A/N: Hello SAO fans. I'm back with a new variant of the adventures of Wyvern's Inferno's. In honor of the SAO Progressive movie coming out soon (plus the fact that I love the Progressive Light Novel series), I have decided to do a Progressive variant of wyvern's Inferno's adventures in Aincrad. That means floor by floor rather than massive time skips.

For those of you that haven't read my SAO fics before, feel free to check them out, starting with I Will Not Bow Again. It's a shortened version of my OCs' time in SAO, much like the original Aincrad arc.

With that out of the way, here is the first of the chapters for Floor 1. Enjoy.

A lone teen sat in his room. It was currently 12:55 pm. He had just finished lunch not even ten minutes ago and rushed up to his room before closing the door. He could barely contain his excitement, a feeling that was likely shared among 9999 other people right now. The reason was due to the helmet-like device at his bedside. The latest gaming console that he and his friends had waited in line for what seemed like forever to get. The Nerve Gear.

The Nerve Gear was revolutionary in the world of gaming, having just released not long ago. It was the first piece of Full Dive technology, allowing people to experience virtual reality in the most lifelike way possible. While a person's real body would stay motionless while in full dive, their consciousness would be transported to a brand new world. At the moment however, there was only one game out that was compatible with the Nerve Gear. The game whose servers would be going live at 1:00 pm that day. Sword Art Online.

The digital clock in his room hit 12:58. Just another two minutes. As the teen breathed deeply to try and contain his excitement, a knock was heard at the door to his room.

"Big brother, are you on yet?"

He quickly recognized the voice of his little sister, just a few years younger than him in age. "I told you, the servers go live at 1:00, Clair." the teen called back.

"Kay. Just remember, you promised to let me try it out tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." he confirmed. Even though he had bought the Nerve Gear and SAO with his own money, he couldn't deny his little sister at least a small chance to give the virtual world a try. He blamed the girl's puppy dog eyes she loved using whenever she begged.

12:59. The teen laid down on his bed and put the Nerve Gear over his head. The final minute seemed to go by at a snail's pace. He kept his eyes on his clock before it finally read 1:00. After that he turned his head to stare up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

"Link start!"

Upon uttering those words, several colorful lines rushed past him in a blur as his vision went white. A series of sensory checks went by before he was prompted to input the username and password of his account. Once done, a message appeared before him. [Create your own avatar]

A series of windows appeared before the teen. They showed a series of options, ranging from height and body type to hair and eye color. The body type and hair style ones showed various options with a simple white model next to each one to give him an idea of what they were like. After a full three minutes of carefully selecting options, he pushed [Confirm]. The windows then all vanished and a tall mirror materialized, showing him his chosen avatar.

The height and body type were more or less the same as his real body. It seemed best, since having different body proportions would likely make walking around feel strange. His hair was where he decided to be a bit more creative. Rather than his usual brown hair, this one was a crimson red. He also went with a slightly messy look that almost made it seem like his hair was on fire when paired with the red color. His outfit was a simple shirt and pants with a leather breastplate over it, brown boots on his feet, and a pair of brown fingerless gloves over his hands. He could only assume the outfit was the same design for every player, with their only freedom being the choice of the color for the shirt and pants. His choice was red for the shirt and a dark brown for the pants.

What could he say? Red was his favorite color.

One final confirmation window popped up. [Is this avatar acceptable? Y/N?] He confirmed the look by pressing the [Y] option. After that, all that was left was to enter a name. He typed in the name Ren for himself before confirming it.

After that, the mirror vanished and a new message in front of him reading [Welcome to Sword Art Online] appeared and vanished after a few seconds. After that, everything went black. The sound of music gradually began to enter his hearing, as well as the murmuring sound of voices. He opened his eyes and found himself in a whole new world. Only one word seemed appropriate for his initial reaction.

"Woah."

It was unlike anything Ren had ever seen before. He was standing in the middle of a massive city. Pale-yellow stone flooring was beneath his feet and a large clock tower stood in the round square he and hundreds of others just now logging on were appearing in. Flashes of azure blue light materialized into human beings as more and more logged on.

It truly was a fantasy world that one wouldn't be able to describe with words alone.

It was currently 1:05 pm. He knew of two friends from the real world that had also gotten their hands on copies of the game. They had planned ahead of time to explore the world on their own for a bit before meeting up. They planned to meet up after logging out to eat dinner and logging back on, with a settled time of 8:00 pm. Taking out an hour max for logging out, eating dinner, and logging back on, that left him with at least seven hours to spend as he pleased.

Let's see. The motion the manual showed for opening the menu was… this? Ren thought to himself as he swiped his right hand down after putting his thumb and index finger together. After a couple tries, he got it to work. On the left was a white summary diagram and detailed dialogue to the right. It showed five different categories going down from [Inventory/Equipment], [Friends/Guild], [Communications], [Map/Quests], and finally [System/Main Menu] on the bottom. His first instinct as a gamer told him to check out what items he had in his inventory to start. There were only four things present. The first was a weapon called [Small Sword], which Ren could only assume was the starting weapon, and the remaining three were listed as [Health Potion] which didn't need explaining. Ren tapped the [Small Sword] and equipped it. Just like that, he felt a weight on his back.

Ren unsheathed his newly equipped sword and took a look at it. Just like the name suggested, it was a basic sword with no special features to write home about. Ren put the sword back in its sheath on his back and continued toying around with the menu for another couple minutes. In the summary diagram on the left, there were a few things listed on the bottom.

[Ren]
[Level: 1]
[Col: 500]

Ren could only assume this "Col" was the currency of SAO. An amount of 500 likely wasn't a lot all things considered. But he knew how to get more. Like any MMORPG, players could get experience, money, and items by defeating monsters outside of town. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't dying to try out VR combat. That said, it would probably be best to stock up a little more on items so he didn't end up rushing back to town after a couple of fights.

Now the question is where is the item shop? This place is huge.

Ren looked around. There were players everywhere, but most of them were probably brand new to this world like him. However, one person stuck out to him. Unlike the green cursors that so many people seemed to have, there was one woman near a pillar at the edge of the square with a yellow cursor over her head. If what he recalled from the game's manual was right, then that was the indicator of a NPC. Perhaps she could tell him something or perhaps it would be a bust but it didn't hurt to try. He walked through the crowd of people and came up to the woman.

"Excuse me. Do you know where the item shop is?" he asked.

"The item shop?" The woman pointed towards a road leading out of the square. "It should be down that road, sweetie."

"Thank you." Ren said before walking away. It felt weird to say "thank you" to someone who probably didn't even really understand the meaning of the phrase, but the conversation seemed so natural that he did it without thinking.

Ren walked down the street the NPC had pointed him to. Just as she had told him, there were all kinds of stands with various items available. Some were selling accessories, while others sold weapons. Though the allure of something outside of his beginner's sword was tempting, he decided to focus on potions right now. He could buy a new sword after farming some money from monsters, and his current weapon could likely handle the easy monsters just outside of town. Finally, Ren found what he was looking for. A stall lined with bottles containing a blue liquid.

"Excuse me. Can I buy some potions?" Ren asked.

"Certainly." the shop NPC said. "Browse around and pick what you'd like."

After the NPC said those words, a window popped up in front of Ren. It showed a list of items available at the shop with a price next to each of them. Basic health potions were listed at 70 col a pop, a bit more than he had been expecting. Ren tapped on the potion and selected 7 of them, totalling 490 Col. That would put him at 10 Health Potions total, but with only 10 Col left to his name as well.

Ah well. It'll just give me another reason to hunt monsters.

Ren confirmed the purchase and the items were automatically added to his inventory while 490 Col was removed. With shopping out of the way, now it was finally time to go out and kill some monsters.

Ren took a look at his map data. Right now, it only showed the layout of the Town of Beginnings that he was in. No data on the fields whatsoever. He could only guess that he'd have to acquire that data himself. Letting the map guide him, Ren made his way to the southern gate and ran out into the fields.

This is gonna be awesome!

So as it turned out, combat in SAO was harder than Ren had been expecting.

About two minutes after walking around in the fields, Ren came across a boar with blue skin and a name reading [Frenzy Boar]. Ren had gone in for the first strike and cut his sword into the monster's body, creating a red gash as small clusters of data poured out from it. With it being such a deep and clean cut, Ren had expected the monster's HP to plummet. But in reality, it had only gone down a measly 10% or so. And now he no longer had the advantage of the boar paying no mind to him. Because as anyone would be if they were suddenly attacked while minding their own business, the Frenzy Boar was pissed.

"Oof!" Ren grunted as he was knocked back by the boar. He landed on his back and watched his HP fall into the yellow. He got up and saw the boar glaring at him. He had been hit three times by this monster already. Whenever the beast charged, Ren attempted to dash out of the way but his timing was off and the Frenzy Boar would simply alter its course and ram into him regardless. He needed to wait longer before evading, but if he waited too long he wouldn't dodge in time.

This is way easier behind a computer screen.

Now wasn't the time to complain however. If he told his friends that he died to a basic monster out in the fields, he'd never live it down. He just needed to get the timing down. He and the Frenzy Boar locked eyes, as if they were two cowboys in a western movie waiting for the right moment to draw. The Frenzy Boar finally broke the tension and let out a squeal as it charged his way.

Calm down. Concentrate. Wait for the last possible moment.

Time seemed to slow down as the distance between Ren and the monster grew less and less. Finally, the moment came and Ren dashed to the side. The Frenzy Boar had no time to turn and instead dashed right past him. Ren didn't waste this opportunity as he turned around and lunged right at the monster. He delivered two clean slashes to it before leaping back to gain some distance once again.

The health bar of the Frenzy Boar dropped down another 20%. Ren took a deep breath. He could do this.

It was a matter of rinse and repeat. The fact that it took a total of ten direct slashes for the Frenzy Boar to finally hit zero health was a little annoying, but seeing the monster burst into polygons was so satisfying for Ren. A window popped up, showing him the exp and col he had received, as well as an item called [Boar Meat].

With his first fight in SAO over, Ren grabbed a health potion and gulped the drink down. He could see his health slowly starting to climb back up. He thought about what to do next. Ren could continue going around and fighting Frenzy Boars, but it was honestly a lot of effort. He would likely be better off coming back with his friends when they could have one of them play the decoy while the rest hacked away at its health.

"Raaaaahhhhh!"

The sudden yell caused Ren to turn his head towards the direction he had heard it from. It was just over the hill. The teen ran up it to a nearby tree and bush, crouching down to see what was going on.

It was another player. Two of them actually. One had a bandana over his long red hair while the other had regular short black hair. The red haired one seemed to be locked in combat with the very same type of monster Ren had just beaten, while the black haired one was standing back and watching. The red-haired one struck a pose, holding his curved sword over his shoulder, and suddenly the blade began to glow.

Ren's eyes widened as he watched while keeping his head just over the bush. With a swift motion, the player dashed past the Frenzy Boar and slashed right through it. The monster lost over half its total HP with the attack, bringing it right down to zero. As the monster shattered, Ren stood completely frozen in awe. His attacks were barely taking out a tenth of the same monster's health, but that attack had just wiped out more than half. His mind drifted as before he knew it, Ren lost his balance slightly, causing a rustle in the leaves of the bush.

The black haired player immediately looked towards the bush. "Hm?"

Ren ducked his head under and covered his mouth. How could he have been so careless? He silently prayed for the player to simply chalk the rustle up to nothing more than the wind and walk away.

"Hey! You can come out, you know!" the player called out. "It's alright. We won't attack you or anything if that's what you're worried about."

His cover was blown and running wouldn't really do him much good in an open field like this. Ren decided to get up from his hiding spot. He nervously waved over to the two players. "H-Hey there…"

"Mind telling us why you were spying on us?" the black haired one asked.

"Well… I'm kinda new to this whole thing. I heard a commotion and came over, then saw that amazing attack just now." Ren explained as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Seriously though, what was that move just now? It was so powerful!"

"Heh. Sword skills are pretty sweet, aren't they?" the red-haired one grinned.

"Sword skills?"

"They're kinda like special moves you perform with the help of the system." the black haired one explained. "They're way more powerful than regular attacks."

"So how do I get them? Are they a quest reward or something?"

"Not quite. Open your menu and I'll show you."

Ren did as he was told and the player walked up next to him. He directed him through the menu to the [Skills] tab and pressed [One-Handed Sword]. There, three names popped up on the menu. They read [Horizontal], [Vertical], and [Slant].

"Those are your current sword skills for one-handed swords." he explained. "The more you use a weapon type, the more your proficiency with it increases. As the proficiency goes up, you unlock more sword skills for that weapon type."

"I see…" Ren said. "You sure seem to know a lot."

"Well duh. This guy was one of the beta testers." the other one said as he patted his companion on the back.

Beta testers. The people that got to play the test version of SAO before its launch. They numbered 1000 total, and all of them had automatically gotten copies of Sword Art Online. Out of the 10000 current players of SAO, they were the ones with the most experience and knowledge.

"Anyhow, I guess we should introduce ourselves, shouldn't we?" the red haired one said. "The name's Klein. And this guy here is Kirito. Nice to meetcha."

"Ren. And the pleasure's mine."

"If you want to learn a bit more about the game, I'd be happy to teach you." Kirito told him. "Hopefully you pick things up faster than Klein here."

"Hey!"

"Sounds good." Ren said.

With that, Kirito added Ren to the party, making three total. He proceeded to show Ren how to perform sword skills. They were actually pretty simple. Once a player performed a specific motion with their body in a certain way, the sword skill would activate. After that, it was simply a matter of letting the system do its job. Ren felt his body move on its own as he performed the sword skill. It was an odd sensation, but also a thrilling one.

Hours went by as Kirito, Klein, and Ren farmed against monsters out in the fields. Ren was a little hesitant at first around Kirito and Klein, but it didn't take long before the three of them were laughing about like good friends. Perhaps it was their common allure of games. Before long, Ren earned back the money he had spent on potions and then some. Eventually, it got near 5:00 pm. The orange late afternoon sky was rather nice to look at as the three players sat back and relaxed on the grassy hills.

"This is amazing." Ren said. "I never would have imagined something like this was possible."

Klein nodded his head in agreement. "Tell me about it. Whoever designed this game is a genius."

"You don't need to be so overdramatic." Kirito told the two of them.

"Hey cut us some slack man. It's our first full dive." Klein argued.

"Yeah." Ren added. "You've dived plenty of times so it's just not as special to you."

"Guess you've got a point." Kirito admitted as he stood back up. "So you guys wanna move on?"

Ren's mother had told him to be downstairs for dinner at 6:00. That still left him a little less an hour before he had to log off. "Yeah. I'm all good for a bit longer."

"I would but…" Klein brought his hands to his stomach. "I'm starving."

"Too bad food here only fills you up virtually." Kirito commented.

"And that my friend is why I ordered a pizza for 5:30." Klein said with a grin.

Ren let out a chuckle. "Fair enough. Guess we'll see you around."

"Yeah. Until next time." Klein said with a parting wave of his hand.

Ren and Kirito turned to walk away and continue hunting. However, they stopped when they heard Klein speak again.

"What the hell? Where's the logout button?"

Ren's shoulders slumped as he turned back towards Klein. "Are you serious man? It can't be that hard to find."

"Seriously, it's not there!"

Rolling his eyes, Ren opened his menu. He made his way to the logout tab, but his eyes widened when he looked down at it.

The tab was completely blank.

What the hell? Is it a bug or something? Ren wondered. He tried pressing the tab to see if it was just a glitch with the name of the tab, but nothing happened.

"Is there another way out or something?" Klein asked.

Kirito shook his head. "No. Whenever a player wants to logout, the only way is through the main menu."

As the three of them continued to wonder what was going on, the sound of a bell tolling echoed. They stayed silent, wondering what it meant. Then, out of nowhere, they each became enveloped with a blue light.

"What's going on?!" Ren exclaimed as everything went white.

When Ren could finally see again, he was no longer in the fields outside of town. Instead, he was standing in the town square, the same place he had appeared when he first logged in. Kirito and Klein were both standing near him. Flashes of blue light brought forth many other players into the square one after another.

"What just happened?" Ren asked.

"Someone forced a teleport." Kirito said, equally shocked.

The bell continued to toll until there were no more lights that signalled a teleportation effect. Murmurs were heard all around the players, with no one seeming to have any clue as to what was going on. But soon something else caught everyone's attention. A series of red signs that spreaded out and covered the air above them. They all read [System Announcement].

Well that's ominous as hell.

Soon, a strange red ooze dripped from the signs. It converged together and formed a hollow red robe. As the players down below wondered who this mystery figure was, it spoke to them.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment I am in control of this world. I'm sure most of you have noticed an item missing from their main menu. The logout button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

"Wait, what?" Ren questioned.

"He's… kidding, right?" Klein asked.

Kayaba continued his speech. "You cannot log yourselves out of SAO. And no one will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nerve Gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life.

Ren widened his eyes upon hearing this. Both he and Klein quickly turned their heads to Kirito. "Is that true?"

"It is." Kirito confirmed grimmly. "The transmitter signals in the head gear work just like microwaves. If the safety's disabeled, it can fry your brain."

"Couldn't someone cut the power?" Klein asked.

"That won't work. The Nerve Gear's got an internal battery."

"But… that's crazy!"

"Despite my warnings, families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear. An unfortunate decision to say the least." Kayaba continued. "As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." Next, a series of windows appeared and hovered around the massive figure. "As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a Nerve Gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game."

Oh yeah. We're all stuck in a game, but at least we won't accidentally die from someone in the real world being stupid. Real comforting.

But Kayaba wasn't finished yet. "It's important to remember the following. There is no longer any way to revive someone from within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system - forever - and the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

Every single person fell silent upon hearing those words. This wasn't just a game anymore. If someone died in the game, they'd die in real life.

"There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game. Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."

Ren, Kirito, and Klein glanced at each other before opening their menus. True to Kayaba's word, there was a new item in their storage. It read [Mirror]. Ren tapped on the item and it materialized in his hand.

And then everything went white again.

When Ren's vision cleared, he was glad that he hadn't been teleported again. But then why did he get surrounded by light again? The answer dawned on him as he glanced at himself in the mirror.

It was him. Not his avatar, but his face from the real world. His red hair was now brown, and was styled the same way as it was in the real world. Looking at himself, he noticed his height and body type had shifted slightly and now matched that of his real self perfectly.

"Ren? Is that you?"

Hearing Kirito's voice, Ren turned and saw a black haired boy at his side. Next to him was a person with scruffy red hair. The realization of who they were slowly dawned on him as his eyes widened.

"Kirito?! Klein?!"

Ren could only assume the current appearances of Kirito and Klein were how they looked in the real world. But something didn't make sense.

"How is this possible?" Klein asked.

"The scan…" Kirito realized. "There's a high density signal device inside the Nerve Gear rig. It can see what my face looks like. But how's it know my height and body type?"

Ren soon figured out the answer. "There was a calibration thing we had to do before diving. Remember? We had to touch all over our body."

"But… this is… what's the point? Klein asked. "Why would anybody do this to us?"

"I think he's about to tell us." Kirito said, pointing to the floating figure in the sky.

"Right now, you're probably wondering: why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the Nerve Gear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."

With those parting words, the robed figure evaporated into mist. The [System Announcement] signs in the sky vanished without a trace. And the 9787 players in the town square were left to come to terms with the reality of their situation. Everyone was silent for a few moments. But they soon ended and panic began to overcome everyone like waves crashing on the shore.

Ren could barely believe it. He had put on the Nerve Gear earlier today planning to have the most amazing experience of his life. Now, it had turned into a nightmare. If he died here, he'd die in the real world. Gone, just like that. He had died plenty of times when playing games before, but those were just games. He had never had to deal with something like this.

He was soon snapped out of his thoughts when Kirito whispered behind him. "Ren, Klein, come on. Let's go."

Before either of them knew it, they were dragged away by Kirito. They followed him through the streets and into an alleyway.

"Okay listen, I'm heading out right now for the next village." Kirito told them. "I want you both to come."

"What?" Ren asked.

"If what Kayaba said is true, and I'm pretty sure it is, the only way we're gonna survive in here is by making ourselves as strong as possible. In an MMORPG, all the resources you can earn is limited. The fields around the Town of Beginnings will likely be hunted clean the second everyone else comes to terms with what's going on. If we head to the next village now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash and exp. Don't worry, I know all the paths and places we should avoid. Even at level 1 I can get there easy."

"Thanks but…" Klein sighed. "My friends are still back at the plaza. I can't leave them."

"I'm in the same boat." Ren added. He thought of the two friends he had from the real world that were in the game like him right now. There was no way he could ditch them for his own benefit.

Looking at Kirito, the expression on his face was clear as day to Ren. More people meant a bigger party, which would slow them down and put a heavier responsibility on Kirito. And Kirito was right, they needed to get strong fast before other players caught up. Kirito was likely currently at war with himself, not wanting to leave them but also knowing he couldn't take so many people with him.

So Ren did the only thing he could.

"You should get going, Kirito." Ren told him. "You hurry on to the next town. We'll manage."

Klein saw what Ren was doing and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Can't ask a guy we just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers. Besides, with all the stuff you taught us we'll get by, no sweat."

"Ren… Klein…" Kirito muttered. He held his head low and turned around. "Sorry."

Just like that, Kirito took off running. Now it was just Ren and Klein. They both knew they had done the right thing, even if it did mean losing out on Kirito's assistance. The two glanced at each other and shared a small fist bump.

"You be careful out there, Klein."

"Same to you, man. Don't let you or those friends of yours get killed."

"Definitely."

The two of them split up and went their separate ways. Rather than going back to the plaza and searching for his friends in a sea of people, it would be easier to get them to come to him. Thankfully, they had told each other the names for their avatar ahead of time, and two people couldn't have the same name in SAO. Since he had friended them during his time alone, he was free to send direct messages to them. Ren opened his menu and created a message with the recipients being the two on his Friends List known as Helios and Riku.

[Meet me by the northern gate as soon as possible. -Ren]

Not even a minute later, he received a reply from each of them.

[Gotcha. -Helios]

[On my way. -Riku]

Ren hurried to the rendezvous point. Most people back at the plaza were likely still panicking and begging to be let out. The only reason Ren wasn't one of them right now was because Kirito had the sense to remind him what they needed to do in order to escape. Clear the game. And that meant getting as strong as possible, as fast as possible. He wasn't going to be able to do that sitting around feeling sorry for himself.

Once Ren made it to the northern gate, he waited for his friends. A few minutes passed by, but he soon saw two figures in the distance. As they came closer, he recognized them from their real world appearances.

Helios and Riku, two friends of his from the real world. They had all met a few years ago and went to the same middle school currently. Helios had ashy-black hair that was messy and riled up. Slung across his back was a one-handed axe. He had always been one for the role of tank. Riku was the opposite, having a dagger sheathed at his waist. He had short blonde hair.

"This whole death thing crap is for real… isn't it?" Helios asked.

"I think so." Ren answered with a nod. "That's why we need to head out. Now."

"Are you sure about that?" Riku asked. "Like you said, our lives are at stake now. We die here, we die for real."

"We should be fine. I had someone from the beta teaching me the basics earlier." Ren explained to his friends. "I'll tell you what I know as we go."

"Alright then. In that case, let's do this." Helios said. "Let's kick this game's ass and get out of here!"

Riku sighed and ran his hand through his hair in an aggravated fashion. "Damnit, fine. I can't argue with your point. Let's hurry up and go."

Ren gave a silent nod and began running out the gate with his two friends at his side. They couldn't have known at that point, but so many things awaited them. Friends. Enemies. Joy. Sorrow. Death.

And survival.