Polarizing could not even begin to describe it.
Oh, Kii-bou. What have you done?
Seated in a nearby tree, Argo surveyed the main plaza of the Town of Beginnings, and people were upset. It had been fifteen minutes since the mysterious screens that broadcast the 1st floor boss encounter disappeared and people were still recovering from the tidal wave of emotions that followed.
Many were ecstatic at the prospect of moving forward in the game and eventually escaping. Some within that group were emboldened to venture forth on their own, inspired by the heroics of the first-ever clearing raid team. Player and NPC shops alike were already being filled to the brim with eager adventurers-to-be.
Some were mournful of the loss of Diavel, whose passing marked yet another life lost to the Death Game. While not a name most were familiar with, his apparent leadership would be missed and many wondered who would take his place.
Others still were outright furious, though the object of their ire wasn't entirely consistent. Some players were angry at Kirito for having confessed to being a Beater. Those on the other side of the aisle saw Kirito's bluff for what it was and were thus furious at Kibaou for causing problems and creating divisions where none need exist.
That, however, wasn't the reason Argo was hiding in a tree. No, she was hiding from a couple of roleplayers.
Roleplayers, as Argo had explained in her guidebook, were players who acted out a role of their creation, completely forsaking their own real life identity for that of their avatar. The two self-proclaimed ninjas tailing her from Fuumaningun were no exception, and they had been particularly relentless in their pursuit of Argo ever since the raiding group announced their plans to tackle the first floor boss. They were after information that Argo, simply put, was not willing to sell to them. The irony of this was not lost on the Rat, but this "guild" had done enough damage during the Closed Beta due to their hit and run tactics, which inadvertently lured monsters into unprepared players. She knew helping them would only prove lethal as SAO stood now.
"There she is!"
Balls.
Having glanced down at the two ninjas who had pegged her location, Argo leapt forward and launched into a dead sprint for the floor teleporter. The teleporter to the next floor had been inactive since up until now, there were no other floors to teleport to. Even now, the teleporter was inactive, waiting for one of the raiders to reach the 2nd floor teleporter to activate it.
Come on, Kii-bou. I really need that teleporter open right now.
Argo weaved in and out of the crowd that was already assembled in front of the 1st floor teleporter, hoping that she could lose her pursuers just long enough for the teleporter to activate. Unfortunately, the two ninjas behind her had invested just as much of their stat points in AGI as Argo had, if not more so. They were catching up to her, and fast.
Needless to say, when the teleporter hummed to life just then, Argo was very relieved.
The Rat immediately made a sharp turn towards the teleporter and ran as fast as her legs would take her. Within seconds, Argo had reached the central platform and recited the verbal command needed to move up to the next floor, all the while watching as the two ninjas closed in on her location.
"Teleport, Urbus!"
Wow.
The first thing Asuna noticed was how different the 2nd floor of Aincrad was from the first. Where the 1st floor was covered in grasslands, forests, and lakes, the 2nd floor was almost exclusively covered in savannah, cliffs, and plateaus. The main settlement, Urbus, was actually situated in a massive crater on one such plateau. It had taken her and her friends the better part of 15 minutes to traverse the dry savannah landscape in order to reach the settlement, which she now noticed looked absolutely nothing like the Town of Beginnings. The architecture was entirely different, consisting of buildings blanched white from the increased sun exposure and rooftops that were more or less the same height all around.
According to Kirito, the first thing they needed to do was activate the teleporter so that the 1st floor residents could travel here from the Town of Beginnings. This was much more convenient than having to walk through the 1st floor labyrinth, and Asuna for one was thankful that the game developers had the foresight to allow for easy travel. If only that foresight had extended to making the NerveGear safe to use.
The second thing they needed to do, according to Kirito, was hide. Asuna wasn't quite sure why they would need to hide from the players emerging from the teleporter. While she knew word and rumors traveled fast, there was no way that his status as a beater had already reached the Town of Beginnings. She and the rest of her party heeded Kirito's advice nonetheless, and found themselves hiding in a nearby inn immediately after Kirito unlocked the teleporter.
"Why are we hiding, Kirito?" Asuna asked as she looked out the window.
"It's best that we're not seen. I'm sure word hasn't spread about me being a Beater yet, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Kirito answered.
The teleporter finished activating just then and thrummed to life. Almost immediately, a crowd of players materialized in the central platform, almost spawning on top of one another. It was as if the entirety of the 1st floor population decided to investigate the 2nd floor at the exact same time.
"Well, since we're here, I'm going to go ahead and rent us some rooms before they're all taken. We're going to need somewhere to stay tonight anyway." Leonn suggested, getting up from his chair and walking towards the front desk.
"Not a bad idea." Sinon said as she, too, looked out the window at the crowd piling through.
Asuna pointed a finger towards the central platform. "Hey, isn't that Argo?"
Kirito and Sinon squinted and found that yes, it was in fact the Rat herself. What's more, she was moving quickly. Almost as if she was being chased, actually. As the trio watched Argo dart out from the crowd, they saw two figures speed forward in pursuit, hot on the Rat's heels. The trio darted down the main street so fast they almost resembled blurs more than actual people.
"Yeah it is, and I don't like the look of that." Sinon said, her voice laced with some degree of concern. "Isn't she an ex-beta tester too, Kirito?"
There was no response.
"Kirito?"
The next thing she and Asuna saw through the window was Kirito dashing past and heading in the direction Argo and her pursuers went. Both girls looked at each other for a moment, then leapt out of their seats and ran after their leader, almost knocking over chairs and tables on their way out.
"Leonn, Argo's in trouble! Come on!" Sinon shouted towards the front desk.
"Wait, what?" Leonn wheeled around in confusion, his index finger still held out as if to interact with a menu pop-up. "Hold on! I'm not as fast as you guys!"
They were already gone.
"Damn it!" Leonn hurriedly finished renting the rooms and jogged out the front door. In the past few weeks, there were many times Leonn enjoyed playing a STR / VIT maul build. Being able to swat away enemies with his hammer. Going toe-to-toe with a boss.
This was not one of them.
Suguha couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Kikouka had escorted her and her mother Midori to the lounge area, where there were a number of other hospital visitors with their eyes practically glued to the television. As Suguha and Midori would soon discover as they pushed their way towards the front of the crowd assembled, every news network was reporting on something that was very unusual. What it looked like was a large group of people dressed in leather armors attacking what looked like a very large, very angry wolf-man. A strange sight, to be sure, but what was even stranger was the headline below it.
"Sword Art Online In-Game Footage Released: Players Defeat 1st Boss."
What was stranger still for the Kirigayas was that there was one player in the group that they recognized. It was Kazuto, and from the looks of it he had played an important part in the battle.
"Is this real?" Midori asked, tearful eyes wide with shock.
Kikuoka straightened his glasses before answering. "Yes. We don't understand how or why, but Akihiko Kayaba live-streamed this an hour ago using most of the major public video sharing websites. To say it's gone viral would be a vast understatement."
The footage of the boss battle cut away to a panel of experts the news network had brought in, who were now offering their opinions and insight. Every second was being meticulously analyzed, every detail scrutinized. Some of the people assembled in the lounge area peeled away from the crowd to pull up the footage on their mobile devices, wanting to see the raw video for themselves.
"Kazuto, or Kirito as he calls himself in game…" Kikuoka began as he pulled the two women away from the crowd.
You couldn't come up with a better name, Kazuto? That's literally just a mixture of your real life names.
"... not only finished the boss when the raid leader died, but it would appear that he made himself public enemy number one." Kikuoka finished, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Midori picked up on that faint tone easily enough. "Why would he do that? And why is that so funny?"
Kikuoka, realizing he'd offended Mrs. Kirigaya, cleared his throat. "My apologies. What little we've been able to determine from the footage is that there is growing resentment towards beta testers like your son. Some of the survivors believe that the ex-beta testers have been purposefully withholding information for their own benefit."
Kikuoka paused as he gestured towards an empty table nearby. After the Kirigayas seated themselves, he took a seat opposite them, steepled his fingers in a thoughtful expression, and continued.
"Kirito made himself a scapegoat." Kikuoka hesitated as he saw the confused Kirigayas staring at him. "It's an English word that means something, or someone, that is made the object of blame. Kirito claimed to be an elite beta tester who was far more knowledgeable than the average beta tester, and by doing so made himself a bit of a villain."
Suguha grimaced at the thought of her brother making himself out to be the bad guy. "Why would he do that?"
"Well, as we see it, there are two possible reasons. One being that Kazuto wanted to sabotage his raid party and rub it in their faces…"
Both Kirigayas stared daggers into him. He shook his head before continuing.
"...or the more likely scenario is that he wanted to focus that animosity for beta testers to himself only. By making himself out to be worse than beta testers, any surviving beta testers may be safer from persecution as a result. We can't begin to understand the social dynamics that have developed in the month they've been trapped in there but based off of this footage, there's a clear anti-beta tester bias." Kikuoka concluded.
Suguha and Midori felt conflicted. The idea that their Kazuto would willingly become the focus of hate and anger in order to save others from it was both a source of pride for the Kirigayas and a source of pain. No one should have to endure that kind of persecution, but the idea that Kazuto chose to do so to protect others? It was a mixed bag of feelings, to be sure.
Kikuoka pulled out a picture, a screenshot taken from the video. "If it's any consolation, it looks like he won't be shouldering the burden alone." Kikuoka pointed to three other figures who were accompanying Kirito up the stairs to the next floor.
Midori and Suguha looked at each other before looking back at the photo. Kazuto wasn't the most social person, a fact both were all too aware of. There was a reason why Kazuto had so much time to devote to his online hobbies: he didn't really have any friends. More malicious minds might have called him a shut-in or a freeloader. The idea that Kazuto had made friends while trapped in the Death Game was a comfort for the Kirigaya women.
It meant he didn't have to suffer alone.
Thank goodness we're in a party.
Sinon opened her menu and pulled up the area map. The 2nd floor, being recently opened, was completely unexplored and thus most of the map was blank. Without a thorough survey of the terrain, trying to navigate around this new savannah would be nearly impossible.
Fortunately, it didn't need to be explored, not for what she needed. Despite the lack of a complete map, she was still able to see the small blue dots that represented her party members. She and Asuna were running alongside each other, so locating the fencer wasn't an issue. Kirito was ahead of them, well out of viewing range but not so far that they couldn't eventually catch up to him. Sinon had to stifle a laugh as she saw Leonn's dot just now leaving Urbus. Having spent absolutely none of his stat points into AGI, he was the slowest of the party and it showed.
Sinon and Asuna ran for another five minutes before they entered a clearing which seemed to be formed around a crater. Looking down the steep slope in front of them, they saw four figures standing in a flat area at the bottom of the incline. Two of the figures they recognized as Kirito and Argo, the former of which had placed himself between the Rat and her pursuers. The other two figures they didn't recognize at all, but for all intents and purposes looked like ninjas or bandits.
"All we want is to buy the info from you, Argo." One of the strange ninjas motioned casually. "Why are you being so difficult?"
"Because that info's not for sale. I keep telling you larpers that but you refuse to listen." Argo crossed her arms, frowning at the two shady figures.
Asuna turned and leaned towards Sinon. "Larpers? What is that?"
"Leonn told me about them once." Sinon said, index finger and thumb placed on her chin in a thoughtful pose. "It's an English acronym for Live Action Role-Players. In other words, people who like to pretend they're their online avatars."
Not quite sure how to respond to that information, Asuna simply nodded before turning her attention back to the scene playing out before them.
"So what's it going to be, Argo? You going to sell us the information or are we going to have to resort to other methods of negotiation?" One of the ninjas placed a hand on the hilt of his sheathed dagger.
Kirito placed a hand on his own blade's hilt. "I think she already made her choice clear."
Sinon took that as their cue to intervene. She started to quickly descend the slope, with Asuna following closely behind, by sliding and jumping until finally the two women were standing at Kirito's side. Kirito gave his friends a friendly, albeit curt, nod before refocusing on the two cloaked men in front.
Noticing the additional backup, Argo stepped forward with a grin on her face. "So what's it going to be, boys? Four versus two, and if I'm pretty sure number five is on his way."
The lead ninja, who until this point had been doing most of the talking, took a step back. "Damn Beaters. Come on, the info's not worth that much." Without another word, the two ninjas ran off and disappeared into the forest.
Argo turned to look at her saviors. "Thanks for that. That's twice-over I owe you now."
Kirito opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when Leonn came crashing out from the treeline. He must have been in a rush, because he obviously didn't see that there was a sudden drop as soon as he entered the clearing. Everybody collectively winced as they watched their friend tumble down the slope. After a few moments, Leonn finally reached the bottom and looked up at them dizzily. Having built his stats around strength and vitality, he hadn't taken too much damage thankfully. If anything, it was his ego that had taken the most damage based on the expression he had on his face now.
Asuna went over to offer him a hand, which Leonn graciously accepted. As the two rejoined the group, Leonn was still catching his breath.
"So what'd I miss? Also, hey Argo." Leonn asked.
"What up, Leo-bou." Argo quipped. "Your fearless leader here just saved my hide and now I owe you guys. Those jerks from Fuumaningun weren't going to give up easily. I guess coming face-to-face with a Beater was enough to get them to back off."
"I meant to ask, how do they know about me being a Beater?" Kirito inquired. He turned to his party. "It hasn't even been an hour since we left the boss room."
"News travels fast, Kii-bou. Take it from me." Argo said snidely. "Not that it needed to. Your fight with Illfang was broadcast in the Town of Beginnings. We're talkin' big ol' screens right in the main plaza. Everyone saw everything."
Kirito's face took on a paler shade. "That wasn't part of the beta…"
"Yet another thing Kayaba changed. Why, though?" Leonn asked.
"Hell if I know. If there's one thing I know about Kayaba, it's that he's not opposed to mind games." Argo said, giving a shrug. "He trapped 10,000 people in a video game and basically told them to have fun trying not to die."
A solemn air passed over the five as they remembered that fateful day a month ago. The message delivered by that red-hooded figure was one they would never forget.
"Anyway, I owe you for taking the heat off of us beta testers with that Beater crap." Argo quipped, being the first to snap out of the collective daze. "Name one piece of information you want and it's yours, free of charge."
Kirito thought hard for a moment and seemed to be mulling over what piece of information he'd want most. An idea must have popped into his head, because he gave Argo a mischievous smile.
"How about why you have those whiskers then?"
Leonn looked at Kirito with an incredulous expression, whereas the girls looked absolutely baffled that the black-haired swordsman would ask such a thing as his favor. Surely free information was worth more than that.
Argo, on the other hand, couldn't stop laughing.
"Ha! What are the chances?!" She wiped a tear from her eye before continuing. "As it just so happens, you've stumbled onto the same information those two larpers were after. But you know what? I trust you."
With that, Argo turned and waved Kirito and his party to follow.
"You're gonna love this."
"So lemme get this straight." Leonn started.
"Ok." Argo grinned.
"We have to punch this boulder."
"Yep."
"No weapons."
"Correct."
"We have to punch it until it breaks."
"That's the idea."
"If we don't break this rock and finish the quest, we can't get rid of these whiskers."
"You're on fire, Leo-bou."
"And you couldn't just tell us this, you had to let us find out for ourselves the hard way."
"See, I knew you were a smart one."
Leonn sighed and hung his head dejectedly. Kirito already had his face in his palm at this point. Sinon was doing her best to stifle her laughter, meanwhile Asuna was outright giggling at Kirito's face, which like everyone else's had four whiskers painted around the nose. All the while, Argo grinned from ear to ear.
"You can still leave this valley, of course, but your marks will stay on your faces until you finish the quest." Argo shrugged before turning around and walking away. "Let me know how it goes!"
With the initial embarrassment and laughter having faded away, the remaining four players looked up at the gargantuan boulder looming over them. Easily 15 feet tall and just as wide, it would have been an imposing task even for those equipped with a weapon. That had been part of the frustration that arose from this task; Leonn was arguably the best suited with his maul and high strength stat, but he was forbidden from using his beloved weapon on the boulder.
"So…" Sinon said slowly, with obvious hesitation. "... who wants to go first?"
There was silence. Given SAO's lack of pain simulation, there should be no way this could hurt, but none of them were so eager to test that theory. This was not going to be pleasant. All eyes turned to Kirito.
"What?" Kirito said, having noticed he was the center of attention. "Fine, I'll go first."
With some trepidation, Kirito walked up to the enormous hunk of rock. He brought his hand up and formed a fist, looking down at it as if it were some foreign object as he opened and closed it. Sliding his left foot forward, he reared his right fist back before slamming it into the boulder with a fierce yell. To his credit, there was a noticeable *thud* that resounded out upon impact, and the boulder did not display the [Immortal Object] notification that other environmental objects would have given if he had hit anything else.
That was some reason to hope. This thing could be broken.
However, as Kirito brought his hand back, all he saw was a small dent where his fist had connected. It didn't hurt, but his entire arm felt numb. He stepped away and looked at the others, all the while shaking his arm in an attempt to regain some feeling.
"Anyone wanna go next?" Kirito asked.
"I want to try!" Asuna stepped forward, much to everyone's surprise.
Kirito smiled. Ever since Illfang and the Beater incident, the chestnut-haired fencer seemed to have grown more comfortable around the group. He waved her over. "Go for it."
Asuna adopted a similar stance to Kirito's and struck. It must have been her high agility stat, because much like her rapier skills, her fist blurred when she shot forward. The system was having difficulty keeping up with her insane speed, it seemed. When she pulled her fist back after the impact, she had deepened Kirito's dent, but not by much.
Asuna looked over towards Kirito, who had a bit of a smirk on his face, which in turn brought what amounted to mild irritation crossing her face. As she walked past him, she gave his arm a smack, which earned her a feigned hurt expression from the swordsman. "Like you did any better, Kirito. Leonn! Give it a shot!"
Sinon looked over to her friend. "Yeah, big guy, give it a shot."
Leonn shook his head. "Never gonna live that down," he mumbled as he walked over to the boulder.
Unlike the two that went before him, Leonn adopted a boxer's stance, with both hands held up and each elbow bent at a ninety-degree angle. He took a deep breath before swinging his right arm back, shifting his weight to his front foot, twisting his hips, and launching his fist forward into the rock. Where Asuna's punch screamed speed, Leonn's reverberated with raw strength, creating a loud *CRASH* as fist met boulder. Pulling his hand away, there was a noticeable dent and a small crack had formed.
"That… actually wasn't bad." Sinon admitted. "Your aim sucks, though."
Leonn wandered over to Kirito and Asuna before turning back to face Sinon, arms crossed. "Alright, big shot. Let's see you try."
Sinon walked right up to the boulder and almost seemed to study it, eyes scanning over every imperfection in the boulder's surface. After a few moments, she took a similar stance to Kirito and Asuna and without hesitation shot her fist forward. There wasn't much strength behind the strike, but afterwards she pulled her hand away with some satisfaction.
At this point, the three others walked up to join Sinon and inspect the damage. Kirito's punch was perhaps the most ordinary out of the bunch, with Asuna's only being different in terms of how much area was affected. Leonn had done the most damage, but hadn't hit the same spot as Kirito and Asuna's. Sinon's, while the weakest, had succeeded in striking the crack formed by Leonn's punch and therefore had widened it marginally.
Asuna frowned before looking at Kirito. "This is going to take a while, isn't it?"
Kirito looked at his group before panning his vision over the rest of the valley. It was secluded and remote enough where Kirito felt that running into other players was unlikely. Any natural phenomenon that this floor might have in store, such as harsh winds or even rain, wasn't likely to impact them that much. If they needed to, they could take shelter in the nearby hut which housed the quest giver NPC, an old martial artist. All things considered, they could have it worse.
"Yeah, we're going to be here a while."
Here goes nothing.
The blond-haired boy stood up and took a deep breath. Breathing wasn't necessary to survive in SAO, but it calmed the nerves just as well here as it did in the real world. He looked around to take note of his surroundings. The boar that was wandering around some 50 feet in front of him. The boulder lodged in the ground to his left. The small lake off to his right. Even the large cedar he'd been sitting under until now. He took in every detail; while he didn't have a photographic memory, he was at least aware of what was around him.
The guidebook had been very specific about that. Be aware. Many players on day one had forgotten how to do just that, and it was the last mistake they ever made. It would be really unfortunate to die to a rookie mistake like that just as he was getting started.
He reached down to the hilt of his brand new blade, a modest ((Iron Sword)) that would be enough to keep him alive. At least, that's what that blacksmith told him. She'd been surprisingly knowledgeable about the different weapon types when he asked. After careful consideration, and despite how cliche or mundane it might seem, he found himself drawn to the sword. He'd been tempted to go with a one-handed axe, but it just didn't feel right. It wasn't balanced in the way that a sword was. Just because the sword was an ordinary weapon, relatively speaking, did not mean one could not excel at it. After all, that black-haired swordsman on the broadcast seemed to do just fine with one, and he finished off the boss just when it looked like the raid might wipe.
That said, he had never handled a blade before, much less used one. Granted, this was a virtual environment and there had never been a need to use a sword in real life, but this was new territory for him. He had been eager to start with swordplay on day one, but Kayaba's announcement had killed that urge to go out and adventure, now that real death was on the line.
But that had been a month ago, and earlier today he'd witnessed a brave group of players stand together, stand strong, and make the boldest statement that could be made in this cruel world. It was a sentiment that he now shared.
We will fight.
His hand stopped shaking as that mantra repeated itself in his head. Pulling his sword from its sheath, he looked down at the blade with a degree of reverence and awe. The blacksmith had taken some pride in her work, it seemed, since it was so polished and sharp that he could see his reflection in it.
Blond hair. Turquoise eyes. It sure looked like his face, but perhaps now he was a different person. Today was the start of a new day, a new adventure, and a turning point in his life.
Stepping up to the boar he'd noted earlier, he brought his blade back in a motion that he'd read would trigger the ((Horizontal)) sword skill. True enough, he could feel the system take hold of the blade. Pressure began to build up like a loaded spring, and before he knew it, he'd carved a thick red gash across the boar's flank. With a squeal, the monster shattered into a burst of polygons.
A smile on his lips forming as he realized what he'd now become. He'd taken the first step towards escaping this prison. No longer was he a scared little newbie hiding in the Town of Beginnings. He'd become something else.
Geeou had become a swordsman.