Chapter 2 - Onto These New Frontiers


I see a flood of colors rushing around me. Enough colors to probably give some poor unsuspecting chump a real eye sore. Unfortunately for me, I think I was that unsuspecting chump. I am really glad that only lasted for what felt like seconds. I am not sure if I want to continue if it lasted a little longer.

After that flood of colors came the home menu. This home menu most certainly took design cues from the Nintendo Switch's home menu for sure. Only difference is that I could run around in the tiny space that is provided. I don't really have anything else to do but to enter the game. Though I think it's odd that there is only one slot dedicated to the one game I have in the machine. Perhaps more get added depending on what applications are downloaded? Besides I was one of the lucky 20,000 people in the continental United States that picked up a physical version of the game. Though I honestly wonder why I bought a physical version of a game that is reliant on servers. What good is the disc after the game inevitability shuts down? Oh well who cares at this rate my friends will log out before I log in.

"Geronimo!" I yelled as I jumped into the game icon Super Mario 64 style.

I have already passed through the setup earlier in the day. A rather intriguing setup process if I do say so myself. Though just because I set up the console, does not mean I have set up the game.

As expected, I found myself floating through the dark void of nothingness there was only the prompt floating around with me.


WELCOME TO SWORD ART ONLINE: INFINITE. PLEASE LOG IN USING ONE OF THE FOLLOWING LOG-IN OPTIONS!

· Argus Games Account

· Google Account

· Apple Account

· Hotmail or Outlook

· Continue as Guest


Ah yes, the classic account options brought here in their full glory. Being the gamer I am. I of course created an Argus Games Account since I could straight into the game a bit faster. Selecting the Argus Games Account option, I was then prompted to sign in using my credentials. So, I did just that, and I automatically regretted choosing a big password.


USERNAME: RavagerHedge96

PASSWORD: ****************


With that out of the way, I can finally go to one of the best parts of any RPG with a character creator, the character creator. Thus, a shame that this game had to take cues from the original Sword Art Online and have the only playable race be humans. I really wanted to be a demi human this time around but oh well. Nobody listens to complaints anyways, and at least I can still customize my character to my liking.


PLEASE SELECT YOUR GENDER:

MALE OR FEMALE


This is a no brainer, playing as a woman as a man just feels wrong. The only time I can find it acceptable is that if it's your second time playing through the game, and you wanted to spice it up a bit, or if it's a Pokémon game and you have already played its other version in the generation. Other than that, nope I am a dude, and I am proud of it! Male it is!

Next up was the body type I wanted, being a bit of a fat ass in real life and wanting to walk away from reality for a brief moment. I decided that I wanted this version of me to be a little bit buffer, and more toned than my real-life self. Then it was hair color. Easy I am going with a lighter shade of brown, chocolate brown to be exact. Really differentiates my hair color from my real-life jet-black hair. Next came eyebrow type, and of course I have to go with the eyebrows that look cool. Attack eyebrows are awesome and threatening. I decided to go with eyes that seemed to best show that I am a naïve and curious person. Always ready for a challenge, and always ready to help others in need. Blue gets to be my eye color this time around since blue is my very favorite color. Though I think light blue looks much much better than my all-time favorite of navy blue. Skin color wise I kept my natural tan skin as I figured that makes me look much more like a fierce warrior from a faraway land. Add to it with a full-blown bread, and hair that makes me look like a menacing Viking warrior.


DO YOU WANT TO CONTIUNE WITH YOUR CHOICES?

YES/NO


Goodness, I swear that I spent at least a good twenty minutes on the character creator alone. By all means it has to be one of the most expansive character creators I have ever experienced, but now I think I got just the right customizations I want. Just as I pressed yes. I was consumed by another flood of colors.

I was teleported over to a giant plaza with some sort of statue in the middle. I suppose this is the so-called Town of Beginnings from Sword Art Online. I am not really surprised that they brought over this behemoth of an opening city from the original. From what I heard the Town of Beginnings was one of the best opening cities in any MMORPG. Mainly due to its accessibility, and cheap resources that will aid in the quest of advancement. Well, I was supposed to meet my friends an hour ago, and I am pretty sure they have already moved onto the fields already. So why not play a little catch up? I am sure that they have probably leveled up once since they got here.

So being the hardheaded person I am, I decided to rush into the fields right outside of town. Whilst running I decided to see what they started players off with in this game, and as such I took a side glance at my HUD.


RavagerHedge96: 250/250 HP

Lv: 1


Then I took a side glance towards the bottom left as that is what people who previewed the game said to do when checking for time.


12:03 AM


Yikes, I knew it was over an hour since I was due to meet my friends, but I keep forgetting that this launched at 11:00 at night for us. I have things to do in the morning, but I am sure I can play just a little bit longer. Like I said earlier, I should probably check out my load out. According to the game's manual I should be able to swipe down, and that should pull up the menu. Lo and behold it did just that.


· Inventory

· Friends

· Communications

· Maps

· Settings


Playing smart I decided to press on inventory, and that brought up a sub menu consisting of my current loadout, and several options. There were three options of which included Equipment, Items, and Skills. Though the latter two were blacked out. Makes sense considering I didn't have any items, or skills. The one weapon I did have was an appropriately named [Small Sword] and I quickly equipped it. I could feel the sword materialize in my left hand just as I left the Town of Beginnings.

Almost as soon as I was out in the fields I was attacked by a wild wolf. The wolf lunged at me at speeds that really felt unfair to a level one player like myself. It's a good thing that I am a seasoned gamer. I quickly dodged the charging wolf and went on the offense quickly.

Using the [Small Sword] I made a slash towards the wolf injuring it in the process. Then the wolf howled as blue sparks surrounded me. I can only assume that the wolf lowered my defense or the equivalent of defense as this game never indicated what the blue sparks meant. Oh well, I decided to go straight for the wolf after this as the wolf with straight after me. The wolf opened its mouth as I readied my sword for combat.

I sliced straight through the wolf as the wolf burst into glass. From my vision I could see that I got [Wolf Meat], [Wolf Fur], and experience as well as [50 col]. As expected, this game is an action RPG much like Final Fantasy VI Remake and Yo-Kai Watch 4, it appears that this game isn't catering towards those who picked up the Nervegear causally. Well, I am sure that this is something to keep my feet alert. Though I should probably check on my friends and log out soon. When I brought up the menu again, I could see the Communications button flashing like Rudolph's red-nose. I pressed it and a message popped up.


Everything good, Aaron? Me, Eli, Thomas, and Luke are waiting in the fields

- Ranger


Looks like they were waiting for me after all. Better hunt them down and explain. Just after that I was assaulted by another wolf from behind nailing my health down to 175. 75 damage, eh, well then, I'll show mister wolfy just what I am made of.

"Think you can strike me down by surprise, then got another thing coming," I said towards the wolf as soon as it jumped off me, "Vertical Strike!"

After my body lunged towards the wolf, I immediately sliced my sword downwards like the guillotine cutting the head of someone. Though the wolf didn't die. I still managed to cut a decent amount of health away from the wolf. However, the [Vertical] sword skill leaves me with a half-second cooldown. I am just lucky the wolf was stunned for a little longer than half a second.

"Howl on this!" I exclaimed as I slashed the wolf using my [Small Sword] and killed it. Once again, I got [Wolf Meat], experience, and [50 col]. No [Wolf Fur] this time. That is the life of a game with random drops. You can't win them all, and it's not like [Wolf Fur] is that important. Now with that wolf out of the way, I should probably go back into to town, and message my friends there.

Upon getting back to town I discovered the time is 12:26 am. I guess time flies when you're having fun. I quickly opened up my communications tab.


Sorry about the late reply, Ryan. I kind of got jumped by a wolf while writing whilst I was out in the fields. Where in the fields are you?


While I was waiting for the reply, I decided to check out more of the Town of Beginnings. I noticed that there was a lot of people in this area especially since it was a 11:00 release. I would think that several players would have logged out by now, but I guess I am underestimating the power of people who play MMOs.

Looking at my 2x[Wolf Meat]s maybe there is someone out there who could cook them? Surely there could be some NPC who does that, but I am doubtful about that. I decided to walk up to one of the NPC stands in the area.

"Welcome to Ol' Bill's shack of knick-knocks and other stuff, how can I help you, young adventurer?" The NPC said.

"Do you have any healing items?"

"How about a healing crystal? It is only 300 col."

"Is that the only healing item, you have?" I inquired since 300 col sets me back half of my col.

"Afraid so, but fortunately you in luck, young man. I am having a sale where everything is 50 percent off."

"I guess, I'll take two," I said knowing that it will still cost me, 300 col at the end of the day.

"Good choice."

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED A HEALING CRYSTAL (2X)!]

I quickly used one of the [Healing Crystal] to restore my health. Then Ryan got around to messaging back.


It's alright, Aaron. It really appears that the animals out in the fields are out for blood. Maybe because we are all playing at night. Exit to the south of the Town of the Beginnings and we are grinding next to the cliffside down the trail from the Town of Beginnings. Though can you check your menu to see if your log-out button is there. We have talked with some other players who claimed that they couldn't find theirs, and after we checked we couldn't find ours.

-Ranger


Huh, they can't find their log-out buttons. That's strange, and just like that I checked to see if my log-out button was there. I opened my menu and went into Settings.


· Options

· Help


And one last option that was left blank. Crap baskets, it appears that there is a missing log-out button after. I wonder what this means for the game. Perhaps it's a bug, and the developers are on their way to fixing it. Guess I'll go and travel to see my friends cause there is no way I am logging out anytime soon.

It was now 12:43 am in the morning, and I was traveling south of the Town of Beginnings along a little trail. Where a pack of little bunny rabbits started to follow me, they were very cute and all, but something felt wrong. For one why were these rabbits following me? Unfortunately, I have a very good idea about why they are following me, and given how a wolf tried to maul me while I wasn't looking…

That's when some of the rabbits decided to go on the attack.

"Crap, crap, crap!" I yelled as four rabbits decided to pick up the pace and jump me. I started to pick up the pace a little causing the attacking rabbits. When they missed, the rabbits quickly came up with another strategy to come after my butt. I was hopeless since if I tried to attack the others would just swarm me then and there.

"Huh!" A voice yelled in the dark as some of the rabbits were torn through with a single sword strike.

"Hiya!" Another voice cried as more rabbits were razored by the tip of an axe. This surprise caught both me and the remaining rabbits off guard, and I quickly capitalized on it by using a [Horizontal] Sword Skill to cut through the remaining rabbits.

"Thank you, for the help," I said appreciating the pair who came to my aid.

"No problem," one of them who was wearing a green tunic said.

"Just happy to help," the other person said.

"I suppose you were just travelling around grinding?" I asked.

"We sure were," green tunic guy said.

"It's strange to see a solo player out in the fields," the other guy said.

"I was just travelling to rendezvous with my friends."

"Well stay safe out their traveler."

"Y'all as well," I said as we parted ways with each other, and I simply traveled along the trail once again staying as vigilant as I could under the night sky.

I am thankful that nothing else tried to kill me on my way to the cliff side. The scenic view of the first floor of Aincrad is beautiful. Its sights like this that make me glad that I live in a timeline where FullDive VR exists. Because if I just saw a picture of this. I couldn't tell if it was real or not. From here I could see the figures of four people. Four people I know rather well.

"Aaron!" a voice rung as four teenagers raised. Looking at the names I was able to deduce who was who.

"Guys!" I yelled as I burst towards their position, "How are you doing?"

"What took you so long, Aaron?" One of the teenagers asked, this guy wearing a green tunic with some plated armor. Everyone expect me was wearing plated armor the more I thought about it.

"Sorry about that Eli," I said rubbing my hand against my neck, "I kind of got caught up in a bedtime story, and then spent too much time in the character creator. By then I just decided to stick it out on my own." Eli chuckled a bit. All of my friends know damn well about my little sister and little brother. Which has always been fine with them, expect…

"Aaron, Aaron," One of the other voices said in a high-pitched squall. Growing up both Reyes, and Rebeca were always just a bit clingy to me, and they also had an adorable high-pitched voice. Combine two and two, and we get a nice little inside joke.

"Long time no see, Luke," I said with a smile. I knew that the person who said that had to be Luke since the only other person who would say that would be Ryan, and the person who said that line didn't have a gamer tag of Ranger floating over them.

"Same to you, Aaron," Luke smiled. It had been a little over two years since I last saw him. After 8th Grade, he and his family moved up north for his father's new job. I hope the years have been treating him well.

"How is everything going in Iowa?" I asked.

"I am alive," Luke said.

"Fair fair aren't we all," I said with a hint of concern for my friend. I have heard that he hasn't really fit in yet at his new school.

"How was the trip, Aaron?" Thomas asked.

"Well for starters, I was nearly murdered by a bunch of bunny rabbits for starters."

"Were they trying to maul you like a pack of hungry wolves?" Thomas inquired.

"I suppose y'all were dealing with them a bit earlier," I suspected.

"You bet," Ryan confirmed.

"Well now that we've got introductions out of the way," I said jumping straight to business, "I assume that y'all have been level grinding."

"You have assumed right, but we took a little break about thirty minutes ago."

"Which means it's time to get some action!" I exclaimed.

"Woah there Aaron, save it for Jade," Eli chuckled. He is still hung up on that.

"Yare Yare Daze," I muttered for I knew what would come next, "Let's just go into battle."


While out in the field with my friends, I noticed that SAOI had more weapon types then the original SAO. For starters I was the only one of my friends to start off with the [Small Sword]. Ryan was armed with a [Plain Maul], and Eli had the [Sharp Spear] in his arsenal. Meanwhile Thomas was blessed with the [Axe], and finally Luke has the appropriately named [Small Dagger].

"Hog this!" I yelled as I jumped a wild hog that decided to give us some trouble. Using the [Small Sword], I attempted to use the [Vertical] sword skill to kill the hog. That [Vertical] attack would have worked had I timed my jump with the running hog properly. Instead of epically slashing that hog. I fell flat on my face.

"Sure, about that buddy?" Eli stated as he ran past my body and tried using his [Sharp Spear] to stab the hog. Only for the hog to just ram into him. Launching him a fair bit backwards.

"WAAAHHH!" Eli screamed as the hog tossed him aside.

"Let me show you how a real pro does it," Luke said towards me and Eli as he swift avoided the raging hog. Just as Luke started aiming his [Small Dagger] towards the Hog's backside. The hog decided to high kick Luke straight in the stomach which caused him to take a substantial amount of damage.

"Like a real pro, indeed, Luke. Watch and learn from the master," Ryan smirked as he used his [Plain Maul] like a pole that pole vaulters use.

"ARGGHH!" Ryan yelled as he attempts to carve in the Hog's skull using one of the sword skills available to the Maul class of weapon. Though like me, he mistimed how long it would take him to reach the ground, and by then the hog has moved on to bigger and better things. Mainly the big fellow with the [Axe].

"Now it's my turn," Thomas smirked as his weapon glowed a red color, "Vertical!" As the hog was charging towards Thomas, Thomas pulled off [Vertical] with his [Axe].

The hog slowly came to a stop as it realized that it had one big line of red pixels up and down its face. With one last shriek, the hog busted into glass.

"Geez guys, that was light work," Thomas said nonchalantly as he petted his [Axe].

"Says the dude who had to get his butt saved against squirrels," Eli said walking over to Thomas.

"They were flying squirrels, Eli," Thomas said trying to defend himself, "besides weren't you the one getting run over by a hog? A hog I easily defeated."

"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter," I said, "what matters is that we beat the hog!"

"I suppose so," Thomas agreed before switching subjects, "I wonder how long it will be until they fix the log-out button issue?"

"Let's check," Luke said before going into his menu, "Still no log-out button."

"I would've thought that would be the first thing they would fix," Ryan commented.

"Honestly, I would think that too. Considering the large amounts of players who would be playing," I added. I was a little scared at the moment thinking that the devs may have forgotten that the log-out button is still missing. I just got to keep up hope though. I am sure that the game developers are uber busy right now. This means that this game is smash hit, right? Right?

"They better hurry up, I have things I have to do tomorrow morning," Eli commented, "what time is it?"

"2:28 am," Luke said as he took a quick glance at his HUD.

"I am about to send a complaint to the developers, this is ridiculous," Eli said irritated at this situation.

"I doubt that is going to help," I said, "Think about how many people are in a situation like ours right now, for all we know the developers are getting swarmed with 'Where is the Log-out button' questions. So, it ain't going to help our cause whatsoever." I decided to take a look at my current stats.


RavagerHedge96: 146/270 HP

Lv: 3


Not bad, not bad at all. Besides the log-out button not existing this has been fun. Maybe it's because I am with my friends. Almost everything is better when you have friends along.

"So, what now?" Thomas asked, "because I'd say we should head back to town. It's clear that we are banged up a little. Between the hog, and the flying squirrels. Our health is starting to dwindle."

"I second that," Luke added, "I only have 89 health after getting bucked by the hog."

"Well, its decided, back to the Town of Beginnings then," Ryan proclaimed. Though just as we were about to head out. Something strange happened. Blue circles materialized all around us.

"What is going on?" Eli asked as we all looked puzzled at what was happening.

"I don't know," Thomas said as we were all consumed by the blue circles.

Next thing we knew. We were back in the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Though we weren't the only ones who were forcibly teleported here. It really feels like the entire server was packed in here like sardines in a can. I got a really bad feeling about what was about to happen.

"Luke! Ryan! Thomas! Eli, WHERE ARE YOU!" I screamed in the crowd hoping to find them. Only for someone to poke me in the back.

"We are right here, Aaron," Eli said while giving me a stare, "we were teleported together after all."

"Oh, in my defense I couldn't see y'all," I said, "but something tells me that something bad is happen."

"What makes you say that?" Eli asked, "Is it the fact that we were teleported? Or the fact that everyone else was too?"

"Probably both," I said, "I mean it can't be that bad, right?"

I choose the worst time to respond to that as immediately after another red flag appeared. A shitload of red hexagons filled the night sky with the following messages.

[WARNING]

[System Announcement]

Everyone looked up towards the sky as a red liquid type of substance started oozing through the night sky. The likes of which quickly fused with itself and started forming a figure. This figure kind of looks like the love child of the Black and White Mage from Final Fantasy. Whatever bad feelings I once had tripled at the sight of this mysterious figure. I notice that people are theorizing that this figure is the avatar of the Game Master. Whoever this fellow is, we are about to find out…

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world."

#To Be Continued


A/N: So I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Please if you have any ideas or critizism. By all means either review my fanfiction or send me a Private Message. I am open to any form of critique in order to make this story the best I could possibly make it. As far as my upload schuledule goes, I hope to release chapters every Saturaday at roughly 7pm CST, and I already have one more chapter on the line-up.


REVIEW AND REPLY


Altinator - Pretty cute intro there. It was easy to follow. Would be more interesting if Aaron had a friend to dive with him, but I'm guessing he's gonna meet the main cast in the later chapters, right? Anyways, can't wait to read more. Keep up the good work!

A/N: Thanks, I didn't have much time to write it. I am glad that the intro chapter served as a decent introduction to our main character. As for meeting the main cast in the later chapters, well our main group is established. Don't expect that many major character introductions until we near the end of the first floor. Mainly because I want to develop the friendship dyamanic between our main characters. Thanks, and I hope this chapter kept you interested.