I do not own Sword Art Online or any of the characters.
Guardians
Michael stepped up to the gate to Arun, staring at the city beyond. It was massive, and he could see players of all races, none trying to kill each other. Even Sylphs and Salamanders. He began walking through the city, stopping at several blacksmith shops. He was unable to afford a shield worth anything so he continued. He saved at the first inn he reached then continued through the city. After nearly a half hour, he stopped, having reached a large door with a pair of fairy statues on either side. He grinned, drawing his sword and walking forward, stopping when the statues blocked the door with their swords.
"Thou knowest not the heights of Heaven above," one of the statues stated. "Dost thou seek entry to the castle of the king?"
Michael blinked, trying to force his brain to understand the way the statue spoke before an alert box opened, asking if he wanted to attempt to clime the World Tree. He selected yes and the box disappeared.
"Go then," the statue said as they moved their swords out of the way. "Prove thou art worthy of thy wings. Prove thou art worthy of flight."
And with that, the door swung open. He grinned, walking into the room beyond, finding himself at a massive domed room with a large flower-like design on the ceiling with a door in the center. The walls were covered with rows upon rows of glowing circles. He assumed that was where the guardians came from. Sure enough, as soon as he took flight, one of the circles shone and a suit of white armor with a large two-handed sword with a ring around the hilt as a guard.
"Nice sword," Michael grinned.
The armor flew at him, slashing at him but he rolled aside, slashing the armor and destroying it.
"This, I can do," Michael grinned just as every one of the thousands of circles began to shine.
Michael's stomach dropped as a suit of armor exited each, instantly forming a cloud he couldn't see through.
"Oh," Michael breathed before grinning. "This is going to be fun."
The guardians all flew at him and he grinned, charging as well. He slashed two swords aside, flipping and beheading one guardian. He kicked another onto the sword of a third and then spun, avoiding a stab and grabbing the hilt, slashing the guardian. He spun, slashing a line of guardians then hurling the sword at another group, killing most of them. Then, he flew upward, slashing his way through three guardians before breaking out of the top of the cloud, rocketing toward the door as the circles glowed again.
"Oh terrific," Michael sighed. "Now what?"
The guardians that came out of the circles this time all formed glowing yellow bows and arrows. They all began to fire and Michael stared in shock at the wall of yellow flying at him.
"God I wish I had a shield," he sighed as the arrows hit him, more than a dozen hitting him.
He growled in agitation, using his sword to break the arrows, making them fade and stop restricting his movement. The guardians with swords flew at him again and he sighed, flying sideways away from more arrows. He met the sword-wielding guardians and blocked two attacks before tearing into them. After roughly three minutes, he spun in a circle, destroying the guardians near him and the rest backed away, their numbers replenishing until he was in a sphere of armor and swords, unable to even see the archers, though he assumed they were getting reinforcements as well. Then, the guardians began to be shredded. the sheer number of arrows tearing through the guardians shredded them so that they couldn't even explode like the ones Michael had been killing had. Then, the full sphere of arrows was through the guardians and the light from so many arrows was blinding.
"Fuck!" Michael shouted just before thousands of arrows hit him, instantly blasting him into a Remain Light. "Damn. I was having fun too. I think I'll get a shield. Nah. More fun with a challenge."
He faded, waking up in the inn he had saved at and left, heading directly back to the door again. Within minutes he reached it and found a pair of players standing outside the door.
"Hey, didn't you just..." one of them began. "You're not going to try again are you?"
"Yep," Michael grinned. "It was fun."
He approached the door and the statues gave him the same greeting before allowing him to choose to enter. The door opened and he walked in, drawing his sword. As soon as the door closed, he rocketed upward, a single guardian appearing and flying at him. He slashed avoided it, flying around the room with the guardian chasing him.
"I see," Michael grinned. "So they only appear after you die."
He flipped over, rocketing past the guardian and splitting it in half as he did. The circles all glowed and Michael opened his menu, beginning to read off one of his offensive spells, the same he had used last time. The moment the guardians appeared, wind blasts formed and fired away from Michael, shredding several. Michael grinned, flying sideways as guardians chased him. One flew around in front of him and he blocked its sword, flipping over it and allowing it to block five swords before shoving him sideways and slashing the wielders of the swords. Then, he spun, blocking another sword and killing its owner. He flew toward the door, guardians swarming above him as he did. He stopped, grinning and using his spell again. It killed roughly a dozen but failed to make any noticeable dent. Then, the guardians began to swarm down at him. He quickly scanned through his spells and read off one for making a shield. A blue force field appeared around him, the guardians being blasted into pieces when they hit it, but they continued to fly at him. And Michael's energy, or magic power, or mana, or whatever ALfheim Online called it, was quickly running out.
Finally a guardian crashed into the shield sword first and it shattered, the guardian slashing at Michael. Michael flipped over the blade, drawing his sword and splitting the guardian before flying away from the rest as fast as he could. He would stop and kill a few every so often but he knew he wasn't even delaying the inevitable. After all, their numbers continued to grow by the second. Finally, he stopped, flying the other way and carving his way into the swarm, receiving numerous wounds but still managing to kill dozens of guardians. Finally they all backed away and the archers appeared. Michael began to use his shielding spell, finishing just in time for the shield to block the first sphere of arrows, barely. Michael didn't wait around for the second, he released his shield and drew his sword, flying away. The guardians with swords moved to block him but he slashed his way through them quickly. Just as he reached the archers, they all fired again. He received three arrows from the three directly in front of him but managed to get behind an archer, using him to block the rest of the arrows. Then, he began to fly around the room, slashing guardians as he went. After a moment, he blocked a sword and a guardian with a sword appeared behind him, stabbing him. He spun, killing both then flew away from the wall as more guardians began to grow out of it, both archers and sword-wielders alike.
"This doesn't look good," Michael sighed as the archers all aimed at him again.
He began flying and arrows began to zip past his head. He swerved and dodged, avoiding the arrows for a time and nearing the ground just as swords began to stab into the ground along with arrows.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Michael shouted rolling over to look up at them. "You all s-"
He was cut off by a guardian appearing behind him out of a circle on the wall and stabbing him. He transformed into a Remain Light instantly and sighed in frustration when he saw what had killed him.
"Figures," Michael growled. "Oh well. Maybe after lunch."
When he woke up in the inn, he logged out, leaving his house and going to a restaurant, where he had had a couple of friends. According to the waitress, they had all gotten done within the last six months. He would have to remember to call them later. He ordered a burger and fries and ate slowly, trying to think of a way to beat the guardians. In the end, his brain always returned to one fact. He needed help. And that led his brain to the one person that would be useful.
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