossible to gauge his movement speed, causing my timing to be off.
He suddenly disappeared for a tenth of a second, but it was enough to entirely destroy my already wavering concentration. His fist suddenly appeared in front of my face, not giving me any time to dodge. But, strangely enough, he hesitated for a moment, giving me enough time to dodge his fatal attack by a hairsbreadth.
"Why?" I asked the obvious question, but the old NPC didn't respond, instead renewing his assault after giving me just barely enough time to recover. After another brief exchange I noticed a peculiar expression on his face, one that was benevolent, but also somehow hopeful. At this sight, it was as if a lightbulb went on in my head and I realized what the true purpose of this fight was.
"Kirito!" a panicked call came from the girl watching on the sidelines as I slowed my steps down, nearly losing my life on several occasions. Sadly, even though I knew my life wasn't in any danger at the moment, I still was unable to spare the concentration to respond.
The last of the Crusaders rushed at me again, this time swaying oddly so his figure blurred slightly, occasionally leaving an afterimage. Something clicked in my brain at the sight, the memory of his movements combined with my knowledge of martial arts and the Cardinal system to form an ability I never would have thought would be possible even in my wildest dreams.
Note: Thanks for sticking with the story for this long! I know the beginning was really slow, and my writing is pretty crappy, but the story will continue to improve, as will my writing (hopefully).
First off, I'd like to credit the authors of other Kirinon fics on this site, as I've read most of them and have taken tiny aspects from quite a few of them. Second, I'd like to credit my favorite music artist, Aviators. I've taken a lot of inspiration for events, groups, and characters from his songs. I'd absolutely recommend looking him up! and who knows, maybe you'll get hints about where this story is going ;)
Finally i'd just like to say that I'm taking a lot of elements from various Korean and Chinese novels. Because let's be honest, the Japanese really don't know how to write virtual reality gaming fiction. If you enjoy the virtual reality side of SAO, I'd recommend novels such as Overgeared, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, or Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World. These are all novels I've gotten a lot of inspiration from, so anyone familiar with those novels will probably be seeing elements of each of those and other stories in this fanfic.
I'm going to aim for a more realistic goal of 1-2 chapters per week, and I hope you enjoy it! I'm also working on a few more stories, some of which might go up on scribblehub, so (if allows it) I'll post links to those along with this story.
If anyone has questions, suggestions, complaints, ideas, or any input of any sort, I'd be extremely grateful if you left me a review or shot me a pm!
