Disclaimer: This is a Sword Art Online fanfiction. I do not own Sword Art Online.
Background summary: Trapped in a virtual world, ten thousand unwilling participants must clear all hundred floors of the floating castle, Aincrad, to return to reality. However, a death in SAO means the death of their physical body as well.
Chapter 1.1It crashed through my head like lightning, a mix of sound, force, and pain. My body was uncomfortably numb, tingling like a limb that had fallen asleep, prickling points of almost-pain flickering beneath my skin. Sensations began to filter in through the lessening static – the scent of dirt and leather, of the rough scratch of cobblestones against my cheek as my hands pushed ineffectually in their attempts to raise my quivering too-heavy body. I opened my eyes, fighting the sudden flare of nausea as the blurred images of thousands of shouting and crying players filled my sight. The volume of the chaos seemed oddly low, as if each voice was bubbling up from the depths of the ocean. "..to, Kirito!" I recoiled as if struck as my hearing returned, the plaza snapping into solidarity as the remainder of my eyesight returned with it. "It's me, Klein, let's get out of here." I said nothing as he lifted me to my feet. My eyes latched onto each person we passed as he led me through the tumultuous crowd, heart dropping as I noticed their imperfections.
Shortly before I had been struck into near unconsciousness I had taken out the mirror granted by Kayaba to each player shortly before the impending metamorphosis. As I stared into the crystal clear reflection my heart grew heavy as my avatar began to morph into the slightly feminine young-looking face I was always trying to escape. It had been only a moment before I realized something had gone terribly wrong. Had Suguha used my NerveGear? She must have, but what terrible luck had led to it failing to recalibrate correctly? No matter its cause, the face I now wore was a firm reminder that this world was not my own, and of the burden I would be if I lingered in this dreamworld.
Not noting the cessation of footsteps in front of me my nose bumped into Klein's chest. Hand flying up to cover it as I took a step back I got my first look at the changed Klein. He struck a pseudo-dignified pose, one hand on his chin. "So, what do ya think? Side burns are in, right?" I shook my head, lips crinkling upwards just a hair. "Man, I would have have never guessed you were a girl. Well, maybe a little. Actually now that I think about it..." I started to walk away, thoughts slowly gelling into a recognizable plan. "Hey, where are you going?" Klein called after me, running to catch up.
"To beat the game." It was a bold statement, I knew, but I couldn't just sit and wait for help to come from the outside. As insane as Kayaba now appeared to be, his genius was not something that should be underestimated. In this world of his own creation, he held all the power. For now, I had to trust his word that he would release us upon the clearing of the hundreth floor. Every day spent in this place would mean the slow withering of my true body, would mean an added burden on my sister. I had to escape as quickly as possible.
"What? You can't be thinking of going out there alone." Klein grabbed my arm, pausing me mid-step. "If you die out there it's over. Wait a few hours, I have friends in here with me. With you teaching us we'll beat this game in no time!"
"Let go of me." Twisting my arm in a small circle I broke his grip. My knees trembled as I walked towards the city gate.
"You're in shock, not thinking clearly. Please, think things over a little longer, Kirito-chan."
I wavered for a moment, but his use of -chan convinced me he wasn't ready. He still thought he was in the real world, couldn't fully grasp that his muscles in the real world meant nothing. He didn't accept in his heart that even what appeared to be a thirteen year old girl could kill him in the space of a heartbeat. "I'm sorry Klein, you're not ready to walk where I need to go. I'll try to come back for you when you're ready, if I can." With that I began to jog away, headed for the grassy hillocks that would lead me to the next town.
Chapter 1.2:I'd never liked the starting floor of Aincrad. In the beta and now in this game of death it was a level of slow and plodding progress. Simultaneously the largest floor and the one in which players had the lowest movement speed, even simple travel-based quests could cost an hour to complete. Still, that wasn't why I found myself hating it. It wasn't why I wanted to knock every last virtual brick into dust.
The first floor of the floating castle, Aincrad, was unique amongst the discovered floors during the beta in that it was the only that sought to replicate reality. Colors were dull compared to their potential, buildings unimaginative, and the flora and fauna weren't much different than what one could find in the wilder parts of the Real World. On this floor, my character wasn't really all that much faster than I was in real life.
Frankly it all felt a little too real. If things were different, if there were dragons and wizards at every corner then maybe it would be easier to convince myself that the body I now wore really was just a character in a game. Maybe then I wouldn't be wondering what made something real or fake, important or trivial.
I had come up with a number of reasons to enter the tower only a week into the game, but perhaps the real reason was to distract myself from how I was changing.
The kobold's sword traced wild, sweeping arcs, eyes gleaming in the dark, labyrinthine tower. Its swordsmanship was laughable, and while the speed of its swings was moderately fast, the delay between them rendered its threat minimal. Rushing in I grabbed its shoulder as I jumped into a controlled spin, dagger cutting into its neck as I passed. Weak as my dagger was, even a strike to a critical area wasn't enough to bring down the kobold by itself, particularly without the use of a sword skill. Torquing myself through my grip on creature's tattered leather cuirass I landed with my face facing its back. Snarling it tried to turn and strike at me but my small, bare feet dug in behind the kobold's knees, maintaining my perch with my dagger hand still free to strike. And strike I did, a dozen quick strikes to the kidneys dropping its health bar to red. Dodging a clumsy grab I finished with a twisting pull of the knife from where it was lodged in its flesh. My feet suddenly lost their purchase, falling to hit the stone floor as the kobold I had been standing on shattered into bright polygons before disappearing entirely.
I took a deep breath, eyes half closing as I listened to my heartbeat slow. Neither breathing or a heartbeat was strictly necessary in this virtual prison but to me at least they were oddly calming. I took a step, steeling myself to continue. My steps were light, slow and sure. The stone of the tower held a slight chill but with my blood still heated from battle it was more refreshing than anything else. A pair of moccasins lay in my inventory but I had yet to use them. The larger monsters in this world tended to have heavy footsteps, their vibrations running through the ground an easy tip-off for the attentive. In this tower I needed every bit of help I could get. I knew from the beta that while kobolds tended to work alone or in pairs, the ogres that occasionally appeared would bring goblins flocking. The green pests were weak, contemptible creatures. They died quickly, but they were ever cowardly, running at the first sign of someone closing into melee range. Their projectiles were slow, and not terribly accurate, but at level five I had no wish to test my luck against their numbers.
A glyph lit up at the barest touch of my toe, and without conscious thought I propelled myself into a backwards roll. I hated magical traps. Physical traps I could generally avoid if I was careful, but magical trap detection required leveling noncombat skills I could ill-afford to spend time on. I cursed as a pair of kobold berzerkers dropped from the ceiling. Drawing my dagger with my left hand I leapt to my feet. In my offhand I couldn't perform sword skills, but it left my right hand free to grab throwing needles. One needle each went into their necks, silencing them before they could roar to bring more allies. Compared to the higher levels of the tower the mobs (monsters) here posed little threat, but after nearly twenty straight hours of fighting I had no wish to make any stupid mistakes so close to the safe room I had made my base in for the past few days. Two more needles created an opening and with a swift dash between the pair of overly-scarred berzerkers I hamstrung them both. Twelve seconds more and the limping pair had been put out of their misery.
Polygons shattering around me I took another deep breath as I scanned the hallway. The way clear of observers I stretched a hand out to the slightly off-color section of wall. Pressing in on a loose stone brick sent the wall swinging back to reveal my safe haven. Nerves settling I felt exhaustion sweep over me as I let my battle-readiness slip away. Then I heard the voice. "Who the hell are you?"
Chapter 1.3'Nononononono.' This wasn't right. This room was mine. No one else was supposed to be here. Five of them cluttered the corner of my space My hand crept towards my dagger as they stood, armor clinking and cloth rustling as they stepped into formation. My worn, cheap silks made no such sound as I took a step back.
"Is she an npc?"
"No, her cursor's green. You're right though, she does look like a quest character. Remember that sick kid for the blade quest?"
"How'd she even get up here? She's not wearing any armor, or shoes. Is that puny thing a dagger?"
"Enough." A blue-haired young man stepped forward, dressed in plate mail. "Please forgive my companions' rudeness. My name is Diavel."
Cautiously I removed my hand from the dagger. What was I thinking of doing with it anyways? This wasn't a game anymore, petty grievances weren't something to draw blades about. "Kirito."
"Kirito..." He rolled the name around for a moment, as if tasting its flavor. "Did you get left behind by your group? We can escort you to the entrance of the labyrinth if you like." He opened his inventory, drawing out a slice of cheese and bread. "Here, you must be hungry."
A redheaded boy grumbled in the back. "Come on Diavel, don't feed her the good stuff. Baby like her shouldn't be out of the starting city anyways. Just get Caper to take her back out, it's not like that nutcase sleeps much anyways."
"Hey!"
As a good-natured argument broke out amongst the crew I found myself eyeing the food offering. I grabbed it, munching into it immediately. How long had it been since I ate? Six hours? Twelve? I'd been so busy fighting that I had hardly noticed. It was impossible to die from starvation in this virtual world, but it did make things unpleasant. Hunger solved, I was more aware than ever that they were preventing me from sleeping. I locked eyes with Diavel after I finished, opening my inventory screen with one hand. He nearly hid his flinch as a small mountain of loot materialized in front of me, bits of data becoming "real."
"Take it and go," I told him. He cocked his head, a question showing in his eyes. "This is my room. Take the items and go."
The redhead started searching through the pile as Diavel held his tongue. "Hey, this shield is from an ogre! We nearly got wiped by them. How'd the pipsqueak get one?"
"Pick it up," said Diavel. "We're leaving."
"But Diavel-"
"Quickly."
And as the door closed behind them there was silence at last. I was asleep in seconds, stone pressing against my hip.
Chapter 1.4:Waking up was a struggle. Nearly as difficult as staying asleep. It didn't take long for monsters to respawn in the hallway after I fell asleep. The incessant thumping footsteps and guttural growls kept me lingering on the edge of consciousness for hours. It was the ache of my hip against the stone floor that finally kicked me awake. Which was odd, considering I didn't normally have much of anything in the way of hips.
"Oh." My voice was confirmation enough. I was still inside this death game. And still, decidedly, not myself. A light pinged at me from the corner of my vision, prompting me to open the interface. "Level six." I didn't remember hitting level six last night... but I didn't remember a lot of things that passed yesterday. After several days and nights in this dark labyrinth, things began to blur together. I opened up the interface, considering the attribute points given to me for gaining the level. I put the first three into agility with hardly a second thought. The last two were tougher, but after a moment I put one each into strength and constitution. I couldn't afford to put any more into constitution if I wanted to deal the damage I needed to. Besides, if SAO was anything like other games, having lots of health during the endgame didn't keep you from dying – not getting hit did. I just needed to have enough to live through traps.
More important than the attribute points was the new skill point. It wouldn't be until level fifteen that I received another, so I'd have to make this count. So far I had Acrobatics and Throwing, both of which had so far served me well. I skimmed through the list, largely unchanged from how it was in the beta. There were a number of others, of course. Hidden skills, requiring a certain item, or a certain quest to unlock. But for now, these were enough. Battle healing was tempting but, in truth, if I was ever hit hard enough to need it... I would probably already be dead. Besides, it's not like I was buying plate armor. I had plenty of money for healing potions. No, the skill I needed now was Sprint. Invaluable in escape, evasion, and reducing the time taken traveling from city to city and quest to quest. "Done."
The door opened at a touch, the monsters as of yet unaware of me. I drew my dagger, took a breath, and started killing.
'Where am I?' Goblins poured into the room by the dozen bearing swords and hooks, spears and bows. I had obviously set off a trap, some sort of alarm, but I had no idea how or when. Had I been sleepwalking? Sleep-fighting? Was that even possible? The goblins were coming on too quickly to even check my clock to see how much time had passed without my knowing.
I spun low beneath the hail of arrows, many of them striking into the goblins behind me. The arrows were slow, and poorly made, but quantity held a power of its own. Toes barely touch the floor I wove between the green and gray goblins, dagger snaking out to strike their vitals with every other step. Every movement was precise, muscles pulsing and arm extending at just the right moment to deal maximum damage, the motion of my body flowing into the blade. How long had I been able to move like this? It had not been so long since I had been near stumbling in this body so foreign from my own. My center of gravity was different, my feet too small, and curves where there shouldn't be curves – not to mention the height difference. But now, at least in the midst of battle, it felt very nearly familiar.
It was a thought so unnerving that I was perhaps a little overly thorough in shoving a particularly foul-faced goblin heart-first into his comrade's spear. I was definitely finding a rhythm now. The influx of goblins had slowed, but the speed with which I was dispatching them was growing ever faster. The tinkling of polygons dispersing into the air was like an aria of bells, though certainly a very morbid one. But there felt like there was something I needed to remember. Something dreadfully important.
Its roar shook the walls, its footsteps like thunder. Memory returned to me – too late. It was already here. Heedless of obstacles, its passage scattered the goblins like so many grains of rice. 'A cave troll. Kayaba added a cave troll to this stupid labyrinth.' And it was chasing me.
Chapter 1.5:The rhythm was lost. The ground shook as the cave troll lumbered towards me, wooden club dragging against the stone. The intricate dance that had thus far sustained me was lost, and I couldn't seem to reclaim it. I wasn't only dodging now, I couldn't, but every time they forced me to parry it threw me further out of balance. A dagger wasn't meant to block an axe, and while I was a great deal faster than any of the goblins, I was only marginally stronger. A war hammer swung at me from the side, nearly without me seeing. The paltry block barely deviated half of the blow, and what remained sent me flying into a pile of the creatures. I fought my way to my feet, stabbing wildly at anything that moved.
"Get out of my way!" I was frantic now, the cave troll was readying his club to strike. It was level seven, the same as me, but it was marked as an elite monster. Also known as a field boss, it wasn't meant to be taken down by anything but a full group of six players or someone several levels above it. What that meant in less esoteric words was simple: Run, or die.
A sun ray of hope struck as luck graced me at last. The crude AI that governed the goblins sent them scattering from the area as the cave troll started to swing its club. Not taking time to think, I sprinted for the wall. The my bare feet gripped the rough stone of the wall as I took off at a run on its surface. The air rippled as the club swung by below me, hair swing past my face as gravity sought to reclaim me. I pushed off the wall, the rebound sending me flying straight through the legs of the troll straight to where the crowd of goblins was thinnest. I grimaced as the system subtracted some of my health upon impacting the ground. But the not-quite-pain was simply enough to ignore, and with a grunt of exertion I propelled myself through the open doorway.
The ululating cries of the goblins followed me into the tunnel, the roar of the troll like a great beating drum without beginning or end. I paused in my run for only a moment to look over my shoulder. I rather wished I hadn't. Goblins crawled across the walls and ceiling, and at the center of their writhing mass was the troll. But it wasn't walking this time, it was running. Their eyes glowed red in the darkness, rather than their normal red. Was this some sort of frenzy mechanic I'd managed to trigger?
I was tired, so very tired. The Sprint skill didn't magically make me run faster, it just released the movement speed cap, to a degree. Physical body or not, it required concentration and will, and I was running short on both. How did I even get here? 'Think, think!' If I could just remember, maybe I could think of some way out of this mess. I hadn't tried to rob some cursed treasure or something, had I? But no, the feeble memories I could muster up were much like what had happened in the past few minutes – running, and fighting. Many hours after my less than rejuvenatory sleep, I had started searching for another safe room. The old one was out of the question after seeing it intruded upon by other players, and it was too many levels down in the labyrinth from where I was journeying now for it to be convenient anyways. But there was nothing, no hint of any safe area or shortcut out of the labyrinth. No matter how hard I searched, I could never find a place to rest. All there was was fighting, endless fighting. Perhaps I should have taken the Searching skill after all, but hindsight wasn't any good to me now.
Two kobolds lay to either side of me as I kicked around the corner, but I didn't even slow, dodging their clumsy attacks with ease. Moments later they were swallowed by the horde the followed me, polygons dispersing beneath the troll's feet. "Faster, faster," I chanted. A stone gave way beneath my foot, the trigger for two giant axes to slide from the walls. I dove forward, skidding beneath their sharpened blades with nary a hairsbreadth to spare. The shouts and cries of the horde were like thunder, saturating the air. No time to think now, they were at my heels, the troll's breath on my neck. I had to keep running. There was no real alternative. But I was so very tired... Something had to give out, and in the end it was my concentration. For one brief moment my eyes glazed over as unconsciousness tried to claim me, and it was enough to damn me. My ankle rolled and I fell, tumbling towards an unforgiving wall. It was small consolation that I wouldn't suffer pain for long – the horde behind me would make sure of that.
"Huh?" Through an oddly translucent wall the horde appeared to be calming down. One by one they turned and walked away, suddenly docile. The cave troll gave me one last heart-stopping stare, but remarkably it passed over me, unseeing. 'A safe area? I finally found one?'
With a deep sigh I flipped onto my back, half asleep already. It was as I propped up my head on the moccasins from my inventory (my sleeping bag was an unfortunate casualty of war earlier in the labyrinth) that my eyelids underwent an abrupt and violent reversal.
The safe room wasn't so safe after all.
Chapter 1.6:"You're not supposed to be here," I said sullenly, knife drawn on reflex. Unfortunately he had a difference of opinion, advancing towards me ominously. I looked up, and up. 'Let's see, giant red kobold, blue mask, axe as large as I am, and a round shield.' I took a slow step backwards. "Hello Illfang." Alright, this wasn't so bad. It was the first boss, so it wasn't particularly aggressive about starting the fight. Something of a handicap for newer players, I imagined. Anything short of attacking him or attempting to open the door to the next level and he'd play nice enough. At least, that's how he was in the beta. So far the same appeared to be true now. As long as I stayed near the entrance, I could probably sleep safely in here, if I dared. I just had to back away slowly... "Achoo!"
"Damnit!" A cohort of lesser mobs popped into existence, the kobold king's personal army. Apparently I'd entered his personal space when I sneezed. I blame my sleep deprivation for what came next.
I attacked. I slipped in behind an overly aggressive strike, my own blade pushing it still faster until it carved into two of its fellows. A spin carried me through three more of them, my low strike temporarily hamstringing them. It was easier than I expected. Lucky me, their AI wasn't optimized to coordinate an attack on a single target. A boss battle was meant to be an epic struggle involving a raid group of forty-two players, not a single crazed one. If I was thinking straight maybe I would have considered that the edge I needed to succeed. But in truth, I wasn't doing much thinking at all.
Illfang's axe cut a blue crescent through the air, and through his followers. My knees scraped the floor as I slid, body bent backwards beneath the unexpected strike. Illfang's ruthlessness was soon justified as within the moment it had taken to regain my balance he had summoned his cohort once again. I twisted and lunged through any gap that presented itself, trying to keep them as off balance as I felt myself. So long as I kept moving, kept rushing in behind their swings at just the right moment, I could keep them from penning me in. On instinct I slid to my right before bursting upwards, Illfang's axe slamming into where I had stood like the hammer of God. The tremor it produced sent the lesser kobolds toppling like dominoes. I flipped in midair, my Acrobatics skill giving me the ability to perform like an Olympic gymnast. With nary a tremble of doubt concerning what would have happened had I not dodged in time, I alighted on the monster's wrist.
My bare feet gripped his arm as I sped up his bicep, dagger hooking into his shoulder to keep me balanced as he lifted his axe at last. Someone had actually tried this in the beta. Three someones, in fact, each dying quicker than the last. Lucky me, Illfang's data had apparently been reinitialized since the beta. His movements were confused, nearly frenetic, and the lesser kobolds simply milled in confusion. I wouldn't have long. The AI learned, to a degree. If this didn't work now then it never would, at least not without drastically higher stats. I grabbed the edge of his helmet and started stabbing anywhere I could reach, twisting the blade into his neck before ripping it out to stab again.
He was starting to wise up to it around the twelfth strike, his massive axe coming closer and closer to cutting my life short. I darted to another area of his neck only to feel the shockwave as the axe thrust past me. "Enough!" I leapt at his wrist knife-first, sawing through tendon and bone as gravity carried me down. He leaned forward after me as I fell, his other hand reaching out to crush the life out of me.
The axe hit first. Weakened from my strikes, he lost his grip on the weapon. The cruel blade struck downwards, severing his neck. Polygons shattered out around me as Illfang and his minions faded out of existence. Rather gruesomely, his severed head lingered the longest.
[You have reached level 8, congratulations!]
[You have reached level 9, congratulations!]
[You have reached level 10, congratulations!]
[You have reached level 11, congratulations!]
[You have reached level 12, congratulations!]
[For solo Floor Boss kill you receive 50,000 col and Legendary Item Aquila's Choker. Equip now Y/N?]
I couldn't believe it. I'd already been planning to run and take my chances with the monsters in the hallway when it happened. From what I've seen of his health bar, killing him with just a low-level dagger was inconceivable. Even with every strike landing in a critical area it would have taken an hour to wear him down.
"I'm alive." I laughed until my sides hurt and a tear rolled down my cheek. I barely felt it as I fell onto my back and into unconsciousness, my long-delayed slumber catching up to me at last.