A/N: WHAT'S GOING ON. IS THERE AN UPDATE? AFTER A GOOD 7 MONTHS AN UPDATE FINALLY CAME OUT. Seriously though, I was pretty lazy in updating this. Lazy as in going on the site, reading a good fanfic, then thinking to myself 'I should update my story.' then going back to reading and neglecting any writing that I planned on doing. Well, I finished chapter 2 after someone messaged me on Facebook, suggesting(forcing) me to update this. Such a hard life.
"Kazuto-san!?"
Hearing this, Kazuto snapped his head towards the sound with surprising speeds, speeds that would break one's neck in real life. What Kazuto was greeted with made his eyes widen in shock. Asada Shino. The first person during the year that he talked to first,instead of being approcached by. He couldn't help but stutter out,
"Shino-san? How- what- why.. What exactly is going on here?"
Kirito stammered out as he was facing Asada Shino's dark hair and a more feminine face than her old avatar. He looked down onto his body and realized that his height had gotten shorter. He looked back into the [Hand Mirror] in disbelief, as if confirming if the previous events were truely real or not. Seeing his feminine face in the [Hand mirror], his eyes showed a slight sign of dissappointment. He began to mutter under his breath while he was about to pull a shivering Sinon out of the crowd
"This...this is reality.. I need to-"
"Man this shit is crazy. I need to find Kirito and Sinon so I can-"
He stopped himself as he heard the familiar voice of Klein.
"Klein, is that you?" Kirito said as he looked at a thuggish bandit figure that stood infront of him who had eyes searching for someone. As Kirito asked this, Klein's head twitched and looked towards the source that called his name.
"Kirito? What the hell? Is that really you?" Klein blurted out in surprise.
"Ah uh, yeah this is me." Kirito replied meekly, as one would not expect a feminine looking boy to have such a shady and dangerous looking avatar just moments ago.
"What's going on here..why is this happening?" Klein asked while looking around at the people around him.
"I bet he's going to explain it right now." Kirito answered while looking back at the GM.
As if on cue the robed figure replied with:
『You will all most probably be wondering, "Why." Why am I —the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko— doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?』
Kirito stayed silent as he had a good idea what Kayaba was about to say.
『These are not the reasons why I am doing this. Not only that, but for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because... this situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized.』
It was to create his own world, to act like a God. After a short pause in his speech, Kayaba seemed to say his next statement with a hint of emotion.
『...Now, I have finished the official tutorial for «Sword Art Online». Players—I wish you luck.』
The sentence ended with an echo, and the hooded figure started to sink into the air and combined itself into a red blob, and disappeared.
Everyone was silent, trying to absorb what just happened, the first reaction was what you would expect in that kind of situation; a scream of disbelief.
"WHAT!? THIS HAS TO BE A JOKE! TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE!"
With one scream, many started to follow.
"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I HAVE A MEETING TO GO TO!"
"I WANT TO GO BACK HOME!"
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!?"
Screams of panic filled the air, but if one could look closely, they could see a boy with his head down, completely silent and devising a plan. After a few seconds, he looked up, his eyes full of determination.
"Sinon, Klein this way." He whispered, as he grabbed Sinon's hand and Klein followed quietly. He pulled them to an alley and began to tell them of his plan.
"Listen to me, I'm getting out of this city and heading to the next village. Soon enough people are going to break out of their shell and start to fight back; the resources here will soon be depleted so we need to get to the next area. I suspect it will be a week or two before people start to leave."
Sinon nodded quietly before Klein stated firmly, "Kirito, my friends bought this game with me. I can't abandon them. I was a guild master in a previous game so I know how to take care of a few people. I'll teach my friends what you taught me."
"I..Alright. Do what you need to Klein, but make sure you get out of this alive." Kirito said with determination in his eyes. Klein smiled back at the younger male, then turned towards the dark haired female and smiled. "Sinon, make sure you take care of this guy alright? I wouldn't want this guy dying on me."
Sinon nodded towards Klein and said "Don't worry, this guy won't die. I promise both of you that I won't let anyone die on my watch."
After a few seconds of silence, Kirito and Sinon said their goodbyes to Klein and started to run out of the city. Behind them they could hear him shouting, "Hey, you guys are pretty good in real life, I hope I can meet you after this thing is over!"
Kirito replied with "Yeah and that thuggish face fits you better!" they both turned their heads to looked behind them, but the red haired man was gone.
Kirito said with determination towards his partner "Don't worry Sinon, I'll get you out of here, I promise."
Sinon smirked and replied back, "Don't worry, we'll both be getting out of this world."
They both ran on the path to the next town, determined to break free and renew their freedom.
It took just a few hours to reach the next town, but during their journey to the next town, a certain topic came up between them.
"So Kazuto-san, what should I call you now, I mean it's kind of awkward if I call you by your real name in the middle of public."
Debating over what she just said, Kazuto gave it a minute of thought before replying with,
"Just call me Kirito when we're in public, and call me Kazuto when we're alone. That alright with you Shino?"
Stammering with some slight pink splashed over her cheeks, Sinon just said,
"Ah, y-yeah that's alright. But you dropped the hhonorifics, is there a reason for it?"
Kazuto just thought to himself 'cute' when he saw her talk like a schoolgirl about to confess before replying with "We're going to be together for a most likely the rest of the game, so I don't really see the point in adding honourifics to each others names."
Still slightly pink-faced a low "Together..." Could be heard coming out a certain girl's mouth. "I see. I'll go along with it Kazuto."
Kirito just smiled at her response in return when he saw the next town coming into view. He decided to tell Sinon what he would so when he got there. "The next town is just up ahead, I'm thinking of getting the [Anneal Blade] In addition to my sword from the beta. It's been nerfed pretty hard since it's just slightly better than the starting sword most players got during the start of the game. That reminds me, how hard was your bow nerfed?"
Sinon thought for a moment, her bow was now only slightly stronger than it should have been when it had no upgrades. Pinching her fingers together, she pulled down and opened her equipment inventory in search for the stats on her bow.
"Pretty heavily. It seems you can't upgrade certain things past a few levels. The range can only be upgraded twice, but the damage and durability seem to be upgradeable to 4. The base stats are just barely higher than a beginners bow. Oh we'll, I guess I'll just collect materials while we're finishing the Secret medicine of the forest quest so I can upgrade this later."
"Hey, maybe if wean age to get a second flower we could get a second sword and then sell it for col so we can pay for your upgrades." Kirito added.
"But the spawn rate for the monster with the flower is extremely rare isn't it?"
"Well, maybe we'll just get lucky."
"Maybe."
When they arrived at the village, they weren't very surprised when the houses weren't in the same position that they were in the beta. Some houses were combined and others were left separated, but the general layout of the houses were rather easy to move through and memorize.
"So this is the house for the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest huh, looks a bit different from before." Kirito pointed out.
"How so? It looks like it's the same to me." Sinon responded.
"The roof looks a bit older and the wood around the house looks like it's been decaying a bit. Also, it just has a different feel to it."
"You really pay attention to things like that?"
"Of course. I pay attention to my surroundings and memorize them easily. How else do you think I got such high marks in class by sitting around not doing anything?"
"S- shut up you child genius."
"Hey, you can't really call me a child since we're both in high school. Plus, it's weird having someone who's the same age as me call me younger than them."
"Whatever child~"
Giving up on trying to find out a way to win this argument, Kirito opened the door and walk towards the woman who was standing in the house.
"Is there something the matter?"
"I'm sorry to bother you adventurer, but could you please help my daughter? She's quite sick and and only the flower from the Little Nepent can make her better. Could you please help us?" The woman asked, indicating that the quest could be accepted or denied.
"Alright, just leave it to me." Kirito replied, using one of the many generic phrases people could use to accept quests.
Sinon, who was waiting outside looked up from where she was leaning on and asked, "Ready to go?"
Kirito just replied back in a cool manner, "Of course. Try to keep up."
With that, they went off into the forest in search for Little Nepents.
When they passed through the entrance to the forest, there was already a good amount of Little Nepents spawned, but none had the flower sitting on the top of their heads.
"Mobs as far as the eye can see, but the one we're looking for isn't here. This is going to be a lot of work."
Kirito complained towards his partner.
"Oh well. More exp and materials for us. Who knows, maybe we'll be level 3 by the end of the night."
Sinon replied back, looking at the brighter side of their problem.
"Level 3? That's pushing it, but It could be possible. Just depends on how fast we can kill one. Let's get started anyways. Remember, if it's got a bulb, don't aim for the head. Just go for the stem of it and we should be fine."
"Yeah, I got it."
They were about to begin their hunt when a voice called out to them.
"Hey! You guys are beta testers right? Are you doing the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest? If so can we join up? I'm sure it would go faster if the three of us do it. We'll need 3 flowers but I'll be over in no time."
Looking over at Sinon, who nodded, Kirito replied back,
"Sure, but we only need two flowers. She isn't trying to get the [Anneal Blade]. She's just needs materials for upgrades. I'm Kirito by the way, and this is Sinon."
"Nice to meet you Kirito, Sinon. My name is Coper."
Things were going quite well with the three of them working together. The mob's attention was being pulled towards their group when Sinon was shooting them from afar, while Kirito and Coper would dispatch them while they were starting to come closer.
"I'm actually getting quite a bit of col and exp from these. Shouldn't be too long before a mob with a flower spawns. How are you fairing Coper?"
Kirito asked while he was using a Horizontal on a Nearby mob.
"Not too much trouble, but it's starting to get tiring. We should take a break soon and regroup back in the village."
Coper replied while panting a bit.
"Is your stamina really that low?"
Sinon asked (and slightly mocked) while she shot an arrow, hitting a mob right in the centre of its stem.
"Your just shooting arrows! We're starting to feel fatigue from swinging our swords around!"
Coper replied back to her.
"I feel fine actually."
Kirito added in, much to the disbelief to Coper that he could last this long against all the mobs.
"Crazy..."
"Look! This one has a flower on it!"
Kirito pointed out as he started running towards it. With a quick slash then a Horizontal the mob died, leaving a Little Nepent's Flower as a drop. Kirito turned around and yelled out, "I got it! It's time to get you yours Co-" but stopped midway as he saw what Coper was about to do.
Coper was standing in front of a Little Nepent, but this one had a bulb.
Kirito's eyes widened. "Sorry." Was all he heard until Coper slashed at the bulb.
"Shit! Sinon! We're leaving!" Kirito yelled out as he frantically looked for his partner.
Sinon, dashing up to his side yelled out, "What happened!? Why are there so many coming to this area!?"
"Coper's trying to monster player kill us, he slashed at a Nepent with the bulb on it's head. We need to get out n-" was all Kirito said when he saw something green.
"What's the matter?" Sinon asked, panicking slightly at the army of Nepents slowly approaching them.
Taking her hand, he broke into a dash towards the green thing that he saw. When Sinon got a closer look at it, she realized it was an indicator. A player indicator hiding within the bushes.
Both of them, not wanting to waste any time ran towards it, and right past it. Coper, wondering if it was a complete coincidence if they saw him, looked at their backs when they ran past him. Only to remember what they were running from. As he turned around, he saw it. An army of Nepents. Without letting him get any to get up, the Nepents swarmed.
They panted as they passed through the gates to the town. They were safe, but almost killed.
"Are you alright?" Kirito asked As they were panting heavily inside the village.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. But Coper tried to kill us! Why would he try to do that!?" Sinon replied back angrily, still quite mad at the fact that someone they trusted almost MPKed them.
"I don't know, maybe it was to get the over from me, or maybe it was because he didn't like us. I don't know his motives, but he's probably dead right now." Kirito replied back, a dark aura hovering around him.
Sinon didn't say anything for a while. They were both mad at almost being killed, so they both had time to think things through.
Kirito was the one who broke the silence when he said, "Let's go turn in the quest," and left for the house. Sinon just followed behind him, making sure to stay close.
When they arrived in the house, they were were greeted by the woman still at the kitchen. Kirito completed the quest by talking to her. "I've brought the flower to you."
The woman replied with happiness, "Thank you adventurer, with this, my daughter will be cured from her sickness." With that, the woman began to prepare the medicine and left towards another room when it was ready.
"...I don't remember this room being here in the beta. Do you?" Sinon asked, as she was unfamiliar with the room that the wan walked into.
"No, they must've added it in with the official release. We should go inside and wait for our reward." Kirito replied back, heading into the room with Sinon behind him. As he walked into the doorframe, he paused. Sinon, bumping into him asked, "What's up? Why did you stop?"
Kirito, realizing that he stopped apologized and moved out of the way, allowing Sinon to get a better view.
What she saw was heartwarming. It was a girl, quite young sitting on a bed with her mother sitting right next to get giving her her medicine. As she finished, she looked undeniably healthier. She turned to Kirito and Sinon and smiled sweetly, whilst saying, "Onii-chan, Onee-san, thank you!"
Kirito walked out of the room, followed by Sinon wondering why he walked out at such a heartwarming scene. "What's wrong?"
Kirito replied back, a bit of sadness inside of him, "This happened to me before. My sister was sick when both my parents were away. She wanted ginger tea, but I didn't know how to make it. I called my Mom and asked her how to make it. I made it for her, but my hands were burned when I messed up a bit. When I have it to her, she just smiled and said the exact same thing, 'Onii-chan, thank you!'"
Sinon just looked at him, in his sad state. She knew that he missed his family, and had a place to return to. She knew her place to return to was by his side. She pulled him into an embrace, and he returned it. She heard a little sob come out of him. For the first time, the boy who she thought was so strong, seemed so weak. She whispered on his ear, "It'll be alright. We'll get out of this. I promise you."
Kirito got up, and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I promise you too. And thanks, that was really comforting." Sinon blushed at his statement, only realizing that she did it out of reflex. "Um, yeah..." Was all she could really say.
It was at that moment the woman exited the room her daughter was in and said, "Adventurer, thank you for all your help. Please take this, it may not be of use of us, but it may be of use to you." She gave them the [Anneal Blade], what was possible the strongest sword of the first floor if upgraded completely. Kirito thanked her, then left the house, Sinon walking close behind him, as usual.
As they left the house, they realized it was still the first day, meaning that they needed a place to stay. Kirito suggested the inn at the village, which Sinon complied with, not wanting to sleep outside.
As they walked inside they were greeted by the innkeeper, who asked if they would like a room. Kirito asked for a room for them to share, intending to save col. The room keeper complied and gave them their room number. Kirito walked calmly towards their room.
Sinon on the other hand was blushing intensely behind him. 'We're sharing a room!? Does that mean we're sharing a bed!? I'm alright with that b-but-'
"-non."
'Well if it's with him then I'm ok. I mean it's Kazuto and-'
"Shino!"
"Ah, yes!?" Sinon responded in panic. She was met with the face of Kazuto Kirigaya close to hers. "...You alright, you're blushing pretty seriously over there."
"I'm not!" Sinon replied, trying to cover herself up.
Kirito looked at her sceptically. "Alright then. Anyways this is our room." Kirito replied as he opened the door. What greeted them was a decently large room, enough to for two people, and separate beds.
Sinon looked at the two beds, disappointed and glad at the same time.
"Anyways, I'm beat. I'm going to go to sleep. We can start grinding again tomorrow. We're both pretty close to level 3, so we should be able to get to 4 tomorrow." Kirito said as he began to remove his weapons and armour and just leave his normal clothes on. Sinon did the same, as it wasn't as awkward as changing in the real world.
As they were lying in their individual beds, Sinon asked Kirito, "Kiri- Kazuto, do you think we'll make it back? To the real world?"
Kirito turned back to her, and told her in a reassuring tone, "Of course we'll make it back. I promise you that."
Satisfied with that answer, Sinon fell asleep. Kirito fell asleep soon afterwards.
End of chapter A/N: Well, there you have it. A relatively short chapter coming in at 3.5k words. Oh well. Next chapter would most likely be the preparation (and maybe defeat) of the first floor boss. Just got to wait until the next chapter. WHICH WILL BE UPDATED IN THE NEXT 7 MONTHS JUST LIKE THIS ONE, RIGHT GUYS? :D. Seriously though. I'll update when I'm not lazy. Hue.