And here is the second chapter. Directly uploaded after the first. Still like reviews. Thank you. J
Kirito looked at the injured Hobbit worriedly. Kirito couldn't see any exact numbers on anyone's health bars for some reason, but the Hobbit's HP was in the Red Zone and it wasn't regenerating at all. If anything, it was dropping, but slowly like poison was in his system.
They ran a ways into the forest, away from the Weathertop Ruins, Strider carrying the injured Hobbit. The other three Hobbits looked at Kirito warily, but seemed to trust him enough since he had defended them from those things.
They just had to get far enough to be momentarily safe from the wraiths so they could give the Hobbit some quick medical attention, then Kirito's guess was that they were going to high-tail it to where ever they could get some "elvish medicine," as Strider had said they needed to give Frodo full treatment.
As they ran, Strider encouraged them to hurry.
"But we're 6 days from Rivendell. He'll never make it!" one of the Hobbits exclaimed.
They ran for nearly 45 straight minutes before Strider finally stopped and set Frodo on the ground. They were in the middle of some woods now and surrounded by some rocks that oddly enough looked like worn down statues of some strange large troll-like monsters.
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked his friend, who couldn't respond more than a pathetic moan, "He's going cold."
Strider and the Hobbits crowed around the injured one, but Kirito kept his distance.
His HP was still going down. He wouldn't last much longer at this rate.
Kirito bit his lip and swiped his hand down, bringing up his game menu and went into his inventory. He knew that in SAO, there were some things this wouldn't work on, but he had to see if there was anything about Healing Crystal's effects on "Morgul Blade" wounds.
He clicked what he needed and looked at the screen. There were a few new items under the Will Not Heal List, but Mogul Blade Wounds was not one of them.
But under the Stall Poison list it was.
Kirito couldn't heal him, but he could stall the poison to give them more time. He figured that this would also help his status with the others.
He selected one of his 4 remaining Healing Crystals left over from SAO and brought it out.
"Uhh, here, it won't heal him, but it should slow down the effects of the poison," Kirito said, bringing forth the red cube like crystal.
Strider frowned, "How? I have never seen any form of healing come from a crystal such as that."
"Healing crystals worked plenty of times on me, but with this kind of poison, it's only gonna slow it down. He's still going to need actual medical attention," Kirito replied and knelt down next to Frodo.
He placed the crystal close to Frodo's wound and activated it. The red crystal shattered into the familiar hundreds of small polygons. The wound slightly glowed for a moment instantly looked a bit better, and Frodo relaxed a bit, but he was obviously still in a ton of pain and his HP bar was still only raised to be in the orange zone.
The man and the Hobbits all starred at the seemingly magic thing they had just witnessed, but were snapped out of it by another one of Frodo's pained groans and they remembered that it wasn't a permanent solution.
Strider looked closer at the wound again. It looked slightly better, but still not good. Though to do even that much without elf-magic was a very grand thing indeed.
"Is he going to die?" the Hobbit who Kirito would later learn was called Pippin asked.
"He's passing into the shadow world. He'll soon become a Wraith like them if we do not get him to Rivendell."
In the distance, the screech of a Wraith filled the air. It was a long ways off, but still too close for comfort.
"Sam," Strider addressed and stood up, the Hobbit with that name stood as well, "Do you know the Althalas plant?"
"Athalas?" Sam asked.
"Kingsfoil," Strider clarified.
"Kingsfoil, aye, it's a weed."
"It may help to slow the poison even further. You three keep an eye on him."
Sam searched the closer immediate area, not wanting to venture too far away from Frodo while Strider went out a bit further.
"I can't see any of it," Sam muttered angrily to himself, "You, don't you have any more of them crystals?" he asked Kirito.
"I only have 3 more, but it wouldn't do any good to use a second one so soon," Kirito replied.
"Who are you anyways," one of the other two Hobbits asked, Kirito didn't see which one.
"My name is Kirito," he replied, kneeling down next to Frodo to keep an eye on his HP and wound, but also keeping an ear out for any more Wraith screeches, "What about you guys?"
"I'm Pippin, and that's Merry and Sam… and his name is Frodo," the one with the thicker Scottish accent replied, though a pang of sadness ran through his voice as he introduced the injured Frodo, "So, are ye a friend of Strider's?"
"Nope. I literally met him about a minute before you guys got attacked. I was just outside the ruins of Weathertop and ran into him as he was coming back to you guys."
"You're awfully kind to help total strangers," Merry said.
"Did you want me to just leave you guys at the mercy of those things?" Kirito raised an eyebrow, and Merry and Pippin quickly saw his logic and decided he was a good person.
Just then, Strider reaapeared holding a plant that Kirito assumed was the Kingsfoil/Athalas plant… but he wasn't alone. A rather beautiful woman with pale skin, blue eyes and long black hair and ridden into their little area on a white horse. Kirito noticed her pointed ears as she walked passed him.
"Who is she?" Merry asked as she knelt down next to Frodo with Strider.
"She's an Elf," Sam replied in awe. Oh so this was definitely one of those games with all the different types of homosapiens.
"Frodo?" she called out to the Hobbit, but obviously, there was no reply, "He's fading."
Strider chewed a piece of the plant and put it in Frodo's wound, and Frodo's back arched at the pain of the action. Kirito didn't think that was the best way to treat a wound with a plant, but then again, he knew nothing of the Athalas plant or of Strider's skills.
"He's not going to last long, though it seems the poison has been somehow slowed, but we must get him to my father very soon," she said. Strider picked up Frodo after that statement and walked over to her white horse.
"I have been looking for you for two days. You have 5 Wraiths behind you, where the other 4 are, I do not know," she said as Frodo was positioned on the horse. Kirito mentally groaned at the thought of there being more of those things.
"Where are you taking him?" Merry asked, but was ignored.
"Are you sure Frodo should be on a horse in his condition?" Kirito asked, but like Merry, was ignored.
Aragorn began speaking with the elf in a language Kirito did not recognize. Since it wasn't automatically translating into Japanese, he realized it had to be an in game language he would have to learn if he wanted to understand… or it was gibberish like so many game creators used for other in-game languages, but somehow that didn't seem right to describe how they were speaking. The Hobbits apparently couldn't understand either.
Strider and the she-elf conversed for a minute in the language, ignoring anything the Hobbits or Kirito occasionally said.
"I do not fear them," she finally said in the language they could understand.
Kirito noticed that Strider grabbed her hand affectionately, and from the way they looked at each other in that moment made him wonder if they had a similar romantic relationship like what Kirito had with Asuna.
Strider muttered another few words to her and she climbed up onto the horse. Then called to her as she was about to leave:
"Arwen, ride hard. Do not look back," and with that, she whispered to her horse in that forging language and took off.
"Where are you doing? Those Wraiths are still out there!" Sam protested as she took off.
Sam looked like he was about to go run after Frodo or something, but Kirito hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder.
"She can probably get him to Rivendell on horseback a lot faster than he could be carried on foot you know. I don't know how long my healing crystal can keep whatever poisons in him at bay," Sam seemed to reluctantly accept Kirito's words and calmed down a bit.
They didn't hear any more Wraith screaming, which meant they were moving away from their location- probably following the elf, Sam thought with a shudder.
But with that excitement over, the attention was back on Kirito. He had, after all, just appeared out of nowhere.
Strider starred at him hard.
"I will not ask you to come to Rivendell with us, Kirito, for the quest we are on is very dangerous and deals with very dark things a boy should not be a part of, but you may come with us if you so choose. But before you make you decision, I must know what you were doing all the way out here, alone, and about what magic you just preformed."
Kirito paused. This could be his chance to figure out what was going on and where he was. He sighed.
"It's… complicated to explain," Kirito finally replied, "To be completely honest, I have no idea what I was doing out there. I-I remember blacking out after..." Kirito paused as he remembered the last moment before SAO was deleted, "… after an explosion, then I'm not exactly sure what happened...but when I woke up I was out in the middle of nowhere and then you showed up and this happened."
Strider starred at Kirito for a very long time, Kirito could practically feel his eyes drilling a hole in his soul to detect a lie, but didn't find one. Kirito was telling the truth.
"I have a friend who is supposed to be meeting us in Rivendell, he knows a lot about everything that goes on in our world. If what you say is true, he may be able to tell you what has happened," Strider finally said.
"Who is this friend?" Kirito asked cautiously.
"You might know him as Gandalf the Grey, one of the 5 wizards of Middle Earth."
The only reply Strider got to Gandalf's name was a confused look.
"Do you not know who he is?" Merry asked, "Everybody knows him though."
"Sorry, but I've never heard that name before… or ever heard of Earth referred to as Middle Earth," Kirito revealed. In fact, he didn't know any games that had those names or references and he knew a LOT of games with medieval-like settings with multiple races of people.
Again with the soul searching lie detection stare from Strider.
"Then you should come with us. If you do not even know the name of Middle Earth, you either have severe memory loss or you are truly not from here. Gandalf may be able to help you."
"I hope so," Kirito mumbled.
They walked/jogged/ran for another hour until it was late then found a place to set up camp.
…
Due to their-mostly Sam's- constant worrying about Frodo, they actually arrived in Rivendell a day early. But over their journey, the Hobbits explained their situation to Kirito.
Apparently, Frodo's uncle Bilbo had found a ring in a cave on an adventure 60 years ago, but kept it hidden, but when he departed the Shire unexpectedly a few years ago, all his possessions, including the ring was left to Frodo. And apparently the Ring was a dangerous and powerful thing forged by this evil guy, Sauron, to control all the other rings of power as well as the other beings in Middle Earth and makes you invisible when you put it on… for some reason. Anyway, Sauron apparently died a few thousand years ago, but he wasn't really dead cause of his life force being connected to the ring, and now he's like, partially back but he needs his dangerous ring of power to fully come back and will likely destroy everything if he does. So he sent his mindless once human Wraith slaves after Frodo to bring him the ring, but Gandalf knew this, and sent him, and Sam who claimed to be "dropping no eaves," off to Rivendell to the elves to put the ring in a safe places, accidently picking up Pippin and Merry along the way and Gandalf was supposed to meet them in an inn in the town Bree, but never showed, but the Wraiths did and they ran into Strider, a friend of Gandalf's, who helped them get out of Bree alive, and then they went to Weathertop to spend the night but the Wraiths caught up and Kirito knew the rest from there.
In return, Kirito showed them his game menu. This game obviously didn't program anyone to know anything about technology or in-game mechanics though, which was strange because if that was the case they shouldn't have been able to even acknowledge the game menu's presence.
And because he really didn't want to get into explaining every single detail about technology, SAO and getting sent her and his whole login situation just yet, he managed to pass it off as a kind of magic from where he was from but denied being a wizard.
Technology like this was pretty easy to pass off as magic, especially in a world that didn't even have lightbulbs.
"So does it have unlimited amount of space?" Pippin asked as they walked, "You can put anything you want in there and recall it anywhere?"
"It does have a space limit and I can't store living, really big or really heavy items unless they've been specifically designed for inventory transport, which is complicated to do even with the right materials, and are there are a few other things that just aren't combatable with the system," Kirito replied with a shrug.
The Hobbits were very kind and easy to get along with and talk to, even if Sam was a bit harder due to being constantly worried about Mr. Frodo.
Strider kept a very close eye on Kirito the first few days, but eventually relaxed a little, but kept just a close an eye on him as he did the Hobbits.
Four and a half days later, thanks to their rushed pace, they arrived in Rivendell. In a word, Kirito thought Rivendell was beautiful.
SAO had some beautiful scenery, but nothing in the game was anywhere near on Rivendell's level. And inside the city, Kirito got his first real encounter with elves, who greeted them at the front gate. They all had at least shoulder length long, straight silky hair and pretty much everything about them was graceful.
Some of the female elves reminded him of Asuna to a certain extent, of course, Asuna was a more combat-on-the-frontlines type and a bit more bold speaking, but the resemblance was there. They were first greeted formally by a dark haired elf named Lord Elrond, who was apparently the leader around these parts. He assured them that Frodo had arrived in time and was able to be saved. Currently, he was asleep and would likely remain so for a few more days. Sam instantly requested to be taken to his side and was escorted to Frodo's room.
"And may I ask your name?" Elrond said after he finished exchanging pleasantries with Strider and after Sam left.
"I'm Kirito," he replied.
"He came to my aid when we were attacked on Weathertop," Strider added, "Though, we were both too late to prevent Frodo's injury."
Elrond studied the boy for a while.
"Where are you from, Kirito?" Elrond asked.
"I doubt you've heard of it," Kirito replied.
"I have heard of many places," Elrond said calmly, maybe even with a hint of amusement.
Normally, Kirito would never say what he was about to in a game, but seeing as he had found no proof of other players, might be in a solo game and needed to know where he was in perspective to home, he did it anyway, "Japan. More specifically Kawagoe City."
Elrond frowned. Of course he had never heard of those places.
"Didn't think so," Kirito sighed upon seeing Elrond's expression, "The fact you guys call this place Middle Earth was kind of a clue that I just got further away from home."
"I believe that may have been my fault," a new voice said from the door way, the three turned to see an old man dressed in grey robed with a long white/grey beard and hair and carrying a staff.
"Gandalf, Mithrandir. Welcome to Rivendell," Elrond greeted with a nod of his head.
"It's good to see you again as well, Elrond, Strider, and it's a great thing to meet you as well, Kirito," the old man replied kindly.
"How is it your fault I'm here?" Kirito asked warily, his mind immediately going to the last person who dragged him and trapped him in another world, Kayaba Akihiko.
"Come, we have must to discuss," Gandalf said, and they went into a more private room.
Gandalf then reported to Elrond and Strider than this other wizard named Saruman had betrayed them and was working with the enemy- Sauron, for the madness and lure of the power from the ring had overtaken his mind. He had imprisoned Gandalf in Isenguard when he refused to join him and that was why he was unable to meet the Hobbits in Bree.
While he was imprisoned on the top of the towers, he sent out a moth messenger to send help, and a day or so later, one of the Great Eagles came to his aid and allowed him to escape, but Gandalf's cry for help had apparently gone out further than he thought, for he gained intel that they- whoever 'they' were- were sending a warrior from another world to help deal with the situation of the ring.
"So, basically, I managed to get myself sent to another world so I can help you guys deal with this this Sauron guy, and his really powerful ring?" Kirito summed up.
"It seems so," Gandalf replied with a slight twinkle in his eye, "Though, I must admit, I was not expecting someone so young. You are just barely 16 years of age. I would have expected a grown man."
"Yeah, I kinda grew up a long time ago," Kirito mumbled, "But if I'm in another world, that doesn't explain why I can still use my SAO abilities."
"SAO?" Strider asked.
"I believe that perhaps if you tell us where you came from, we could help figure out how to send you home once the situation here is dealt with," Elrond said.
Kirito decided not to comment on the fact that his getting home was being put as a second priority.
"It's probably going to sound crazy to you guys considering that you don't even have harnessed electricity here," Kirito warned.
"I am aware that different worlds have different rules and advancements," Gandalf said.
Kirito didn't know why he did it, but he told them. He had never been an open person, not with his social skills, but these people were possibly his only way home. His only way to Asuna.
"Well, let's see, I guess a good place to start is back in Japan…. In my world, Earth, we've got some pretty advanced technology now…"
With some difficulty Kirito managed to explain a basic concept of electricity and computers. (AN: You can imagine your own scenario on how he does this because I honestly don't know how I would explain it.)
Once they knew what computers were, Kirito went on to explain that people eventually starting making computer games for pass time and entertainment, and as technology got better, people had more time on their hands, so gaming also grew until it got to the point where entire virtual worlds could be created.
He explain the concept of a full-drive program, where the player would put on Nerve gear that would essentially send the mind a player into a virtual setting where they could move around like they could in real life, with some enhancements, and beyond while the nerve gear simulated the senses they got in-game like it was real life to an extent, but the nerve gear also prevented them from moving their real body, making it seem like they were asleep while inside the program.
At first, they were used for military training. Programmers would create very difficult scenarios or simulate small battles to train soldiers for the real thing where they could attack for real, but wouldn't actually be killing or seriously injuring anyone, but eventually, someone decided to use the tech to create worlds for games. Like all tech advancements, it started small, but eventually got bigger and better.
They turned out to be extremely popular among the gamming community. And two years ago, Sword Art Online was created by Kayaba Akihito, who actually originally created the full-dive tech, becoming the first Full-Dive Game on such a large scale. Kirito explained that he was in the Beta Test- and what a Beta test was- and that during that time, the game worked fine and it was something a lot of people would enjoy playing.
When the game was released to the public, all 10,000 first-wave copies were sold out within the first day on the market. And when the game finally launched all 10,000 players were inside, though the game was quite different from the beta test. Then Kirito revealed that they couldn't Log Out of the game, and explained that first day when Kayaba appeared before them and made his whole speech about how he wanted to control a world and had trapped them all in the game on purpose and how they would die in real life if they died in the game or if someone in reality tried to remove their nerve gear via Microwaved Brian, and how the only way back to reality was to beat all the Boss Monsters on all 100 Floors and clear the game.
Then he explained how 2000 people died in the first month before they finally cleared the first floor. He never went into exact details of his role in the game other than he fought on the front lines and it took them just over 2 years just to get to floor 75 plus a few details about that not everyone was on the front lines and that there were other developable skills in the game. The only event he went into some specifics was his final Fight with Kayaba after the 14 player loss Boss fight on Floor 75.
He said that the fight turned against his favor (leaving out the bit about Asuna sacrificing herself) and then Kayaba stabbed him then stopped to gloat, but Kirito wasn't all the way dead (well he was, but wasn't. Complications) and stabbed him with Asuna's sword before he realized what was going on. Kirito's HP depleted to zero again soon after and he thought he was dead, but then wasn't.
He briefly explain how he and Asuna woke up on a platform above the SAO world, and that Kayaba was there too. That he congratulated them on completing the game, said that all of the remaining 6,000 players had been Logged out, and said that since they completed the game, it was self-destructing and erasing itself. Then he just disappeared, Kirito still didn't know what happened to him. Asuna and Kirito didn't know what was going to happen to them either, so they just kinda sat together until the world finished deleting.
"When the world did finally finish deleting, there was kind of an explosion of white light and I blacked out, again. When I woke up after that, I was right outside the Weathertop ruins. But I was kind confused, I wasn't dead, but I hadn't woken up in my world and I still had most of my SAO abilities like my game menu and inventory, most of my skills, and I could still see my HP bar, but all the numbers glitched out. I tried going to the Log out button, but it said Log In. And when I pressed that, this happened," Kirito finished.
He pulled up his game menu and went to his options. The looked and sure enough, the button said Login. Kirito pressed it and the screen that said he had to fix 2 errors first popped up.
With a sigh, Kirito closed his game menu and thought for a moment. The adults in the room were quiet for a moment, absorbing the new information.
"It seems that my summons reached you just as that world finished eradicating itself, and pulled you here as you were about to either to die or wake up," Gandalf finally said.
"Maybe then if I fix whatever errors this thing is going on about, I'll be able to get back home, I guess," Kirito shrugged.
"Perhaps it has something to do with the ring. Gandalf did call for help on it's behalf," Strider put in.
"I have already sent out invitations for a meeting for all the races concerning the ring. We will work out it's fate there and then as it affects all the races of Middle Earth. They will arrive within a few weeks."
Kirito sighed, "It's a start. Besides, I can't exactly just bail on you guys while someone's trying to tear you world apart… but you might want to start with better security in your home base. I can see you guys over there you know."
Pippin and Merry ducked their heads in from either side of the door frame, looking a bit shocked that they had been discovered. Apparently they had heard the entire thing.
Elrond sighed, wondering why he got the feeling those two Hobbits were going to be trouble.