So I got a question from someone asking me why I decided to add characters like Sinon into SAO. The reason is simply because my friend and I wanted to. We like the characters and we thought that they could fit into the Aincrad arc. And I also wanted to turn Sachi and Keita into important characters because of the same reason. Oh and before anyone asks Merlijn is the friend that helps me with this story. Anyway I also decided to ad 3 New classes: the spartan class, the paladin class and the necromancer class. More info about those in the chapter itself.
And for your information these are the speech 'bubbles' used and for when they are used.
"the system announcer"
"someone in thought
"someone speaking aloud"
when going from one POV to another
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All ownership goes to Reki Kawahara, Aniplex and A-1 Pictures. Please support the official release.
In the character creation menu with Suguha.
Suguha opened her eyes as she realised she was in the character creation menu, currently still as herself. The menu was a large, blue space with a white platform in the middle were Leafa stood.
"So this is were everyone stands in when creating their characters. A bit bright if you ask me. No not just a bit, it is way too bright.", Suguha thought to herself. She started to wonder how she would create a character when she a menu pop up and a voice speaking to her.
"Welcome to Sword Art Online. I'll be assisting you with creating your character. First off: is your gender male or female?
Suguha jumped a bit in the after hearing the system announcer, her heart going a bit faster. "What the fuck. That was way too sudden. Then again I was in thought so.", Suguha said. When her heartbeat was normal again she selected the female option.
"Gender selected. Please select a class.".
Suguha of course had already decided on her class but she still looked at the others. She mainly noticed how many different classes there were. There were the ones used as examples by Kayaba aswell as some other classes: the spartan class which was clezrly a tanky class due to its full body armor, the paladin class which seemed like a light and healing magic only class similar to the sorcceres class and the necromancer which was essentially a class that could call forth undead and creeped Leafa out because of that. She of course picked the mage fighter class.
"Mage fighter selected. Create the remainder of you character. Say which part of your body you wish to change and it will automatically change".
Suddenly a mirror appeared in front of Suguha. In this mirror she saw she currently looked like usual just with the default clothing of SAO. She started changing her appearance with her hair first being turned blonde and bound into a pony tail and she also turned her eyes green. She also added a bit of green to her outfit. She wore no armor aside from a leather breast plate over her tunic. She then pressed finish on the screen.
"Character created. Please select your weapon type(s)"
A list of weapon types, ranging from 1-handed swords to maces, appeared in front of Suguha. She inspected each weapon type for their strenghts and weaknesses knowing she'll have to fight each of these weapons at one point or another. However she already knew she was gonna pick 1-handed swords so she didn't linger for too long.
Weapon type selected. Please enter character name."
This of course was a no brainer. Ever since she first started playing online games her username has been Leafa. So obviously it would be Leafa in SAO.
"Username created. Welcome to SAO Leafa. We hope you enjoy your journey".
Suddenly she turned into particles. She learned from Kazuto this meant she was going to teleport somewhere. In this case she would teleport to the town of beginnings.
At the town of beginnings with Kirito.
Unlike the 9000 retail-build players Kirito didn't need to create a character. Just like the other beta testers he just transfered beta test character data over to the full release. There were minimal changes to his appearance. His left eye got covered by his hair and his face was a bit more matured and masculine then IRL.
Just like the others he first teleported to the town of beginnings. A bustling town that already had plenty of players set up shop as merchants including the 27 beta testers who became merchants during the beta. In the middle of the city there was a massive clock tower that currently said it was 13:25.
Kirito was currently buying some supplies from a beta tester he knew well. His goods were expansive but always of the highest quality available. Of course Kirito mostly potions like mana potions aswell as a few herbs and other alchemy products so that leafa could start practising her potion and poison crafting. And they were currently just the starting items each merchant sold.
"There are apparently some newbie Merchants and blacksmiths already going out for new, better materials and items. Not very smart if you ask me.", Darros, the merchant, told Kirito. "Yeah, their levels are too low right now to do anything with them. You learned that the hard way remember?". "Did you really have to bring that shit show up? Had to work my ass off to get half the respect I currently get from you guys. ". "Sorry my guy. But come on, you lost so much money simply because you got greedy. You made up for it though.".
The two talked a bit before Kirito went to the North gate. Leafa was already waiting for him there. "Oi Leafa. I got the supplies. How about you?", Kirito asked. Leafa simply said "I managed to find an armory right around the corner that sold armor on the cheap but I don't really know what will work for me. Could you help?". "Of course I can.". The two had agreed to call eachother by their usernames instead of Leafa calling Kirito onii-san. Mostly to assure most thought they were just close friends from IRL.
"Hey, could you help me aswell then? You seem like you know a lot about the game so I guess you're a beta tester.". Suddenly a man using a 1-handed curved sword and who looked around his 20's walked towards them. Considering his starting armor, a leather curas, leather gleaves and leather boots, it could be concluded he was a swordmaster as they were the only ones wearing gleaves instead of simple fingerless gloves gloves.
"Sure I can help you. Just so you know you'll be paying yourself.", Kirito told the new guy. "A bit rude but sure I can live with that I guess. The name is Klein by the way. I already heard you shout the young ladies name but what is yours my man.", Klein said introducing himself. "The name is Kirito.", Kirito said as he started walking towards the blacksmith Leafa told him about.
"Okay uhm, what is up with him exactly?", Klein asked Lesfa who answered with "Kirito isn't very good with strangers. Mostly because of real life issues and for some reason he has it espacially bad with men. Just don't push him too much and try to understand he means nothing by it", Leafa told Klein. Of course she knew the reason he took more issue with men then with women was because of the bullying he had to endure in school. They were pretty much all boys. Then there are also his grandfather who Kirito never had a particularly good relationship with and some of the male teachers even being assholes towards Kirito and you can see why Kirito doesn't have a great relationship with most men he met.
When they entered the store called "Lisbeth's armor and weapon smithing". they noticed two others inside. One was a huntress with blue hair with the ends tied by ribbons. Typical of huntresses she wore a tunic with a hooded cape around her back. Her tunic and pants were coloured in a green and red patern. Her dagger was sheated on her right hip while her bow and arrows hung around her shoulders. Her arrows were all in a quiver she hung horizontally across her back.
As for the blacksmith. She was dressed in the typical heavy blacksmithing clothing with gloves. Thanks to her pink hair she did give off a more friendly vibe then most other blacksmiths aswell as the fact that she looked quite cute.
"I hope this armor is of good enough quality for you miss.", the blacksmith girl asked her customer. She had ordered a copper curas, leather elbow pads, leather knee pats and leather riding boots. "It's perfect. This should be enough for now. Thanks Lisbeth.", the huntress said to the blacksmith Lisbeth.
Lisbeth just grinned and said "I honestly didn't expect that I could start smithing immediatly. I thought I would've to collect the materials but apparently you start out with some leather strips, some copper ore and enough Coll to immediatly start smithing because you can buy a small smithy.".
"Couldn't you've made more money by going out and immediatly go for better ore and other materials? I mean they are more expansive so they'll make you more right?", Klein asked making the two girls look at the new customers. "You woukd think so wouldn't you? But that isn't the case. Most players barely have enough Coll to buy the more expansive weapons and armor, you yourself might struggle to find a smithy to work and earn yourself some early money and crafting earlier also gives you a proficiancy lead of around 235 points. I will admit I initially planned to start farming for materials but a information broker called Argo told me to just set up shop. It has paid off so far. In the last hour or so I got plenty of customers already. Soon I'll be able to hire a guild to help me farm materials.".
The non-beta testers nodded in understanding. They also now knew why so many merchants went and bought a store or a stand to sell their products. Kirito however was more intriqued by the person who gave Lisbeth this info.
"So you're saying Argo gave you a hint huh? How much did she charge for that?", Kirito asked. Everyone but Leafa was confused but Lisbeth answered anyway. "She charged nothing. Why? You know her or something?". "Yeah I know her. She was a fellow beta tester. Was known for selling everything and anything when it came to info.".
This got a few understanding nods from everyone but Leafa. So both this guy and this Argo were beta testers. And apparently Argo had a reputation to uphold.
"Was the information reliable? I don't know this Argo person myself so I want to know more." Said the huntress. Kirito simply smiled and responded with "Argo always made sure her information was 100% valid. She hated giving wrong info because it could lead to unneccassery death penalties. She was nicknamed "Argo the rat" but this was due to the whiskers on her face which became her trademark.".
"Whiskers huh? I wonder how that would look on girl. Never saw it before.", Klein said. "Seriously? That is what you focus on? Not on the fact she is a information broker which means she can give you important info?", Kirito said with a deadpanned look. Clearly he was not very amused with Klein right now. The girls just giggled at this.
"Don't get me wrong I understand how important information brokers are. Atleast I think I understand. But I just wonder how it would look if a girl had whiskers painted on her face.". "You don't have to worry about that for much longer boy. 'Cause the girl with the whiskers is standing right behind ya.".
The people turned to look at the door opening. There stood a short girl dressed in the typical thieves starting kit with: a dagger, lockpicks and light clothing for surperior movement. She also had a cape with a hood but right now didn't have the hood covering her face. She had blonde hair, brown eyes and whiskers painted on her face. Kirito couldn't help but grin when he saw one of the few friends he made during the beta test.
"Good to see you Argo. Already bleeding the newbies dry or are you trying to keep you cool?", Kirito said trying to tease Argo. Argo simply responded with "The other information brokers aren't exactly doing a great job right now Kii-boy. And most newbies are making mistakes left, right and centre. That is actually why I'm here. Darros told me you went to this lass' shop so I was hoping to ask you if you coukd take some newbies under yo wing. I know Leafa over there is already going to be following yo everywhere but if yo see some newbies who need some help then please help them out.".
"Yeah I already thought most information brokers weren't gonna do a good job. The newbies have never played before so lack info and some of the beta testers might want to try and get easy money out of the newbies. I'll try to help where I can but won't make any promises. Training up Leafa takes priority over everything for me.", Kirito told Argo making her sigh in relief. She had already asked some of the others but some weren't too keen on helping newbies.
"Well I'll be going then.", the huntress said. She moved towards the door before Kirito asked her "You're going out on your own? We can help you out if you want to.". The huntress smiled a bit, looking towards Kirito and said "Don't worry about me okay? I've already went out with a beta tester called Tristan. He was pretty good with a bow and one of the apperantly few beta testers willing to help out us newbies.".
Kirito couldn't help but feel atleast somewhat glad. He really only asked out of courtesy. He already struggled with one stranger. Two strangers, even if one of them is a girl, woukd be too much right now. But he alsk felt glad Tristan was willing to hell out fellow hunters/huntresses. He was often regarded as one of the top 5 players in regards to his class and one of the top 20 overall during the beta. Having him as your mentor is very beneficial for your start.
"Tristan huh? Wasn't that the name of one of the knights of the round table in Arthurian legends?", Leafa asked. This made the huntress stop before exiting the store. She turned around to look at Leafa.
"That is true. He is also from Arthurian legends. However that connection only started around 1205 AC. Before then he only was part of the tale of Tristan and Isolde. He was well known for his skill with the bow, the harp and other things. I didn't think there would be others who knew of those tales in here.".
Leafa looked a bit sheepish before saying, "I've always liked mythology and legends. Reading in general really. Give me a good book and I'll be reading it for days on end.".
"Maybe we'll meet again sometime later down the line. Then we can talk about the books we read IRL. How does that sound?", the Huntress asked. "That sounds great. The name is Leafa by the way. Then again you already knew that. The guy next to me is my Onii-san Kirito and the guy who came with us is Klein. What is your name?". "Sinon. Sinon is my my name. You know what that is from?". "Of course I do. Sinon was the person who opened up the Troyan horse in Troyan tales. And yes I know that is a abridged version of what happened.".
Sinon and Leafa smiled at eachother for a while. The two seemed like they were gonna be good friend. "I'm sorry for the abrupt ending to our conversation but I should really go now. I need to get myself some Coll from the loot I got I got from fighting in the plains and then start grinding again. hope I'll meet you again soon. See you guys around.", Sinon said. "I'll be going aswell. Have to make sure I get the best info and what not. See ya around.", argo said.
Leafa, Klein and Lisbeth said their goodbyes to the two of them aswell while Kirito was already going through the weapon and armor selection Lisbeth had.
"Copper and leather is the only thing you have huh? Doesn't really matter. All that matters is the quality. How long have you already smithed and how far is your proficiancy?", Kirito asked Lisbeth. He didn't mean to offend her but the wording wasn't exactly the best. Lisbeth did seem quite miffed about it, thinking he doubted her abilities. But she wasn't about to lose a potential customer. Her father told her to always keep calm and smile towards the customer.
"Considering I spent most of my time in here smithing I would say I've been smithing for about 45 minutes out of the 1:15 minutes we've been in game. The other 30 minutes I've been helping out customers. According to the guidebook I spawned with my proficiancy is to where I have a 100% succes rate on the most common 4 materials: leather, copper, bronze and iron. The rare materials you can find aronud here I'll have approxematly a 75% chance of succes on. As for weapons like Anneal blades and Wind Fleurets. For those I'll have a 67% chance of succes. So I'd say I'm doing pretty well for myself.".
Kirito hummed as he was thinking about what he could do. Everything was better then the starting equipment that much is for sure. Yes they wear leather armor but not only is the leather of lesser quality then smithed armor but it is also comes without boots and knee/elbow pats. Just simple shoes. And the starting weapons was about as sharp as a butter knife compared to even copper weapons.
"I'll cut you a deal. Leafa and I'll take a leather chestplate, leather gleaves, leather elbow pads, leather knee pads and leather boots while Klein takes everything in copper aside from the boots of course. We'll also each take a copper sword: 2 copper 1-handed long swords and 1 copper 1-handed curved sword. In exchange we'll give you our starting weapons so you can make bronze ingots out of those aswell as a free grinding service. We'll get you iron ore so you can start making iron equipment. After that I want you to make Klein everything aside from the boots in iron and make our weapons into Iron aswell. We'll pay you for the leather stuff, Klein's stuff and the boots. Deal?".
"So basically you get copper stuff for free in exchange for doing my dirty work for me. Thus allowing me to keep the forge going and then you'll pay me for the iron and leather stuff. That seems like a pretty decent deal to me. I'll earn more by just staying here and keep selling items while you guys go out and mine for more expansive items which I'll be able to sell to others then by selling you and some other some cheap items and then having to mine myself. The ore can be found in caves just outside of town. You won't need pickaxes. Just look around and grab them of the floor.".
After agreeing to the deal the trio got their new gear and went to the caves. "While we're at it could you teach us a few things here on the plains. I kind off am a newbie remember?", Klein said. Leafa giggled as Kirito sighed and answered, "Yes we can fight a few boars before going into the caves. Teach you guys the ropes.".
They walked to a large field filled frenzy boars. Kirito then went on to explain a bit about sword skills.
"As you probably already know sword skills require a pre-motion to work. For example 'verticale' requires a verticale slashing motion to work. However you sword skills aren't the same as ours Klein becuase you use curved swords. Those have different sword skills. So you'll have to experiment a bit. Leafa, you try out some magic while you'revat it. Remember the starting comman is 'incantate order' followed by the spell you want to unleash and lastly you'll say 'release incantation'.". "I know Kirito. Don't worry I watched the interview. In fact we both did.". "That is true I guess.".
The three then trained for a bit with Leafa using her magic quite well. Klein learned how to use the 'Reaver' skill pretty easilly. When they were around level 7 Kirito decided it was time to go gather the ore. This went without any real hassle.
When they got back to Lisbeth shop she was surprised by how much ore they got. "This is a massive amount of ore! I should be able to craft weapons and armor for around 3 months with this. Thank you guys so much!", Lisbeth said with a beaming smile.
"Yeah well if you do something you better do it correctly am I right?", Kirito said. Initially Kirito only really wanted to collect the ore for themselves. But after giving it some thought he decided to bring some more. Not only would it give Lisbeth more experiance but it would also benefit some of the other players.
"Well you order is going to be made right away. The price usually is around 1200 for the iron set and 500 each for the leather sets aswell as the iron weapons, so 3700 coll in total, but I'm willing to give you guys a 30% discount for helping me out so much. So that will be 2590 Coll please.", Lisbeth said.
"That is quite a lot but we should be able to pay that considering the loot we got. Oh and we'll each pay for our own stuff.", Kirito said. This meant Klein had to pay 1190 coll while Kirito and Leafa had to pay 700 col each. They gave Lisbeth the money and went on their way
"Quite a lot? Kirito we easilly could've spent 12x the amount we paid because of our loot.", Leafa said. She was right. They could've spent much more and still stay at an inn.
"Yes and no. Yes it isn't much all things considered because we all paid seperately. However think about it like this. If you already went and spent money on other supplies then the amount of coll we've spent is quite a large amount. Espacially if if you are a solo player like Sinon.", Kirito told Leafa. She nodded understandinbly. For a lot of players the coll spent was a huge amount, espacially would've had to pay full price. They already had a 30% discount. If they had to pay full price it would've costed them way too much for this early in the game.
"What I don't get is why you ordered iron for me. Don't get me wrong I don't mind it one bit but it did mean I had to pay way more then I wanted.", Klein said. With Kirito ordering him iron armor it was clear that Kirito had a role for him. Klein just didn't understand what role.
"Out of us three you require the least amount of agility. There is a quest I'm going to attempt that gives me a powerfull weapon and I want it as soon as possible and I want to have a agility built while Leafa's class just needs light armor to function. You meanwhile are stronger then both of us and will need some heavier armor to make up for your lack of agility.", Kirito said.
Once again it was true. Klein was a more strenght based fighter while the siblings preferred agility. This is why Kirito always wants the lightest armor possible. It wasn't like Kleins armor was the heaviest possible. There were much heavier, full-plated sets of armor but Kirito didn't want to immobilise Klein completely so he bought him the minimal armor neccasery.
"Which quest do you want to complete as soon as possible?", Leafa asked. Kirito had told her about the quests but never really said any of the names. So she was very curious to see what he wanted to do.
"It's the quest called 'the secret medicine of the forest'. The reward is a sword called the Anneal Blade which has 8 upgrade slots which is higher then even the rare Wind Fleuret and Stout Brand. It is only viable untill the end of the 3rd floor but it is a good sword untill then.", Kirito said. The Anneal Blade was a sword Kirito knew well. It was the sword he used during the beta before eventually breaking it on the 4th floor and replacing it. He knew from first hand experiance just how potent that sword could be if used correctly.
"Well if you need help then call on me. I'm confident I can be of help.", Klein said. Kirito couldn't help but smile a bit at Klein's enthousiam.
"Sure man. But I think Leafa can clear it with just the two of us. But if we can't then you're the first I'll call.". Leafa was quite surprised that Kirito didn't just flat out refused Klein's offer but smiled none the less. It seemed like Kirito might finally make a male friend that isn't just a anonymous guy on the internet.
"I think we should get to work though. We don't want to fall behind.", Kirito said. The two others nodded and they went to grind again.
15:34 in Aincrad with the sleeping knights.
2 hours and 34 minutes in and already the sleeping knights were doing well for themselves. They were completing quests left, right and centre, with Yuuki even obtaining the Stout Brand 1-handed sword, getting good loot and meeting new players. One of these was a young looking girl. She wore a leather curas and over her tunic and knee high boots. Her hair was done in pigtails. They noticed one thing about her.
"You're a beast tamer aren't you? Awesome!", Yuuki said. The young girl looked away shyly not really wanting to draw to much attention. She had just finished taming her fifth beast and was sure she would quickly tame others.
"It helps that I actually read the beast tamer guide book unlike seemingly every other newbie. Something Kayaba failed to mention is that you need to find the favorite foods of beast once they're in a trance state. For the Dark Hound over here for example I needed some beef from the cows around here. What about you guys? Are you grinding levels? What classes are you?", the young girl asked.
"We're grinding yeah, but also completing quests. As for our classes. Our three main damage dealers Yuuki, Nori and Talken are two mage fighters and a swordmaster, the tanks Clovis, Jun and Tecchi are two spartans and another swordmaster and then Merida, Siune and myself are the support consisting out of two paladins and a sorccerres.", Ran told the young girl. She immediatly inspected the group of fighters that stopped to talk to her.
The damage dealers Yuuki, Nori snd Talken clearly were different in terms of playing style. While they all wore light armor they wielded differrent weapons and types of armor. Yuuki was clearly the swordmaster wielding a broadsword style 1-handed sword while Nori wielded a hammer and Talken wielded a long spear. Yuuki and Nori wore leather armor while Talken wore copper armor.
The three tanks were quite different from the damage dealers. Not only did they wear full iron sets of armor but two of them also used large shields. Clovis and Tecchi wielded pikes while Jun used a 2-handed greatsword.
The three supports were Siune, Ran and Merida. Ran was a Sorccerres and Siune and Merida were paladins. This meant Ran had a different role then the other supports. Whereas Paladins were healers Sorcceresses were able of different supporting spells like chains to chain up others and summoning ethereal monsters.
"Could you perhaps help me out a bit? I'm quite new to MMO's so any help would be great. The name is Silica by the way.", the girl, who they now new was called Silica, asked for their help. Ran, being the leader, didn't think too long about her answer.
"Sure thing Silica. My name is Ran. The swordmasters are Yuuki and Jun, the mage fighters are Nori and Talken, the spartans are Tecchi and Clovis and the paladins are Siune and Merida. You probably already realised that though. You can join us for as long as you need.".
Silica couldn't help but flash a beaming smile at them all which the majority of the sleeping knights return. Of course for Ran it was just her way of helping as a beta tester. Something a disapiontingly low number of former testers are doining according to Argo.
"I've got an idea. How about we give you a friend request? That way we can always contact eachother if you need our help.", Yuuki said. Silica looked quite shocked. They had just met and Yuuki already wanted to add her to her friends list. The others seemed quite excited aswell.
"I think that is a excellent idea. How about it Silica? I understand if you are a bit uncomfortable and would rather not.", Ran told Silica. Silica was even more shocked now but nodded in agreement.
"I wouldn't mind at all. Thanks guys. I appreciate it.", Silica said. The group went into tge menu for friend requests and sent them to Silica who accepted them. The group then went and did some grinding, helping Silica tame more beasts and get some levels slong the way. They then headed back to town to resupply and repair their weapons before heading out again. Rinse repeat for several hours before they went to an inn to rest.
"Thanks a bunch guys. I don't think I could've gotten the amount of levels I gained today." Silica said. Whereas the 'sleeping knights didn't really earn much more experiance, with most of them being around level 7, Silica was just level 2 when they met. Now she was already level 5.
"No problem Silica! But why did you level so slowly before? Was it because taming beasts gives less experiance?" Yuuki asked. She knew support spell like healing gave less experiance but she didn't know wether or not beast taming did aswell.
"Beast taming and blacksmithing and gives the same amount of EXP as supporting spells. In fact everything non-combat oriented, so thieving, checking an items worth etc all give less EXP then combat actions. Selling an item doesn't give EXP if I remember correctly." Merida confirmed. Every retail player nodded in understanding.
"So merchants can only gain EXP by checking an items worth then?" Talken asked. Merida shook her head and said "No they can also gain EXP as inn keepers. They can because the devs wanted that, just like blacksmiths, merchants could earn EXP and money through multiple ways." Again the retail players nodded in understaning. Their then arrived and the conversation went to other things.
With Asuna
"You used your real name as you username. That is quite a noobie move.".
That is what the brother of one of Asuna's friends said to her when she first started playing online games. She just responded with "Quite fitting then considering I'm a noobie.". Of course even someone as shelterred as Asuna knew exactly what noobie meant: someone who was new to something. She wasn't new to online games anymore but still used her real name. She didn't care if people thought that was stupid. It was her choice to make.
She was currently in the fields, grinding for levels with a store bought rapier. She was still getting used to the feel of the sword skills and just generally the low weight the body had in this world. This led to her unconsiously running into some issues.
"You're overkilling your targets. You don't need to use your Linear that much, espacially against those Frenzy Boars.", a female voice came from behind Asuna.
Asuna looked behind her to see a woman who just so happened to also wield rapiers. The woman wore a brown tunic and blue skirt, a contrast to Asuna's white tunic and red skirt, and wore a copper chestplate over her tunic. However Asuna noticed the rapier wielded by this woman was different from her iron one.
"You're interested in my rapier aren't you? It's called a Wind Fleuret. It's a rare monster drop around these parts. If you want I could give you a few tips on how to get one.", tye other female said.
"That would be quite nice. I don't think it's neccasery to get the weapon but I would like some tips. And also I know it was overkill. Linear does 80% of damage to the Frenzy Boars. I'm just getting used to the system is all. But like I said if you can give ne some tips I wouldn't mind one bit." Asuna said smiling to the other woman. The other woman smiled back and started explaining some things to her. Mostly the same things Kirito explained to Leafa and Klein but about rapiers this time.
The two grinded for a couple of hours before heading back to town were they went to a inn to get a drink.
"You're quite skilled for a non-beta tester. You learn very quickly which is good." the other woman said. She didn't tell Asuna exactly how she felt. Asuna had a immense amount of talent. If she ironed out some of the small mistakes she still made she could become one of, if not the best player in SAO.
"Thanks. I've always been a quick learner. But I have to ask now: are you a beta-tester? If so why didn't you tell me earlier?" Asuna asked. This made the other woman realise she slipped up slightly. She just sighed before answering.
"Yeah I'm a former beta-tester. A swordmaster that used rapiers. . I didn't tell you because I'm actually using a different account then before. I was quite popular among a certain group of beta testers. I hope you understand." she said. Unlike 90% of the other testers she decided to go in with a completely fresh slate. New name, new face, new clothes. The only simularities were her weapon and class.
"I understand. The other beta testers would propably come at you to form parties and such. I get why you would want to change everything about your avatar.", Asuna said. This surprised the other woman. She had thought Asuna wouldn't have been as understanding. Most players weren't in this day and age. The implications were quite clear about that group to Asuna though. They weren't the greatest bunch let's just say that.
"That is good to know. I think I should finally properly introducé myself. My name is Ariël. What is your name if i may ask?" The woman, Ariël said. Asuna didn't hesitate. "My name is Asuna. Asuna the fencing mage fighter. Pleasure to finally get introduced to you ariël.".
With the moonlit black cats.
"This is so much fun!". I just hoped we would've been a bit higher level though.".
That was Sachi, the only girl among the moonlit black cats. Keita sat next to her at the table they had reserved in a relatively cheap inn. Sasamaru, Tetsuo, and Ducker sat at the other seats available.
Ever since the start of the game they had been grinding levels. They haven't gotten particularly far though. Their highest level player was Keita at Level 4. The rest were all level 2 or 3.
Keita had decided to become a swordmaster wielding 1-handed swords. He wore copper copper pads on his elbows, shoulders and knees aswell as a copper breastplate and leather boots. He also wore a red tunic and pants.
Sachi decided to become a spear wielding mage knight. She wore a blue tunic with a copper breastplate and no other armor. She also wore leggings and leather boots.
Tetsuo was a mace wielding spartan. He wore light armor for his class; a iron breastplate, iron shoulder pads, iron knee pads and iron shin protecters. He wore a purple tunic, leather armor and leather pants. He used a small, round shield
Sasamaru decided to become a spearmaster. He wore green clothing. He was very lightly armored, only having a copper chestplate and copper shin protecters.
Ducker was the thief in the group. He only wore his tunic, pants and a cape and wielded a copper dagger.
"Yeah it is a bit of a shame. We really should've tried to get some help from the beta testers" Keita said maming the others nod in agreement. The main reason for their relatively low level was a lack of a experianced hand helping them out. They got soje infornation from a information broker called Argo who, whilebgivingnthem great info, also forced them to fork out aroumd 350 coll for it which is a lot for this stage. They had hoped to make that up by stealing some treasure. Sadly Ducker came home with bad news after around 2 hours of hunting treasure.
"The chest I found were already looted. I'm sorry guys, I wasn't fadt enough." "Doesn't matter Ducker. The loot doesn't quite make up for it but after a few more minutes we should be able to make some money."
They had, as mentioned earlier, spent 350 coll on info. That alone wasn't what costed them so much. The maintenance to their gear aswell as the gear itself costed around 8000 coll. That meant they had spent a total of 8350 coll on gear and info. The lopt they had would make them around 6750 coll. So they still needed 1600 coll in total.
"Maybe I could help you lot out. I have a fair share of treasure after all." A feminine vlice came from the other table. Their a female thief sat, smirking a bit. The black cats knew she had more then a 'fair share' and also knew she would ask someting in return. Keita hesitated forba bit before answering her.
"We woukd be gratefull if you could spare us some of your treasure. But I do have one question: what is the catch?" The female thieve's smirk grew even wider before answering with "You catch on quickly. I want a you to eventually do me a favour. Whenever I call you in for that favour you have to say yes. Do you agree?"
Keita knew his team had little other options. They would be in the red if they dibdn't accept her terms. "Very well miss. We accept. My name is Keita and these are Sachi, Tetsuo,Sasanaru and Ducker. Your name is?" "Philia. Treasure hunter. I'll start the,trade. You don't have to pay me for this."
Keita looked at the trade deal in shock. The treasure were very rare items. It would be more then enough for multiple upgrades and repairs. "Are you sure you want to give this to us? These are items that could be worth thousands of coll." "That is just a fraction of the treasure I have. Those chests you talked about? Around 90% of those were looted by me. Of course those are just the chests around these parts of floor 1. So yes I'm sure I want to give you so much treasure."
The moonlit black cats were dumbfounded. This person must be really good at treasure hunting to collect all those rare item Keita talked about. After a few seconds of tettimg his thoughts together Keita accepted the deal.
"Pleasure doing business with ya'll" was the last thing out of Philia's mouth. Before anyone coukl say something she gad left the inn. "I can't belief it. This is just insane. We can take care of our equipment for atleast 3 months with the money we'll make from this. I think this calls for a little celebration."
As the moonlit black cats celebrated their newly gotten treasure Philia looked at them from the rooftop of the building next to it. "They must've been very desperate. Oh well, everyone wants to be at the top. And besides it's not like I can talk about being desperste or greedy".
Philia herself of course knew how hard it wasti get treasure. The chest were guarded by mobs you had to either kill or sneak past. She might've boasted just now but most of the treasure she had was stolen from right under the noses of other payers thst had already killed the mobs. She knew it wasn't the honorable way of doing things but one thimg she learned from her parents was that honor could only get you so far before ypu had to resort to underhanded tactics.
"Oh well, all's well that ends well. I shoulf get my dagger rank up a bit. Might help with defendimg myself".
Back with Kirito, Klein and Leafa. 18:00PM
The three had done a lot if grinding. At this point they were all around level 6 at least. However it was already evening and that meant logging off for dinner.
"That was fun. Is it possible I'll see you after dinner?" Klein asked. Leafa looked at Kirito who nodded in affirmative. "We'll be staying on a bit longer but will log out at around 18:15. But around 20:00 we'll be ready to come online again. See you then?" "Sure thing! See you then."
The siblings were getting ready to grind some more before suddenly Klein asked a rather alarming question. "Hey, could you tell me where the log out button is? I can't find it anywhere."
Kirito looked at Klein with a puzzled look in his eyes before answering "It is right beneath the settings button in the options menu." "Yeah it should be. But it isn't there."
Kirito just sighed as he scrolled throug his own menu. There he got the biggest scare of his life: there really was no log out button. "Ok what is going on? Why can't we log out?" "You guys are joking right?" Leafa asked scared. Before Kirito could answer the system announcer started speaking.
"Forced teleport to plaza of the town of begginigs for all player will initialise in 5 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
All players got forced teleported just like the announcer said. Some people tried to leave tge plaza but a invisible barrier blocked their way.
"What is happening Kirito?" Leafa asked, shaking and holding onto her brother. "I don't know. But we're about to find out." Leafa looked at Kirito who looked up at the sky. There a liquid was forming a person. It was clear that he was a game master.
"Greetings players of Sword Art Online. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. You're all probably wondering why you're all suddenly forced into a tight space. That is because I have a message to all of you and it would be a pain in the ass to send everyone the same message into their inbox.
For you see, this game is more then simply a game. From the start the plan was to make a unforgetable experiance not just for the players but also for the families and friends of the players. That is why I and several others decided to add one extra rule: all of you have only one life. And I don't mean that as in: if you die you get forcefully logged out. No what I mean is that if you die in the game your real bodupy perishes aswell."
This got everyone to first gasp in shock. However some immidiatly called bullshit on the claim. Untill Kayaba showed several police and news reports about multiple deaths. Including some about families trying to pry the Nervegear off of the players head.
"As you know the Nervegear sends out microwaves that get directly sent to your brain. If those become too powerfull they fry the brain resulting in your death. That is SAO's true purpose.
You might be wondering why I'm doing this. There are a number of reasons but the main one is research. Research of the minds of those in mortal danger. There are other reasons like money and entertainment of the wicked few that enjoy others suffering. And some that you'll have to discover for yourselves.
Of course I'm not so cruel as to design a game with no end. If you manage to beat the floor 100 boss every surviving player will be freed from their prison. So fight hard, fight bravely and maybe you'll see your families again. Oh but before I go I've given you one final gift. Look in your inventories. On the very top is a special item for all of you."
Kirito and the others all looked in their inventories. At the top they saw a item called 'mirror of truth' which had one use on it. Everyone took it out and looked in it. Suddenly a flash engulfed the players.
"Are you alright Leafa?" "Yeah I'm fine. What was that flash just now?" "I don't know but..."
That was all that was said as the siblings looked at eachother and realised what just happened. How did they realise? As they looked at eachother they didn't see their avatars but their real faces.
"That mirror changes our in-game appearance to our real life one. But how?" Kirito asked. He was genuinely confused. How did this happen?
"I think I know how. Before you could use the Nervegear it required you to calibrate your bodily traits. I think that somehow that could be translated by either the Nervegear or the Cardinal system as avatar data. My question is why would Kayaba do that?" Leafa said. Kirito could only nod in agreement. It was the only somewhat logical explanation.
"You're probably right Leafa. As for why: he'll tell us."
It was true. Right after everyone calmed down about this new revelation Kayaba continued with his speech and explained this particular choice.
"You're all probably wondering why I changed you all into your real life apperances. The reason is simple: so everyone knows who you really are. So everyone can see your true colors. In here the feral beast that resides within mankind can come to the forefront. It is just a question if wheter you'll allow it to win. That inner strugle will be truely beuatifull to see. Who will triumph and who will perish? That is the biggest question of all in this world. But now it is time for me to go. Farewell players, and good luck."
It took the players several minutes to comprehend what was just said. But when they did all hell broke lose.
And there it was. The reveal of the death game. From here on the chances will be very apperant. I don't remember if I already mentioned this but Kayaba won't be the main antagonist of this version of the Aincrad arc. He will have a different role in the story and become more prevelant in later arcs. Instead in this version we'll go all the way to floor 100 and fight the final boss from Ordinal scale. Of course game characters like Philia will be in this story as will all the other game characters including characters like Arionrhod, who we'll introduce next chapter, and Eydis from the moblie games memory defrag and Alicization: Rising steel. Now back to Kayaba. That is a very big change isn't it? What does this mean for the KoB. Well that is pretty simple: Asuna will be it's leader. We've seen several times troughout SAO that Asuna is a very capable leader. In fact while Kayaba was the commander of the KoB most of actual leadership out on the field was done by Asuna. So Merlijn and I figured that making Asuna the leader wouldn't be out of character and would allow us to do something else with Kayaba. I really hope you guys won't mind this very big change. Trust me I know that this is a huge difference. However I personally also never understood Kayaba's decision to go into the death game. It was essentially a death sentence. So I think it will benefit the story. What do you guys think? Let me know. Anyway enough rambling. Time for this chapters SAO trivia.
Kiruto likes to calculate random things like the volume of the cake he is going to eat.