9/9/22 edit : spelling, punctuation, capitalization.
As the light from the spell dissipated a throng of people found themselves standing in a courtyard of grass surrounded on three sides by wooden palisade walls, and a large almost church like building made of stone and wood. The palisades looked recently cut, and a small podium stood in front of the doors to the church like building with a man and woman standing before them.
The woman was dissimilar from a catholic nun, with her habit being of the same color but covered in off gray markings across its entirety. It was also cut differently, showing an ample amount of leg from the slits in the side and the fact that it only reached her knees and had no sleeves.
The man, in comparison, looked the perfect image of an adventurer from any classic fantasy game, only darker. He was garbed in dark brown pants and an off white shirt, both of which were mostly covered by pieces of lighter brown leather armour and pieces or plate and scale. His hair was short and grey, and even from a distance a large scar was visible over his face down its entire left side. On his right arm a small buckler was strapped, and on his belt was a sheathe for a short blade of some form that had a broken handle.
"Greetings valiant ones chosen by the goddess of balance and twilight!" He spoke up, his voice carrying without the need to yell or scream, silencing those few who had started speaking as soon as they could see. "I realize that you are likely confused, tired, or simply awaiting to hear what this fate you have chosen to be a part of shall be, and so my associate and I are here to explain all to you, so that unknown is not your enemy."
"To best do this however, we believed it would be best for you to be sitting, and be comfortable," the woman said with a soft smile as she stepped to the side and turned to the side, gesturing to the doorway behind her. "To that end, a feast has been prepared for you all, so please, come inside and make yourselves comfortable and we shall begin introductions shortly."
With her words said, the woman turned and walked to the doors, opened them, and disappeared within. The older man in comparison opted to simply step to the side of the door and lean on the wall, as if looking over the masses of people and judging each of them.
It took a few seconds of waiting till the first people of the group began heading toward the door and into the church, but once they did it seemed to convince most others and the tattered masses began funneling toward the door.
The churches inside seemed to be primarily used for mass, and had been converted into a hall with dozens of long tables all over which were covered in food. The walls were simple and bare wood with large beams holding up the vaulted ceiling. The only thing of particular note in the church was a granite statue of the very goddess that had broken into SAO and given them the out. Her statue seemed to be very well detailed and held a scale in each hand, one which had a sun and moon perfectly balanced, while the other scale appeared broken.
Once the masses of people were inside and seated, enjoying the food as much as they could, the rough looking man stepped up to the front of the room beneath the statue of the goddess and cleared his throat. "Now then, with all of you here and comfortable we can begin the introduction and explanations as you all should be able to hear me without the need to raise my voice. I am commander Lenth Abydus, the highest ranked guard of the Territories of the Twilight valley. I am responsible for the well being and security of our nation, whether it be from vicious Mamano, or equally fanatical humans."
"And I am priestess Amily Abydus, I am responsible for our peoples faith, as well as our security from the more mental ailments that can plague people, as well as discerning if any Mamano are a danger, or not." The woman introduced herself with a soft smile that some few people recognized as being that of someone far more powerful than they were showing themselves to be.
"First of all, we would like to thank you all for sacrificing your old lives so that you might come to this land for new ones. We are not fully aware of what sacrifices you have made, only that you gave up your other lives, so we thank you deeply," Lenth said strongly, before his face turned grim. "We also must apologize as well however. Because just as we do not know your past, we have been led to believe, by the actions of all gods from the past to present, that you likely were only told the bare minimum about these lands of ours, or about our world and the situation it finds itself in."
"To that end, I shall explain the facets of our world that, through a vision, the Goddess of Balance has shown me shall be surprising, or worrisome to you," Amily spoke up as she stepped up beside Lenth, making him step to the side with a respectful nod. "To begin, this world has many gods, major and minor, but the most prominent of these gods are the Chief Deity, and the Overlord, who you might consider a foil to the Chief Deity. The overlord is the ruler of all monsters, and in the past this meant they were considered an enemy to humanity, and time and time again humanity fought against the monsters of the world, often creating heroes to do battle and protect human lives. This changed when, almost five hundred years ago, the Overlord was usurped by one of the few humanlike monsters that had existed in the far past. A succubus."
As one the entire hall erupted in murmurs and low hushed comments reigned for many moments until Amily clapped her hands together. "May I continue?" she asked, causing the noise to subside, most people eager to see where she was going with the history lesson. "Thank you. As I was saying, the overlord was usurped by a Succubus and as they took over their position, succubus energy spread across the world and into all monsters. Monsters, that used to care only about feeding primal urges to hunt and kill changed, becoming humanoid women that live only to claim a husband, or turn women into more or their own kin. That is what we call Mamano."
"Seriously, is this some bad eroge?" one person in the room said with a hearty chuckle.
"I do not know what that is, however a Mamano should never be thought ill of," Amily said as she took a step forward, and was suddenly in the middle of the hall, holding the man who spoke in the air by his throat. What was even more surprising was that a thick green reptilian tail came out from above her butt, and that her hands and feet looked like reptilian claws while her head had a pair of long horns coming out of her forehead. She then threw the man across the hall into a pile of hay that sat in the corner, its purpose in being there suddenly very obvious. "After all, many of us Mamano are exponentially stronger than humans could ever be!"
"Before you all start screaming," Lenth spoke up, quickly garnering attention to himself. "because Mamano have humanlike intellect some can be reasoned with, and are even good people who are not going to try to corrupt someone's life or limbs, or try to claim them as their own. Amily is one such Mamano, a dragon whose intelligence was vastly improved due to the blessings of our goddess."
"That is not to say you should be used to Mamano being as cordial and honest as I am," Amily said with a smile as she walked back to the back of the hall, hips swaying more prominently due to her tail, or perhaps due to releasing her hidden traits. "Mamano come in all forms and shapes, so always remember that Mamano will likely be after your body in some way or another, even if you are a woman!"
"You mentioned corrupting, what's that about?" "yeah, and what do you mean they'd be after our bodies even if were women?" some people called out in response, now more than ready to listen intently.
"A mamano's dark energy can corrupt a person's mind and body. In women it can turn them into a form of Mamano, and in men it can turn them into an Incubus," Amily spoke up as she sat down on the base of the statue and crossed her long scaled and clawed legs. "However the goddess has informed me that she has given unto you all a blessing of utmost power! All of you now have a mark upon your left hands that shall allow you access to the blessing. I was told that most of it would be unintelligible to myself, but that it would at the very least allow you all to resist the corruptive influences of dark energy upon your bodies and minds separately."
"Ah, but please do not go trying to fiddle with them right now!" Lenth called out, stopping a substantial portion of the group from poking at the tattoo of a scale that everyone found to be on the back of their left hand.
"Why? You have basically explained that were in a wannabe dark rape fantasy, right?" one person called out, sounding both upset, and confused all at once.
"Yeah, what else do you need to explain?" another person called out curiously.
Both Lenth and Amily looked to each other and nodded. "The other pieces of information we believe you will need is how I will ask you all to operate," Lenth stated simply.
"The other primary thing you shall need to know is some of the geography of our world, and which other nations and organizations are dangerous or not be trusted. There is also the matter of explaining how magic works so that those of you with an affinity for it may learn, as well as how magically enhanced skills function and operate," Amily added.
"Then why not tell us geography and the nations of this world while we eat. We will need information if we are to survive this, prison," one tall and muscular man with sharp scholarly features and steel blonde hair said as he stood up for a moment to have his voice heard.
"That was the plan of course, though I would hope do not think too horridly upon these circumstances as you all agreed to them," Amily said with a sly grin before she went on and began speaking of the world, the nations, and the multitude of organizations within.
These explanations took the rest of the day, revealing that it had been mid afternoon when the masses of people had been summoned, and once done hundreds of tents were brought out for the men to camp in the large courtyard, while the lesser number of women, of which there was still a high number, slept in the church itself.
The next morning was spent listening to how they would be operating, which was not dissimilar from mercenaries or adventurers in classic fantasy roleplaying games. Each city in the Twilight valley, which turned out to be the countries name, not the lands, had halls in it that quest's from locals and businesses would be posted. Other adventurers could post them as well, and it was made very clear that, once Amily and Lenth had given all the information they had and given everyone some basic pointers, equipment and training, that it would be up to everyone to decide their own paths. This was well received by most people, as it meant they would not be tied down like an army, but also came with it's own problems that would have to be overcome in due time.
Luckily they still had an afternoon of training to find their preferred weapons and starting equipment. And unluckily, it meant a large amount of people in one area.
"Whoa!" Klein yelped as he fell backwards onto the grass, his training sword landing beside him a second later. "Damn, you have past experience with a sword , huh Kirito?"
"Yeah, I've done Kendo in the past," Kirito explained as he stepped forward and offered a hand to Klein.
"Thanks, it really shows," Klein said as he took Kirito's hand and got pulled up to his feet and smiled. "I mean, in SAO it felt like there was a little bit of help somehow. Now I feel like I barely know how to walk!"
"That's not a bad comparison. SAO had a system to help players get acclimated to the motions, as well as automating some of them because it was a game that was supposed to be enjoyable. This is, real life now I guess. So it has no system to help us," Kirito said as he glanced around at the innumerable groups of people testing out different weapons. Some seemed to be acting like it was a joke or game, whereas other groups were so serious it was disturbing. Most groups were like him and Klein though, trying hard, but not being overly serious because it was still training and there were seconds chances and options to try different things and find what they were comfortable with.
"Yeah, I see what you mean. It still feels kind of surreal, you know? Being in a fantasy world with different rules, learning how to fight for real." Klein agreed after a few seconds as he picked up his training blade and gave it a few swings.
"Yeah, this is, pretty odd," Kirito admitted before sighing. "Are you sure you don't want to try a different weapon?"
"Well, I should, but what could be better than this?" Klein asked a he held up the very large two handed training sword in his hands, before almost falling over from overextending it.
"How about something you can actually hold for starters," Kirito said as he looked at the longsword in his hand before tossing it to Klein. "Here, try using this Instead."
"Ah," Klein yelped a bit as he dropped his sword and almost failed to catch Kirito's. "Uh, this is just a regular longsword, right?"
"Yeah, it should be a better weight for you."
"Well I mean, it's not very fantasy. I mean, huge swords, strange designs, those scream fantasy right?" Klein asked.
"If you can't lift it then what is the point though? Yes, it seems like we're stronger than we were before, but you should still learn on something simple. Simplicity is what true skill is built off of," Kirito explained, quoting words his grandfather had once told him years ago.
"I guess. I just wish they had a Katana at the very least, always wanted to have one," Klein griped as he fixed his grip in the training sword and took a few swings before holding it up, finding it not too heavy. "What will you use though?"
"This," Kirito said as he picked a shorter blade off the grass that looked like it was based off of a Chinese Dao, or perhaps a European falchion.
"Uh, that's not a training blade, is it?" Klein asked as he noted that the blade Kirito held was metal, while the training blades were made of carved hardwood, and leather.
"No. When we were grabbing training weapons I found it at the bottom of a barrel and asked. That guy, length? Whatever his name was, said it must have been misplaced, so I asked if I could have it if it suited me. So I proved it did. It's a bit heavier than a Bokken, but I like the weight," Kirito explained as he swung the blade about, showing his comfort with its shape and weight.
"Okay, but won't that wreck this thing?" Klein asked as he held up the wooden training sword.
"Only if I was to attack. I already know the basics from kendo, so you attack me. I'll block your attacks, and give pointers on your movements," Kirito said as he took up a kendo pose, then shifted his footing and loosened one hand off the blades handle a bit When he found it too small for both hands to fully grip. "When you're ready."
"Then here I come!" Klein stated as he rushed forward swinging his sword from straight over his head.
"Don't overextend yourself," Kirito said as he smacked the training sword aside, leaving Klein open for him to simply kick him in the chest and push him backwards. "Keep your feet spread apart to keep your body balanced," he then added as Klein tried to attack again, only for Kirito to move to side and kick Klein's leg out from under him, almost causing him to do the splits as he fell.
"Ah, seriously, why is this so hard?" Klein groaned as he stood up and brushed off his pants. "I thought using a sword was supposed to be simple!"
"Any game with a sword in it assumes the character already has basic knowledge of how to use it and to move around while doing so. Footwork is one of the most important things of swordplay."
"So it seems," Klein said as he rolled his shoulders. "Did you leave anyone behind?"
"What?" Kirito asked in surprise.
"Did you have any family back in Japan," Klein said before smirking. "I have no siblings, and all my online friends came here too. The only one I left behind was my grandma, but she, well her memory isn't the best."
"…..My aunt and my cousin, " Kirito admitted with a sigh. "My parents died when I was young, so my aunt and her family raised me as theirs. I only found out a year or so ago. I don't think my sis, my cousin, knows though."
"You don't think she volunteered to come here?" Klein asked. "I mean, we look like our SAO avatars, or some of us do, so would you even know if she did?"
"I would, but she couldn't be here anyway. That goddess mentioned that anyone younger than 14 wouldn't be here, so she's too young," Kirito said before shaking his head. "Its fine. I didn't feel like I fit in after I found out she was my cousin anyway."
"Well that's, I suppose there are people like that. Just seems like a waste. Whatever," Klein said as he raised his training blade again. "Alright, let's go, I'll learn this by the days end even if it kills me to-"
Klein was interrupted as the sound of an explosion and a black cloud of smoke, burst way from one corner of the courtyard, causing a number of shouts of confusion. As the smoke cleared however some became more confused, while others became afraid from what stood on the grass.
The creatures body looked vaguely humanoid with a thin lithe female body, but the association to a human stopped there. Its legs from the knees down were dark black and avian with claws nearly the size of a man fists, while her arms were instead sizable wings that were colored a mix of blue, green, and teal. Her hair was teal and blonde, tied up into a high ponytail, and the female creature was clothed in only an extremely low cut miniskirt and two pieces of cloth that seemed to curve around from her back to cup her nearly breasts, the cloth shaped vaguely like jagged lightning bolts. Tufts of yellow green feather sat at the top of her knees, and her expression was one that made it clear she was not friendly.
"Shishishi, looks like I've found something nice here!" the creature, that everyone figured was probably a kind of Mamano, snickered with evil joy. "There's just so many young men to break in and play with after all!"
All the people closest to the monstrous bird like Mamano took steps back in fear, just before electricity began arcing across its feathers, making people step back even further.
"It's a Thunderbird, get away from it!" Lenth roared from the stairway into the church as he began running across the courtyard with his sword drawn.
The Thunderbird however, seemed to ignore his yells and using its powerful legs, jumped forward and landed in front of one larger boy who, despite being more rotund, had been seeming to take his training very seriously. "Ooh, you're a bit big, but you look like you will squeal just how I like it! Don't resist and I'll only zap you a bit to start!"
"Get back, I'm warning you!" the boy said as he held up his spear and pointed it at the Thunderbird even as it was clear he was terrified.
The Thunderbird grinned as it jumped up and grabbed the spear with its feet claws, making the boy let go and go red in the face, before it snapped the spear and landed back on the ground, electricity arcing across its wings in even greater amounts. "Ooh now you've me all fired up to break you in!" she said as she beat her wings forward, sending dozen lightning bolts across the grass striking many people. Oddly , or perhaps disturbingly, the lighting did not burn skin, but seemed to cause those hit to fall to the ground with odd expressions on their faces that were a mix between pain and pleasure.
"Shit," Kirito mumbled as he realized no one was going to step forward after that display to try to help. And against his better judgment he ran forward as he watched the Thunderbird grab the one boy with a claw. "Hey, let go of him!"
The thunderbird turned and looked at Kirito, making her expression of pure lust and violence be on perfect display as she smiled at him. "Why, do you want to play as well? You look like you might have more vitality I suppose," she said as she dropped the boy to the ground and took a few steps toward Kirito, her claws tearing up the grass.
"No. I'll give you this one chance to leave," Kirito offered as he continued to look at the Thunderbird woman, noting how the arcs of electricity seemed to occur at regular intervals across her wings.
"Shishishi, you have guts boy, let's see if you still have them after I've made you my man!" she screeched as she pulled wings back, then threw them forward.
Recognizing the motion, Kirito threw himself to the side and skidded across the grass, the bolts of lightning sailing over him and striking the grass harmlessly. As he turned his head while trying to get up, he rolled to the side and narrowly dodged the Thunderbird landing beside him and planting a clawed foot where his head had just been. Taking the chance he awkwardly swung his blade at her outstretched leg, the edge biting deep into her calf.
"Ah, dammit!" the Thunderbird exclaimed as she leapt backwards and balanced on her one leg while holding the injured one up. Kirito used this chance to get back up onto his feet, and as soon as he was standing, found the Thunderbird glaring at him, an expression of pure unadulterated lust and rage wrapped into one. "You hurt me, so it's only fair I break you in and hurt you so much you end up loving it and cannot help but cling to me!"
Kirito shifted to a combat stance as the Thunderbird leapt into the air and began flapping its wings to stay aloft, but a second later she squealed in pain and turned to the side, where a girl with curly blonde hair was holding up a bow in her hands, though they trembled slightly as she knocked another arrow, its tip a serrated triangle of bronze.
"You bitch!" the thunderbird screamed as electricity coalesced around its body before arcing right toward the girl and sending her flying back onto the ground in clear pain, this lightning more reddish or purple than it had been before, and seemingly far more painful.
The Thunderbird flew over above the girl and began floating down, only for Kirito to throw his sword at her. It didn't cause an injury as she batted it away, but made her turn to him in even more anger.
It also allowed Lenth to jump over the girl, grab the Thunderbirds uninjured leg, and drag her to the ground with a thump. "The boy gave you a chance to leave. You should have taken it!" Lenth hissed as he plunged his short sword into the Thunder birds throat and twisted, creating an audible wet rack, and a fountain of blood to squirt out onto the grass. He did not stop there however as he just as suddenly pulled the blade out and then plunged it into her chest, then rolled off to the side while leaving his weapon in the body, just before the Thunderbirds body released a massive flash of electricity. When it died down, her corpse was steaming and looked partially cooked, while her wings looked like they had been singed off.
The only sound was that of the Thunderbirds steaming body for many seconds, until one person spoke up and tried to approach the first boy who had been targeted, and was still lying on the ground groaning uncomfortably . "Hey man, are you-"
"Do not touch him!" Lenth roared as he got up off the ground. "Do not, touch, anyone, who was struck by its lightning!"
"But they look hurt!" Klein spoke up, as he stepped up beside Kirito and silently asked if he was okay. Kirito simply nodded.
"Only the girl is hurt, the rest are simply painfully sensitive due to the lightning," Lenth explained as he walked over to the girl that had shot the arrow and crouched down beside her. "I need to bring you to Amily in the church to look you over. I'm going to pick you up, and it will be uncomfortable, okay?"
The girl nodded, sounding like she was on the verge of crying. Something she did as soon as Lenth picked her up. "I'm sorry, just bear with it for now. Your life is not immediately in danger," Lenth said as he stood to his full height. "Do not touch those who were hit by lightning, their bodies will calm down in a few minutes so long as no one touches them."
"What happens if we touch them?" one girl asked.
"Their bodies will climax so hard that they will enter a lust driven frenzy that will begin corrupting and eroding their mind. Not to mention they will likely try to rape anyone near them," Lenth said casually as he began carefully walking toward the church, as to not jostle the girl in his arms who appeared to not only look in pain, but also looked to have burn scars on her arms and legs.
Everyone took immediate steps back from those that had been struck, some noting that the men who had been struck had pitched tents, and the women seemed to be breathing heavily.
"So, that was a Mamano huh?" Klein said before sitting down on the grass and shaking his head. " I get why that goddess didn't want anyone below fourteen now I guess, but jeez, would it have killed her to tell us a bit more?"
"Yeah, this is going to harder than any of us thought I think," Kirito said as he walked over and picked up his sword, finding its edge to be half melted from when the Thunderbird knocked it away. "A lot harder."
Kibble dribble: alright the second chapter of this nightmare of a story! Now that initial introductions of their situation, as well as a first example of how dangerous things could the story will start moving well. I think I'll have one more preparatory chapter before the 2k strong group splits up around the Twilight Valley, so I hope you liked the chapter and look forward to the next.
Ps, can you find all the character cameos? XD