A/N: Found a calculation error in Ichika's health in Ch.7. Fixed it. That's why his health is less.
[...] Text from The Game
"..." Someone speaking.
'...' Someone thinking, (generally Ichika talking telepathically to SIS)
"..." SIS talking telepathically to Ichika.
Hacking Photosynthesis
A lot had happened, as usual in his increasingly hectic life.
Sixth grade had been a breeze and because of the evaluation test he had taken at the end of the school year, he was to be inducted into the eighth grade in the coming school year.
Quite a lot of the summer had already passed, and his annoyance at having to go back to school grew every day. The fact that back to school ads had already started running were not helping his mood.
The reasons summer had seemed so quick were various.
Even though he was out of school he did not slack off, he spent the majority of his freetime training either his mind or body. He studied subjects from A to Z and would sweat buckets everyday grinding his skills in the arena or fighting monsters in an ID.
Which brought him to the present.
CRACK. "AHH!" Ichika gave a high pitched yell as pain flared into his chest.
[HP: 645/665]
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity Fuck Fuck!" He had already instinctually opened his inventory, and snagged a health potion out of it. The spot of his chest that was quickly turning purple suddenly reversed its course as he chugged the potion, after he finished, the wound healed completely.
[HP: 665/665]
Technically, since it was a practice battle, he could just let his HP hit zero without losing any sleep. But it hurt so damn much every time that he found himself healthing just to make the pain go away.
"I told you this was a terrible idea."
"You'll get used to it." SIS defended her idea.
Having a mock fight against his martial arts NPC teacher in the arena was a good plan. Of course, it also meant that Ichika would have health for the mock battle, and from the chunk that had just been taken out of it combined with the sound the instructors fist made against Ichika's chest, SIS was fairly sure Ichika had just broken a rib. Luckily, it was already healed, but SIS cringed every time Ichika was hurt, even during a mock battle in which he couldn't actually die.
"Not how I wanted to spend my today." Ichika commented, signaling to his teacher that he wasn't ready to spare again.
He wanted to spend today relaxing. After all, the anniversary of his beginning The Game was getting closer every day, and he had spent every second working his hands to the bone, he was due for some rest and relaxation. Plus, people that work until they burn out tend to Hemingway themselves.
"You'll thank me later. You keep putting off your first practice battle with one of your instructors, you have to do it eventually."
"Can't I just kick another monster's ass in an ID? Plus I can get cool stuff."
"You won't be fighting monsters in reality. That's what you need to prepare for." She brought up a good point.
"Fine." He conceded, finally sitting up and dusting himself off, bending his knees to a ready stance.
"Ready?" The NPC he had purchased to teach him martial arts was more of what he had expected to get for a martial arts teacher. The NPC was a man in his early twenties with black hair and harsh brown eyes. He was clearly of Chinese descent and commanded a high air of respect. He never let Ichika take one step out of line and would correct him on even the smallest of mistakes.
Ichika hated how harsh the NPC was, but he was learning valuable lessons. He learned a great deal of martial arts, especially with the experience boost, but it wasn't just that. It was learning how to hold his head high with the posture of a king. How to dish out and demand respect when desired. In what situations to be calm and collected and what situations to be fierce and deadly.
This was their first session of fighting against each other, and he would be lying if he said he couldn't already see improvement in his fighting. His moves were still sloppy and all over the place, nowhere near to actually hitting his teacher, but they were slightly better than when he had started.
"...eh….sure." Ichika took the stance the NPC had grilled into him, his legs burnt like hell as he bent his knees and stood on the balls of his feet.
Woosh. Ichika could actually hear the sound of his teacher's fists pushing away the air as the NPC struck at Ichika's chest. He gave his best attempt to block, his arm hit the strike and redirect it. Unfortunately instead of the strike redirecting into open air, it redirected into his face.
Crack.
[HP: 655/665]
Ichika shook it off. His adrenaline was pumping and frankly, he was tired of being his teacher's punching bag. Wiping the gushing blood from his now broken nose, and spitting some out on the ground, he ran at the NPC.
"Ichika..." SIS warned, but he ignored her.
Woosh. He threw a haymaker, only for his teacher to smoothly dodge. With his momentum, and his instructor cleanly kicking his legs out from under him, he found himself face down in the dirt.
"You got a temper."
Ichika scowled in annoyance. "Can you blame me? I'm tired of all this training! I've been doing all of this for the entire summer and what do I have to show for it?!"
"..."
"..."
"First off, you do have progress to show for it. Look at your Martial Arts skill alone-"
The floating box was by his side the entire time, as he slowly gained experience.
[Martial Arts] - [Lvl: 10] - [Exp: 3,940/10,000]
[Description: Various sports or skills used as forms of attack and defense, usually with a combination of strikes and kicks. All you have to do is learn this and you can kill people with pencils, I think.]
[Rewards: +1 to STR, END, and AGI per level]
"You have been pushing yourself hard, very hard. You shouldn't forget to take breaks or all this hard work is going to backfire."
"...I….. guess….*sigh*... yeah…...My birthday isn't too far away. How about I take a few days off of training then, maybe even a week? Yeah that sounds nice…..but for now….."
Ichika wiped the blood from under his nose, which his healing factor had already healed.
"...I'm gonna kick this guys ass." He said, full of determination.
"That was fast." SIS commented on his change in attitude.
"It doesn't look half-bad." SIS commented.
Two weeks ago Ichika had given Ferreres back the suit of armor that he had built for upgrades. He had originally commissioned the armor going on a handful of months ago, but after using it so much, it was starting to get dented. It didn't cost much to get fixed but he wanted more, and requested an upgrade which took a huge chunk of money. After two weeks, the results showed themselves, and if he wasn't tooting his own horn, he did look pretty good.
Starting with his build. He had to be one of the most athletic preteens out there, he just had to. Sure he wasn't supermodel ripped or bodybuilder bulky but how many preteens had defined muscles? He actually had enough definition in his muscles that he could clearly see his abs. His upper chest was still pretty flat and could use some work, his back too, but other than that he looked in great shape.
The armor he was wearing was built in an attempt to add protection against attacks while also being flexible. He had spent a pretty penny on the metal the blacksmith had used to make the armor. The many pieces of metal covering his chest, back, and limbs, were shaped into plates that guarded their specific areas of his body. The majority of his body on his limbs and sides were still uncovered, but it would've been difficult to hit those places.
The other material his armor was made out of was a combination of Jorogumo silk and an extensive cloth at The Shop.
As for the upgrades, Ferreres had added a layer of tough metal to each piece of his armor. It increased the effectiveness of the armor immensely, but slightly lowered the speed at which he could move in it. It was expensive for such a small upgrade, but it made a hell of a difference.
Ferreres had added small connections between each armor plate made of Jorogumo silk that was intertwined with itself multiple times to add strength. Each connection between each piece of armor was covered in a piece of leather to avoid it easily being cut. Meaning the previously uncovered parts of his body were now covered in the leather that connected the metal plates.
Ichika would say the upgrades were worth every Yen. Though, he was going on broke at this point…..
His sword was the main thing. Strapped to his left side, as he was right handed, he could easily draw it and go into any stance necessary. It was made out of four Jorogumo fangs. The fangs were insanely durable material. They were too short to create an actual sword, so Ferreres melted down Ichika's katana blade and made it's metal and the Jorogumo fangs into an alloy. The fang added an incredible amount of durability to the blade, and the metal keeped it shiny and pristine. The hilt was a traditional katana hilt, even though the blade of the sword was slightly more bent at the end than a standard katana.
His hand rested on the hilt of the knife Ferres had made out of the remaining Jorogumo fang. It was sickeningly sharp and had been carved down into a thin but long blade. It was currently strapped to his left side. The naturally hollow fang made it deadly, if he stabbed an opponent, it would create a much larger hole in their flesh.
He had upgraded the hilt into more expensive metal with designs etched into the piece.
Ichika wanted to test out the new armor, but frankly he was exhausted, and tired of fighting for the day.
"Hmm." He hummed as he turned and observed himself in the mirror.
"...sir?" "Oh-" The Wardrobe's NPC, who had fitted him into the armor and shown him how to put it on, broke him out of his thoughts.
"Uhh...thank you, that is all I need, you've been very helpful." He thanked the NPC, having an awkward smile.
The NPC gave a modest bow and disappeared.
"...what to do?" Ichika questioned as he began taking his armor off.
"Casino?"
"No. Most of the time I want to relax. I go there already."
"You could always study, it's much less physically draining."
"Eh. Boring. Umph." Ichika threw his now taken off armor into his inventory.
"Tabane? She's always…..entertaining…."
"She said she was busy all month."
"How about Dan? He's always up for anything."
"Busy."
"...yeah that's all I got."
"Well then…...let me think…."
Ichika had two main goals in his life. Granted, he knew both would take a while, but he still strived for them.
Firstly, he wished to become the strongest, which was his main goal. He didn't want people to be able to mess with him.
Secondly, he wanted to get back at the organization that had kidnapped him during the second Mondo Grosso. Tabane had dubbed them "Phantom Task", a little cheesy, but not bad.
He was making slow but steady progress on the first goal but so far, none in the second.
So where to start?
It's not like there was a manual on how to locate and destroy a secretive terrorist organization.
But he didn't have to ask the question for long.
[QUEST ALERT - "Entering the Underground"]
[Description: Gain a minimum of two sources in the criminal "underworld".]
[Rewards: Amount of information sources. 1500 Level XP . 15,000 Yen]
"Guess that solves the problem of boredom. Though… I'm still unsure as to how I should get contacts in the criminal underworld." Ichika thought as he continued to pace around the empty house.
"No idea."
"...Well if I need criminal contacts. I obviously need to meet a criminal."
"Sometimes your genius is…. it's almost frightening." Ichika could almost taste the sarcasm.
"Well….you said you don't have anything better…."
"...I do not….."
"..."
"..."
"Got it!" Ichika said, stopping his pacing for a moment.
"Mhmm?" SIS questioned.
"I go all Sherlock Holmes on someone's ass and solve a crime before the police can, and once I find out who the criminal is, I can proceed from there."
"...The Game better take away an intelligence point for that one. That could get you in some serious shit."
"...fine. You're right. Plus, not like I actually want to Caped Crusader this shit, though I have the no parents part down. And I don't think many hardened criminals would even talk to a kid." Ichika thought as he continued to pace, before finally jumping on a chair and laying across the armrests, staring at the ceiling and kicking his legs.
"Money is power. You could find a corrupt cop and bribe them money to feed you information, then go from there."
"...no. I don't have that kind of money." He shot down her suggestion.
"...you need a way to interact with criminal sources without them knowing who you are."
"I could gain criminal contacts through the internet. Aren't there a bunch of people who hack into banks and steal money, stuff like that?"
"...there are….you would need to learn how to use computers, and I mean really use advanced coding and shit. Also, the dark web is a….. less than savory place to scour through ... just a forewarning."
Ichika froze in place before sitting up in the chair. "What d'you mean, like, porn and stuff?" He tilted his head curiously.
"...yikes….." It was moments like these that Ichika's youth dawned on SIS.
"Whatever. If it's for a good cause I'll do it. Does The Game have an NPC teacher for that? I know there's a whole lot for combat, but for coding?"
If anyone had seen him, they surely would've thought he was crazy. Constantly making facial expressions and sporadically speaking out loud seemingly incoherent thoughts to a completely empty house.
"Right now the only NPC teachers are for combat. There is potential for more in the future, per usual, but yeah….no purchasable coding teachers. You're going to have to find your own way to learn how to code. I recommend random Youtube videos of Indian guys that are for some reason ten times better than any professor."
"..."
"Okay. To be more serious, you could ask Tabane for help." SIS gave him a real suggestion, but he shook his head.
"She is busy, I don't want to bother her, especially just to ask her for something."
"She would make time for you." SIS said, which was something she repeatedly said whenever Tabane was busy, though Ichika would always shrug it away.
"Not the point. She is busy, I don't want to bother her, and part of me wants to do these things myself, you know? She didn't have any help getting to where she is now, nor did Chifuyu, so why should I be any different?"
"...very well...but you'll have to find another way to learn." His mentality was both right and wrong. SIS could see his determination to do things himself, but everyone needed help sometime, and without help she knew Ichika might fail. But she conceded, for now.
"Why not the Youtube thing?"
"I was kidding! You're actually going to try that?" Ichika gave a small grin while shrugging, as he walked up the stairs to his room.
"If it works, it works." Ichika said, swinging open his bedroom door and sitting down at his desk, turning the computer on as he watched the monitors light up.
SIS was facepalming through their mental link, no doubt about it.
END OF CHAPTER STATS
[Ichika Orimura]
Age: 11
Title(s):
The Gamer/Player One - [Grants: Gamer's Body & Mind]
Blade Wielder (Beginner) - [Grants: 1% increase to AGI and END.]
Gunslinger (Beginner) - [Grants: 1% increase to base AGI]
Kendo Team Captain - [Grants: 5% increase to base STR, END, and AGI]
Martial Artist (Beginner) - [Grants: 1% increase to base STR, END, and AGI]
Shogi Team Captain - [Grants: 5% increase to base INT and WIS]
Level: 15
Exp: 2,400/10,000
HP: 665/665 (END *5)
RGN: 655/hour (AGI*5)
MP: 625/625 (INT *5)
RGN: 610/hour (WIS *5)
STR: 122 (*1.06) = 129
END: 124 (*1.07) = 133
AGI: 121 (*1.08) = 131
INT: 119 (*1.05) = 125
WIS: 116 (*1.05) = 122
LUK: 26
Points: 50
Money: 32,010 ¥ / 303.15 $
A/N: Yes I delayed this chapter an entire week just to think of a reference to put in the title.
First off, though I doubt they'll see it, Savoled read the first two chapters and gave me some criticism that I agree with.
The two main takeaways were that a) It seemed as though Ichika wasn't really playing the game and that SIS was just doing it for him, and b) There wasn't much character interaction outside of Ichika and SIS.
I know I've improved on this in chapters later than 1&2, but I can still see both. I know there will be far more character interaction once canon starts and I know a lot of you like the interactions between SIS and Ichika, but I'll try to add more between him and other characters too.
So, yeah, my thanks to Savoled.
Next chapter is probably going to be chronologically close to this one, and it will be the first one in which he is twelve.
I know I've introduced a lot of concepts, but I plan to revisit them all, I haven't forgotten about them.
About 5 chapters per year (till canon) will probably be the average (I think).
Also Ep. 15 of SAO abridged just dropped for y'all that don't know. Shit's cash.
Personal Replies:
SolSparda369: I don't know if I can give him a minimap, that might be possible, but I think wavepoints might be OP in combat, so idk. I would have to put a lot of thought into how that would interact with the system before putting it in.
Jack: Glad you like the training scenes, especially because those are the steroetypical "training montage" scenes and I was hoping they wouldn't be cringy. There will be more of them but I will use them sparingly.
Josep007: So glad to know someone is getting my references. Probably my favorite part of writing this story is putting them in. Some are obvious call outs and some are more obscure.