Prologue: Beta
(01.08.2022)
(Third Person POV)
We see a black-haired and grey-eyed young teenager with androgynous looks standing in front of a computer in a dark room. The teenager stares at multiple monitors with the latest news about the first-ever VRMMORPG Sword Art Online.
SAO is a game developed by Kayaba Akihiko along with its associated hardware, the NerveGear. A technology with which you can basically enter a game yourself. However, only the mind does so while the body remains motionless in the real world as all signals to and from the brain are intercepted by the NerveGear. But coming back to SAO, this is supposed to be a game whose goal is to reach the 100th level of Aincrad Castle. When the game was first announced millions wanted a copy, however there weren't even that many NerveGears out there at the time so a significantly smaller number got one of these devices, however there was a much smaller number which luckier than everyone else. 1000 players were able to register for the Sword Art Online beta and our protagonist is one of them.
His name is Kazuto Kirigaya and he is waiting for the remaining minutes to pass before the beta starts.
"Just a little more," the boy said quietly to himself. After a few more minutes it was finally time.
The boy named Kazuto picks up his NerveGear and moves to his bed. After lying down, he puts his helmet on, takes a deep breath, and says: „Link Start."
The next few seconds are hard to describe. The feeling of passing from one reality to another is something no one has ever done before, and as such it is also an experience one could never have imagined.
Once the bright light and all those rainbow fragments go away, Kazuto is floating in a sort of white void with nothing to see but him and a small screen in front of him.
"Hmm, username: Kirito, looks..." the boy murmured to himself and set his character data.
After he was done with that, a light blinded him again and the next thing he knew he was standing in the middle of a city. He slowly looks around, typical buildings from MMORPGs can be seen everywhere, such as weapon and armor shops, inns, cafes and restaurants, blacksmith shops and tailor shops. Seeing something like this on a computer screen is one thing, but standing in the middle of it is another thing entirely.
Our main character, Kirito, takes a few minutes to take it all in and next reviews his menu. There he sees windows such as Equipment, Statistics, Settings and Tutorial.
Determined to quickly learn how this game works, Kirito opens the tutorial menu and reads through all the basics.
Once he's done with that, he faces north and makes his way out of town. As he runs, he takes in how real everything feels. This body made of only ones and zeros, the wind in his hair, the sunlight on his virtual skin and the accompanying warmth, everything feels so real.
After half an hour, Kirito arrives at a wide grassy field with some boars on it. He then equips his starter sword, moves slowly at first and then quickly towards one of the boars and starts a sword skill as explained in the tutorial. His sword then begins to glow and with a quick movement he defeats the boar in a few seconds before it could even attack him. However, the other boars noticed him and took aim at him.
"This is even more overwhelming than I expected," Kirito said with an excited grin, getting ready to defeat the other boars. This is the beginning of a new era for all gamers and Kirito will fight his way to the top.
(08/03/2022)
It's day three of the beta and Kirito has already improved tremendously. He's already leveled up a few times and thinks he's at least mastered all the basics of swordplay in the game. He is currently in a small forest on a quest when he suddenly hears the sounds of a fight. While Kirito isn't exactly a very social person and hasn't really interacted with any of the other players so far, he was somewhat interested in what the fight was about and followed the sound of the fight.
When Kirito reached a small clearing shortly afterwards, he saw a very impressive sight. Arranged in a ring he could see several Little Nerpents and one Large Nerpent, together they seemed to be about twelve. But the impressive part is that they all appear to be defeated by a female character wielding a two-handed sword
This female character has shoulder length lavender hair, ruby red eyes, and wears a strapless lilac dress over a purple cloak with a very impressive design, plus she has a collar held by a ruby. Furthermore, she has two very impressive and large breasts which would seem almost unrealistic outside of a game, with two freckles visible on the left breast as her outfit is not exactly conservative.
All in all a very impressive sight, but even if Kirito is briefly caught in it, he quickly disengages since he doesn't even know if it's really a female player or just an old otaku guy living out his perverted fantasies.
But apart from that, Kirito turns his attention back from her looks to the fight, which she increasingly dominates.
"Hya," the girl yells as she charges up a sword skill, defeating the last of the Nerpents.
Shortly after, she is surrounded by polygons and makes a very impressive sight with her current pose, before leaping into the air in jubilation and behaving much like a toddler being given candy.
"Yippie, that was fun. Big sister is right, this is really faaaaantastic. Don't you agree?" cheered the girl, who turned around after her second sentence and looked in the same direction as Kirito was standing.
Shocked that he was caught staring, and also a little confused that he was actually hiding between some large bushes, Kirito quickly gathers himself and moves toward the still-unidentified female.
"That was actually impressive, but how did you see me, I wasn't exactly in your line of sight," Kirito asked in a confused voice.
"Oh that, my recognition skill is just high enough already," Strea said happily.
"But how-" Kirito wanted to ask but was cut off.
"I'm Strea, by the way, and who are you?" Strea asked him with a smile.
"I'm Kirito," he said a little uneasily, really not used to interacting with hyperactive people like that.
"Hey hey, do you want to play a little together? It's much more fun to play with two people," said Strea excitedly.
"Uh," Kirito said, really not knowing what to say. To be honest, he felt a little uncomfortable doing it, but he didn't want to appear rude either.
"And don't worry, I'm not some otaku guy living out his fantasies as a girl," Strea said, while her tone didn't change at all.
If that's true, Kirito would at least have a few less worries, since he really can't think of a guy with that kind of personality, real world or virtual, but he was still unsure since he's basically always a solo player and never on one Match was, unless the game clearly required it for certain areas.
But since he doesn't want to appear mean to such a cheerful person, he says: "How about this, I'm currently on a quest that I have to complete here in the forest. If we work well together, we can easily form a game."
"For real? Yippie!" Strea exclaimed very happily, "Don't worry, I promise it's going to be wonderful."
Still wondering if he really made the right decision, Kirito sent her a party invitation and after that they started to finish his already started quest.
The quest consisted of collecting some of the plants growing in the forest, then placing them in a nest that you have to find in the first place, and waiting for a certain mob to appear that lives in the nest. After that, the mob is said to eat these plants all together and due to the mixture, turns into a larger and angrier version of itself. You then fight this mob and receive a certain material as a reward, which you should bring back to the quest giver, who then creates it a new random piece of gear, such as a breastplate, boots, cloak, or something else.
Kirito and Strea set out to collect the remaining plants and by sheer luck found the nest they were looking for right next to one of them. After collecting all the plants, they put them in the nest and hid in deep bushes a few meters away. Shortly thereafter, the mob appeared.
It appeared to be some sort of small lizard, mostly covered in blue scales and fitted with two tails. It quickly rushed to its nest, attracted by the scents of the plants, and very quickly devoured them.
After only a few minutes, the lizard was ready and soon after began to glow. Where a moment ago there was a rather small lizard, you can now see a two meter tall and three meter long powerful and angry lizard called "Blue Furious Lizard". It has long claws, fangs, and it oozed some kind of blue liquid from its mouth.
"Damn, that seems like a mini boss. We have to be careful, otherwise it might just take us out with one attack," Kirito said, shocked.
Shortly thereafter, the mob raced towards them and both players narrowly avoided it. On top of that, on the path that the mini-boss ran, they see how this blue liquid seemed to etch the floor.
"And he also has what appears to be a very strong poison," Kirito said angrily.
"Don't worry, we can do this together Kirito," Strea said excitedly and determinedly.
Then both of them started attacking the lizard and had to use all their skills, because even if the lizard is too big to move particularly agile, it is still fast, strong and poisonous. After a few minutes, Kirito ended up in a standoff with the boss lizard, as he blocked an attack of his claws with his sword, but this trapped him in place and would get caught immediately if he moved, unless...
"Strea, switch," Kirito called, hoping his new partner wouldn't let him down and he hoped right.
As soon as Kirito moved, Strea appeared with her two-handed sword and knocked the lizard back, stunning it, which was the perfect moment for Kirito and Strea to finish him off.
"Rage Spike" / "Avalanche", Kirito / Strea both shouted and defeated the mini-boss with their sword skills.
The "Blue Furious Lizard" then disappeared into several polygons and a small winner symbol appeared for Strea and Kirito
"Made! We did it, Kirito!" Strea exclaimed happily and rushed over to hug him.
Kirito, who seriously doesn't know what to do in such a situation, just waited for Strea to calm down. "Yes, we have Strea. Let's see what we got," Kirito said, calming his blushing face because during the hug he could feel two very soft "things" which, virtual or not, still seem very comfortable.
Kirito and Strea then opened their menus and looked at the newest item.
"Royal blue scales," Kirito murmured, wondering if the NPC would make him a new piece of armor out of it.
"Wow are they pretty," exclaimed Strea, thinking the color of the scales was very pretty.
"We should go back to the quest giver to see what he makes of it," Kirito said.
"Sure," Strea exclaimed, still very cheerful.
The two then made their way back to the village of Tolbana. There they found the NPC they were looking for in a forge. They both gave him the scales and the NPC then started to work. Contrary to reality, smithing in the game isn't that impressive, but still not easy enough for anyone to do without practice, especially the higher one's smithing level. After only a few minutes, the smith was done.
"There you are, dear adventurers, these are the Royal Blue Mail and the Royal Blue Boots. You both truly deserve them," said the NPC.
Kirito and Strea both marveled at the results and began to put them on, Kirito the new breastplate and Strea the new boots.
"Oh, apparently both offer good poison resistance as well," Strea said, surprised.
And in fact, both pieces of equipment not only offer a good amount of additional armor and defence, but also an 80% poison resistance, which means that poisons have almost no effect at all, the poison of the defeated mob even no longer works at all.
"Well, I guess this quest was really worth it," Kirito said, very pleased with the results.
"Does that mean we'll keep partying together?" Strea asked with a hopeful look.
Kirito, who couldn't deny the good working relationship, nor had the heart to say no to the sight, thus simply said, "Sure, if you really want that, we can play together for a while here in Sword Art Online, and- Argh ."
"Oh thank you thank you thank you," Strea kept saying as she pulled him into a tight hug.
Kirito, who couldn't move or make sense of this girl, who he now also pretty much realized was telling the truth about her gender, just waited until she calmed down so they could continue playing.
"I hope I don't regret that," Kirito said to himself
(07.08.2022)
It's now been a week since the beta began, and Kirito could say it's been a very eventful time. It's safe to say that since he met Strea, he hasn't had a dull moment. Be it her cheerful and bubbly personality, her fighting skills, or her fairly frequent hugs, he could safely say he's very impressed with her, and at times a little confused, albeit for different reasons. But that aside, he could honestly say he was having more fun with her than he expected, after all he's a solo player all the time and in reality he never really interacts with anyone else. But with Strea he can honestly say that he enjoys the time together.
In addition to that, it should also be noted that the two of them have become much stronger together than they were when they first met. A downside to playing in groups is that you often split experience points among group members for each mob you defeat, which tends to make leveling slow. As a solo player, Kirito could keep all EXP to himself, and due to his skill and quick reaction speed, there was hardly an opponent he couldn't handle solo, at least on the first level, but even if he could, as long as he was in a group with Strea is not getting the full experience points, he underestimates a pretty crucial factor, their working together.
He knew Strea was good, sometimes it almost seemed like she was in the game 24/7. Even though they've only just met, they seem to make a pretty strong team. As a result, they have been able to defeat many more mobs, complete many more quests and have already explored the dungeon that is supposed to lead to the first floor boss.
But said boss is still in hiding and both still couldn't get his point of view, which is why they would now meet with an information broker. Kirito recently overheard from some conversations from other players how there was a girl who possessed almost every piece of information available at the time and would give it to anyone for a price. Price seems to mean col, the currency of SAO.
"Who exactly is this 'Argo' person we're looking for, Kirito?" Strea asked our hero.
"She's apparently the one most likely to know the planar boss's location at this point, and we're going to find out if she might actually know," Kirito said as the two walked towards a certain location in the City of Beginnings. The place where Argo seems to be seen most often.
"I hope she's there right now, too," said Strea, full of anticipation.
Both friends(?) then reached the place and actually saw a rather small girl who hides most of her face with a hood.
"Ah, new customers, I see," said Argo?
"Are you Argo, the information broker?" Kirito asked her.
"Indeed I am, and lucky you, I even give that information for free," Argo said in a teasing voice.
"Really," Kirito thought to himself, thinking that hopefully this person really does know something useful.
"Nice to meet you, Argo. I'm Strea and this is my friend Kirito. We wanted to see if you could help us with something," Strea said in her usual, really happy mood, throwing Argo a little off balance.
"Um, yeah," Argo said, regaining his composure, "I mean, of course I can help you, as long as you would pay for that information, okay?"
Kirito, now at least a little used to Strea's usual manner, then said: "We wanted to ask if you might know where the first floor boss is."
"The first boss, eh?" said Argo, "Well, you're lucky because I actually found the location last night, just waiting for someone to ask me about it. However, this information costs 5000 col."
"5000 col!" Kirito exclaimed, a little surprised at how much Argo wanted for this information. Sure he and Strea have quested so much and sold multiple items to give her more than that, but for a majority of other players that would be too expensive at this point.
"Well, of course! After all, this is about the very first boss in the entire game. The one that unlocks the path to the next level and might give excellent and unique loot," said Argo, unperturbed by Kirito's outburst.
"Okay, here," Strea said and handed over the amount, not caring at all about the col and staying in her happy mood.
Argo, again a bit surprised by Strea, accepted the amount and then said: "Well, the boss is in the west wing on the sixth floor. You have to go straight in the entrance area for about 300 meters, then left, then right and up the next flight of stairs and right again and there he is."
"Well then, thank you for that information. Come on Strea, let's defeat this boss and finally see more of Aincrad," Kirito said, turning around and starting to walk, Strea followed shortly after.
"Wa-Wait! You only want to fight the boss with two people. Argo exclaimed in surprise and disbelief at what Kirito had just said, for what he was proposing was outrageous.
"Normally a player would probably do that, but Strea and I will be fine," Kirito said, only pausing to answer and then walking on.
"Yep, yep! We're both suuuuper strong and can do it together", Strea cheered, while she stopped for a moment and then went on.
"Wait!" Argo said again, really not knowing what to think about these two anymore. They were completely insane, as if only two of them could defeat the boss when it would normally take at least two or three dozen players to do it. Totally amazed, amazed and also more than a little curious, Argo decided to follow the two.
Kirito and Strea didn't really mind, or rather Kirito didn't care and Strea was happy about a new companion and possible new friend.
On the way to the boss chamber, Strea and Argo chatted, with a bit of input from Kirito, and got to know each other a little better, of course without revealing anything about the real world except to confirm their gender.
It took two hours, but finally the three reached the chamber and got ready to face the boss.
"Wait wait! So you two really want to do that, just defeat the boss together." Argo asked her.
"Sure, that's why we're here," Strea said, not realizing why Argo seemed so taken aback.
"What level are you two anyway?" Argo asked.
"Twelve" / "Twelve," both Kirito and Strea said at the same time.
Argo, taken aback, didn't quite know what to say. As far as she can tell the highest ranking players should only be level eight or nine, she was level seven herself, because while she's not the greatest fighter, she still needs to show some skill to get to all kinds of places, to all kinds of things to get information.
"You're welcome to join the fight, but I don't know how good our cooperation would be since we don't really know each other," Kirito said.
Argo, a little unsure but interested at the same time, agreed to join the fight and then accepted Kirito's invitation to the party.
Strea, who was delighted, quickly hugged Argo: "Great, another new friend who will go on adventures with us," she cheered.
Argo was of course surprised by the hug and was just as clueless as to what to do as Kirito was that first time just looking at said boy.
"It's just how Strea is, you get used to it," Kirito simply told her with a shrug.
After that, they finally entered the chamber and there they saw him, "Illfang the Goblin King". He's huge, red, looks strong and powerful, and has a helmet and shield and axe.
"This is going to be tough," was all Kirito said as he and the girls gaped.
Kirito, Argo and Strea then got ready, excitement, nervousness and determination flowing through each of them and the fight began,
The boss has strength, size, stamina and dexterity, as well as speed and surprising agility, but while it's quite unlike anything the three have seen in Sword Art Online so far, they showed they've learned a lot so far. Despite the different skill levels of the three and also Argo's lower level, our heroes did very well and kept fighting Illfang and his spawned minions until Illfang was in the final phase when his fourth health bar was reached. Then he threw away his ax and shield and picked up a talwar to fight on. All three players were taken aback by this and had to back away and heal a bit first, each taking turns whenever two of them engaged the boss, and even though all three hadn't known each other long, they finally managed to do it after an hour and with no real power left to defeat Illfang, giving a big winner signal.
All three collapsed on the floor and couldn't believe it actually worked.
After they recovered, they checked their menus and saw that they are now level 14 and 10 respectively, and Kirito performed the final attack, for he now possessed the so-called "Midnight Cloak". Of course, Kirito equipped it right away, and every single one of them was surprised by the item. He looks impressive and just right for a mob boss drop.
"Wow Kirito, you look really impressive," Strea exclaimed happily, but still a bit exhausted.
"That looks really good, I'm sure a lot of players would give their gear for it," Argo murmured softly, but still loud enough for Kirito and Strea to hear.
"Well, I'm not selling it, after all we worked hard for it, so congratulations everyone," Kirito said, flashing the two of them a smile.
"Congratulations," Strea also cheered.
"Heh, yes, congratulations," finally said Argo and is really glad that she has joined the two.
"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go to the second floor," Strea said expectantly and hurried ahead.
"Wait Strea," Kirito called, looking at Argo, "Well, do you still want to come with us, or do you have something else to do?"
Argo looks at him, then in the direction Strea ran and after some thought says, "Sure, why not. I'll stay with you for a while. After all, you seem to be a veritable gold mine," she said with a teasing grin.
Then Kirito and Argo went to the second floor.
(08/31/2022)
It was the last day of the beta and Kirito, Strea and Argo can proudly say that they have come a long way. Since defeating the first boss, the three have remained a team, and Argo only broke off every now and then to gather and sell information. There weren't any stronger players in the entire game and they were known as "The Black Swordsman", "The Rat" and "The Lavender Hurricane". They weren't the ones who invented these nicknames, despite what Kirito suspected Argo at times, but no one complained about any of them.
Overall, the beta testers managed to get to the tenth floor, with the trio mostly leading the way, though not intentionally. They kept the front all the time and all the other players tried to reach their level, but none of them ever quite matched.
Our heroes are currently standing on a hill and watching the sunset.
"Well, that's it then, the beta test is over," Kirito said slightly melancholy and admittedly a little sad, because he had started to see his two companions as friends with whom he really got along a while ago.
"Although it's a pity, in about two more months the actual game will start with 10000 players," said Argo, also a little sad because she made two really great friends in this virtual world.
"Hm? Are you okay Strea?" Kirito asked, noting that she seemed a lot sadder than he or Argo, actually a lot sadder than she should have since this was just the beta and that the actual game would launch two months later.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Strea said, this time without her usual enthusiasm, which surprised both Kirito and Argo, since they've never actually seen her anything but happy.
Just as Kirito wanted to speak again, Strea spoke up again first: "Hey Kirito, Argo? Can you please promise me that we will meet again?" she asked in an almost pleading and hopeful voice.
Kirito and Argo both notice that something is going on, but since this is completely different from what Strea usually does, instead of asking, they decide to calm her down.
"Nya-ha-ha, of course we'll meet again Strea, once the actual game starts we'll meet up right back on day one and take Aincrad by storm," Argo said in typical Argo fashion.
"I promise this won't be the end of our friendship or anything, Strea. We'll see each other again soon," Kirito assures her and makes a promise that he really wants to keep.
Strea, recovering a bit from her mood, smiles again and hugs the two. "Thanks! Really, thank you so much!" Strea exclaimed, seeming happier again.
And so our three adventurers spend their final few minutes of beta testing in Aincrad before being signed off. And back in their apartments, both Argo and Kirito realize they can't wait to go back, if only to keep their promise to Strea to see her again. Promised!
(Somewhere)
"How did it go, Strea?" a young voice asked.
"Really fantastic, this has been the best month I have ever had. I made great friends and we had so much fun together. I just hope I can see her again one day," Strea said to the young voice.
"Don't worry Strea, I'm sure Cardinal and Kayaba will give you some free time once the actual game starts," said the young voice again.
"I really hope so too, big sister Yui," Strea exclaimed to her big sister.