Disclaimer: Usually, I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but once again I find myself not really interested in doing so for this story as it's very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I'm making no money whatsoever from the writing of this FanFiction.
Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, foul language, alternate universe (i.e. kiss HP canon goodbye), angst, drama, starts pre-Hogwarts Era, original Quests, some minor religious themes, child neglect, references to large scale ostracization/shunning of a minor, and who knows what else.
AN1: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter Six: Life as a Vagabond Archer
Sunday, November 10, 2019 5:32 AM
Unoccupied Building Lot, Hajimari no Machi, First Floor
Harry was up before first light the next morning; the growing anticipation he felt over resuming his explorations of the world he called home made it very hard to sleep. It took him less than five minutes to pack up his little camp and double check all of his supplies. Once he was certain he had everything, he armed himself with his Bow and Quiver as he headed for the nearest gate leading out into the Dungeons surrounding the city. He would be far from the only person leaving the city that morning but Harry ignored the other Players as he meandered in the direction of the nearest lake.
He wanted to try his hand at fishing before he moved deeper into the Dungeons.
By the time Harry reached the lake he'd been angling for, the sun had started rising and the world around him was painted with the light of a new day. The nine year old took the time to admire the light dancing across the surface of the water for a couple of minutes before he pulled his new Fishing Rod and Camp Chair out of his Inventory. He then settled himself as close to the water as he could get without getting his feet wet or having his chair sink into the ground at the edge of the lake and made his first attempt at Fishing.
For that first try, Harry just held the Bamboo Pole out over the water with both hands and carefully watched the pole as he waited for something to happen. When nothing happened for several minutes (there had been no activation 'glow' to indicate he was using the Item correctly), Harry pulled the pole back and eyed it for a moment before he set it on his lap and jabbed a finger at the Item to open the Item's Help Menu. A small Window containing the instructions on how to use the Item popped up an instant before his finger would have touched the Fishing Rod.
He then pulled his Japanese to English Dictionary out of his Inventory so that he could translate those words in the instructions that he wasn't familiar with. Once he thought he understood what he was supposed to do, he took a photo of the instructions (so he could review them and retranslate them later in case he needed to) and put the dictionary away before he closed out both Menus and made a second attempt to activate the Fishing Rod.
This time, instead of just holding the pole out over the water, he brought it up until it almost rested on his shoulder before he swung his arms forward like he was swinging a bat overhand. The Fishing Rod began to glow blue for a brief moment before a blue line with a dull gray hook flung itself forward to lightly splash in the water several feet out from shore. A Notification Window popped up in front of his face just two seconds later to inform him that he'd just unlocked the Fishing Skill but like the Cooking Skill he'd unlocked the previous night, he didn't have an open Skill Slot for it.
And he wasn't about to unequip any of his current Skills since he would need those as he explored the Dungeons. He could add a new Skill to his current Skill Set when he unlocked another Slot upon reaching level ten.
Harry would spend the rest of the morning just sitting next to the lake with the Fishing Rod in hand while his attention occasionally wandered to the landscape around him. During that time, he'd not get a single bite and he would also not gain any Skill Points towards the Fishing Skill due to the fact that the Skill was not currently equipped. In other words, he was simply wasting his time. Harry didn't mind or care though; he was perfectly content to just enjoy the moment. Besides, there was no place he had to be and there was really nothing else he had to do.
And most importantly, there was no one to tell him that he couldn't waste time doing what he was doing.
After an enjoyable morning spent lazing around, Harry put his Fishing Rod away before he pulled out an apple and a bottle of Chilled Milk from his Inventory for lunch. When he plucked the 'stem' off the top of the fruit, several glowing lines running from top to bottom appeared for a brief moment before the fruit bloomed into perfectly cut, seedless wedges that were ready to eat. The animation hadn't been as entertaining as the one for the orange had been but Harry still thought it had been a rather fascinating process to watch.
The Chilled Milk offered up no such entertainment though and after he removed the lid, he took a single sip to see what it tasted like; no different than he remembered milk tasting like in real life. Slightly saddened by that revelation, he drank the rest of it down in one go. As soon as the bottle was empty, it shattered into a thousand multi-colored crystals that rose up into the sky before they vanished; the color of the crystals differing slightly from the shards that appeared when Monsters and Players were shattered – those shards were always several shades of red while Item shards were shades of blues, greens, and purples.
Meal finished, Harry put his Camp Chair and Fishing Rod back into his Inventory and reequipped his Bow and Quiver before he picked a random direction and started walking. He'd barely traveled ten yards away from the lake when he stumbled into a small nest of Vicious Vipers (what he'd once called Petunias). The three snake-like Monsters attacked him all at once and Harry was hard pressed to bring his Bow into play before the vicious creatures could sink their fangs into him. His only consolation was the fact that the Vipers were easily put down with a single Arrow rather than the three it took to put down the Frenzy Boars (which had a higher Defense Stat due to their 'thicker' hide).
Still, he really didn't like fighting the stupid snakes.
The only good thing to come out of the group he just killed was the fact that he finally reached level two and that he'd gotten a better pair of Boots in the drop. He took the time to change out the Old Boots he'd been wearing for the Hiking Boots he'd just gotten. He could either sell the Old Boots the next time he was in Hajimari or he could toss them out without losing a lot of Cor if he needed the space. Harry then continued on his way while keeping a closer eye out for potential ambushes; earning Skill Points for his Detection Skill.
By the time the sun began to set that evening, Harry had walked miles even if he hadn't gone very far (he hadn't exactly been walking in a straight line, after all) and had gained enough Experience from fighting the Monsters that tried to attack him to reach level three. As soon as he'd noticed that the sun was setting, Harry used the fading light to find a Safe Zone to camp out in for the night; since it would be stupid to sleep out in the open Dungeon where any old Monster could find him. Once he found one that had been hidden in a small copse of tightly packed trees, he set up camp; a process that unlocked the Unarmed Skill called Camping.
As with the Cooking and Fishing Skills, Harry didn't have an empty slot to equip the new Skill but that didn't mean he wasn't excited about unlocking that particular skill.
For supper that night, Harry tried the Curry Bread and a bottle of Mulled Cider; both of which he thought were rather tasty, though he did find the Curry Bread a bit odd. The nine year old couldn't help but wonder how the people who'd made SAO had been able to make the virtual food taste the way real food tasted when it wasn't real and hadn't been eaten by his real mouth. He knew it had something to do with the way the NerveGear interacted with the brain but everyone liked different things and he wondered if that meant that everyone tasted something different when they ate the same Food Items.
After running his mind in circles trying to figure out the answer, Harry dropped that line of thinking and slipped into his Sleeping Bag before he turned his gaze up to the stars that he could see through the canopy of the trees. He hadn't been staring up at the star studded sky for long before he noticed the familiar constellation of the Plough (also known as Ursa Major or the Big Dipper) and raised his hand to trace the constellation in the sky. To his surprise, thin lines of blue light formed between the individual stars that made up the constellation and made it stand out more clearly in the night sky.
Immediately after all of the stars in the constellation had been linked together, Harry received a notification that he'd unlocked an Unarmed Skill called Stargazing. The translation of the Info Box on the new Skill said that the Skill gave a Player the ability to navigate through Dungeons at night using the stars as guides. Harry thought Stargazing sounded like a rather useful Skill to have and wished that he had enough empty Skill Slots so that he could equip all of the new Skills that he unlocked and unknowingly left an imprint of that wish on the magic that was slowly trickling into his Avatar.
Harry fell asleep not long after that with the stars following him to dance through his dreams.
Friday, November 15, 2019 3:02 PM
Northern Gate, Hajimari no Machi, First Floor
There was a spring in Harry's step as he headed north out of Hajimari in order to resume his leisurely Dungeon Crawl through the First Floor of Aincrad. He'd returned to the Town of Beginnings using a Teleportation Crystal earlier that afternoon to sell off a bunch of Items he didn't need in order to make room in his Inventory and so that he could restock his supplies. It'd been more than a little jarring for the nine year old to return to the crowded city after spending five days straight out in the Dungeons with only himself for company (for the most part) and he was glad to be leaving now.
Over the five days he'd spent outside of the city, Harry had unlocked a total of ten Skills (Fishing, Camping, Stargazing, Night Vision, Sprint, Whistling, Humming, Singing, Howl, and Animal Call). The oddest Skills that he'd just unlocked were the five sound-based skills he'd unlocked the previous night since he hadn't thought Skills like those existed in the game. It had been the Whistling Skill he'd unlocked first when he'd tried to whistle while he set up camp last night and it had prompted him to try making other sounds to see if they'd unlocks new Skills as well; they had.
Harry couldn't wait to see what other kinds of Skills he could unlock in the game. He'd even wished twice more over the past five days that he had more Skill Slots so that he could equip each and every new Skill he'd unlocked; his continued desire reaffirming the wish that had been imprinted in his magic that first night that he'd camped out in the Dungeon.
Aside from unlocking new Skills, Harry had also gained a total of eight levels (he'd leveled up twice each on the first two days of exploring and then once a day after that). He probably could have reached an even higher level if he'd chosen to focus on leveling up rather than wandering through the Dungeons. Doing so also meant that he would have had to return to the city sooner since it would have filled his Inventory up faster if he'd doubled or tripled his Monster Kill Count. Harry was in no rush to make his Avatar stronger though; he didn't see a need.
An attitude that would horrify most of his fellow Players if they knew about it due to how easily low-level Players could be killed by the various Monsters that populated the Dungeons; even the relatively weak ones on the First Floor. Not that Harry cared what other people thought; the Dursleys' treatment of him and the casual dismissal of his very existence by the neighbors, his teachers, and his peers had pretty much smothered any desire he might have once had to please others.
The only other notable thing that had happened to Harry while he had been out wandering was that he'd encountered two new kinds of Monsters that he'd not seen in the Beta Test; Dire Wolves and Vampire Squirrels. The reason why he'd not encountered them previously was due to the fact that both Monsters were only active at night and until he'd been locked in the game by Kayaba Akihiko, Harry had never set foot in Aincrad during the nighttime hours (the sun only just setting in the game when he'd logged out in the mornings). He didn't really like the Wolves all that much (they reminded him of Uncle Vernon's sister and her bulldogs) but the Squirrels really creeped him out.
Squirrels were supposed to be small and cute with a taste for nuts and seeds; not as tall as an adult and vicious with a thirst for 'blood'.
Thankfully, the blasted rodents were only active during the night (these vampires were allergic to sunlight according to the game lore he'd recently translated on them) and supposedly never left the forests so he'd only have to worry about them when he camped in a Forest Dungeon at night. He really hoped those things were the only vampires in the game but he suspected that wouldn't be the case given that there were a total of one hundred floors that made up Aincrad and the fact that all of those floors were each populated with different Monsters bar the handful of species that were found on multiple floors such as 'common' deer, rabbits, and horses.
So, odds were high that there'd be other types of Vampire Monsters on different floors.
Scary Squirrels aside, Harry had enjoyed his time out in the Dungeons and he was eager to get back out there.
Harry's thoughts turned away from the various Monsters he'd fought to date as he exited the northern gate of Hajimari and his eyes fell on the road that he knew from experience led to the next town over. He eyed the shadowy forest that swallowed the road not far from Hajimari's walls but didn't stop walking or alter his path to avoid the forest. Most of the Players who'd encountered the Vampire Squirrels would be a touch wary of entering their domain (let alone risk having to camp in one by entering said forest so close to sunset) but Harry was rather stubborn.
There was no way he was going to let some stupid (if creepy and overgrown) rodents keep him from continuing his explorations.
A lopsided grin formed on the face of Harry's adult Avatar a heartbeat later; he couldn't wait to see what other surprises the world that was his home held. He'd missed out on so much during the Beta Test due to the limited number of hours and restricted time frames he'd been able to sneak onto the game. Sure, he'd nearly doubled how much time he'd spent in the game for the last two weeks of the Beta Test but he'd not once been logged on during mealtimes or the game's night hours and had therefore missed out on all those things that took place during the times he hadn't been able to log in.
Harry had no such limits or restrictions now though and it was that thought that gave Harry a reason to smile brightly as he stepped beneath the canopy of the forest. However, it was the memory of the creepy squirrel-like Monsters that had him keep his Bow at the ready.
Over the course of the next hour, Harry wandered back and forth across the road; the nine year old fearlessly slipping into the trees to check out anything that caught his interest rather than just following the road. He even chased after brightly colored butterflies, dashed after flickers of light, and hunted down flashes of color he'd seen out of the corner of his eye. The other players that were traveling on the road (few though they were at this time of day) shot him looks of disbelief as his laughter carried on the wind while he bounded from one side of the forest to the other.
He'd encounter more than one Monster during his little excursions (including a sleeping coven of bloodsucking rodents that he had exterminated with extreme prejudice) but their presence didn't deter him. He was far too enthralled with the world around him to care about the danger those same Monsters represented to his person. A few of the Players even tried to tell him off for behaving so childishly but Harry hadn't stuck around long enough to hear their lectures; much to the other Players' frustration.
Not that he would have understood said lectures even if he had stuck around.
It was during one such off-road excursion that Harry stumbled across a group of six men fighting a bunch of plant-like Monsters (that Harry had once called Mouth Monsters before he'd learned their actual name was Little Nepenthes) in a smallish clearing. Harry wrinkled his nose in response to seeing those Monsters again; he'd been eaten (read killed) by those stupid things more than once during the Beta Test. Since the other Players had already claimed the Monsters, Harry moved to go around the clearing since he didn't want to make the other Players mad by poaching their Monsters.
He'd just barely turned away from the fight when he felt his feet yanked out from under him by one of the leafy-vine like appendages of the walking mouths when one of the creatures randomly spawned right behind him. The suddenness of the attack drew a startled yelp from him when the world spun as he was pulled upside down off of the ground. Harry didn't waste any further time cursing his luck as he twisted his body around so that he could bring his Bow into play in order to shoot the Monster in its open mouth before it could eat him; it didn't count as pouching if you were being attacked!
He activated a second Arrow just seconds after the first one had left the Bowstring. As Harry fired the second shot, he caught sight of the faint blue glow of an active Sword Skill a split second before a sword cut through the vine that had caught hold of him and continued on to slash into the Monster. The nine year old in an adult's Avatar dropped to the ground at the same time as his second Arrow hit home and shattered the Monster that had tried to make a meal of him. As the breath was knocked out of him, Harry caught sight of a vaguely familiar man bending down to offer him a hand up only for his eyes to be drawn to the Little Nepenthes that was suddenly looming over the man's back.
Ignoring the man's hand, Harry drew another arrow and nocked it in place as he whipped his Bow into position a third time and aimed over the man's shoulder to pick the thing off before it could catch the man unawares. Of course, the man had no idea what Harry was aiming at and the guy yelped in shock as the newly released Arrow nearly grazed the side of his head in a stream of blue light. The guy yelped a second time when the Little Nepenthes let out a roar of pain as Harry's Arrow struck true before he spun around with a curse and finished the Monster off with the blade in his hand.
"Chikushou! Where do all of these damn things keep coming from?" the man demanded; though he spoke too fast for Harry to translate any of his words.
"No clue, Klein, but watch out behind you! There's two more coming!" a stout man on the other side of the clearing called back in response to the man's demand.
Harry didn't need to know what either man had said to know what had them so frustrated; he could see the newest group of the damn Monsters for himself. Scrambling back up onto his feet, Harry shuffled backwards until his back was against a tree even as he fired Arrows at the closest of the Monsters. Getting clear shots with the other men present wasn't easy though since they were all over the place as they activated their assorted Sword Skills. The fact that the Little Nepenthes were so large, however, made it easier than it would have been if they had been fighting, say, a nest of Vicious Vipers.
Once the last of the Monsters had been shattered, Harry closed out all of the notifications he'd received regarding the kills he'd made before he slid down the tree he was propped up against with a heavy sigh. He was just getting ready to open his Menu to check his Arrow count (he had used up quite a few during the fight) when a shadow suddenly fell over him. Harry froze with his hand poised in mid-air as he looked up to find the man that had cut him free earlier, the one he thought one of the other men had called Klein, standing over him a second time.
The moment their eyes met, Klein grinned at Harry as he announced, "Oi, I remember you now! You're that guy that I'd accidentally bumped into on the edge of the Central Plaza after I'd parted with Kirito back on Opening Day." The man then grew sheepish as he reached up to rub at the back of his head before he half muttered, "I'm still really sorry about that, by the way."
Harry blinked up at the man and tried not to show just how confused he was at the moment because he'd only understood about a third of whatever it was the guy had been saying. All he really understood was that the guy seemed to think he knew him and that he'd mentioned the Central Plaza in Hajimari no Machi for some reason. A frown curled Harry's mouth downwards as he thought about why the man might think he'd met him before when he finally recalled the guy that had knocked him over shortly after the barrier that had trapped him in Central Plaza had disappeared.
"I'd wondered what had happened to you; you'd seemed rather shaken at the time – not that that really means anything, since a lot of us had been panicking back then. Still, I'm glad to see that you've survived this long," Klein continued with another grin as he leaned down and grabbed hold of the hand Harry still had suspended in mid-air.
Harry found himself hauled up onto his feet a split second later before Klein shook his hand in greeting. Feeling rather uncomfortable with the contact, Harry pulled his hand free of the other guy's hold and nervously glanced about the clearing to see what had happened to the other five guys that had been fighting with the man and to make certain there weren't any more Little Nepenthes lurking around.
"You know, I don't think we got a chance to introduce ourselves to each other that day; I'm Klein."
"Joe. Joe Bloggs," Harry tentatively offered in return as he recognized the introduction there at the end from the audio lessons he'd listened to during the weeks between the end of the Beta Test and the launch of the live game.
Klein grinned at him yet again before he stepped back and turned to the side as he gestured to the other men in the clearing and began listing their names off one by one, "With me are Dale, Harry One, Issin, Kunimittz, and Dynamm. The rest of our friends are back in Horunka stocking up on supplies."
Harry nodded in response to each offered name, though he started in surprise when one of the shorter men with black hair had been introduced as 'Harry'. It was rather weird to meet another Harry in the game and for that other Harry to have the same color hair as him. That was where the similarities ended though; since the other Harry was taller, had dark brown eyes, and was no where near as skinny as the real Harry. He also wasn't wearing glasses but then again, neither was Harry (he hadn't seen any sold as Items in the game so far) so that didn't really mean anything.
Not that he wanted or needed to wear them here.
"You're pretty good with that Bow," the taller man with spiky black hair and a goatee that Harry thought had been called Kunimittz commented as he moved up to stand beside Klein. "I'm pretty sure you're the first Player that I've seen using a projectile weapon instead of a melee weapon in a close quarters fight like that. Wouldn't it have been better to use your sword instead?"
Harry just shrugged and offered the man a sheepish smile since he had no clue what he'd just been asked aside from the fact that it had something to do with 'swords'; a weapon Harry wanted nothing to do with. Four of the men laughed while the other two shook their heads and rolled their eyes in response to Harry's silent reply. Harry shifted on his feet for a moment before he noticed how dark the forest had grown. Wrinkling his nose in annoyance over the time he'd lost during the fight, Harry glanced upwards to take note of the first few stars blinking into existence; the sun had nearly set.
He then grabbed his Bow, which he'd left sitting on the ground when Klein had hauled him to his feet, and gave Klein an awkward salute before he turned his back on the group and headed back into the forest. He didn't take more than a single step before he felt himself being grabbed by the shoulder and he glanced back to find Klein holding him. Confused over why the other man had held him back, Harry shrugged himself free before he half turned back to face the man in order to see what it was he wanted.
"Buddy, you're going the wrong way; the road between Hajimari and Horunka is back that way," Klein explained as he jerked his thumb towards the direction where Harry knew the road sat.
"I'm going that way," Harry automatically replied in English as he, in turn, gestured back in the direction he'd been heading in when he'd first stumbled into the clearing and gotten caught up in the attack.
"What? Why…?" Klein asked him in confusion as the man unconsciously switched languages in response to Harry's habitual use of English.
"I haven't explored that part of the forest yet."
"Aren't you worried about being ambushed by Vampire Squirrels once the sun sets?"
"Nope, I'll spend the night in a Safe Zone."
"Wouldn't it be safer just to head back into town for the night?"
Harry shook his head no in response to that question before he added, "I like camping."
"Huh, weird; I didn't know you could camp in the Dungeons. Aren't you worried about Monsters finding you while you sleep though?"
"No, the Monsters can't enter the Safe Zones."
"Well, I suppose that's true enough," Klein grudgingly agreed before he glanced around as if looking for someone before he asked, "So, where's the rest of your Party? Did you get separated from your friends?"
Harry awkwardly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head no again; he didn't have any friends. Not in the game and certainly not back in the real world. He had himself mostly convinced that he preferred it that way too.
Klein frowned at him before he tensely asked, "They didn't desert you did they?"
"No, I'm traveling alone," Harry informed him in the hopes that it would stop him from asking any more uncomfortable questions.
"In that case; would you like to join our Party? It's safer to travel in groups since it's harder for large groups of Monsters to ambush large groups of Players and it'd be nice to have another Ranged Fighter in our group."
"No thanks."
"Well, if you don't want to join our Party, how about you just stick with us until we get to Horunka?"
"I was already in town once today," Harry answered with a shake of his head as he backed away from Klein so that the man couldn't grab him a third time.
Harry exited the clearing just seconds later and he broke out into a fast jog in order to get as far away from the men in the clearing as he could in case one of them gave chase. If he had bothered to look back, he would have seen Klein dash into trees after him in an attempt to follow him only for the man to quickly lose sight of him amongst the closely grown trees of the forest. He kept on running for a good twenty minutes just in case someone had followed him before he slowed down to a fast walk due to how dark the forest had grown.
As he continued moving through the trees, Harry kept a careful watch for Monsters and a place to camp for the night and it wasn't long before he put his encounter with the group of men out of his mind.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019 6:02 AM
Safe Zone, Unnamed Dungeon, First Floor
Harry frowned to himself as he flipped the large Squirrel Steak he was currently cooking on his Camp Stove over. He'd been troubled ever since he'd reached level ten exactly ten days ago. It wasn't the fact that he'd leveled up that bothered him though (he'd done enough of that in both the Beta Test and the Live Version that he rarely ever thought about his current level). No, it was the fact that he'd noticed there were a few things… off, for lack of a better word. And he didn't know if the things he'd noticed were new features added to the Live Version or if his Avatar had been caught in a glitch.
He'd first noticed the problem immediately after he'd been bumped up to level ten and he'd unlocked a total of three Skill Slots instead of the one he'd originally expected to gain; two Equipped Skill Slots and one Unarmed Skill Slot. He'd actually been really excited about that because it meant that he could equip more Skills but when he'd gone to fill his new Skill Slots, he'd discovered another anomaly; his Unequipped Skills had gained more than a few Skill Points even through they were not supposed to when they were not set in a Skill Slot.
A little experimentation on his part had also revealed that switching out the various Skills didn't drop their Skill Points back down to zero like it was supposed to. He still couldn't properly use the Skills that were not assigned to a Skill Slot but the fact that 'attempting' to use them earned him Skill Points for those Skills bothered him. It was almost as if he was using a Cheat Code but he knew he wasn't. Or at least, it wasn't a Cheat Code that he'd applied to his character. And the fact that he didn't know how he'd managed to unlock such a Cheat Code really bothered him.
He didn't think the other Players would be happy if they knew he'd be able to master all of his Skills and then keep the Experience he'd gained in all of the Skills that he'd unlocked even when he swapped the Skills in and out of his open Skill Slots. Just like he was pretty sure they'd be mad if they learned about him keeping his Avatar's created appearance instead of his Avatar being changed to reflect his true age and appearance.
If he ignored the potential downsides of having access to the glitches, upgrades, or auto cheats, Harry thought getting extra Skill Slots each time he hit one of the mile-stone levels (which occurred every ten levels or every twenty levels in the case of the Unarmed Skill Slots) was a good thing. After all, gaining extra Slots early meant that he could put more of his unlocked Skills into use at a time. Up until he'd reached level ten, he'd been conflicted about which Skill he'd equip when he'd unlocked the next Skill Slot and with the extra Slots, he'd been able to equip what he believed were the three most useful Skills that he'd unlocked to date; Cooking, Fishing, and Camping.
If those two things were the only anomalies that he'd discovered, Harry probably wouldn't have been quite so worried but that wasn't the case. Ever since he'd reached level ten, a different Item in his Inventory had started to act weird with each subsequent level gained. The first Item to go wonky had been his Healing Potions. He'd originally had about fifteen of the things in his Inventory but now he only had one (the other fourteen had vanished completely) and each time he withdrew that Potion, he'd end up with one in his hand and one still in his Inventory.
It was like the game was replicating the Potion instead of letting him take it out of his Inventory.
If that wasn't worrisome enough there was also the fact that he'd used more than fifteen Healing Potions since he'd discovered that little issue and he still had a single Healing Potion in his Inventory. And, no, he hadn't purchased any more when he'd been in town the other day. The same glitch had also infected the three types of Antidote Crystals (one to cure Poisoning, one to cure Paralysis, and one to cure Curses – the latter needed to remove the HP Draining Curse that inflicted those who were bitten by the Vampire Squirrels) that he'd had in his Inventory with his next three level ups.
Harry was worried what would happen if the glitch infected everything that was in his Inventory since Inventory Space was limited and if he could never get rid of any Items, then he'd never be able to pick up new Items once his Inventory was full because he'd never have any room for them. That wouldn't be so bad for things like Potions and Crystals but he'd hate to be stuck carrying a bunch of swords he couldn't use. He also didn't know how such a glitch would affect those Items that had a limited shelf life like the Food Items that he bought or the Meats he got in Monster Drops.
The last glitch that he'd noticed was the fact that his HP hadn't actually gone up like it was supposed to when he gained another level. And while he could find something redeeming in the other glitches, he couldn't think of anything good that could come out of him forever being stuck with an HP of one thousand, nine hundred twenty-five when there were likely to be strong Monsters in the game that could deal out two thousand points of damage in a single attack; a terrifying concept when one considers that a death in Aincrad now meant dying in real life thanks to Kayaba's trickery.
If this had still been the Beta Test and Harry had felt confident enough to use the Help Menu, Harry could have called a GM to get his character reset in order to clear the glitches but there were no GMs in the game any more and even if there had been a GM to contact, he wouldn't have felt comfortable enough to do so.
So, even though he wasn't panicking over the changes, he was a bit worried about them because he didn't know what was causing them or when they would stop. Unhindered by Harry's concerns since he wasn't feeling an extreme emotion or making a wish, his magic continued to integrate itself into his Avatar and through his Avatar, into the coding that was his Player's Menu. The only reason his magic didn't spread any further than his Avatar and Menu was due to the fact that the coding in his Avatar was self-contained and the Menu coding was tied to his Avatar.
Though, it would be possible for his magic to interact with external coding and programs through Harry's interactions with different facets of the game once the integration process was complete; it just wouldn't fully leave the coding that was Harry's Avatar since it was anchoring itself and his soul to said Avatar.
A Window popping up in front of Harry to let him know that his Squirrel Steak was done cooking pulled Harry out of his thoughts and he refocused his attention on his rather unconventional breakfast. He'd been somewhat leery of cooking the Meat he'd gotten from the Vampire Squirrels at first but figured he would at least try it once before he decided whether or not he'd sell that Meat off the next time he visited Hajimari (much as he'd tried the Meat that he'd obtained from the Frenzy Boars). Harry shut off the stove once he'd pulled his steak out of the pan he'd been using to cook it.
He then bravely cut himself a bite of steak and stuck it in his mouth. As he chewed the piece he'd put in his mouth, Harry tried to decide whether or not it he liked the taste. After another two bites, he decided it wasn't bad and that it tasted a bit like pork but was gamey like lamb. He'd probably eat it again if he had any on hand but he wouldn't go out of his way to get more. He'd also probably sell what he had off the first chance he got to make room for the Food Items that he liked the best; like the Sausage Rolls he'd bought in Horunka two days ago.
Once he finished his meal, Harry began cleaning and packing up his camp so that he could get back to exploring. He then chose a direction that wouldn't lead him back over ground that he'd already covered and began walking. He wouldn't go too far before he ran into a small herd of Frenzy Boars; these ones several levels higher, and therefore stronger, than the ones that occupied the Dungeons that surrounded Hajimari. Harry eyed the familiar Monsters for several minutes before he shifted his course to take him around the bulk of the herd.
A few of the solitary Boars would take exception to his presence and attack him but for the most part the Monsters pretty much ignored him. Those that did attack would be shattered with the usual trio of Arrows; their higher levels negating any advantage his higher level and slightly better quality Arrows would have given him on the lower level Boars. After leaving the herd of Frenzy Boars behind, Harry would run into a small flock of Plains Vultures that harried him for nearly an hour until he'd managed to pick the last bird in the flock off.
Two hours after dealing with the flock of Vultures, Harry discovered another new Monster he hadn't encountered in the Beta Test; Stinging Salamanders. The bright blue and red amphibians were about the size of a large dog with what looked like a scorpion's stinger in place of a tail, webbed feet that ended in sharp claws, and jaws full of needle-sharp teeth. The beasts lived under rocks in the river that cut through the eastern half of the First Floor and would spring out at passing Players or Monsters when a shadow passed over them.
The worst part about the new Monster, in Harry's mind, was that its small size did not equate to an easy kill. It took him sixteen Arrows (not counting the eight misses) to finish off the thing. He'd also managed to get himself poisoned when the Salamander had tagged him in the thigh with its stupid stinger according to the flashing purple skull beside his HP Bar and the System Warning blaring in his ear. As soon as it shattered, Harry's Avatar glowed a faint gold color for a brief moment to indicate that he'd just reached level fifteen and when the glow cut off, a pair of system Notification Windows popped to announce the successful kill and the level up.
Harry closed them both out without bothering to read or translate them; he'd given up translating all of the Windows that popped up after an encounter with a Monster when he realized that they all mostly just said the same thing. Immediately afterwards, he opened up his Menu to check his new Stats and scowled at the screen when he saw that his HP still hadn't changed. A quick check through his Inventory had his virtual stomach 'twisting' up in knots when he saw that his small stock of Transport Crystals (he'd only had three on hand) had been the next Inventory Item infected by the glitch.
He was about to close his Menu at that point when he noticed the Skills Menu (a Sub-Menu of the Inventory/Equipment Menu) was flashing; an indication that a change had been made to the Sub-Menu. Harry eyed the flashing button for a few minutes before he reluctantly tapped on it to open the Sub-Menu up in order to find out what had changed. The nine year old wasn't sure quite what to think when he saw that he'd just unlocked another two Skill Slots for Equipped Skills; never mind that those Skill Slots were only supposed to be unlocked every ten levels.
Instead of thinking too deeply about the glitch, Harry went ahead and equipped two more Skills; Longbow and Night Vision before he closed out the Menu without bothering to check for any other changes. He didn't want to know what else had been messed up by the virus that had infected his Menu.
Once his Menu winked out of sight, Harry resumed walking as he angled his path slightly away from the river; he would prefer to avoid being ambushed by a second Stinging Salamander. He'd barely taken two steps before the flashing icon beside his HP Bar and the annoying system warning reminded him that he hadn't cured his Poison Status from the Salamander's stinger. Letting out a huff of impatience, Harry reopened his Menu to grab a green Antidote Crystal and promptly used it on himself.
The flashing purple skull and crossbones icon that was the Poison Symbol and the blaring System Alarm in his ear both disappeared just a few seconds after the Antidote Crystal shattered with use.
Harry continued on his way immediately after curing himself.
Translations: Japanese to English
Chikushou – damn/damn it
Oi – hey
Game Terminology:
Aincrad – An Incarnating Radius (the name of the Castle that is SAO)
Avatar – the term for a playable character that a player uses during game play
Dungeon – an area within the game where players can attack or be attacked by Monsters (or other players)
Experience Points – the points earned for each quest completed and each Monster killed
GM – Game Moderator – a group of players that were hired/selected to help the rest of the players by answering questions about the game, police those players breaking the rules, and collecting information about bugs found within the game so that they could be fixed
HP – Hit Points: the number of Life Force/Life Points/Health Points a person has
Melee Fighter – a warrior class character that fights up close (usually with hand to hand combat or a hand-held weapon designed for slashing, stabbing, or bashing)
Party – a group of two or more individuals that work together for a period of time or a set task
Player – an in-game character that is 'played' by a human
Player Stats – A list of a player's in game statistics and skills
Ranged Fighter – a warrior class character that fights from a distance
Skills – set abilities that can be performed by characters/players in a game
Skill Points – Experience points that are applied towards mastery of an in game skill
XP – Experience Points
Notes:
Level Progression – before anyone tells me that Harry shouldn't have been able to level up so quickly when it took Kirito until Dec 15th to reach level fifteen in canon, here are a few things that you need to keep in mind:
1) While Harry isn't actively looking to level up (unlike Kirito), I see him as encountering the same number of Monsters in a week as Kirito due to the fact that Harry spends so little time in town and constantly wanders off the beaten path. And there are times when canon Kirito will spend DAYS at a time in town.
2) As I'd mentioned in the story a chapter or two ago, the fact that Harry had installed the Full Version of SAO overtop of the Beta Version without first uninstalling the Beta Version created software conflicts that were translated into glitches within the game and one of them was the one that multiplied the amount of XP he gained by 1.5. Harry just never noticed that because it isn't important to him.
And 3) Instead of calculating the point value for each Monster killed and the required number of points for each level increase, I estimated the number of days/hours it would take for Harry to earn the necessary XP to reach the next level and then had those level ups increase in set increments.
Harry leveled up twice each in the first two days, then for the next five days he leveled up once per day. On reaching level 10, that would then increase to a level up every other day and starting at level 15, each level will take one more day to earn than the previous level; so Harry's rapid level gain will now start to slow. In fact, while it only took him 3 wks to reach level 15, it will take him another 3 wks to reach level 20. So even though Harry is currently at a higher level than a canon Kirito, Kirito will soon pass Harry by and leave him in the dust.
(That will happen before the end of January in-story as a matter of fact; despite the software conflict giving Harry extra XP with each kill).
Harry's Game Data/Stats (3Wks Post Launch):
Category: Human Player
Caste: Warrior
Class: Ranged Fighter
Type: Bowman
Level: 15
HP: 1925/1925
Cor: 22,957
Attributes: DEF [13], ATK [15], STR [05], AGI [10], STM [05], & LCK [10]
Unspent Stat Points: [82] (20 extra points carried over from Beta Test)
Main Equipment:
Basic Longbow – Flimsy Longbow accurate up to 50 yards: +2 ATK
Stone-Tipped Arrows – Low quality Arrows; pine shafts w/ flint Arrowheads and fletched with duck feathers +3 ATK
Bamboo Rod – a simple bamboo pole with a basic hook tied to it with a fishing line
Leather Boots – Sturdy boots that make noise: +2 DEF
Leather Gloves – Sturdy gloves that protect a player's hands: +1 DEF
Leather Clothes – Sturdy clothes that protect a player's body: +5 DEF
Equipped Skills: 12 Slots (2 carried over from Beta Test & 4 extra from 'glitch')
(Basic 1-250 pts, Advanced 251-500 pts, Proficient 501-750 pts, Expert 751-999 pts, & Master 1000 pts)
Archery – 0498
Cooking – 0123
Detection – 0460
Fishing – 0119
Hiding – 0402
Hunting – 0335
Listening – 0246
Longbow – 0116
Night Vision – 0074
Searching – 0461
Sneak – 0503
Tracking – 0446
Unarmed Skills: 04 (1 carried over from Beta Test & 1 extra from 'glitch')
Camping – 0115
Escape – 0235
Navigation – 0308
Scouting – 0339
List of Unequipped Skills Unlocked:
Animal Call – 0052
Climbing – 0063
Dead Shot – 0168
Howl – 0032
Humming – 0086
Short Bow – 0362
Singing – 0029
Sprint – 0152
Stargazing – 0423
War Cry – 0012
Whistling – 0048
AN: Here's the next chapter as promised… chapter seven will then be up on Sunday, the fourth, as promised; at which time we'll be going back to the one chapter per week deal that I'd promised. Meaning chapter eight is scheduled for posting on 3-11-08. ~ Jenn