~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch2~
November 7th, 2022
...
As was the case yesterday, today, thanks to the calm weather conditions the SAO parameters were set to, was a sunny day with few clouds hanging overhead. It was a lazy day, perfect for relaxing or taking a nice, long nap underneath the shade of a tall, leafy tree.
However, there was not a single player in SAO, recently revealed as a death game, who was relaxing. To them, the artificial sun shone brightly and caused heat to come crashing down on them. Virtual sweat - who knew Kayaba Akihiko paid attention to even this tiny detail?- formed on their foreheads, dripping down their necks, sliding into their clothes, getting everywhere and showing no sign of stopping whatsoever.
And yet, not a single person complained. This was a death game. That guy with the what he claimed to be natural orange hair, had told them that they needed to fight for themselves, for their liberty if they ever wanted to liberate themselves from the death game. So, the majority of them soldiered on, killing «Frenzy Boars» and «Dire Wolves» alike, in order to gain col, the currency of the game, to buy new equipment, and experience so that they could level up and continue the good fight.
Kirito reflected upon yesterday's events. So, I'm really in a death game, huh? It's kind of unbelievable but I won't give up- I won't ever surrender to Kayaba. I'll beat this death game! I'll survive!
Kirito smiled as his two, newest- and only- friends in SAO came walking together, towards him.
And I'll do it with my two friends! I'll make sure none of them die!
"I'm telling ya, Ichigo. You could have totally added those girls to your friend chat! And then, you could have given one of their names to me!" Kirito chuckled as Klein's voice came into his range of hearing. He remembered Klein doing a similar thing to him yesterday when he had mentioned his cousin.
I hope they're holding up. I promise Sugu, Aunt Midori, I'll come back. I don't know how long I'll be here but I will come back. And I'll stop pushing you away too, Sugu.
"I'm not interested in those kinds of things, Klein. I'm not an opportunist. I'm just here to clear this game and save as many people as I possibly can along the way." A tiny smile threatened to form at Klein's words, causing Ichigo to draw a likeness between Klein and his friend, Keigo in terms of personality, before he ruthlessly squashed it like a bug.
Instead, he chose to greet Kirito with a raised hand. "Yo, Kirito. Sorry we're late. I'm not used to navigating the town so I got lost. Then, I met Klein and we got lost together for a while but now we're here."
"No problem," Kirito answered with a smile. "Well, ready to go?"
All three of them had agreed the previous day after Kirito and Klein had finished instructing a rather large amount of players in how to use sword skills - as Kirito had mentioned, «Magic» hadn't been in the beta test so he had no idea how exactly to instruct them in that skill- to meet up since no one really wanted to fight alone in the world and had no idea what exactly to expect.
"So where are we going first, Kirito?" Ichigo asked. "You know the most about SAO than any of us so you should lead us to where you think will the best place to go next."
"Well, I wanted to go to «Horunka Village». They have a quest there called «Secret Medicine of the Forest» whose quest reward is the greatest sword you can get on the first floor. An Anneal Blade," Kirito explained. "I mean, if that's all right with you guys. Kirito was still a little shy around people. After having spent the last four years keeping away from his sister who was actually only his cousin, he hadn't become too used to being social with people. He was, however, eager to make friends- like these two people before him whom he had considered friends since they had met up in the plains after Kayaba's speech.
"It's fine. I don't need the sword though," Ichigo waved his hand dismissively. "Oh? Why not?" Kirito asked.
"The «Zanjutsu» skill is weird. I noticed when I was familiarizing myself with menu that my sword had a level attached to it," Ichigo said.
What he said was true. He hadn't noticed before because he had been too busy killing boars and the occasional wolf at first, then convincing everyone not to panic, and later on, practicing with sword skills, but at night, he had wanted to familiarize himself with his menu so that it wouldn't be a hassle later on in the game, Ichigo had clicked on his inventory and on his sword only to realize that it had a level icon, the same level he was.
"Really?" Kirito was astonished. A level for something that wasn't a monster, a guard of a town, or a player? That was pretty strange. "Huh, I guess Kayaba Akihiko revamped the skill system a lot more than I thought he would. The original Sword Art Online was pretty good but with all these skills, it's a lot better. Of course, this is a death game now so I guess it would make sense that he adds more skills for us."
"Let's get going already!" Klein shouted, interrupting Kirito's musings. "This might be a death game but I want to go explore this world!"
Kirito grinned. "Alright but first, we should make a party if we're going to be sticking together for a while. Parties let you share experience, items, and money, and we would be able to «Switch» if we encountered a difficult monster."
"«Switch»?" Klein asked. "What's that?"
"«Switching» isn't really a skill in the system but a player created technique in the beta test." Kirito began. "Basically, in the beta test on the higher floors, monsters began adapting to techniques used against them.-"
"W-what?! Adapting to techniques?" Klein yelled.
"It's not that surprising, Klein. Humans have constantly adapted to their environment throughout history." Ichigo motioned to Kirito. "Please continue, Kirito."
"Right, so even though monsters adapt, there's a second of pause when they have to assimilate the new information. In that time, players can switch out to confuse the monsters so that it confuses what they learned. It's a small advantage but it'll be essential in the later floors of the game. Learning how to do it now, to get the timing down right, will be good practice for you guys," Kirito said, opening his menu and sending an invitation to both Klein and Ichigo to join his party.
Both of them accepted without hesitation. Kirito took a glance at the top left corner of his screen where his status and the status of his party members were now displayed.
"Whoa, Ichigo. You're level 4 already?" Kirito questioned. "That's pretty good for a beginner." "How'd you know that?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
"Health bars and levels of party members show in the top left corner of your screen like your own health bar," Kirito explained.
Ichigo glanced. "Oh, so the both of you are level 2?"
"Heck yeah," Klein pointed at himself. "We trained for about an hour before we were force teleported."
"Well, I noticed that there was no logout button when I was searching for it when I entered the world for the first time. At the time, I had figured that someone would eventually restore the logout button so I just decided to fight in the meantime," Ichigo told them.
"Without sword skills?" Kirito nearly shouted in astonishment. "Not using sword skills is basically the same as waving your sword around without doing any damage!"
Ichigo shrugged. "Don't forget, I had magic too."
Kirito nodded his head in realization. Klein asked, "What sort of magic spells do you have so far?"
"I have four so far. Two of them, I guess you could say, restricts the movement of my opponents and two does damage though one of them doesn't do that much damage, just sort of pushes a monster back," Ichigo answered.
"So that lightning spell you used the other day is your main damage dealing spell. Wait! You said you could restrict the movement of monsters?!" This time Kirito really did shout.
"Yes..." Ichigo trailed off, not seeing where the beta player was going with the train of thought.
"That makes killing monsters so much easier! Especially if they can't move or fight back!" Kirito's grinned as he imagined all the various ways he could apply that to monster-fighting.
"We probably shouldn't rely on it too much though," Ichigo frowned. "What if I run out of mana? I should use my magical spells sparingly unless I'm training it up."
They began walking out of the «Town of Beginnings», eager to set out to «Horunka Village» though kept talking as they walked.
"That makes sense. It would be best to save it in case of emergencies. I don't plan on using magic and I don't think Klein plans on «Magic» as a skill either," Kirito said, looking to Klein for confirmation.
"Yeah! I'm gonna be a samurai through and through. No «Magic» skill for me," Klein said proudly, attracting the attention of a level 2 «Dire Wolf» in the process.
The «Dire Wolf» had completely black fur, vicious brown eyes and a row of sharp, canine teeth. It was only two feet in height though standing on four legs allowed it better maneuverability than any two legged creature. At least, that would be the case had it not been in a virtual reality game.
"Alright, who wants to go first?" Ichigo asked the two of them.
"I'll go first, if that's alright with you, Klein," Kirito said, drawing his black sword from his back.
"Go ahead, Kirito," Klein agreed after drawing his own curved sword in preparation for a «Switch» when Kirito called it.
Kirito moved forward cautiously. He might have been a beta tester but if Kayaba had added new things like «Magic» to the game, who was to say he couldn't slightly alter the attack patterns of «Dire Wolf» to catch an overconfident beta tester off-guard?
"Hah!" Kirito shouted as he slammed his black blade against the wolf's snout, knocking it off course when it had charged him.
Then, he activated the sword skill «Horizontal». His sword glowed blue before the system took over momentarily and he dashed forward, managing to slash the «Dire Wolf» on its right side. "Now Klein! Switch!" Klein took off with his own «Horizontal» activated, managing to slash the «Dire Wolf» on its left side. He stilled as the cool down effect of the sword skill took place. Before the «Dire Wolf» could recover, however, Kirito used another «Horizontal» to end its life.
A screen appeared before all three of them detailing how much experience and col they got from killing the «Dire Wolf».
Well, that makes sense, Ichigo thought, his eyes casually noting the 2 experience, 2 col, and no items that had appeared on the screen. I didn't do any damage so I got practically nothing. If I'm more involved I'll probably get more experience, col, and items.
"I reached level 3 with that kill so I have to put my points in my stats," Kirito informed them as they began walking once more.
Ichigo nodded. He had been surprised at first when a screen had told him that he had points to allocate upon his level up. He was even more surprised when he realized that there was only two stats he could put points in, strength (STR) and agility (AGI). STR increased the damage of attacks, obviously, but also, many weapons had an STR requirement, so STR was a definite requirement. STR also increased the total weight limit a player could carry at any given time as well as influencing by how much a player's health would increase upon level up. AGI increased movement speed by a small factor as well as assisted players in enhancing their reflexes. AGI also increased a player's attack speed, that is how fast it took them to attack normally and attack using sword skills, accuracy of an attacks, how well a player could avoid enemy attacks.
Ichigo had theorized, at the time of his first level up, that his current body state had also influenced how well he did in SAO. For example, had his reflexes dodging skills been solely dependent on the stats of the game, he would have skewered by the first boar he had faced in the game because he had been surprised at the boar's speed. However, his reflexes, honed and fine-tuned over a multitude of death matches, including going against enemies with centuries of experience and still coming out on top, were top notch. He had continued to hone his fighting skills eleven months later, even after the loss of his Shinigami powers. Even though he had been surprised at the boar's speed, his body had moved on its own accord, and had casually dodged the boar. Even his sword slashes, non-skill enhanced, had been quick and deadly.
His theory coupled with the fact that «Shunpo» would cover for any weaknesses in speed, convinced him upon a 2STR 1AGI build per level up. After all, his reflexes might have carried over to the game but his strength certainly hadn't.
"By the way, Kirito," Ichigo said aloud. "I wanted to ask you if there were any quests that would increase stat points in the game."
Kirito nodded. "A couple quests per floor but usually, only the first hundred or so people can get the reward before the quest fades. I've done a couple but I was more focused on playing the game during the beta period."
"And what about extra skill slots?" Ichigo asked. "I understand that every ten levels, a skill slot opens up but are there any quests or something similar to get additional skill slots?"
Kirito shot him an appraising look. To ask about something like that so soon, not even a day after the game's been announced as a death game... he's pretty smart. "I've heard of those quests. I think there's one every ten floors and only the first ten people who complete those quests get the reward. They're impossibly difficult though. Kayaba tailored those quests so that the monsters a player would have to face would be around the player's current level. You're better off doing quests that add a skill to your current skills. An extra skill."
"An extra skill? Like what?"
"«Martial Arts» for one thing, «Meditation» for another. I don't remember if there are any more in the first ten floors," Kirito replied.
Martial Arts? Hakuda! Ichigo realized. That's on the second floor. I'll worry about that when I reach that floor. And meditation? Isn't that Jinzen? Damn it, Getaboushi, you're a real pain in the
ass for messing around in the game. I can barely tell if you added Shinigami skills and just renamed them or if you didn't do anything.
"Damn," Ichigo sighed.
"What's wrong?" Klein asked, having just come back from defeating yet another «Dire Wolf» and leveling up to level 3.
"I just realized that I'm gonna have to put more work than I expected into this game," Ichigo said.
Kirito and Klein looked at each other in confusion before they followed Ichigo, who had attacked a level 2 «Dire Wolf» rather than continue thinking of Kisuke could have altered within the game, with a magical binding spell. The two followed up with their respective sword skills, slaying the monster. For the next six hours, the pattern continued, collecting experience, col, and items from felled monsters as they continued their path on the way to «Horunka Village».
...
"Phew," Kirito stretched his arms into the air as the three of them crossed the boundary that marked the start of «Horunka Village». A piece of adventurous, congratulating music played for a few seconds. "Yes!" Kirito raised his fist to the air. "We're the first ones here!"
"How do you know?" Klein asked, as he took in the sight of the medium sized village.
«Horunka Village» wasn't nearly as large as the «Town of Beginnings» though the attention to detail was as equally impressive as in the «Town of Beginnings». There were many one story buildings a couple two story dotting the village. Though sunset was nearing its end, the center of the village to which they had walked to within the span of minutes, was still fairly busy. Some merchants still called out their wares while others were in the various stages of packing their merchandise, getting ready to call it a day. Adults walked home from their jobs all across the village while children scurried about some still playing, and others hurrying home. All sorts of sounds filled the air- the sound of shouting merchants, the footsteps of children and adults, and the general hustle and bustle of a medium sized village.
"Did you guys hear a sound as we entered the edge of the village?" Kirito instead asked. Both Klein and Ichigo nodded their heads.
"That sounds occurs when a new town or village is entered. It means that we're the first to enter the village which means that no one has accepted the «Secret Medicine of the Forest» quest yet." Kirito explained.
Ichigo nodded his head. "Well, lets get moving then." Both Kirito and Klein gave him a strange look.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" Ichigo began running a hand on his face, wanting to rid himself of whatever dirt that had managed to get on his face.
"No, no, nothing like that," Kirito was quick to dissuade Ichigo of that notion, waving his hands in the negative. "It's just that monsters get stronger at night."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. That was new information. "They do?"
"Yeah, usually by a couple levels," Klein added. When both Kirito and Ichigo stared at him, he said, "I heard it from a couple of NPCs in the «Town of Beginnings»."
"Does that mean they give more experience?" Ichigo asked, his mind quickly calculating that he should probably train some of his skills at night if they did.
"Yeah," Kirito answered. "A lot more. On Floor 1, I think it was triple the experience since we're all considered beginners. On Floor 10, it was only double the normal experience and usually not worth it since at night, monster attack patterns become quicker and more instinctual. It's difficult to predict monster attack patterns at night."
Triple the experience points? That would be useful. I'd probably level up faster too. My «Zanjutsu» skill is at 11/1000 but my «Magic» is only at 6/1000. And my «Shunpo» is only at 2/1000. I really have to train them up. At night would be good since I'd probably get a higher mastery level if I use my skills against tougher opponents. And I'm pretty sure that my level is tied in to what «Magic» techniques I get. Bakudo #1: Sai and Hado #1: Sho can be written off as coincidences but I don't think it's a coincidence that when I reached level 4, I obtained Bakudo #4: Hainawa and Hado #4: Byakurai.
This means that I won't have to worry about not learning any new spells if I don't increase my magical mastery for a while. Of course, that also means that if I don't increase my «Magic» mastery, whatever spells I do use won't do much damage against higher-leveled opponents.
I'll also definitely have to do something with my «Zanjutsu» skill. My sword has no durability- or rather, it has infinite durability seeing as how it has yet to break. But at the same time, my total damage output is comparatively lower considering that even though my sword is level 6, it only has the same range of attack as Kirito's and Klein's starting swords. Obviously, Kisuke made the system like that to discourage other people from choosing the «Zanjustsu» skill but damn, even now he's making everything a pain to deal with.
At least I'm pretty sure that Shikai and Bankai are tied into «Zanjutsu» mastery. It wouldn't make sense for it to be tied into my level. Let me think, if I consider Old Man Yamamoto's Bankai, whatever the hell it could be, at a 1000/1000 and one of the newer Captains, relatively speaking, like Toshiro or Soifon as the minimum for a Bankai...
Wait, wait. It's not fair to compare them to Yamamoto, no one's in his power league. Okay, how about Shunsui? Yeah, that could work. Okay, so Shunsui is 1000/1000, complete mastery of his Bankai and then one of those two as the minimum for a Bankai. I think I remember Shunsui confirming that a hundred years was all that it would take for Toshiro to be better than Shunsui- wait, where the hell am I going with this again? Fuck!
Screw it. I'm me, not them. I'm pretty sure Getaboushi didn't base my learning Shikai or Bankai on Toshiro or Soifon. God, I hope he didn't. RIght. I automatically got my Shikai but since I have an unreleased blade, it doesn't look like my sword with unlock its Shikai soon, that means that
I'll have to train up my mastery level. I remember Rukia telling me that the average Shinigami completes Shin'o Academy in six years. So maybe, 600/1000? No, that's too close to a 1000/1000/. But since I learn everything quicker anyways, then maybe half of that so 300/1000. Okay, I'll stick with the range being 300-400/1000. Then Bankai should be double that since it takes longer to learn Bankai than Shikai. Well, maybe a little more. So add a hundred. So roughly 700-800/1000 if I calculated everything right.
Damn it, Getaboushi, why couldn't you have just told me how to unlock Shikai and Bankai from the beginning?!
Oh yeah, because it wouldn't be Getaboushi if he had told me something.
"Earth to Ichigo." While Ichigo had been neck-deep in attempting calculations to unlock his Shikai and Bankai, Kirito and Klein had stood around waiting for him to respond for a minute before deciding to get his attention by waving their hands in his face.
"Sorry, guys, just thinking about something," Ichigo apologized.
"Must have been something pretty interesting if you didn't even notice what we were doing for three minutes," Klein grinned. "Thinking about some cute girl back home?"
Ichigo snorted. "Hardly. Anyways, I want to try training against monsters in the night, if you guys don't mind. I need to use my «Magic» skill more often. We can do the quest tomorrow. Where do you guys want to meet tomorrow?"
"We could meet here," Kirito shrugged. "I mean, all we'll be doing tomorrow is killing a bunch of «Little Nepents» until one with a flower appears. They're only level 3 during the daytime so we should all be fine."
"Alright," Ichigo opened his menu and selected the option to leave the party. "I'll catch you guys here tomorrow bright and early. 8 am okay?"
"8 am? Who the heck gets up so early when they don't have to?" Klein complained.
"Me," Kirito and Ichigo said together, looking at each other, and the former grinned while the latter had a small smirk on his face.
"Fine, but I'll probably run late anyways. Lets add each other as friends so I can message you guys a better time," Klein offered, opening his menu and sending a request of friendship to both of them. Ichigo snorted in amusement.
Both of them accepted unhesitatingly. A day spent together fighting monsters and sharing dropped items and strengthen the formerly fledgling bond into a firm, if somewhat tentative friendship. Kirito then sent a friend request to Ichigo, who immediately accepted.
"See you guys tomorrow," Ichigo waved at them once before heading back out.
While he had been injured in a couple of fights within the game, none of his injuries had even brought his health into the yellow though Kirito had told him that he should consider getting the «Battle Healing» skill to recover his health. Of course, the skill required getting his health constantly down into the health zone so he was currently debating whether or not he should get it. Perhaps later when he had leveled up some more and unlocked some more skill slots.
He had also been fairly surprised when he had received his first injury in the game only to realize that he hadn't felt any pain. Kayaba Akihiko had made the game so that people wouldn't be afraid of getting hurt if they were injured in battle. Hopefully, when they all escaped the game, people wouldn't think that real life worked the same way.
The first monster Ichigo encountered on the plains outside of «Horunka Village» was, unsurprisingly a «Frenzy Boar». The only thing different about it was that it looked larger than a normal «Frenzy Boar». Its teeth were sharper, its eyes redder, and its range of detection larger as evidenced by how it detected Ichigo much further than Ichigo had believed.
"Bakudo #4: Hainawa!" Crackling yellow energy quickly formed around Ichigo's hand before it shot out in the form of a rope, rapidly wrapping itself around the charging «Frenzy Boar» four times over.
However, Ichigo failed to take into account, despite warnings by both Kirito and Klein, that «Frenzy Boars» at night were at a higher level, like all monsters, than during the day. That was the reason why Ichigo was unpleasantly surprised when the «Frenzy Boar», currently the same level as Ichigo at level 5, broke out of the spell after five seconds. A quick «Shunpo» to the left avoided a goring by the boar's enlarged tusks.
«Shunpo», at least within the game, worked peculiarly though beneficial to Ichigo. There was no stamina bar in SAO, meaning that things such as running, jumping, swimming, and how long a player could fight for depended upon the player's natural stamina. «Shunpo» worked the same way. However, the distance Ichigo could take in a single step depended upon his current mastery of the skill. Currently, he was only capable of moving with a six foot distance, the current level of his mastery of «Shunpo», 6/1000. He surmised that as his mastery increased, so would the distance he could travel in a single step.
Of course, if he had the stamina, it was more than possible to move more than once. And that was the true beauty of «Shunpo». For Ichigo, a former expert in the art of movement, it was like second nature. He had used it constantly during his time as a Shinigami once Yoruichi had taught it to him alongside his Bankai, and had only used it with increasing proficiency until his battle with Aizen, where, after defeating the bastard who fancied himself a god, he had then eventually lost his powers. But, even eleven months was not enough to erase what had become second nature to him.
He could easily use «Shunpo» hundreds of times in succession even now, which Ichigo demonstrated by then shunpoing behind the boar and unleashing his Hado #4 on the boar, three times in succesion, killing the «Frenzy Boar» and gaining three times the experience though only the usual amount of col and items.
So, it looks like monsters the same level as me or higher, most likely, can break out quicker than monsters below my level. Shit. That'll be a pain on later floors. And boss monsters? My spells
won't trap them for long or do much damage. Unless my mastery of «Magic» increases, «Magic» isn't much use at this point. But if I can just get my mastery up, I'm sure it'll be useful. Guess that means what I said yesterday to Kirito and Klein. I'll just have to train more than everyone else, especially at night.
While players could have exorbitant amounts of stamina to keep them in the fight longer, mental fortitude was another matter entirely. Most people had little mental fortitude simply because they had never experienced truly stressful situations. Typically, people with high mental fortitude were people who were in the military, people who had fought for their lives in battle. Ichigo was a person with high mental fortitude. He had fought for his life many times ranging from his very first Hollow to protect his sisters, father, and Rukia, to his final battle in Hell against Kokuto, who had kidnapped his sister Yuzu in order to get Ichigo to release him from Hell.
Stressful situations was nothing new to Ichigo. Fighting for his life was nothing new to Ichigo. The virtual reality game Kisuke had tricked him into wasn't anything special- at least, not compared to invading three dimensions, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and Hell, and coming out on top, fighting against supernatural beings that could reduce a city the size of Tokyo to nothing with only a few, well-placed attacks, or an actual immortal who had plotted to overthrow a god.
This virtual reality game he was stuck in, compared to his experiences, was just a drop in the ocean. And that was but one of the reasons that Ichigo could- would fight for hours on end without resting, would do whatever he needed to protect as many people as he possibly could within the game and would succeed in his attempts.
That, and having trained without rest for three months in the Dangai also helped.
Ichigo materialized the only item he had gotten from the «Frenzy Boar». In his hand, he held a small, rectangular crystal with green and white vertical stripes covering the entire surface area of the crystal. The crystal's name was «Replenishing Crystal» and its effect was that it would completely replenish his mana. Ichigo rolled his eyes at the color. Geez, Getaboushi. You keeping adding things as if you think I'm gonna forget you. But it's good that you made these crystals the color of your hat. Otherwise, I might have actually forgotten that I have to kick your ass when I return.
A chilling howl permeated the silent night. Ichigo spun around, quickly locating the source of the howl. A level 6 «Dire Wolf» slowly advanced towards him, followed by another «Dire Wolf». He grinned as he begun casting his strongest attack spell.
For monsters surrounding «Horunka Village», it was a terrible night to spawn...
November 8th, 2022
It was 9am when Klein decided to finally arrive at the pre-determined meeting point. Kirito and Ichigo had chatted the hour away, the two of them exchanging information, Kirito about more things he had experienced during the beta test and Ichigo about his theories concerning magic and how effective they would be against higher levels and Boss-class monsters and about the newest crystal, the «Replenishing Crystal» as well as potions of the same name and color.
"With how you were going on about sleeping in, I would have thought that you would have slept in more, Klein," Ichigo said as his way of greeting the half-asleep man.
Kirito smiled. "Yeah, Klein. If you wanted to meet up later, we could have done that. Especially since you like you're about to fall asleep any second."
"Nah," Klein waved his hand dismissively though it was a pathetic attempt at doing so. "I just need some food and I'll wake up easily. Come on, lets go get some breakfast."
After having a tasteless breakfast and paying an amount of col that made Klein cry as he spent half of the col he had gained on the six hour journey heading towards the village they were in, the trio made their way towards an old lady's house, where the «Secret Medicine of the Forest» quest began, according to Kirito. It was a good thing that Kirito had an excellent memory when concerning SAO and had lead the way because both Klein and Ichigo had admitted aloud that they would have been lost after the first few twists and turns.
Eventually, after a half hour of walking, they arrived at a small, shabby house that looked as it could barely house two people and even then, not comfortably. Having formed a party once more, Kirito knocked on the door to the house without hesitation, Klein and Ichigo standing close behind him.
"Oh, guests? Please, do come in," the woman with kindly, motherly features said after opening the door.
"Excuse us," Kirito said politely as all three of them entered the now cramped house. Ichigo and Klein followed suit.
"Would you three like a glass of water?" The woman asked kindly. "Yes, please," Kirito answered her confidently.
The old woman soon left and then, the three of them all heard a coughing sound coming from another room.
Knowing from whom it had come from because Kirito had explained the entire quest over breakfast, Klein and Ichigo waited for the woman to speak so that Kirito could speak. After all, it was only Kirito who wanted the reward sword, «Anneal Blade». So, they had decided over breakfast to let him do all the talking.
"What's that coughing noise?" Kirito asked the woman as she returned with three glasses of water.
"My apologies for not having any food," the mother said as she gave the three their glasses of water. "My daughter is sick with a severe illness that cannot be cured even with medicine from the merchants. She requires a special type of ingredient if my daughter is to be cured. An ovule from the terrible monster called the «Little Nepent». If you bring an ovule from the «Little Nepent», I will give you a sword handed down for generations in my family. Will you please save my little girl?"
A quest message appeared before Kirito, the leader of the party, asking him to accept or deny the quest. Immediately upon accepting the quest, the woman spoke. "You will find «Little Nepents» to the west of here, in the forest. Good luck, adventurers, and please, come back soon."
"That was strange," Ichigo commented after they had left the woman's house and walked west, to the edge of town.
"I agree," Klein said. "How so?" Kirito asked.
"The woman, she showed no emotion when talking about her daughter's sickness," Ichigo answered.
"Oh yeah, I guess the NPC adapting mechanism was reset," Kirito muttered mostly to himself.
"NPC adapting mechanism?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, in the beginning, when you talk to most NPCs they won't really show emotion because they don't know how to," Kirito explained. "But once more players start talking to NPCs, they'll start learning how to display more emotions. It took about two weeks with a thousand players in the beta test but with twenty thousand players stuck in the game, we'll probably start seeing more emotions within the next few days."
"I hope so," Klein shuddered. "That was just plain creepy."
Kind of reminded me of Nemu.
The forest wasn't really much of a forest. It was more like a gathering of a couple hundred trees stretching the entire length of the village. There was a small buffer of grass that acted as the border between the village and the tree-line. There was only one type of monster that lived in the miniature forest. The «Little Nepent».
«Little Nepents» weren't little at all as Klein and Ichigo soon found out when the encountered a plant-like creature moving on what appeared to be its roots. It had a leafy stem with a couple large leaves, a bulbous, red and white head, no eyes, and a mouth with fully visible teeth with some sort of strange, red liquid dripping down its mouth. Despite its tall figure, being around a meter and a half in height, it was level 3 and easily dealt with by a combination of Bakudo #4: Hainawa, two uses of the «Horizontal» sword skill and a Hado #4: Byakurai.
"Your lightning spell looks a lot stronger than it did two days ago," Kirito casually observed as they trudged forward into the trees, searching for a «Little Nepent» with a flower on its head.
"Well, my «Magic» mastery doubled in the two hours I spent fighting monsters last night," Ichigo responded as he Klein teamed together to kill a third «Little Nepent» in the past five minutes they had been walking among the trees.
"Two hours? You must have gotten a ton of «Replenishing Crystals!" Klein exclaimed.
Ichigo shrugged as jumped backwards, avoiding being hit by a «Little Nepent's» vine. Kirito took the chance to attack the «Little Nepent» from behind with a «Horizontal» sword skill which Klein followed up by using a «Vertical», a slash of the sword going from up to down. The «Little Nepent» shattered into polygons.
"You could say that," Ichigo spoke, taking the opportunity of having no enemies in the area to regenerate what little mana he could. It wasn't exactly a skill but so long as a spell wasn't being cast, the mana would slightly regenerate overtime. Health was the same but that could be turned into the skill «Battle Healing».
As more «Little Nepents» discovered the party and homed in on their location, all three members quit talking and focused on fighting the «Little Nepents», Klein and Kirito relying on their starting swords, and Ichigo too, after having used up half of his mana.
...
"Man," Kirito said as they headed back to the mother's house. "That was a close one, Klein. If you had killed that «Little Nepent» with the fruit on its head, we would have been swarmed with nearly a hundred of those monsters. Good thing Ichigo managed to intercept your sword in time." Kirito glanced at Ichigo slyly. "Though, even with the «Sprint» skill, at this floor, I didn't think it was possible to move that fast. I didn't even see you move."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and sighed. Ichigo predicted that he would always see reminders of Kisuke for a long time to come if that description he had written was anything to go by. "If you wanted to know, just ask. Look up «Shunpo» in your skill screen."
Both Kirito and Klein looked the skill up.
Shunpo: The Art of Fast Movement. The Goddess of the Flash, the fastest person in three dimensions, is said to use this technique to hit poor businessmen on the head when they've done nothing wrong but admire the female form. Shunpo can be defined by asking one, very important question. How much of a distance can be covered in a single step? If an inexperienced player were to use this skill more than once in succession, they would break their legs within five steps.
"Sounds dangerous even if the description is a little weird," Kirito judged. "Useful but unless you could cover the entire area of a boss room in a single step, you run the risk of blowing out your legs starting from the second step."
"It saved Klein from killing that «Little Nepent» with a fruit on its head, didn't it? Besides you can't be an inexperienced player if you train with «Shunpo» on a daily basis," Ichigo said.
Klein grinned. "I don't think I'd want to learn it but I'm definitely appreciative of the skill." Kirito knocked on the door of the house.
The same woman opened the door, recognizing the trio, and quickly ushering them all in.
"Do you have the ovule?" Much to their collective surprise, the woman actually showed anticipation in her expression.
"H-here you go," Kirito stuttered slightly at the surprise of seeing emotion. He handed the ovule over and the woman disappeared, soon returning with a plain, gray sword.
Quest Complete! Your party has successfully completed the quest, «Secret Medicine of the Forest» and has gained the following rewards. One «Anneal Blade», 1150 experience each, and 1000 col each. Two «Healing Potions» and one «Replenishing Potion» have been added to each of your inventories.
A chiming sound rang as both Kirito and Klein reached level 6, having reached level 5 in the middle of hunting «Little Nepents». They immediately allotted the points they earned from leveling up to either their STR stat or AGI stat. The quest had raised Ichigo's experience a little over three-quarters of the way to level at 8.
"Where should we go next now that you've gotten your fancy, new blade, Kirito?" Klein grinned as he asked his question, honestly curious about what Kirito had in mind.
"I was thinking that we could try to find the dungeon and clear the «Field Boss»," Kirito answered after switching swords and strapping his new «Anneal Blade» across his back. "It probably won't be in the same place considering all the changes Kayaba Akihiko made so it'll probably be difficult to find but that's okay since we need to level up anyways."
"What's a «Field Boss»?" Klein asked. Ichigo listened in to the response as well, figuring it would be important to know.
"A «Field Boss»," Kirito began, "is a monster guarding the entrance to the dungeon. Usually, they have two bars of health and are stronger than normal monsters outside a dungeon while somewhat the same when compared to monsters within the dungeon. «Floor Bosses» are monsters within the dungeon that guard the entrance to the next floor. They have four bars of health and are the strongest monsters of a floor."
"Good to know," Ichigo said. "Where should we head next now?"
"I'd like to first make sure that my assumption is correct. That means we're going to have to cross most of the land to go east, where the dungeon was located in the beta test. It'd be a good idea to stock up on potions and food. There aren't too many villages if we cut straight across," Kirito said.
Ichigo nodded. "Sounds as good as any plan. Klein, you might want to get a better sword now that you're a higher level."
"Understood," Klein waved as he separated from them. He had a sword to find.
Klein sighed miserably as trudged down a stone path that led to the center of the village. Only two days after Kayaba Akihiko had announced that SAO was now a death game and he already felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He had planned on entering the game with some friends but none of them had been able to make the first few hours of the launch of SAO and by the time they could, they had all already known about how no one could log out from SAO and so, hadn't entered the game.
Klein, despite all his joking and cheer, hadn't quite been able to rid himself of the resentment he had initially felt for his friends but he had soon quashed that feeling to nothingness. It was petty of him to do so. Instead, he had felt relieved that they were all safe. He wouldn't wish this game upon anyone.
As soon as Kayaba Akihiko had finished his speech, he had felt himself sinking into depression like the thousands of other players in the colosseum. He had felt slightly less depressed when Ichigo had told them all not to panic, better when he had hung out with both Kirito and Ichigo, and not at all depressed any longer when they had traveled together through the now perilous world.
No more depression for me! I'll stick with my friends, make some more, and help everyone get out of this crazy game!
He perked up after cheering himself up and immediately sped into a shop when he spotted a rather interesting looking sword in the display.
...
November 22nd, 2022
"W-what?" Kirito cried out in disbelief. "Someone got here before us?!"
After two weeks of traveling, training, and taking up various, short length quests for experience, col, and decent enough items, the trio- Klein, Kirito, and Ichigo, had finally arrived where the dungeon of the first floor would have been located in the beta test. Much to Kirito's surprise, there was a clearing where the «Field Boss» would have been, had someone not already come and defeated it.
"Man, and «Field Bosses» usually have some pretty high quality stuff too," Kirito sighed in disappointment. Ah well, maybe I'll land the Last Attack on the «Floor Boss» and get a rare item.
Ichigo shrugged his shoulders neutrally. He really didn't care on way or another if he got a rare item or not. He had his sword which leveled up when he did whether he did. His «Magic» skill was among the strongest in the game according to rumors from the last town they had been in two days ago. Most other people could only conjure fireballs, summon sparks of lightning, throw some dirt around though it was mostly used a defensive means, cut through things with a wind spell, or a water spell that healed a player. Apparently, in the game «Magic» spells were randomized depending on the player. And of course, his «Shunpo» allowed him to avoid most attacks.
He wasn't in any desperate need for rare items. What he really wanted was the «Martial Arts» skill. And the «Meditation» skill. He had tried preforming Jinzen but had no luck in contacting the virtual aspect of his spirits. Of course, he doubted that Kisuke would do that especially since Ichigo was pretty sure that Kisuke had no clue what Zangetsu or Shiro looked like. But he would have to learn the name of his virtual sword at some point so Ichigo's current theory was that «Meditation» would hold the key. Or maybe Kisuke had simply given him Shikai and Bankai at set mastery levels. Ichigo had had much time to think about it but those two ended up being the main theories.
Klein was only somewhat disappointed at not being able to fight the «Field Boss». Their teamwork had improved by leaps and bounds over the past two week. Ichigo had kept his level edge up until two days ago, when monsters had begun giving him little to no experience when he had reached level 10. He and Kirito had eagerly caught up to his level after then though Ichigo still retained a greater mastery of all his skills. Kirito had failed to mention that there was an experience curve per floor. Once a player had reached a particular level, the experience given by monsters sharply dropped. From then on, only «Field Bosses» and «Floor Bosses» would give the same amount of experience. Klein had wanted to show off his newest attack and how much damage he could do with his newest sword he had bought only two days ago. Oh well, Klein sighed. Maybe in the dungeon.
Just as they had begun heading inside the dungeon, a party came out. The party that exited the dungeon was a full party comprised of six people and led by a man with blue hair and long bangs, blue eyes, and wearing what looked like fair quality leather armor a blue, long-sleeved shirt and black pants. The rest of the party wore similar gear and looked more worn out and exhausted than the leader.
A moment of silence occurred as the two parties stared at each other. Then, a member of the other party pointed to Ichigo and shouted, "Ah! It's Carrot-top-sama!"
Ichigo clenched his hand into a fist. "You want me to kick your ass, ya bastard?!"
Several minutes later, all nine people were gathered in a circle in the clearing. Even though the «Field Boss» was defeated, monsters still avoided the clearing as if the «Field Boss» were still alive. Kayaba Akihiko had designed it so that players could rest before entering the dungeon. According to Kirito, the first safe bases within a dungeon were levels above.
Dungeons were split into two sub-catergories: Labyrinths and sub-dungeons. Labyrinths held the strongest monsters of a Floor and comprised of several levels stacked on top of one another. Labyrinths were terribly difficult to navigate without getting lost. Thankfully, a mapping feature existed in the menu that automatically mapped a level of a dungeon that a player had explored. Kirito had told Klein and Ichigo that the first floor dungeon had twenty levels in the beta test and that it had taken a couple days to explore it all and discover the room of the «Floor Boss».
Sub-dungeons were dungeons that weren't as important as Labyrinths. They didn't have any exits leading to the next floor so it was likely that people focused on clearing the game wouldn't bother with these. Sub-dungeons held «Dungeon Bosses» not unrelated to how a «Floor Boss» would be waiting at the highest level of a dungeon. «Dungeon Bosses», according to the beta tester, usually had either two or three bars of health, gave massive experience also unaffected by the level curve, uncommon and rare items, and, if a player was very lucky, «Corridor Crystals», a type of crystal in SAO that could teleport up to a full party's worth of people to any location known by the user of that crystal. «Dungeon Bosses» were also much less difficult to defeat than a «Floor Boss» though tougher than a «Field Boss».
"So, you guys found the «Floor Boss», huh?" Kirito asked.
A look shared among all the party members told he, Ichigo, and Klein, all they needed to know.
"Yeah," the blue haired man who had introduced himself as Diavel finally said. "We were planning on organizing a meeting in about a week so that we could convince as many as the high-leveled players as possible to come help out and kill the boss."
"Have you scouted the boss yet?" Kirito questioned. Ichigo and Klein were more than happy to let the most experienced user of the three to ask the questions though Ichigo and Klein both listened closely.
"Not yet but if you don't know, a player by the name of Argo the Rat recently created a guide for all the new players in the game based off the experiences of several beta testers," Diavel said, materializing said guide and handing it to Ichigo. Ichigo accepted with a nod. "It's free and available at any NPC store."
"So,"Kirito said casually as Ichigo read the guide like a speed demon. "I assume you also contributed to the guide, right Diavel?"
Diavel adopted a shocked expression for a moment, shared by all his party members. He chuckled softly. "I guess it was foolish of me to think that I could get anything past one of the strongest players in the beta test. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you know?"
"You called her Argo the Rat but 'the Rat' is only her moniker. Argo is her name," Kirito explained. "How did you know I was a beta tester?"
"Every beta tester knows of the player who always took the Last Attack Bonus in each Floor, Kirito," Diavel laughed.
"Heh," Kirito scratched the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Yeah, that would do it. I didn't even change my name, after all."
"Interesting but you've taught us all that and more, Kirito," Ichigo said as he tossed the guide to Klein, who reluctantly began reading as a refresher course on SAO.
"You read it all, already?" Kirito asked, astonished at his reading speed.
"Yeah. Let's just say it's an acquired skill." In between slaying Hollows and rescuing people, the entire past year, for Ichigo, had left little time for to study for tests and exams. So, he learned how to speed read so that he could spent more time killing Hollows. School wasn't particularly difficult for him; he had managed to rank within the top 20 in his school in academics.
Kirito shrugged his shoulders in reply. "I think that someone should scout out the «Floor Boss». If Kayaba Akihiko could so something like add «Magic» to the game, then it's easily possible that he could change something about the «Floor Boss».
"We can give you the map data for the «Floor Boss's» room so you guys can scout it out," Diavel said as he opened his menu and sent the information to Kirito. Diavel gave his fellow beta tester a grin. "Try not fight the boss until after we've assembled a full clearing party."
"Yeah, yeah," Kirito laughed, waving a hand dismissively. "I'll try not to take the Last Attack Bonus if I can help it."
The two of them shared a laugh at that.
Most players in SAO could recognized most beta testers on sight because many of those beta testers had helped them of their own volition. Because of that man with the carrot top hair- Ichigo vehemently complained and logically pointed out that carrot tops were in fact green- beta testers had been motivated to help out as many people as they could so that as many players as possible could survive in the game. The majority of players believed in one, single, common enemy. Kayaba Akihiko. Sure, there were dissenters who complained that beta testers were cheaters for having knowledge about the game they didn't have and yes, there were some beta testers who hadn't helped beginning players, but both parties were far and few in between. Certainly not enough to consider the beta testers, the majority of whom had helped many players, an enemy in the game. In the minds of thousands of players, the only true enemy all players had was Kayaba Akihiko.
"I guess we should get a move on if we plan on reaching a safe area before nightfall," Kirito said as he stood up. Even in dungeons, monsters grew stronger at night.
Diavel eyed Ichigo as the party of three said their farewells and departed to within the dungeon. He hadn't told the orange haired man what he had been planning ever since he had laid eyes on him. Diavel planned on spreading rumors that the orange haired man would be attending the meeting. That would surely get more people to come to the boss battle meeting in a week's time. I hope he doesn't mind too much.
That single thought was proof enough that Diavel knew very little about Ichigo. ...
Klein was getting tired of fighting these Kobold grunts. It was annoying, tedious, and tiresome. He wasn't sure how Ichigo and Kirito could kill Kobolds for so long without complaining about something whether it be about how Kobold attack patters offered no variety or how only Kobolds lived in this particular dungeon. He couldn't know about how SAO was like a home to Kirito, an escape from reality that he had wanted ever since finding out the person he had believed to be his little sister was actually his younger cousin. That Kirito had distanced himself from his family because he had felt like a stranger inside his aunt's home and had turned to games and eventually, virtual reality as an escape from reality. Klein couldn't fathom that Ichigo had spent countless hours killing Hollows and dealing with all sorts of supernatural threats. That Ichigo had this never-ending, indomitable desire to protect- whether it be kidnapped family or newfound friends that he made only two weeks prior. That he would protect any and all people precious to him- even at the cost of his own life.
But Klein soldiered on anyways, continuing to kill Kobolds without verbal complaint because of the strong bonds he had created with his friends, Kirito and Ichigo. Though they didn't talk much about their personal lives- and neither did Klein- it had felt as if he had known them forever. Whether it was him talking about the ideal girlfriend he'd like to meet, Kirito talking about SAO in general, or Ichigo, who didn't talk too much but instead listened intently and offered feedback about how Klein would never find that perfect girl because all people were flawed and that instead he should find a girl who'd like him for him and stick with her because someone like her would never come again or offer theories about the general workings of SAO he had observed during fighting.
And wasn't that something strange! Despite Ichigo claiming he had little knowledge about games in general, he had easily come up with half a dozen theories each time Kirito had talked about some of his own theories of SAO. It went over Klein's head but he could easily surmise that Ichigo was some sort of battle-genius or, at the very least, some sort of person who could adapt to any situation on the fly- a genius in general. A battle-genius certainly made sense considering the couple of hints Ichigo had left that told Klein- and Kirito for that matter- that Ichigo had been trained in some sort of sword style and close combat style though Klein, having absolutely no knowledge of trained fighting, had no clue what sort of style the orange haired man might use.
And sometimes- it didn't happen often, usually while nursing a non-alcoholic drink- he would catch Ichigo staring intently out the nearest window, eyes looking far older than his age of sixteen, according to what the orange haired man had told them, as if he had been through so many experiences, much of them hardening and terribly difficult, reminiscing about the past- though Klein believed that it was a different sort of past than simply reality- and he would only snap out of it when someone got his attention. It was unnerving, a look that Klein had only seen a couple times in his great-grandfather's eyes, who was a World War 2 veteran.
Klein was a mostly cheerful person, pleasant to be around for the most part, and whose most annoying habit was introducing himself to any pretty girl- single or otherwise- but, he was pretty observant. There was something... off about Ichigo, not wrong, simply off. Ichigo hadn't ever panicked, not when Kayaba Akihiko announced had announced SAO to be a death game and not when facing monsters- though that last part could be attributed to his knowledge of how to use swords and unarmed combat. It was just strange to see someone as young as Ichigo to not panic at the thought of a life and death battle. As if he had been in one before.
But Klein wouldn't pry. If Ichigo didn't want to share, that was fine with him. Friends supported one another, whether they knew why they were supporting a friend or not. And Klein considered Ichigo one of his closest friends in the game, right next to Kirito.
"Finally," Klein spoke, breaking himself out of his own thoughts. "I'm pretty sure this is the boss room, right?"
They had been in the dungeons for two days now, mostly because of all the Kobold monsters that had continuously spawned. They had actually had to turn back once because they hadn't wanted to fight monsters during the night while not knowing if they would stumble across another safe zone. Diavel hadn't mapped much of the area on some of the levels. His map guide had showed only the most direct route to the boss room. Some of it was mapped since it was a trial and error kind of thing but most of it was unexplored since it appeared that Kayaba hadn't changed most of the route to the boss room.
The door to the boss room was ornate, made of silver and covering in designs of Kobolds killing other Kobolds. It was double-doored and tall, four or five times taller than Ichigo and three times as thick as all three of them standing side by side.
"Yeah," Kirito said as he eyed the door speculatively and took out a teleporting crystal he had managed to acquire on their two week excursion towards the dungeon. His «Anneal Blade +6» was held in his dominant, right hand. "Keep a «Teleport Crystal» out. The «Floor Boss» could attack at any given moment. Remember, we're not fighting the monster by ourselves but
scouting. Try to take into account the amount of guards with the boss and what kind of weapons the boss has."
Ichigo nodded. "You got it. Klein?"
"I know already," Klein said. "Open the door." Slowly, Kirito pushed the doors open.
...
November 29th, 2022
Kirito, Klein, and Ichigo were the last ones to arrive at the meeting in «Tolbana», the second largest town on the first floor which also housed a smaller version of the colosseum where Diavel had told them the meeting would take place. They didn't have any particular reason for being later- unless Klein scarfing down cream from the «Cows' Counterattack» quest counted. According to Klein, who had ate it all before Kirito and Ichigo had a chance to try it, it was so good that it was worth missing the boss battle meeting for. Of course, once Ichigo had smacked him upside the head for being so stupid, Klein had reluctantly followed them.
They sat a distance away from the rest of the surprisingly many people who had gathered, on the higher steps of the mini-colosseum. Once Diavel made eye contact with the trio, he began the meeting.
"Thank you all for coming here today," the charismatic, blue-haired man said with a smile. "I'm Diavel and in this world, I like to think of myself as a knight."
He earned several laughs since there was no job classification system and it eased the tension of why they had all come here.
"Now, last week, my party and I discovered the boss room," Diavel said, turning serious.
Despite knowing the reason for the meeting in the first place, to hear it said by the host of the meeting himself, it earned several gasps from the audience.
"I plan on beating the boss to help everyone who is currently still in the «Town of Beginnings» and hasn't moved from there because they're afraid of the game that this game is beatable!" Diavel declared passionately. "I want to be like that orange haired man who inspired me to help protect everyone I possibly could in this game! But, I can't beat the boss alone. No one can. I need all of your help to protect everyone who can't protect themselves and everyone who needs to be shown that this game is not unbeatable!"
Clapping filled the stadium and cheers roared across the town for Diabel and his rousing speech to help everyone.
"Alright everyone, settle down," Diavel made a lowering motion with his hands. "Now, we need eight parties of six. We want to fill up each and every party so if you're a solo player, please join a party that still needs people. Later on, once we have eight parties ready, we'll meet here at 3
pm to discuss tactics. A party that took it upon themselves to scout the boss will inform us of their findings of their scouting raid. Please stick around town because we do plan on taking on the boss tomorrow. Please stock up on potions and crystals and get the best equipment you can possibly get your hands on because we plan on leaving from the East Gate at 10 am tomorrow. Thank you and hopefully I see many of you at 3."
People began forming parties almost immediately following Diavel's advice. Complete parties were easily created within minutes of the end of the meeting. Soon enough, there were only four people remaining. Ichigo, Kirito, and Klein, and some person wearing a red cloak sitting on the opposite side of the colosseum at their height.
"I guess we should go invite her to our party since all the other parties are full," Klein said.
"How do you know that person's a girl?" Kirito asked curiously.
"His pervert senses are telling him it's a girl," Ichigo answered him.
Kirito burst out laughing after realizing what he had just heard and seeing Klein's gaping mouth.
"Why don't you go invite her, Kirito," Ichigo stood up and narrowed his eyes at Klein. "While I teach Klein here how to behave when in a girl's presence."
Kirito grinned at Klein's horror stricken expression, believing wholeheartedly that he knew exactly what Klein was thinking. Lessons how to act in front of a girl? From the guy who's always scowling? What kind of nightmare am I living in?
"Hey," Kirito raised a hand, waving at the cloaked figure in greeting. "My friends and I noticed that you were alone. You can join our party if you want."
The girl wearing the red cloak raised her head slightly at him. Kirito couldn't quite make out her features except for pale skin and an unsmiling yet oddly attractive pair of lips. "I accept."
"Great," Kirito sent a request to join his party to the girl. "Just click the accept button."
The girl did so and Kirito was rewarded with the name and health bar of the girl appearing in the upper left of his screen. He peered intently at the name. "Asuna?"
Though Kirito couldn't see her expression, her voice told him of her surprise. "How did you know my name?" She instinctually gripped the handle of her rapier, which was hung to her hip.
"Your name appears on the top left corner of your view when you join a party. All the names of party members appear there," Kirito explained, putting one hand on his chest as Asuna looked to the top left corner of her screen. "I'm Kirito. Come on, I'll introduce you to the other two members of the party."
Kirito led the way back to Ichigo and Klein, the latter of whom held his fingers in his ears in order to blot out anything that Ichigo said. He quickly got his fingers out of his ears when he spotted the girl wearing a red cloak following Kirito.
Klein quickly moved past Kirito, dodging an attempt to grab him by the waist, and stood firmly before Asuna. He nervously bowed his head, stuttering, "H-hello! I-I'm Klein, 22, and currently looking for a girlfriend! Will you-"
Klein's well rehearsed speech was ended prematurely by a bop on his from Ichigo which sent the redhead crashing to the floor. "Ignore him. I'm Ichigo. That's Klein. You're Asuna, right?"
For the first time since meeting her, Kirito caught a good look of her from underneath her cloak. It was only a quick glance- light hazel eyes, a mixture of brownish-orange hair that looked surprisingly good on her, a pretty face all in all- before astonishingly, Asuna threw her arms around Ichigo and began quietly sobbing in his chest. "S-Savior! Y-you really did come! T-thank you for everything!"
Ichigo stood rigid. He had little experience dealing with these kinds of situations. The last time a girl had cried near him and he had given comfort to her... I guess that would be just after mom died when both Yuzu and Karin came to me and just cried for hours. Spectacular...
Slowly, the memories of comforting his sisters after his mom's death came back to him. Treating her as if she were one of his sisters, he cautiously embraced her, causing her crying to intensify though thankfully, much of the noise was muffled by his shirt. He tried using soothing words to calm her down though years of distancing himself ever so slightly from his sisters and his external gruffness he typically portrayed to the world seeped in his words.
"Shh, it's okay...Seriously, shut the hell up with your waterworks already! Good, that's better. Now listen, I don't know why you decided I'm the one you could cry on and I only understand a little of why you called me Savior- and you better not call me that again because I'm no savior- but first, you need to let go because you're hugging a stranger and it's awkward enough as it is... Good. Now, I understand that a lot of people bottled up their emotions but you can't go crying on the first person you see."
Reluctantly, Asuna disengaged herself from the orange haired man she had come to admire over the past three weeks despite having only met him once along with thousands of other people when he had told them all to not despair and never in person until now. Her cloak had dropped to the floor when she had moved to hug him and slowly, she dropped to the floor, taking her sweet time to collect the dropped item and compose herself.
"Sorry," Asuna said as she slowly stood up. "It's just-"
Ichigo held up a hand to stop her. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." "O-okay," she said quietly.
Ichigo had experienced similar reactions from other girls. Rukia, when she thought he had been fast asleep in one of the beds of the Fourth Division shortly after collapsing from exhaustion soon after Aizen had revealed himself to be a traitor. Tears had dripped from her eyes on to his face- and man, they got in my mouth too- and she had kissed him on the cheek. Luckily, he hadn't had to deal with it since he was asleep and just kept treating her as if nothing had happened. Orihime was another, in between the time they had left the dome of Las Noches after his fight with Ulquiorra but before he intervened in the fight against Yammy. She had hugged him and cried as well.
"Anyways, let's get going. We can do a quest or two and get used to your fighting style and you to ours," Ichigo changed the topic.
"I told you every girl wanted to know you," Klein grumbled as he recovered from the blow Ichigo had dealt him. "Lucky man."
A smile spread across Asuna's face as she heard the good natured bickering among the three of them. "Come on, I know a quest we can do," Asuna heard herself say. "Follow me, Carrot-Top Savior!"
A moment of silence passed as Asuna began walking away. Klein broke first. He roared in laughter, falling to the ground in the process not even three seconds after he had heard the moniker. Kirito, at least, had the decency to hold for five seconds before he too dissolved into laughter.
"What the hell did you just call me?!"
~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch2~
A/N: This was a pain to get the chapter with italics on. Eventually, I just emailed it and posted it from a computer.
Let's see, I don't really want to answer questions because I could inadverdently give some plot details away. A couple of you had interesting ideas, especially HolyKnight5, who actually managed to guess what I planned on doing with one of his theories.
Still open to pairings. Not really interested in writing Rukia or Orihime in as the pairing.
What else? Right, what Asuna has been up to in the three weeks will likely be explained next chapter. As well as the First Floor Boss Battle (I wonder who that could be?).
I'll probably post levels and stats and character information next chapter since it marks the end of the first floor. Of course, I can tell you that all three of them are level 10.
Interesting topics I want to point out simply because it caught my attention: I was looking for something to watch on Netflix when I stumbled upon a recently added (I think) anime. Freezing. I had actually intended to do one for sometime because I remember watching Freezing a few years ago (and only the first season). I think I want to do a crossover with that anime as well (a seperate story of course). I've actually been planning it for a while though with a reincarnated Ulquiorra. Yeah, just thought I'd bring that up. Of course, it might be a while considering I need to rewatch Freezing.
By the way, I do enjoy constructive criticism such as if I should etch out the personalities of characters more and so on.
As always,
Thanks for reading!