In a flash, December came and went, and January was upon the world of Aincrad. The air was cold on most of the cleared floors, and progress was being made rapidly at this point. In the first month of SAO, the entire player base had been stuck on the first floor, but after they finally pulled enough people together to raid the boss chamber and reach the second floor of this towering castle, more and more became inspired and started offering their assistance. These people became known as the clearers or frontliners, the strongest players in the game that were working towards the end of their ultimate quest, beating this world. In the first month alone, two-thousand people died in this pursuit, or in their more personal strifes, such as failure to cope, or simple lack of skill when fighting the common monsters and NPC bandits. Either way, from the ten-thousand players that were logged in at first, now roughly eight-thousand remained, and the number was dropping almost everyday.
It had slowed tremendously, but it didn't stop. Luna's heart hurt when she first heard the number of deceased so far. It was something she overheard when she witnessed a strategy meeting for beating the first floor boss. It was a crushing sensation of reality, a terrible reminder of the price you paid for getting a game-over in this world. It wasn't that she forgot about the threat of death, but after so long of being here, just as you forget this isn't the real world, you also forget that it's not just a simple game anymore. You level up by killing monsters, which rewards skill points, which you then put into skills to make yourself powerful. These are game mechanics, and the world, as well made as it is, still feels digital in certain aspects. Add that to the occasional bouts of fun a player could have with friends, as if it was just a normal game, you could sometimes fall under the illusion that maybe this death threat isn't real after all.
When the news of this absurdly high body count spread around, Luna doubted that any player would forget this ever again, she certainly wouldn't. When she first reached the second floor, she acted with much more caution, and made sure that the level gap between her and the current floor was much higher than it had been previously. She wasn't afraid, per se, but she was wary of what this prison might throw at her next. She kept this mentality up to the current highest floor, the seventh. Luna was walking through the markets of a smaller settlement on the floor, a town that was small in population, and hardly visited by some of the higher level players. Apparently, there was nothing of great value here, at least not for the clearers. The only reason she was here was because she had gone too far from the main city during her sessions of farming monsters, and needed a place to rest for the night. On this bone-chilling morning, she decided to walk the streets with a hope of possibly finding something a non-concerned player might have missed.
The streets were dirt mostly, with wooden planks evenly spaced out to assist in walking when the ground got muddy during a rainstorm. Luna had not seen it rain in this castle so far, but she took the history book she had skimmed in the inn for its word. If the developers had put it there, who was she to question the truth behind it. The houses and shops themselves were made of a darker wood, something that was common in the surrounding woods. It wasn't the thickest biome of trees she had seen here, but it was enough to be a believable source of wood to build and supply this settlement. Her brown, hooded poncho ended just past her waist, hiding her arms, dagger, pouches of items, and her torso underneath it. Her long hair was tucked under the flowing cloth to keep it from getting in the way, and she had the hood pulled up over her head to hide her face from sight. The rest of her outfit appeared mostly similar to how it was on the first couple of floors, seeing as she was constantly upgrading her gear to avoid buying a new set altogether, but she knew that this would be the last floor she had with this equipment before her current plan became pointless.
It was time to acquire new gear, and she was hoping that when the next floor was reached, she would find something worthwhile that suited her interests and build. For now though, her older gear would suffice. As Luna traveled the dirt paths of the settlement, she didn't see a single player around her, only NPCs, which was honestly unsettling at this point, after the last two months of living in this world. She was hardly away from her fellow prisoners, no matter where she went, but this place seemed to be the exception. She heard the cries of the NPC shopkeepers advertising their wares, running through the same few lines of dialogue that they were programmed with, all in an attempt to get her attention. Unfortunately, nothing caught her interest here, and with a heavy sigh, she continued towards the edge of the town in order to continue her constant grinding for Exp.
As Luna passed under the wooden archway that acted as the village entrance, she heard the chirping of a bird above her. When she looked up, she saw a small mockingbird perched on the arch, its small beak opening as it let out a series of rapid cries. With a narrowed expression, she stared at it suspiciously. She had not seen many birds in her time here, not unless they were monsters. On top of that, she had not, with a certainty, seen anything from the real world in here yet. Some things came close, like the bull-monsters on one of the earlier floors, or she supposed that the human bandits fit the bill well enough, but nothing like this. It was almost a one-for-one recreation of a real mockingbird. It seemed off to her, for good reason, but she quickly ignored it in order to get back to work. She wasted enough time perusing the city for anything worthwhile, and wanted to get another level or two in before they finished this floor, which would only be a matter of days if the clearers continued their current pace.
Hours later, Luna had her dagger in her hand, an enemy elf archer taking aim at her position as she ran through the dried leaves scattered around her. An arrow flew straight and she stepped aside to dodge it. Just as quickly as the first one came, a second one was already flying to hit its mark. Luna, not having enough time to dodge again, struck it from the air with a well timed swipe of her dagger. The arrow was deflected instead of cut, and her opening was upon her. She leapt to a tree and then kicked off with all of her might, driving the point of the blade into the archer's throat before he had a chance to replenish his ammunition. Both went to the ground, but Luna didn't stop there. She rolled in the dirt and leaves before continuing on with her forward momentum, running behind a tree and then jumping out at another archer. This one panicked and tried to defend themselves with their bow, but Luna spun, bringing her foot down across the wooden shaft. It snapped in two, and when she landed, she lunged forward, burying her dagger into the pale man's chin, the tip of her blade reaching the man's digital brain, and draining his health to zero.
The sound of shattering glass reached her as both bodies vanished from existence, and a chime rang out in her ears next to signal the acquisition of loot and Exp. She spun her dagger into a reverse grip, pressing the flat of the blade to her forearm to keep it in a safer position. It wasn't very necessary when she wasn't in a busy location, but she did it out of habit more than anything. Luna's golden eyes looked around from under her hood, trying to find any further signs of enemy elves or humanoid bandits, which these woods happened to be full of. There were also more animalistic monsters, but this specific hunting ground did not spawn many of those different breeds. Her search ability didn't identify any further targets in her general vicinity, but there might have been some outside of her ability's reach. Choosing a direction, she continued on in search of more enemies to dispose of. Before she knew it, night had washed over her wooded surroundings. She was left in near total blackness, which was a bit unsettling, but nothing she couldn't handle.
The main issue she took with this was the disadvantage she would be at if she continued to hunt. The elves here were known for having better senses in the forest, especially at night. It would leave her too vulnerable, and that was a risk she wasn't willing to take. Deciding it was also too dangerous to travel back to the town, she planned on finding a place to sleep until morning. Luna sheathed the dagger she was still carrying and started searching for a suitable shelter. Walking in the woods, alone, and in the dead, eerie silence that filled the air, threw her off a lot more than she originally thought it would. Every crack of a branch, every single crunch of dried leaves caused her to remain on edge. Her hand was constantly on her dagger's leather hilt and her eyes were in a constant state of observation, despite not being able to see even ten feet in front of her.
"If only I bought that damn torch." she mumbled, angrily, and somewhat frightfully.
Her fear was only increased when a terrible, earth-rattling growl came from the surrounding darkness. This time, she felt a cold creep into her body, and it wasn't from the winter air that rustled the branches that encircled her. It was pure fright, and she could hear her heart pounding in her chest, even if her digital chest had no such thing inside of it. Her blood was pumping quickly through her veins, and her brain was overanalyzing everything she could make out in the night. The growl came again, and this time it was much closer, much more intimidating.
"It sounds hungry." she thought, drawing her blade and swiveling her head back and forth in an attempt to stay on her guard.
Several minutes of this passed, and she started growing just as annoyed as she was afraid, realizing that whatever was out there was messing with her. It was toying with its meal, and she began to feel the eyes of it watching her from the treeline. It made her feel clammy and weak, as if she was seconds away from being in the jaws of a massive tiger or something. She felt like prey for the first time since coming here, and it wasn't a pleasant sensation. What made her jump next was the sudden sounds of rushing footsteps. They were heavy, and they had broken into a sprint, rushing in her direction. Something caused her hair to stand on end, and when she looked to the location her senses were telling her to watch, she saw a giant shadow leap out from the bushes and tree cover. A massive body of dark fur flew through the air, its claws outstretched, its saliva dripping from the gaping maw that flashed a dozen or so fangs. Luna reacted purely on instincts, leaping up with all of the power her agility and strength stats would give her. She caught a branch and swung herself up, barely avoiding the reaching monster's grasp.
Without a moment's hesitation, she leapt to another branch, and then another after that. Choosing instead to rush through the trees and to avoid the ground at any cost. Unfortunately, she was afraid of what had attacked her, and her pulse was through the roof. Her focus and concentration were failing her as she started to breathe heavily. The beast could be heard behind her, ramming into the trees as it passed by them, recklessly bouncing from one to the other in its crazed attempts to get to its meal. Luna's eyes were wide, her hood had fallen down, and she was relying solely on her reflexes alone. Her hands reached out exactly when needed, and her feet landed where they were required to. However, it was dark, too dark to see ahead of her, and too dark to always accurately grab a handhold when it was necessary to. This meant that her luck was bound to come to an end, and so it did. She jumped from a perched position on another branch, reached out, and caught it with both hands. As she swung though, the end of the branch broke, disrupting her momentum, and leaving her grasping onto the thin wood with only her right hand.
The surprising interruption in her fluid movements also shocked her body, causing her to swing and get thrown from the frail limb. Her back struck the ground hard, followed by her head, which did cause a bit of damage to her health bar. She scurried back before butting up against a tree, which was thick enough to provide her with some cover if she was able to make it around to the other side. Before she could move, however, the beast was on her. It had glowing scarlet eyes, fur that was as black as coal and stained with traces of what looked to be the same crimson as moist blood. It was at least three times the size of a regular wolf, and the growl it let out caused her mind to go blank, and her body to completely shut down. What brought her back to reality was surprisingly a sound she never expected to hear at this time of night.
From somewhere nearby, she heard the rapid chirping of a bird. Somehow, this caused her to return to reality, and just as the feline creature leapt towards her, her body kicked into motion. She moved her body to the side at just the right moment to avoid the creature, which then collided with the tree she was resting against. While this was happening, her right hand drew her dagger and it began to glow a bright purple color.
"Ahhhhh!" she howled, her voice rising high and breaking the silence of the night for what must have been miles.
She thrust the dagger straight into the beast's underside, and an explosion of light left out the spine of the monster. It cried and stumbled back, but Luna had gone mad with fear and adrenaline. She ripped the dagger out, and then prepared another strike. She lunged forward, and the oversized creature rose on two feet as a response. As she brought her dagger down, the feline swatted at her with a massive paw, bigger than the size of her head, and sent her flying towards a nearby tree. Her body hit the thick trunk and she slid down to her side, coughing from the impact. It started running at her as she put herself up to one knee, and reached to the belt hidden under her poncho. Three silver knives were produced, all being held between the fingers of her left hand, and all became illuminated with a blinding white light. It burned Luna's eyes in the darkness that surrounded them, but accurately, she threw her blades towards her target.
She didn't wait to see if she had struck it, and instead decided to act. The cries of the beast was enough of a confirmation for her as she rushed at the monster, her dagger taking on the red hue of blood. As she passed the monster, her dagger buried itself into the left cheek of the feline. She pulled the blade with her as she progressed forward, tearing the weapon along the flesh, leaving a ragged, wavy trail in its wake. As she reached the end, she gripped the hilt with both hands and put all of her power into swinging the dagger. She stopped, turned her body as she pulled, and with a whisper of a sharp edge leaving its victim's body, and a blinding flash of red light that was previously hidden by the flesh of the monster, the dagger came free. A large shockwave was sent out around her as she completed the swing. After a brief moment of silence passed, a moment that was frozen in time, where no sound could be heard and no action could be performed, the beast let out a hiss that must have been its last breath.
It fell with a mighty sigh, and a plume of dirt and dust filled the air around its now lightening corpse. Luna dropped to her knees, panting, and releasing her shaking grip on her dagger. It hit the ground with a soft clang, and as she sucked in a breath, an explosion took place behind her. The wind that was kicked up from this creature's fall was powerful enough to cause her poncho, and the loose hair under it to snap and flap around her head and body. Luna felt herself grow weak as the adrenaline started vanishing from her blood, and her mind was returning to her current place. A message appeared in her vision, one that said "Item Acquired: Scroll of the Lost Samurai" in light colored text. She also got a notification of a level-up, and some other items besides.
When what felt like hours had passed, the slight chirping of a bird reached her numb eardrums, once again bringing her back to her senses. She lifted her head and saw the tiny mockingbird in front of her, quickly flapping its wings as it hovered in place. She rose and started following it, though she couldn't say why. As she walked, the path around the bird seemed to glow brighter than the rest of the woods, and even the road ahead of it was starting to appear brighter, almost like a runway at an airport. After reaching the end, the tiny bird landed on a wooden sign outside of what looked like a cave. It was more of a rock really, and a small one at that. Its only entrance was nothing more than a thin opening that looked like any average sized player would have a hard time slipping through. She focused on the sign and read the words aloud.
"Warning: Danger Ahead. Only the true apprentice will find what they seek. All others will be met by their fate." She thought for a moment and gave a quiet, "Hmm" as she pondered what it meant. "The true apprentice?" she asked herself.
As she stepped up to the entrance, a message appeared that said "Warning: Recommended Level: 30" in violet text. Luna was a high level, but thirty was an absurd number for somebody on the seventh floor. This meant that she would have to come back later to claim her prize, her chance discovery. A quest then appeared in her log which read "A Flash of Lightning", and its description only said "Explore the Cave". The bird chirped loudly, in a different call than it had previously used before, and launched itself back into the air. She watched it fly away, further into the horizon, the sun finally starting to rise off in the distance. The world was filled with a pinkish glow as dawn came, leaving Luna in a state of grief for the sleepless night she experienced, and the dreadful day she was about to slog through before finally being able to rest her head.
She started walking back down the path, following the rising sun to find her way back to the village, where she would then be able to find the road leading to the primary city of the floor. She wobbled slightly, and collected her discarded dagger on her trip, all the while making a mental note to remember this place, and the cave that awaited her return in the near future.