Author's Note : So before continuing, to answer an unasked question, this fic grew out of getting pretty thoroughly stuck in my HalkO writing. I'm not sure when or even IF I'll get back to that fic, so consider this, in many ways, to be a spiritual successor, taking what I learned, what worked, and what didn't, and rolling it into something new that respects and honors my previous work. At least, that's what I hope it will be :-)
As always, if you enjoy what you're reading, please drop a comment, or even if you don't enjoy it so long as you aren't being a jerk about it. XD
Maybe it's a little petty to fish for affirmation online, but fanfic authors don't get paid, so consider your comments to be like tips in exchange for my performance!
Dreamers of the Day - Book One - Prologue - Part II
Yuuki Asuna, no, the Swordswoman Asuna of Steel Castle Aincrad, hadn't exactly known what to expect of her first hour within the world of Sword Art Online. But if she'd been told she'd be running from a boar the size of a kei-car, she might never have put the damn helmet on.
"Waaaaaggh!"
It had all been going so well. Her avatar had been born into this world with a full set of clothes and basic equipment, including a simple, but perfectly serviceable, short sword. At least it had looked serviceable to Asuna, who had only ever seen real swords when visiting Museums.
Over the last half hour, she'd been putting that sword through its paces learning the ropes of combat against the relatively harmless fauna of the starting area. Though it seemed strange to call wild boar 'harmless fauna'. In fact, they were an incredibly dangerous and destructive invasive species that could easily gore a grown man.
But apparently, they were nothing but easy practice for her Avatar Self. At least until she'd killed ten of them, and this big one had shown up. It wasn't like the others. The smaller boar had mostly ignored her until she attacked, this one was out for blood!
"Oh what a day I am having!" Asuna shouted as she broke into a full sprint, feeling the legs that were too long stretching underneath her, annihilating distance so quickly her mind boggled at the way the ground raced beneath her. It didn't make sense that it was her moving that fast.
Avatar Selves were incredible!
Not that it made a difference to the charging boar. It was coming up behind her like a freight train, she felt the steam of its breath against her legs, and the blunt tip of its snout brushing against her rump. It couldn't last, one of them was going to stumble eventually, and it turned out to be Asuna, tripping over an unexpected dip in the ground.
"Yeek!"
She was swept off her feet, ending up with the boar's snout between her legs and her butt seated firmly atop its head. A position that the boar didn't seem any happier about than her as she was unceremoniously bucked and sent in a tumble down a grassy slope towards a small sedately flowing river.
She stopped in a tangle of limbs with a pained -Ooph-, legs stretching over her head in the direction of the river bank, and groaned instinctively, reaching to ease the aching in her back. Her back?
"Oh right, it doesn't hurt!" Asuna felt a bit silly, it would probably be a lousy game if there was real pain. Instead, the sensation was a bit like getting bopped with a foam bat. You'd definitely notice, it might even be unpleasant, but not painful.
"Well then shake it off." A mirthful contralto called as a hand entered her field of view. "Nice ass, by the way." She was thankful the game had given her Avatar Self a pair of shorts. If not, half the countryside would have seen her panties by now.
Asuna took the offered help to her feet, dusting off grass and grit. "Thanks . . . I mean for the hand. Not for the thing about my butt."
She shared a laugh with the other player, not embarrassed, or guarded about it at all. Something funny had happened, so they laughed. When was the last time she'd done something like that?
It had to be, Asuna thought back, at least as far back as elementary school. Before she and her peers had really begun to be impressed with the idea of their 'future' which would become all they would have time for as they proceeded into middle school, then high school, and then preparing for college . . . and marriage.
Childhood playmates drifted apart as they were transferred to different schools. Friends became strangers, and then competition. There was only so much success to go around, after all. If you couldn't climb to the top, knock someone down. Everything became a calculated strategy to maximize gains and minimize risk.
The truth was, Asuna had been living in an anonymous world long before she had ever logged into Sword Art Online. One where every face was a mask and every gesture was interrogated for its motive. Where everyone was waiting to pounce on the first mistake, and every mistake after.
And yet, in this world, for this Asuna, standing in these fields, anonymity felt like liberation as she laughed and listened to this strange and completely uninhibited woman happily explaining the game to a 'noob' like her.
"Hi. My name's Pitohui. And we should be friends!" That was how she made her introduction less than an hour ago.
Asuna had lost herself wandering the streets of the town of beginnings, not that she minded being lost at all, this was incredible, more than any Full Dive Guided tour she'd ever been on. She could go almost anywhere she wanted, within reason, look at things from every angle. She'd spent a few minutes just petting the outfits on display, feeling the textures beneath her fingertips.
Then that confident contralto voice had addressed her.
Asuna had turned and looked up at the tall and lean woman casting a shadow as she smiled brightly. There was a sharpness to her eyes, owing to her thick dark lashes. Her long black hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail that fell serpent-like past her waist.
"Uhm . . ." The Asuna of Aincrad had blanked out as the inner Asuna's mind whirled. Did she know this person? Did they know her? Had someone seen through her! Oh god, did a classmate play this game?!
"Hey that's a nice AS you've got there, if I do say so myself, very badass babe if you know what I mean." She threw her hands up and laughed. "But hey, I'm biased!"
Pausing to take a mental breath. "My AS? You mean my avatar?" She was just complimenting her avatar.
"Your Avatar Self." Pitohui confirmed. "It looks good, distinguished compared to what you see half these girls sporting." She waved vaguely to the brightly sunlit street full of players and 'NPCs', the computer controlled avatars that populated the city to make it feel more lively, even Asuna hadn't been completely clueless about those, having picked up the very basics by osmosis listening to her brother. "Rando avatars look fine, I guess, but a little samey. They're all generically cute seventeen year olds. I say it's a wasted opportunity if you don't impress your identity into your other self. Right?"
Asuna tilted her head, and carefully pulled a loose lock of light hair back behind her ear. She supposed that was true. Her own misgivings about the process, she was sure she was more pleased by far with this form than the one she'd have received at random. "Then I suppose I should say the same to you. Your looks are very . . . intimidating?" It might have been a bit rude, but she felt like this Pitohui person was the type to appreciate frankness.
The lean woman gave a wicked grin and a short barking laugh. "Thanks. I made'm myself!" She extended a hand. "So listen, it's the first day, time to get oriented and make friends. I make it my policy to get along with women when I game, and you look like an interesting woman. So how about it, wanna do a pick up party?"
"A pick up party?"
"Yeah, y'know, party up and go start questing. There's no levels in this game, but ya gotta go fight to git gud and bring home the col to improve your gear. Best way to get started is to team up."
"I see . . ." Asuna considered it. Strictly speaking, this person was a stranger. But strictly speaking, she wasn't really here. The worst that could possibly happen was that her Avatar's HP was taken to zero and she was . . . logged out? Is that what happened? Well, it wouldn't be anything serious anyways. She was here to feel free, after all. And what was more free than drifting where the wind took her, so long as it sounded interesting.
It was just, Asuna hesitated before taking the offered hand, "Just to be clear, you said you make it your policy to get along with women." Pitohui nodded. "And you're . . . you know . . ."
"No, I don't" Pitohui looked puzzled.
"Like, actually," She was really going to make Asuna come out and say it, "A woman?" Maybe she'd been a little too blunt, Asuna worried, Pitohui's features went blank. Her lips pressed into a thin line, then began to tremble.
"Bwahahahahahaha! Haaaa!" The tall woman doubled over in mirthful laughter.
Asuna looked how she felt, which was a little nonplussed. "I mean, there's a lot of girls walking around, they aren't all really . . . Are they?"
"Oh wow, girl! You aren't much of a gamer, are ya?" Pitohui slapped her thigh. "Sweety, I'll let you in on a little secret. Girls game. And this is the most anticipated game of the century. Only reason it's not going live to over 25 million people is that they'd need to stress test the servers to be sure they won't melt. Besides this is Full Dive, it's totally different from old school gaming, a lot fewer cross players, and for every girl who's actually a guy there's a guy who's actually a girl. Sept the trans community." Pitohui's eyes drooped. "You don't gotta problem with the queers, do ya?"
"Not . . . Particularly?" Asuna answered honestly. She wasn't sure she knew anyone like that to say. She guessed she was happy for them that same sex marriage had been legalized.
Pitohui's smile brightened. "Then we'll get along just fine." She offered her hand again, and this time, after a moment of consideration Asuna accepted. "Pitohui, or Pito, is just fine."
"Alright then, Pito-san." Asuna smiled. "I'm Asuna."
"Why don't we form a party and get out of here?" A suave young voice attracted both womens' attention. It belonged to a handsome teenager currently wooing what appeared to be a very pretty honey brown haired girl.
"Oh . . . I don't know." She wiggled her hips as she spoke with saccharin sweetness. "Maybe."
Pito stared blankly and then shrugged. "Okay, now they're catfishing each other."
And just like that, Asuna had found herself with her first online friend. Well, more like an online acquaintance. It wasn't long before they'd trekked to the starting fields outside the town walls, and beyond the moat that protected the starting area, and set about their first task. Turning the Asuna who was just born to the Steel Castle into a real fighter.
It had been going surprisingly well at first. Pito had stood back, giving pointers as Asuna had drawn her starting weapon and taken her first faltering swing with a shout. She wanted to say that she had rocketed forward with magnificent grace and sliced the boar clean in two. But actually she'd just grazed a thin line across its flank, spraying red particles and sending the boar squealing and rounding angrily on her.
Pito had to intervene that first time and show her how it was done. Demonstrating the basics, which Asuna meticulously committed to memory. Boar two, Pito had given her some pointers on how to hold her sword. How to stand. And how to swing. Swordsmanship was a full body movement, nothing could be left out. She thought it sounded a lot like batting in softball, but more dynamic, and much more complicated.
"It's exactly like that but not at all." Pito had confirmed.
By Boar three, Asuna was starting to feel a little more confident. Even when the beast had rounded on her she'd stood her ground, parrying the giant tusks, and evading with an economical roll when the boar tried to run her down. She was pretty athletic in real life, but it was almost like her body already knew how to move and was just remembering. She couldn't deny it was a little exciting to imagine her other self coming alive.
"Okay. Next one!" She'd done even better with four, and then five, by that point, skill and confidence had started to take hold and the next five had fallen to the increasing sure sword strikes of a Swordswoman of Aincrad, with each fallen beast, Pito had offered less commentary until she was simply watching with open interest. Then the Big Papa had shown up and the tables had turned.
"Don't sweat it so much." Pitohui laughed. "Everyone gets their ass kicked the first time they kill ten Sounders and a Grand Old Boar gets spawned in."
"So why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, I wanted to see how you'd handle yourself." Pito shrugged, "Actually, you did exactly what I did the first time. Ran and fell on your ass!"
That was right, Pitohui was a beta tester. She was already a native to this castle before launch day, and had been generous enough to help a complete beginner. All she'd asked for in exchange was someone to hang out and share it with. Gamers were a funny bunch, Asuna decided. Her classmates didn't have much good to say about them, but here was one of them being nicer to her than any of those schoolmates by far.
"Now the trick to this guy is that he's supposed to force you to use your Arts."
"Arts." Asuna nodded. "That's what the name comes from, right?"
Sword Art Online.
The sword fighting mechanics had been part of the first technical demo and the name had just stuck.
"Right. Special attacks, raw power that exceeds what can normally be done with these weapons and these bodies. When it's channeled through a sword it's a Sword Art, when you use a bow, it's a Bow Art, and so on." Crossing her arms, Pitohui nodded to the Grand Old Boar that was bucking and raging and slowly turning back to face them even now, hooves clawing at the dirt and grass as it prepared to charge. "I hate to steal your kill, but this is a great teaching moment."
Asuna smirked, planted a hand on her hip and gestured with the other. "By all means."
"Thank you kindly." Pito drew her sword with a soft -shink- a gleam in her eyes and a grin stretching across her face. The boar spotted her approaching and diverted its attention from Asuna to this new challenger.
Pitohui took a stance, sword forward, feet set broadly apart but resting lightly. The boar swung its great head, bringing tusks to bare, larger and sharper than any real world wild pig's, they were practically daggers in their own right with which to cut and gore. Pito half dodged and half deflected in a flash of steel and yellowed tooth, skidding across the grass and sinking low to keep herself balanced.
"The first thing to understand is that Arts are conditional. You can't just spam them like old school MMO skills." Pito explained, her voice coming unhurried and clear. "They take a lot of stamina to execute and you need an opening for the starting stance." She danced about, keeping well aware of her surroundings as she led the enraged beast like a matador would a bull. "You also need to keep in mind any possible counter attacks an enemy might employ. A charged Art can cancel another Art, for instance, or you might have to cancel out to evade an attack. You have to pay attention. But when the time comes . . . "
The Grand Boar shook his head and issued a deep challenge. Pitohui shouted back joyfully as she assumed a different stance, lower and more aggressive, readying her sword at the start of an upward swing. The dull metal began to gleam, then to shine.
Just as the great boar's charge was about to drive home, Pitohui kicked off with her back foot and Asuna was left with an after image impression of a triangle of pure light dancing before her eyes. It ended like a duel out of Kurosawa, the lone samurai sheathing her sword as the savage bandit . . . pig . . . collapsed and then shattered into fading motes of crystal light.
"That is so cool." Asuna whispered. "And I can do that too?"
"Heh. Sure can." Pito agreed. "In fact, with a bit of practice, you can do a lot more. That one was called Trinity Slash. Its three hit accelerated combo available to any sword suitable for the motions. There's rumors it can go all the way up to eight."
"Eight hits!" What the heck could survive eight hits like that?
"A lot of things, actually." Pito had answered when she asked. "Sure, that boar seemed scary. It was scary for me the first time too. But these are just trash mobs, Asuna. They're practice to familiarize you with the combat system. That Grand Old Boar might as well be one of those Sounders over their compared to Calydon the Boar Lord."
"Who's that?"
"Not who. What." Pito explained. "He's one of the field bosses out in the game world. The very weakest in the game. But he can party wipe an entire team of beginners. Even if they all use their arts . . ." Pito paused, frowning as she made the menu gesture and read something visible only to her. "Hey my friend just logged in, so I gotta let him know where I am. Let's take five over there."
Asuna really didn't mind a break, as much as she wanted to keep going. This body felt endlessly vigorous, but her mind had been absorbing tons of new concepts in a very short span of time. So despite feeling no less physically rested, she threw her arms back and lay down in the springy grass with a contented sigh, watching birds gliding beneath a sky that was only a few hundred meters above their heads.
This place . . . is beautiful. She thought, closing her eyes, feeling the warm light, and the wind, and the soft sweetness of the grass. "I wish I could live in this world." She decided right then and there. After just an hour she was completely in love.
"Don't we all?" Pito murmured as she typed something on an invisible keyboard. "Unfortunately, we're only visitors in this world. But I know exactly what you're talking about. We've all got things we don't want to deal with in our real lives. Things we don't want to do. People we don't want to talk to."
"So did you get into gaming to blow off steam?" Asuna asked. "Oh uhm, you don't have to answer a personal question."
"Nah it's fine!" Pito smiled as she shook her head, clearly concentrating half on composing her message. "That's definitely the reason I game these days. But I started when I was younger because I didn't really have a lot of opportunities."
"Opportunities for what?"
"Opportunities for," Pito paused to think about it, then shrugged, "Living."
She didn't offer any more explanation, and Asuna was polite enough not to ask. But she wondered if they weren't a lot alike in that way. "Pito?"
"Yeah?"
"I was curious when I was fighting. I had these weird feelings, like . . ."
"It felt like intuition?" Pito's grin widened. "Like maybe you were remembering having all these amazing skills?"
"Yeah." Asuna sat up. "How did you . . ."
Pito held up a hand. "Open your menu and visualize it like I showed you. Trust me." Asuna did as she was told. "Now at the bottom you should see a prompt to open Alvis. Press that and voila."
"Good Afternoon, Asuna!" A familiar spark of light within a crystal bulb shimmered into existence as if it were embedded into the virtual glass pane of the menu itself. "How may I assist you?"
"Alvis-san!"
"So, you guys have already met." Pito didn't sound too surprised.
"He helped me make my avatar." Asuna explained and then to the AI. "Thank you Alvis-san, I like it very much!"
"You are welcome, Asuna. How may I assist you?"
"Yeah, he's pretty clever for a low level parsing program. But Alvis has a one track mind." Pito explained. "Try asking him about the MUSE system. You have to do it, since that Alvis is instanced to your menu only."
"Okay, Alvis, can you explain the MUSE system to me?"
"Of course, Asuna! The Mememetic User System Enhancement, is a collection of kinematic algorithms, hardware accelerated heuristics, and knowledge bases which together underpin the SAO skill system and permit progression without leveling. Through a system of proprioceptive, sub-visual, and sub-auditory cues, the player is guided in the execution and refinement of their skills."
"So it wasn't really talent, is what you're saying." Asuna reasoned. Pito shook her head smiling.
"That is not entirely correct, Asuna." Alvis explained. "Although MUSE pairs each player with a low level motor control AI, it merely provides guidance and user augmentation. The skill must be developed by the player."
"Like that Trinity slash." Pito elaborated. "That cut was way too fast for me to execute on my own. Human reflexes can't respond fast enough. But I could still think what I wanted my body to do. And in the middle of an art, the System Assist kicks in and helps you do it. It becomes like a part of you that you have to learn to use while you're in this world. Not just these bodies, but part of your own mind lives here. That's what makes an AS different from a normal avatar."
"And there's like, hundreds of these skills?" Asuna asked, "Maybe even thousands?"
"That's the idea." Pito agreed. "Everything from swords and muskets, to cooking and fishing, hell, I think I saw sailing once in a prompt."
"And magic?" It was called a world of Weapons and Sorcery on the game box. A World Incarnate Unto its Own Radius.
Pito grinned, "Why? Thinkin' bout becoming a magical girl?"
"Shut up!" Asuna laughed gently, but maybe that would be pretty cool too. "Alvis?"
"That information is not available, Asuna." The little glow ball almost sounded apologetic.
"You can't learn much magic here on the first floor." Pito explained. "Even after three months, we beta testers only scrounged up a few torn grimoire pages and learned a handful of runes and cantrips. Things like light spells. Magic definitely exists, but the devs want you to work for it."
"I think I'll stick to swords for now." Asuna decided, returning to her bird watching. Then her smile faded. "That is, if I keep playing."
"Huh." Pito was finally torn from her messaging. "Hey what's that about now? I thought you were having fun!"
Asuna held up her hand wistfully. "Well it's just, I don't know if I'll have the opportunity. I like it. It seems like fun. But . . ." She didn't want this version of herself to disappear. But how could this possibly work, dancing around her brother's schedule, keeping it from her mom? She might slip the occasional session claiming she was watching an educational dive but . . . "It might be a big hassle for me, that's all."
"Shit. And here I was just starting to like you . . . " Pito read something in her menu and then read it again. "But your mind's not made up yet, right?"
Asuna sat up, "No, why?"
"The R-A reps just announced a special launch day tourney." Pito's joyful and wicked grin spread. "How bout I show you a reason you should stick around?"
PITOHUI JOINS THE FIGHT! - "How bout I show ya my IRL side? The half that ain't so nice.