How we all doing? I thought I'd upload this to allow you all to have a beefier piece to bite into. So, I hope you'll enjoy.

Chapter 1

The Land of Fairies

I found myself in a restaurant, sat at the table I left myself at. It was a nice little place, rows of polished oak tables running up and down in front of an open counter. I could smell the delicious meals begin prepared, the sizzling of the meat tempting my stomach. It was a nice place settled in the capital of the Imp territory of ALO.

I looked in the reflection of the glass in front of me, my brown hair being the same length as it was back in The Land Beyond. Two pointy ears poked out from under it, twitching a little from reflect. I looked into my own eyes, a deep purple colour.

Despite the temptation to eat, I got up and headed outside. Well, I say outside, but the Imp capital was located in the centre of a large mountain. It was lit up by a thousand fireflies trapped in a hanging ball chained to the roof of the cave. The city was made from tall towers that stretching into the roof, acting as both support pillars and exits for players to leave, spread across two halves divided by a river. A dam was built over it, which supplied the city with more of those fireflies, lighting up even the darkest corners with a warm spark.

I walked through the city, avoiding as many people as possible, using the dam as a bridge to the second half. The water dived down into the depths of the mountain, filling the air with it crashing against the rocks at the bottom. Sometimes I got tempted to dive down and see where it led. Fortunately I had resisted the temptation. Apparently at the bottom was a large amount of monsters, and you were fighting them in near darkness. Imps had night vision, but even that didn't help apparently.

I headed up a tower that went through the roof of the mountain, and I finally felt the sun on my face. In front of me were mountain peaks almost as far as the eyes could see, some snow hugging a few of the tips. To my left was the desert region of the Salamanders, and to my right, hiding behind some distant mountains, was the Undine region. Despite the summits surrounding me, two things towered above all. The World Tree, eclipsing everything around it in height, its pale bark spiralling into the heavens. And beside it was the floating castle called Aincrad, the steel walls reflecting the moon high in the sky.

I took in a deep breath. The mountainside acted as a natural lift off point. I let my wings form, getting used to the feeling again. They were different than the ones I had in Underworld. Those wings had a main support with fingers stretching out, each one having its own set of muscles. And back then, I let the memory help me fly. These wings were like having just the support. It didn't feel like I could make the small adjustments I did back then. Nevertheless, I ran forwards, leaping from the edge of the rocks and letting the wind catch under my wings.

The first sensation was my stomach dropping, and then came the freedom. My lips curled into a smile as the rocks shrunk below me, the few pine trees bravely sprouting from them becoming small shrubs. My gaze rose to the land in front of me, my shoulder dipping to turn right to swing around the mountain peak. As I passed, I circled to a lone tree sitting on the side and landed on its upmost branches, getting an idea of where I was going. According to the map, I was about a half days flight from the central city of Alne. I just wanted to get a more central location to do the quests around the main Alfheim area. I didn't have much interest in Aincrad, especially since I was such a new player.

I smiled a little as I saw the direction was perfect for this little trick. My wings lifted me to the tip of the tree. The soles of my boots pressed against the branch and I used a flight mechanic for boosting speed to make the entire tree bend slightly. It took a lot of strength to keep the tree from springing back until it was ready. As soon as it was though, I reversed the direction of the boost, and combining that with the natural physics of the tree, I shot across the sky at speeds that should be impossible.

The wind was almost unbearably loud and was cutting across my face sharper than any blade, but it was worth it to feel this sensation of speed. I felt like a rocket flying into space, the feeling that nothing could touch me at these blazing speeds and dizzying heights. The world around me becoming a blur. It was incredible. And best of all, it felt so freeing. With a slight dip of one of my shoulders, I could go anywhere in the world.

The journey that would usually take half a day to fly was now only taking half an hour.

Soon the lights of the city built inside the twisting bark of the World Tree was sparkling in front of me. As I got close to Alne, I threw my legs forward and stretched out my arms, letting my body slow me down to a full stop. It always felt amazing to do that trip in a single flight. Normally it would be inlaid with breaks to let your wings recharge and constant fights with monsters. But since discovering that little trick with the tree, I had no need to worry about such things.

I gently descended and landed on a higher part of the city, next to a railing that looked out over the lower parts of the city. The buildings were cast in the yellow light of all the lamps. There was barely anyone outside, only the occasional player yawning as they headed to the inn or the late-night worker heading towards a quest.

I headed towards the inn myself, looking at the notice board outside for a few hunting quests. There were apparently some Wing Glancers in the Sylph territory that I could easily take down, while there was also a gathering quest in the same area for Bone Shards. I took the pieces of paper from the noticeboard and added it to my quest log.

Unfortunately there were no trees that I could use to fling myself, and there was going to be a long flight ahead. So I just opened my map and teleported. It was a shame, because I loved flying…

I arrived in a town near the hunting location, ignoring my surroundings and taking off into the trees. The usually green leaves were stained blue by the night, the ghostly light of the moon peeking through the leaves as I ran through the forest. The occasional hoot of an owl echoed throughout the night, which was greatly welcomed, otherwise the only sound was the twigs snapping under my feet.

And the sounds of those players following me…

They had obviously seen my just run into the forest back at that town and decided I was an easy target. It wasn't a hard decision to make I guess. A lone Imp in Sylph territory, still wearing starter equipment. I must seem like easy pickings…

I finally reached the gathering area and slowed down in a small clearing. I went into my inventory, instinctively swiping to the right before remembering to swipe down, and retrieved a simple sword. I sighed a little at the dull metal the blade was made of. It seemed so weak, but it would have to do.

Three players came from the trees behind me. They were all clad in green clothing and armour, representing their Sylph race. They surrounded me with smiles on their faces, their faith that I was an easy target gleaming in their eyes. I couldn't help but be a little bit amused.

"You're in Sylph territory kid." The Sylph directly in front of me said casually, drawing a rather stylish katana. "Which means you have to pay the toll fee or get lost."

"Strange, this is the first time I've been told of it." I took note of the other two. One had a bow pointed straight at my back while the other had a mace which he rolled between his fingers threateningly. It was kind of nice seeing a party like this covering all the ranges. The archer could easily take me out if I ran, while the mace user would excel at close quarters. The leader covered a nice middle ground.

Unfortunately, they were all slow weapons…

The leader chuckled a little. "Well, now you know. So pay up."

"It's negligence for you to not inform all players of your toll fee, and therefore it should be void this time." He knew I was just spouting rubbish to stall for time. Which was exactly what I wanted him to think.

He just laughed at me. "What are you, some sort of lawyer-" His words cut off as my blade ripped straight through his arm. His blade went flying into the air, my free hand gripping the handle of it and throwing it at the mace user. He was forced to defend, and in all the commotion, I darted across the grass like a ghost, avoiding the one arrow the archer managed to fire at me before I cleanly cut through her hand. The mace user recovered from the katana being thrown at him and charged straight at me, bringing his club down on my head. I easily avoided his clumsy strike and stuck out my leg, making him trip and fall onto the ground.

I smiled a little as I looked at them all, disarmed or on the floor. "If you're going to try and enforce a made up toll, then at least send competent people to collect it." I sheathed my blade on my waist and headed towards the gathering area again.

But before I even left the small clearing, I heard something being chanted behind me. I turned, only to be hit with a wind spell that threw me into a tree. Right…there's magic in this world. I let out a small groan, the numbing sensation spreading across my back.

The leader got up, healing his hand and retrieving his katana. "Who's the incompetent one now? Can't even kill us before boasting."

"Yeah…well there's a reason for that…" It's times like this that I really regretted my PTSD preventing me from killing even the most evil of players.

He prepared to drive his katana into my heart…when his entire body evaporated into a tiny flame that fell to the ground, gently flickering, joining his two companions.

I looked up as a hand was offered to me. I looked beyond it to the owner, who was a blonde girl with her hair tied back into a ponytail, her green eyes shining with relief. "I'm glad I managed to hear the fight. That could've ended…poorly…"

Almost at the same time, our eyes widened in surprise as we recognised each other.

"Light!?"

"Leafa?"

And we're back into the swing of things. I'm really happy to be writing again. Though No Land Beyond is still going to be a priority, I'll be using this story to keep the creative juices flowing even when I don't want to write that. Plus, I love drawing designs for this series. I've already got a few designs for a lot of characters for this story, and the 200 years that Light and Kirito were in Underworld. I especially love Light's look, who is the cover image for this story. You can find them on my twitter, No_LandBeyond if you're interested.

I've always loved the idea of Light being an AGI focused character, and so having him speed through the sky during this chapter like a rocket was such a fun idea to imagine. Plus, the Imp territory being mostly mountains allowed me to get creative with some of the design of the city, which we'd never seen in the series, mostly having it underground. I took a lot of inspiration from Drow architecture. That was a lot of fun. And now, Light has met up with Leafa, in a reverse of how she originally met Kirito. I just had a lot of fun with this chapter, and I hope that shows.

Anyway, I'll be off. Thank you so much for reading and being here to continue this journey with me. Until next time, Stay Cool.