December 21st, 2022. 3rd Floor of Aincrad, approx. 07:15.
My name is Fujimaru Nakamura though I suppose the only name anyone will know me by for the foreseeable future is the name I gave my avatar when this game began. In that case my name is «Raixas».
I guess I should tell you a little about myself though.
In the real world I'm a 13 year-old male who lives with his grandparents. Both my parents where deadbeats; the only time I've ever seen either have been in photographs my grandmother showed to me when flicking through old family albums. I inherited my mother's turquoise eyes and my father's snow-white hair. Thankfully I'm more alike to my grandfather in personality; calm, collected, and patient. Or so my grandfather says. And who am I to argue with him when he speaks the truth?
I miss my avatar though. At least his hair had been as black as the ace of spades.
You can imagine my frustration. How many teenagers go to school having already been bullied for years by people who say I've got grey hair? But then I've tended to show a great deal more maturity than some other people I've met that are alike in age to me. These things combined to make me something of a loner; I don't yearn for the company of others, and I don't really like socializing all that much either. When I do, I tend to seek out the elderly members of society and have a good chin-wag with them, for at least they have something worthwhile to contribute.
Maybe that's why I like running so much? I can be alone with my thoughts. When I feel the wind on my face and the sound of my heart thumping in my ears I instantly relax, and the world opens up before me.
Will I be able to have a good run in Aincrad? Will the sensation of the wind be alike to the real-world? I suppose only time will tell.
Having grown up with my grandparents I suppose it's understandable that I'd mature at a quicker pace than my schoolmates, for I left all that petty bickering behind me years ago. Nowadays I turn the other cheek. Mostly. Even when SAO got turned into a death game where literally one mistake may result in your brain being fried by microwaves I managed to stay calm and collected, rather than railing at my surroundings or the surrounding people.
Many of the younger players did not. Most have been traumatized beyond help - unless, of course, one of the players logged into this game and trapped in this nightmare have a psychology degree.
Thankfully I can say I've finally met some people who aren't petty or vindictive. In-game they're called «Elise» and «Sheila» and while I'd normally be a little backward when it came to the opposite sex - even before the onset of puberty - I can honestly say I'm happy just to have made friends my own age who don't give a fig about the colour of my hair. I met them both two days ago in the teleport plaza on the 3rd Floor. You can imagine my surprise: not only where these players girls, but the two of them were crafters!
Elise appeared to be slightly taller than myself, around the same weight, with light brown coloured hair. Her yellow tunic descended to thigh-level, her white trousers where three-quarter lengths, and on her bare-feet where a pair of sandals. The other, Sheila, was a mirror to Elise; the girls were twins, down to the very clothing they wore. The sole difference between the pair was hair and eye colour: Sheila's hair was as black as night and her eyes were a distinctly darker shade of brown.
It would be a long time before I discovered that their real names where Momoko and Akiye, though I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself? That story can wait for another time!
Sheila was a blacksmith and armourer whilst Elise was a cook, mixer, and tailor. I'd purchased my current load-out of gear from them and had my sword - a «Scimitar» - enhanced to +4 (3S1D). Originally my intention had been to dump 4 enhancements to Sharpness but the man with Sheila - who I can only guess is her older brother - backed her suggestion of at least one Durability enhancement. I followed their advice and I have to admit to being quite pleased by the results. That said my weapon was still lagging behind somewhat compared to the rest of my equipment. You see, each of Elise's pieces were unique player-made gear that was beyond what was currently available, and I'd managed to take advantage of their sales. Apparently the girls had been sighted on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Floors offering repairs at a price below that of the NPC vendors, custom weapons and armour slightly more expensive than the store-bought variety, and material trades to help lower-levelled players upgrade their gear.
Their approach to business was impressive; I'd even say it was a stroke of genius!
The gear I'd bought from Elise provided more than just fantastic protection: as unique pieces they were visually distinct, and quite catching, I thought. They consisted of leather armour with minimal metal additives, appearing almost like robes, and featured two white shoulder belts. One was worn over the vest beneath the robes whilst the second was worn outside the robes and this belt allowed me to carry five Throwing Picks easily. My hand-slot consisted of a pair of metal arm guards whilst the waist-slot sported a wide red coloured sash with a white belt holding it all in place. The lower-half of the outfit was doubly layered and about equal in height, which fell about my knees in a swath of cloth. On my feet were stout blackened leather boots.
I was a short ass, so I was required to carry my «Scimitar» sheathed to my back, otherwise the black as night sheath would be trailing along the ground.
My display showed me that I had been staring into the mirror in my inn room for roughly five minutes now. I slicked my white locks back, pondering once again whether to dye the whole thing jet black, and checked how secure my sheath was before exiting the room and heading downstairs. Aincrad was populated by a large multitude of NPC characters - that's non-player characters to you and me - and the reception room of my inn was no exception. There wasn't another player to be seen, so for the second morning in a row I sat down to eat my breakfast alone, the silence disturbed by the comings and goings of system controlled characters.
Or so I thought.
"Good morning!"
I very nearly leapt out of my seat! And skin besides. Sheila had stalked her way up behind me like a stealth professional and performed her morning greeting right in my ear!
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?" I exclaimed, clutching at my chest as I spoke. "A little warning would have been nice."
"There's no fun in that though," and she smiled at me warmly as she took the seat beside me. "Besides, you looked like you were a hundred miles away! Whatcha thinking about?"
"Whether to dye my hair or not."
It was out of my mouth before I'd really thought about it, to be honest. I'd have given my right arm to have been able to take it back and say something cooler instead.
Instead of laughing she just tilted her head, arched an eyebrow as she ran her dark brown eyes over my white locks, and finally shook her head vigorously!
"It suits you."
My mouth could have served as a fly catcher. Never had this happened before. In all my literal life no one other than my grandparents had complimented me on my hair! This was an entirely new development. And to be honest I saw the girl before me with fresh eyes.
Today she had exchanged her tunic for an airy yellow summer dress that reached her knees, whilst a pair of light cloth leggings ascended to her thighs. A pair of comfortable sandals completed the summary theme though the piece that set it all off was the flower in her dark hair. My cheeks were reddening, I knew it, and I quickly turned my head to the side hoping to hide my blush, and drained my morning glass of orange juice so that my arm was hiding my face.
"Thank you. I can honestly say that you're the first person other than my grandparents who've thought my hair suits me."
"It could do with a comb though."
Even me, who happened to be an antisocial 13-year old, knew that there was no maliciousness in her teasing. What surprised me more than anything was my enjoyment of it all.
"I've tried!" I exclaimed. There was no way I was hiding my blushes this time, so I rolled with it and looked her dead in the eye. "It never wants to do what I tell it!"
"Leave that to me!"
In no time flat she had managed to style my slicked back bed head into a multitude of short spikes at the back and sides, whilst my fringe was combed to the side and away from my forehead. Apparently this brought attention to my turquoise eyes. As a newly minted teenager I knew absolutely nothing about my hair except what shampoo did and did not agree with it.
And to be perfectly honest I didn't even know if that applied to the virtual world that was Sword Art Online. In any other world if you admitted that you hadn't showered in weeks they'd look at you a little strangely and be well within their rights to.
"Did you just give me a Kishi do-over?" I asked when I saw my reflection.
"Uh-huh! It looks a lot better, don't you think?"
"... Actually, yeah. But I'll never manage to do this myself."
"Neither does Kishi. Elise usually does his but I wouldn't mind doing your hair for you."
"Thanks! That'd be awesome!"
Wait a minute here, what did she just say? And what did I just say!? My brain and mouth weren't in sync apparently and the sounds that spilled out of my mouth were more alike to gibberish than anything remotely resembling coherence.
"Thalamidstading,"
See what I mean? That was supposed to be "That was all a misunderstanding", but I gave up trying to reiterate that fact.
In this case the gibberish was likely better and damage control was unneeded.
To outside viewers we may very well appear as a young couple meeting up at their local cafe. Which, may I point out, was exactly what I was worried about. What would happen to me if her big brother walked in that door right now? I'd probably get an earful and a boot in the backside. After all, the only thing betraying the fact we weren't in a cafe in the real world was the blacksmith's hammer dangling from her waist! Assuming you also looked past the fact I was currently cosplaying as Edward Kenway, or near enough that it made little difference, from the Assassin's Creed series and this entire scene was perfectly plausible.
"Did you have any plans for today?" Sheila asked, blind siding me completely.
"Nothing I couldn't push back 'till later," though the moment the words left my lips a sudden feeling of dread crept up my spine. "Why?"
Would this be a bad time to mention I was literally sweating into my boots right now?
"I've found a repeatable quest. The big ore rewards only drop when there is a smith in the party, but it's combat focused." Her tone was cheerful, yet concise, and I saw the mischievous glint in those dark brown eyes immediately. "And I need help to complete it."
There was more to this than she was letting on.
"Okay? But aren't you in a guild?"
"Yeah, but they're all adults. I wanted to hang around with someone my own age who isn't my sister, for a change. So I thought of you! Please?"
In the real world that would have shattered my usual calm and sent me fleeing from the cafe in terror. Most girls found me to be brooding and boring, with more interest in sports than anything else, and they weren't wrong either. The truth was that I had always enjoyed my own company above the company of others. But there was something about cosplaying as a pirate and assassin that must have emboldened me, I suppose. For instead of fleeing I matched her mischievous grin with one of my own, my white teeth flashing, and my turquoise eyes shining.
"... Where to?"
"You'll see!"
Yup, this was a bad idea. And of course time proved me right.
The 2nd Floor of Aincrad was known affectionately - and I use the term very loosely - as the cow floor. Some monsters, specifically the Trembling Ox, where quite large; and when I say large, I mean as big as some Field Bosses. I'm short - the last time I measured myself I was 4 foot 4 and a half inches tall, and I doubt I had grown much, if any, since then. Compare me to a Trembling Ox and you have your classic David vs. Goliath moment. Oh, and did I mention that they have the lovely habit of chasing down just about anyone who entered their range and tripped their aggro? Without changing targets at all?
I had three chasing me! My only saving grace was my «Sprint» Skill.
"What's the point of this quest!?"
I screamed this whilst running for my literal life from a muscle-bound ox about two-meters tall! It was no exaggeration at all to say that I had several tonnes of angry cow meat trying to run clean over the top of me!
"See those big rocks sticking out of the ground?" Sheila shouted back. "Make the ox charge them!"
"Easier said than done!"
I occasionally caught a glimpse of what Sheila was doing. When an Ox barrelled its way through a rock formation Sheila would sieve through the debris, press a few buttons on her inventory screen, and then repeat the entire process.
"What are you-"
Ah, so that was her game. The ore was inside the rocks. I suppose using the oxen in this way made sense. You'd need a decent mining proficiency to complete the quest otherwise.
I don't know why I suddenly wanted to do more than what was necessary but I deliberately tripped the aggro of two more ox by approaching their rump and giving them a friendly tap on the tail with my «Scimitar». Their mows sounded incredibly angry and soon the very ground was shaking! Five ox thundered through the savanna chasing after little old me and I led them each in turn to a rock formation.
This went on for a good ten minutes before she told me she'd met her quota.
"Sweet!"
If it hadn't been mentioned already then the 2nd Floor was classified as a rocky savanna. The landscape was littered with boulders and scattered foliage, widely spaced trees, and large looming mountains that overlooked the plains. In normal circumstances it would be quite impossible to escape from a Trembling Ox once it caught sight of you. Thankfully I had a way out. My build wasn't devoted to Strength but I had enough of it, bolstered by the gear I was wearing, for example, to lift and carry a player of similar height and build to myself. This allowed me to give Sheila a piggyback ride and still activate the burst of speed from my «Sprint» Skill.
The wind was exquisite! The sun was kissing the stones, the light breeze upon my face was refreshing, and my heart was thumping in my chest! And to top it all? I had a girl on my back squealing in delight as her black hair billowed in the breeze.
For once Sword Art Online didn't seem all that bad of a place to be.
Soon the gates of Urbus came into view. The five Trembling Ox still chasing me where promptly intercepted by the powerful town guardians and since a small amount of damage had been caused courtesy of my tail strikes, I got loot drops and experience for their trouble.
"I've never seen anyone outrun an ox before!" Sheila exclaimed, for some reason breathless. Wasn't it me who'd done all the running? "That was so much fun!"
"..."
"Are you upset?"
"... Adrenaline charged, sure. Upset? Surprisingly not."
How could I explain that the run I'd just experienced was the best I'd ever had? The wind was like that of the real world and there was no mistaking the 'thump' I heard in my ears. I was in literal virtual heaven!
The time was 14:27.
This meant that I'd spent roughly seven hours with her already! Where in blazes had the time gone!? Not that I was complaining, of course. I'd probably enjoyed the last seven hours more than the entire sum of time I'd spent trapped in this game already.
"Thanks for tod-"
A shadow passed by our collective vision and I saw that Sheila's mouth closed abruptly and her entire body had gone rigid! It was as if she had been struck by paralysis. But given we were in the safe zone that just wasn't possible. I didn't know why she suddenly cut her own sentence short but in a flash she was behind me. Her hands found their way to my shoulder blades and I quickly discovered that she was trembling.
"Sheila…?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
"Well, well, well! It's the little lady."
The person who spoke these words was, of course, another player. No NPC I had ever encountered thus far had spoken with such a snarl. I also doubted any NPC would address a player in such a way unless it was a specifically scripted event. Especially in a safe zone like a town. He was probably in his late teens or early twenties. His hair consisted of messy black strands not dissimilar to the head of a mop and his body was long and thin, so in that regard he also looked like a mop. He wore a simple cuirass with padded leather bottoms, black boots, leather gloves with simple protective studs, and an «Anneal Blade» sheathed at his waist.
Again, in the real world, this guy would likely have sent me running for the hills. But this wasn't the real world. This was Sword Art Online and thankfully the air of a bully didn't change between the real world and the virtual one. And given Sheila's reaction she obviously knew this asshole.
I narrowed my eyes, clenched my fists, and quickly devised my strategy. Again, completely out of the ordinary for Fujimaru Nakamura, but apparently not for Raixas.
"Whew, is that smell you!?" I even made a wafting motion with my left hand as if I were attempting to ward off a terrible smell. "Or do you just enjoy cosplaying as a mop?"
Bullies tended to be cut from the same cloth. They could dish out physical abuse or cut with cruel jibes but didn't like to be on the receiving end of any themselves. In many ways they were like cowards. Or balloons. You gave them a good pop, either with a pin or closed fist, and they had a tendency to disappear and leave you alone.
This bully was no different.
"What did you just call me!?"
I didn't even try to stop him grabbing my collar. Why would I? In Sword Art Online this was deemed a violation of the anti-criminal code. I don't know if the system sensed his intent or not but the moment his hand approached me a purple barrier slammed into place! The man cursed audibly but it was enough for me to bring up my menu and flick to the "Dual" option. Sword Art Online was now a death game. Should I dual this person without it being Half Loss Mode or First Contact Mode victory for me would mean his death, and vice versa. Did I hate bullies that much? There was also no guarantee that one of the aforementioned modes would convince him to leave us alone.
With that in mind my finger inched closer to the first mode - Total Loss Mode.
Me or him? In sixty seconds I'd find-
SMACK!
The decision was taken out of my hands.
"Shiro!" Sheila exclaimed.
The player named Shiro was a new one on me. He was tall - taller than I remember Sheila's brother Kishi being - and he looked thoroughly annoyed. Like, you drowned my puppy and now I'm going to kick the bejesus out of you, kind of annoyed. At that moment his anger filled brown eyes flashed more brightly than his red hair! Yeah, this was probably one guy you wouldn't want to mess with in the real world, never mind the world of Sword Art Online, where he had a sword sheathed at his waist and a shield strapped to his back.
There was also the minor fact he was built like an Olympian!
Even with the anti-criminal code in full effect the purple barrier did not, in fact, stop the impact of the blow. Given that our assailant had been smacked to the floor you could take that as a good indication of just how hard this Shiro person had tried to punch him.
"Tut, tut, tut." He even made the 'tut' sound intimidating. "What am I going to do here? I believe Kishi already warned you, Loki, but it doesn't appear to have sunk in. Maybe another trouncing in a dual is just what the doctor ordered?"
"..."
I kept my silence. Shiro's words were chillingly similar to what I had planned to do myself before he intervened. Again I found myself asking questions no 13-year old should even need to contemplate. Loki, however, had no plans to stick around now that Shiro had arrived on the scene. He took to his shoes and disappeared into the wild savanna Sheila and I had just minutes ago returned from.
"Cockroach," Shiro spat.
He then turned his considerably softer expression towards Sheila, knelt down, so he was at roughly eye level with her, and smiled.
"You okay, kiddo?"
Her head bobbed like one of those bobble head toys and she gave him a quick hug.
"What about you, kid?" And this time his significantly kinder gaze fell on me.
"Fine, sir. Thank you."
"Sir? No, no, no. There'll be none of that." As he spoke he assumed his full height again and stuck out his hand towards me. I shook it. "As you've probably guessed I'm called Shiro. I'm one of Sheila's guild mates. So thanks for helping her out."
"Raixas. And it was my pleasure,"
He turned away from me with a smile and addressed Sheila.
"Sorry to come looking for you but I did try messaging you three times. Do you realize the time?"
Her eyes widened momentarily before she took off like the wind! She managed about four steps however before skidding to a halt and running back. She very nearly knocked me to the floor with the hug she gave me before once again taking off at speed. Sheila looked back once, mouthed the words "thank you" in my direction, and then sped off.
"What was that all about!?" I asked of the still present Shiro.
Shiro's booming laughter filled the square.
"You have no idea what you just did, have you?" The big man asked me. "That player, Loki, tried to rob Sheila and her sister a little more than a fortnight ago. Kishi did what you were about to do - only he did it in Half Loss Mode - and cut Loki's arm off in the duel. She won't soon forget what you did for her today."
I didn't have the words. I had a lot of anger suddenly boiling up within me, but no words to express how I felt.
"As for why I'm here?" And the big man started chuckling. "She was supposed to go with Ryne to the 3rd Floor an hour ago. And considering how much value Ryne puts on her time… yeah, it sucks to be Sheila right about now."
He clapped me on the shoulder gently before waving his farewell. Before vanishing however a Friend Request blinked on my display. In was from Shiro, whose full avatar name I discovered was «Shirozuki», and I promptly accepted it. It was only the third name on my list after Sheila and Elise.
Maybe it was time to rectify that?
Shiro soon disappeared from my view completely and shortly after he did I also saw Sheila's name vanish from my visual display. She had disbanded our party and once again I found myself alone. My original intent today had been to farm the materials needed to buff my «Scimitar» all the way to +8 and I suppose I still had time to make a start on that, but I turned my gaze elsewhere instead. Namely, the direction our mop haired assailant had run off in.
What was it Shiro had called him? Loki? I fingered one of the «Throwing Picks» sheathed across my chest and burned the man's face into my memory.
I had a feeling I'd see him again.
Before going about my own business I shot Sheila off a friend message: «I really had fun today. Thanks for the run.»