Hey, hey guys I'm back with another chapter of The Salient. Hopefully this chapter will have less mush and bore, and be more action and fantasy. If you made it this far l really shouldn't have to say that this story is driven by OCs, so this'll be your last reminder/warning. For those who reviewed the last chapter, thank you. That being said don't forget to REVIEW the chapter. And enjoy reading it in the meantime.

Chapter 2: Thrum

Dark. Its pitch black here.

Where am l? Brian thought to himself in the dark nothingness of void.

Ping! The sound and bright pop-up screen blinded Brian momentarily. Letting his eyes adjust, he looked over the floating holo projection.

The VRMMORPG Great Door Fantasy Online requires vital information for the enabling of your gaming experience, Player. Please fill out the chart as shown diligently. You will be spawned into a predetermined location by the Cardinal System after you have submitted your player information.

Brian read and re-read the message before continuing to the Character Creation Projection. Hm. Ok lets see. . . l think. . . this'll work. At least l don't have to worry about us ending up on different servers, there is only one available to the public right now by the looks of it. I think. Brian thought to himself as he fills out the customization form.

Name: Thrumaticus Thomil

Age: Eighteen

Height: 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 meters)

Race: African American

Weight: 170 pounds (77.1 kg)

Pick two of the seven classes, the first as your primary and the second as your secondary. Your character will also inherently obtain one 'weak' class in-which your character will be deficient. This class will be your characters 'Achilles Heel'. These classes, depending on your selection, will unlock a specialized group of Class Tree. These trees are based off of your initial selection NOW. Please select two options from the selection below:

Warrior, Tank, Mage, Assassin, Archer, Beast Tamer, or Trapper/Staller.

Primary: Warrior

Secondary: Trapper/Staller

The basic class selection seemed obvious, the only class that Brian actively read over is the Trapper/Staller class. A class that specializes in use of low-cost skills and a large pool of hit points, seemed a-okay to him. The only drawback is the lack of finishing power to the class. A primary in Warrior will help. Or at least that's what he's is hoping for.

Content with the choices he made, Brian pressed the large blocky 'SUBMIT' button.

The pop-up, vanished, and with it the dark void surrounding Brian's person.

Immediately he felt different, enhanced. Brian felt better than he ever had in his life; his muscles felt denser, his body felt tense, and he felt poised like a spring. He felt less awkward in his body, more comfortable, less anxious and calmer. The best way he could explain it is like getting back under a comforter on a cold morning.

He felt less like Brian. . He felt like . . I am like. . No I am. Thrum. This feels amazing. Thrum thought to himself. Glancing around at his surroundings, Thrum surveyed the deep green of the foliage around him. Thick vines hung from the canopy above nearly touching the ground with their length. The dense thigh-high grass staining Thrum's leather trousers green. l must be in some type of jungle section of the world. He summarized.

Thrum inhaled deeply, enjoying the peculiar feel of the air inflating his lungs, and then exhaled slowly. And the sounds! Between the sounds of familiar animals, and even unfamiliar sounds it was a symphony here. But even in this setting unseen before to Brian, Thrum was utterly confident. Nothing can hurt him now, and believing in that wholeheartedly, the tall male basked in this moment.

Ah the world, here, it feels so vibrant and alive. Thrum stretched his arms over his head. Settling on his heels he looked around, to catch the eyes of something nearby.

Staring at the interesting creature, the Spotting System, identified the Monster to be a Jungle Impache, and Thrum laughed.

The poor thing's only level one! Thrum seemed to lose the irony in the fact that he himself is only level one! The feral beast's a bit less than three feet tall, with lanky arms, a thin build and poofy fur. The only places with a lack of that thick silver fur would be the animal's hands and feet.

"Ahahaha! Whats the matter, mad cause l popped in while you were taking a- " Thrum would of used an obscenity to insult the monster but was cut off by the beast's shrill scream. Which wouldn't of have been so bad if it was not accompanied by both a system pop-up of some kind, and the much more pressing of the distractions, the Monster rushing Thrum from thirty feet away deceptively fast.

Thrum would of been bowled over if this was the real world, good thing it isn't. Hopping out of the way of the imp-sized creature's path Thrum instinctively reached for the sword at his hip, which did not exist. Shit. This fight just got a lot more serious, and a lot less possible. Turning away from the fleet-footed Monster, Thrum sprinted away as fast as his feet could manage.

Moving scarily fast -especially to himself- Thrum weaved around trees, hopped rotting logs, performed a near 90° change in motion while keeping all of his momentum, and jumped a large river at full speed, hanging in the air for a full five seconds before landing in a smooth roll on the opposing bank.

Thrum panted in euphoria. The wind howling in his ears, the hot beat of the sun on his back when the canopy breaks, and even hotter prickle of breath on the back of his neck. Thrum shivered with glee, and would of have run for as long as his feet could carry him.

The sensory overload that comes with dropping into this world, the colors all seeming a shade unnaturally bright, the sounds so much more crisp, an ocean of sensation sweeping through and making all concerns seem distant. Far away. Players all throughout the world are having the same problem. This world is to the real world as a mosaic is to a carpet stain. And then something brought his mind back to focus.

An irrational, and niggling, twitch in the mind, telling him there is something around here. Danger! Thrum had nearly lost his inhibitions to this world and probably would of died because of it. Thrum stopped laughing maniacally and broke his sprint, sliding up against a tree in front of him. Buckling down, he took in his surroundings.

Where are they, l swear they were right on my tail. How did they go from right behind me to just disappearing?! Thrum thought to himself. They, because Thrum's pursuer had made some kind of chirping noise as they ran, alerting others of his kind that there's an intruder to their domain.

After a few breaths to calm down he went still and held his breath, and it was as he tilted slightly to get up he could hear them, and as he focused, see them as well. The sounds of feet thumping against branches, that's one. Another just outside of his vision, behind one of the trees to his left, the sneaky bastard would dart around just out of his vision whenever Thrum would try to get a good look of the Imp. Though interestingly enough, this second one looks the same, but maybe a darker shade of silver? And then the original lmp dropped down a dozen yards away from him.

Now that Thrum had been still for a few seconds, the pop-up from before opened up just below Thrum's field of vision. If the annoying fuzzball hadn't attacked yet, it probably was waiting for something. Letting his eyes wander to the insistent message,Thrum found out some useful information, and some not so useful information.

First of which, how to open the Player Menu: a flick of the wrist and a boom you got menu. Second of which happens to be that a bit of starting equipment lies in his Inventory, including his sword. Lastly in the message there was something about a public announcement, but Thrum didn't have enough time to read that message over before hastily discarding the pop-up entirely. The Jungle Impache have re-grouped.

Dropping down from the trees an Imp landed next to the original and grinned lasciviously, then a second came darting out from behind a tree and stopped to stand on the other side of Fuzzball. They are different! Those two beside Fuzzball are smaller and slightly less imposing. ls he some type of alpha beast, their levels are all the same? He must be because he's the only one with silver fur, the others must be the normal tier Jungle Impache, well then. Its just as well to be my luck to find a rare enemy on the first try, without even trying! Thrum studied the Impache as they slowly made a semicircle around him, and flicked his wrist casually and paused. When it opened Thrum spared a half-second to locate his Inventory. and clicked it. Equipping his Iron Short Sword -thank goodness a weapon was there- Thrum felt the leather handle materialize in his hand and grinned a lascivious grin similar to the beast's. The lmpache tensed at the sight of the weapon, but Fuzzball who hadn't moved since showing up looked about as unimpressed as a beast of his caliber and level could, which is more than you'd think.

And then, passing some sort of message between each other, the grey balls of lightning darted towards Thrum in a pincer attack. Anticipating them to make the first move, Thrum tensed his legs and waited. The beasts are the same level and class, they rushed him at the same time, and aren't intelligent enough to come up with an actual strategy of attack. Meaning, Thrum only had to watch one to know when the other to his side would show up.

Waiting for the Jungle Impache to get as close as Thrum could allow, he jumped backwards. This put him further away from the alpha, and left the two others to collide with each other. But the Impache are dexterous if nothing else, and dodge each other just barely.

Then Thrum went on the offense, rushing one of the downed Imps. "EYAAAAAH!" The lmp howled its pain to the heavens.

The strike was not fatal, but now that Imp's health bar has about a quarter left. Their fast but not tanky at all. Thrum thought to himself. The horizontal slash severed the Imp's arm, leaving a bleeding stump. The arm that Thrum severed disappeared into nothingness.

Like greased lightning, the second lmp slammed into Thrum from behind. This saved the first lmp from a grisly death. The second lmp buried it's fangs into the tough leather of Thrum's shirt. Thrum hissed in pain, and in his peripheral could see the other beast dart forward to capitalize on his weakness. Thrum threw himself out of the path of the rushing Imp and landed roughly on his back. Right where the lmp was latched on. Knocking the wind out of the lmp. Thrum studied the yellow lightning symbol by the, now injured, lmpache's health bar.

It's obvious what that symbol means, at least to a veteran videogame player like Brian. The bastard is stunned! Raising his iron sword in a reverse grip Thrum plunged the blade into the monster's lung savagely. The beast exploded instantly into a bunch of red flakes that floated around before fading into nothingness. The satisfying ping of death the game generates is particularly pleasant.

Rising like a ghost and nearly as silently as one,Thrum waited for the other two lmps to attack first. Besides the alpha, these guys are impulsive! Thats how you beat them; even in numbers they're simplistic in their attacking patterns! Thrum grinned, understanding your enemy is essential in defeating them. Even Fuzzball has started to pace in anticipation!

Enraged at his prey's elusiveness, the grey furred lmpache rushed once more. To him, the fact that the other lmp died just means he gets more food at the end of it all. The lmp tries to confuse Thrum with a zig-zag approach, but without slowing down and by still attacking linearly, the poor thing was just asking to be cut in half. And so when it jumped for Thrum's face, teeth bared and red eyes gleaming hungrily, that's what he did. Cut him in half.

Not turning back to see if the deed was done, Thrum readied his blade between himself and Fuzzball.

The Alpha Class, Level One Jungle Impache, unofficially named Fuzzball ate up yards at a dizzying pace. Claws flashing with a red glow, the Alpha did not jump and leave himself prone, but slid instead and slashed for Thrum's ankles. The pro-gamer leaped the dangerous swipe. His claws left a red trail. Melee skills, so there aren't just weapon ones huh. Thrum turned, swinging his three foot long blade, and barely missed the beast with his much larger range.

Pressing the advantage, Thrum slashed and hacked savagely, the beast was being pushed into a backpedal. Parrying with its claws whenever a cut nearly hit home and using its Unarmed Weapon skills, they danced dangerously. As Thrum continued to fight he began to learn quickly the do's and dont's of sword combat. Maybe it's the Warrior Class but Thrum could see the mounting progress, and behind it that itchy feeling in his hand now.

Horizontal, diagonal, backhand, step backward, step forward, and then another step forward. Before long the battle devolved from being a stand-up clash of weapons, to something more like kill-tag. Thrum slid behind trees, picked up rocks to throw, and even wrestled with the beast when it flat-out tackled him.

"Fuck you," Thrum panted between warding swipes, taking his turn to retreat. Checking his health, Thrum silently winced. Less than half now. "Stupid Fuzface, jus' die already!" The niggling pressure had coalesced into a ball in Thrum's hand, and it was waiting patiently for itself to be applied he could tell, but Thrum couldn't for the life of him figure out how!

Losing ground, Thrum couldn't even check the beast's health, because whenever he tried he would lose a bit of his own for lack of concentration. Thrum needed an edge, and this potential energy in his left wrist didn't seem to want to give him any breaks.

The fucker's so fast! Thrum withered back, fear creeping into his stance. One-third. Thrum's health had just turned from viridian green, to sickly yellow. Shoulder checking the lmp on one of its rare slips in footing, Thrum checked its health in the time allotted, just above half. How in the hell did l beat the others if they're. . So much faster. Face-palming at the fact that he had discarded his full-proof strategy for sword play, Thrum turned on his heel and sprinted away from the lmp at full speed.

The lmpache, expecting another round of wrestling, was positively pissed that his nearly defeated prey had started running away. The lmpache Alpha was up and chasing in a flash. Thrum could feel a lot of that potential energy in his wrist flee, kind of like he is now. But instead it returned to his skull, slightly warning to danger.

Thrum jumped to his side, straight into a tree, and back flipped off of it to lose his momentum all at once. The lmpache, not having a convenient tree, simply barreled into a bush unceremoniously. Right where Thrum had been running.

Thrum whistled, as if for a stray dog, and the roar of anger was slightly concerning. Thrum readied himself and was not disappointed. The shiny silver beast jetted out of the dense foliage and began glowing. The striking glow increased, and for the first time, Thrum noticed that the skills the lmpache would use were labeled by his health bar, Rage Blitz. Thrum wanted to, but couldn't dodge in time.

The enraged monster stuck hard, and would of have instantly killed Thrum if he had not braced himself for impact. Pushing Thrum back they flew nearly a dozen yards and through a wall of plant life. Still airborne, Thrum was blinded by the sun. Blinking fiercely and twisting to face the ground, Thrum realized that there is no ground to face!

We were fighting on the edge of a cliff and didn't know it! Thrum thought to himself. And from here, Thrum could see for miles around. The forest here stretches on seeming endlessly. As far as the eye could see. Green, vibrant tree tops capped with fruit. Some with nests, nests containing eggs of a variety of colors. And a swath of blue on Thrum's left cuts through the green cleanly. An immense river, much larger than the one Thrum jumped lies there. Following the path of the river, Thrum caught the sight of a structure, just right to blind himself. The indigo building stuck out like a sore thumb, and looks worn as well.

"Reaghh!"

Thrum spun his body around, eyes gluing onto the now bright silver creature diving for him. To it this fight is not over. Thrum glanced at his health and saw that he is below ten. Not good. Opening his menu mid-free fall, Thrum grabbed one of the two potions from his Inventory and read the description to find out how to use it. A slow regeneration of ten percent of health, and drink to use. Downing both of the potions, Thrum watched the lmp slowly descend to him, faster than he himself is falling.

The ground is getting closer and so is he, l have to stop myself and lose this bitch on the way. Thrum used his time sparingly. The cliff side's sloping this way so. .

With no apparent alternative, Thrum jammed his iron sword into the rocky surface.

Chink. The sword tip snapped but Thrum lost a chunk of momentum, the lmpache by then had already closed half of their distance. A series of jerky attempts to slow down seemed fruitless, and so instead, Thrum focused on the snarling threat above.

The combatants had reached the halfway point of their fall.

Using the sword as a ward, Thrum tried to keep the beast away. The lmpache used the outstretched blade as leverage, and taking the sharp edge in it's hand and pulling himself close. Ditching the sword so he can have his hand free Thrum and Fuzzball wrestled in mid air. Spiraling in a corkscrew fashion, they slammed each other into the cliff side. Shaving health off of each other in the most punishing and efficient way possible.

This went on for a good twenty seconds, a twenty second hell. With his weight advantage, Thrum was winning this particular game, and after a devastating crash against the cliff side the lmpache found itself stunned. Seeing his golden chance Thrum put the lmp under his own body and tensed hard before pushing off. This motion took Thrum only a second, but this minor stun only lasted half of that time. And so grabbing a hold of a branch jutting out of the passing rocks, Thrum found himself victim to a passenger.

"Hey Fuzzy?" Thrum asked, as the Jungle Impache tried to get a good grip on his foot. He was answered with a growl, promising death. "You like shoes? That's cool you can have one of mine." And so before the lmp could climb its way up with meager strength, Thrum kicked off his left low-top sneaker, watching in glee as the deranged monster yelped in fear, and plummeted hundreds of feet to its grisly demise. Still clutching Thrum's shoe in both hands, there was no chime of death this time. The monster died much too far away, but his death was confirmed. A much more happy sounding ding reverberated, and Thrum would of have been inclined to read the pop-up, if he was not suspending himself from death by a suspect-looking tree branch.

Looking up with his peripheral vision, Thrum checked his meager health. Apparently, the system know when a player is in combat, because every couple of seconds his percentage of health would raise by a point. It was not doing that during combat.

Annoying. Thrum glared at his health, willing it to increase faster, Sadly, every ten seconds he would get another one percent. Trying to get a good handhold on the cliff, Thrum decided that while he still had some adrenaline he would get down from up here. So with one shoe and almost no health he began the decent.

_GDFO _

Thrum did not know how long it took for him to get to the forest floor, and gratefully took the time to repress everything that had transpired after submitting his Character Creation Projection. Opening the pop-up from before, Thrum was pleasantly surprised to find that he had leveled up. Checking his stats, Thrum decided to let the game suggest what to increase and went with the suggested permanent buffs. Hopefully later i'll know what l need stat-wise, l don't want to use the system for stat improvement, there's usually a more optimum way to divvy stats besides the game's recommended style. At the same time, l don't want to be the first to die in The Crew either so lemme just level real quick. Thrum thought to himself.

Besides a level, Thrum found that Fuzzball left him something. Boots! Fur-lined Jungle Boots. With a stat buff of +5 speed. The boots were dark green with a black trim, with the laces matching the trim. All in all not bad for a level one drop, and even still he couldn't find the sneaker he dropped so they'd have to do either way. Equipping the boots, Thrum decided to head towards that indigo temple he saw while falling earlier.

Without a weapon he knew he wouldn't be able to fight well, hell, with a weapon Thrum knew he couldn't fight all that well. So it was with that thought, while walking in a Monster filled Jungle he made a mental note to get good. As soon as possible. If push comes to shove i'll just run. Or I could die and see what happens. It's just one death and that way I can find out about death penalties and respawns- No actually! I'm sure the other guys would brag if i had a death and they hadn't had one yet. Especially Josh. So i guess i'm running, wait I never saw a map in the. . Hm maybe at this building up ahead i'll get some insight. Thrum concluded, not stressing too much.

And so that's how he got by, running away from the near constant amount of Jungle lmpache. Not a one of them had the shiny silver fur of Fuzzball, which spoke of just how flipping rare they are. Thrum had even wrestled a few unsuspecting lmpache to death. But all they gave to him was experience and frail bronze coins. Probably the game's currency.

"These lmpache a so weak compared to how strong Fuzzball was, but there are so many of them. And these coins, i'm assuming there's a tier system to these and i'm only getting the crappy bad ones." Thrum said aloud, inspecting the bronze coins in the meantime. "The temple cant be much further from here either." Thrum peered into the darkness that is the canopy and could gleam nothing beyond a few yards. Unsurprising really. Glancing back down to the coin in his dirtied hand, Thrum inspected both sides. One depicting some sort of door or book, probably a door based on the name of the game. While the other side had a man on it, smiling and giving a Victory V with his index and middle fingers. Weird I bet he's actually in here too or maybe had been and he's dead now?

Letting the coin vanish into his inventory, Thrum started walking again.

l wonder how things are going with everyone else. l wonder if babe is having a hard time understanding the mechanics of the game. l still don't know how to use weapon skills and i'm already level three. Thrum thought to himself idly. By now the forest sounds have become white noise to Thrum. Ambiance to fit the setting.

And just as Thrum was deciding to sit down for a moment and relax to get rid of his exhaustion de-buffs, the sea of trees parted to reveal the jungle temple he had seen earlier. The sun in the sky had drooped severely, leaving the once spooky forest a sinister sight. The sight was even more sinister thanks to the shadows. Shadows that only existed because of the glowing temple in front of Thrum.

The glowing temple looked so out of place, like a spaceship dropped from the sky here. The grass around the temple had the same vibrant color to it, but isn't wild in the slightest. No vines hugged the building, which to Thrum is extremely intriguing. "Okay freaky purple temple, wadaya want from me?" Thrum said aloud not expecting an answer, and not getting one. "Maybe someone's inside? . ." Taking the steps two at a time, Thrum walked into the open archway a little anxious. The further he went inside the further the sounds of the forest went and the forest was safety, but curiosity overpowered his doubts. Damn no people. There must be something here. Video games don't put oddly colored GLOWING temples in the wrong places for no reason. Unless it's one of those types of games. And this is not one of those types of games. I think it's not at least. Thrum monologued to himself.

And so he searched the vacant and very barren building. The ground floor and upper floor had nothing of interest. That means, "l have to go down there, huh." Thrum was not amused by this development. Marching into the darkness in an aloof manner, Thrum realized that if an enemy happened to be down there in the basement then he should be a bit more stealthy in his approach. And so moving slowly and with caution, Thrum descended.

The darkness was all encompassing, and the silence more so. Each stair pushed Thrum further from the much more welcoming glow up above. Thrum tried to keep a track on how many steps he was taking, but discarded that to instead throw all of his concentration into being ready for anything.

A red dot down below drew Thrum's attention. The more stone steps he took, the closer it came, and before long Thrum recognized the red dot to be a torch. Torches! Bounding down the last hundred steps or so, Thrum was happy to be under the brilliance of light again. Now at the ground floor -or well, hopefully l wont need to do anymore descending- l can find out what in the hell is down here! Thrum turned from the hot torch and stared at the door at the far end of the hall.

He walked deliberately across the dirt-caked floor and stopped in front of the indigo door. Turning the knob, Thrum pushed the door inwards and stepped inside to be greeted with a grandiose dome-like room. Staring about in awe, Thrum took in the fact that everywhere in the room. . . No, in this amphitheater, are indigo balls of light.

Some small, others large, some pulsing, others solid in being, some flying about the room, others stationary, but all bright. The most concentrated of them lying in the center of the room, by an upraised pedestal. Thrum tried to dodge the balls of energy, magic he was sure. But it was too late then. In the time it took for Thrum to marvel the room, a few balls of indigo had stuck to his arms and clothes. Waiting for something terrible to happen, Thrum was grateful to find the magical orbs harmless.

"Okay~." Thrum whispered, and more balls of light stuck to his person. Feeling a rise of confidence, Thrum strode directly to the middle of the amphitheater towards the pedestal. As he approached, the magical lights began to thrash. Becoming more hyper the closer he got. Pressing in with their mass-less energy they created a path directly to the pedestal. Stepping up the three steps, Thrum stood in front of the bare pedestal.

The pillar had a faint glow to it, decorated with swirling lines that looped and stacked, making it seem as if the whole of the structure itself was made of such intricate lines. And thinking about it, this thing may actually of have been made in such a way. Years of work, potentially decades in the hands of someone with enough skill and time, but it here it could be fabricated in seconds. And then it struck him, in this world of fantasy and fiction, ANYTHING could be fabricated. The most beautiful and awe-inspiring things lie in the digital universe. As well as the things of nightmares most definitely.

And it was with those thoughts that Thrum looked around himself, really looked and felt a lot more like Brian. The indigo lights had formed an almost perfect sphere around him, and if he peered hard enough he could see the individual orbs spinning around him, reflecting the same face from the real world. As each orb passed he could see the events of today flash inside them. From his time in darkness, to his fall over the cliff, his arrival and investigation of the temple, to now. Surrounded by orbs of something, spinning and unpredictable. What are these things really? I assumed magic but how could i know. Swallowing down the knot resting in his throat, Brian did a full spin, turning and realized that his way out of this sphere's nonexistent. Breathing a little heavier and eyes darting for a way out he felt suddenly very conscious of parts of his body that he hadn't been a few minutes ago. Putting a hand on the pedestal Brian leaned onto it. Raising his other he placed it over his eyes to block his vision, and took a minute to catch his breath.

After taking longer than he'd like to admit Brian looked up and was slightly startled to see the orbs had coalesced into a solid dome of energy around him, but after a second marveled. Reflecting back to him was the same scenes as before but from a different light, a different angle. His own joy as he filled out the creation projection, his glee as he won his first real fight in-game, his poise and focus as he entered the temple. He'd been strong and brave then, so why not now? Brian is Thrum and Thrum is Brian. So if Thrum is strong. Then I must be strong too.

The spheres of magic had encased Brian, here, in front of this pedestal, but he did not feel trapped anymore. So pushing himself back to his feet, Thrum glanced down at the simple but intricately-made construct. He felt the compulsion to place his hand on it properly now. Thrum raised his dominant hand, his left one, and rested it on the smooth counter of the pedestal. And then in an alarming motion, the indigo lights of magic drew together. These silent orbs, which could not displace air and could not be felt, or noticed besides the fact that they illuminate, drew together. To form a humming ball of heady magic much too near to his face. "Okay, okay. You've had your fun." Thrum said with clenched teeth, it was an effort to keep his hand on the pedestal, and he only did it because something below had caught his eye, glancing down Thrum read the message. A message inscribing itself into the pedestal slowly.

Prodigal Warrior

You have traversed the area of your spawn. You have made it here without losing your life. You have discovered this temple. You have completed hidden Launch Quest X. And you shall been rewarded for your skillful accomplishment. You may have one of two rare items. A sword befitting a Warrior of your Level (3). Or gauntlets befitting a Trapper of your Level (3).

Sword or Gauntlets. l can have one or the other , but which will be better? It has to be the gauntlets, right? A sword is run of the mill. l can get a sword when things come down to it, but can l get a gauntlet as good as this seems? Thrum mulled over his choice before sticking with his gut.

Sword or (Gauntlet)

You have made your decision.

And then in a swirl of indigo light, and immeasurable heat, the altar disappeared and everything became as dark as could be. Everything except for Thrumaticus Thomil's LQX Gauntlets.

_GDFO_

Thrum began walking out of the temple with his new forearm protectors. The gauntlets had dark metal with melding and shifting indigo lines capped with gumdrop-sized ball spikes on the knuckles. Walking out of the grey temple, Thrum felt good. The indigo patterns on the gauntlets glowed and danced, and with the once beautiful temple transformed into such a meek and grey visage, Thrum felt as if he had entrapped the essence of the temple inside of his gauntlets; as if he ensnared the will of the temple and is now using it for his own gain.

Reading over the description and buffs of his newest acquisition, Thrum found that the gauntlets are very versatile. An adaptable function for glowing in the dark, minor magical abortion, increased stats to his unarmed strength, reflexes, and even a skill!

Thrum walked down the steps and re-entered the forest, walking aimlessly. For weapon skills to unlock, you must have a certain level in the specific class of weaponry. Meaning short swords, and rapiers have completely different trees for unlocking skills and completely skills all together. Even when the skill has the potential to be unlocking by having a high enough level you must have a skill point to available to unlock said skills. And the only way to get weapon skill points is by upgrading your weapon level.

"Alright so I have three skill points right now, for my three levels, I could spend them now but I do like the idea of saving up and studying the skill trees before i make a decision." He said aloud. "Obtaining skill points doesn't sound very convoluted, but maybe i'm missing something. . . No I must be because why was I able to almost tell foresee danger before i'd come, and the same with my hand."

Flitting through the menu, the Help Menu in particular he was able to slowly but surely realize that even without having a skill, the game will still make you feel as if you should use that skill in an ideal situation. If skill level and skill points for said skill are available.

"I see the application there but, nah, i'm turning that off." With a little searching in the settings he went in and turned that off. The only thing Thrum still didn't understand and couldn't figure out is how he was able to tell when Fuzzball was attacking without actually knowing for sure. l didn't have any prediction skills then. . l still don't. This is so annoying when you know the information is there but can't find it.

Getting frustrated he checked his skill levels again and smiled, good progress for just one day. Thrum's current level in Unarmed Combat actually exceeds his level in Short Swords. Must be the fact that i'm not that good with swords and my fights always end up on the ground instead of upright.

Closing the Options Menu Thrum started thinking of a game plan for not being lost. Heh. Okay so the temple was a bust. So thinking about it maybe I should check that large river, civilization and bodies of water basically go hand and hand so if I could just remember which direction it was in. Y'know what lemme just climb this tree and find out exactly where it is. Walking up to the largest tree in sight, Thrum prepared to start climbing and vanished.

The bright light faded and the darkness of the forest swallowed it whole.

_GDFO_

Hundreds of players were being teleported in, all different colors and sizes, trying to figure out where they were and why it is that they were brought there. As the hall filled with players ruby red eyes scanned the embroidered hall in disdain. The large pillars of marble were decorated with figures of power (most likely lore friendly but none of the players were really sure). The pristine floor was reflecting the light shining from thousands of glowing orbs of magic in the air. Everything from the walls, to the ceiling, to the finger pastries lining one of the walls screamed upper-class. A small group of mandrakes provided music, with one Echidna as lead singing, their magic amplifying the sounds exponentially. The melodious voice and ambiance was sweeping the large hall, calming the nerves of the near twenty-thousand players appearing from thin air.

The players themselves all seemed overwhelmed by the surreal nature of this grandiose dancing hall but that was understandable. No longer wearing their starting gear, the gamer's found themselves garbed in tuxedos and dresses respectively. Blues, blacks, whites, reds, any combination you could think of were there and she herself practically glided over the ground. When she passed those near she whispered seductively to them, inviting them to dance.

Wariness is unnecessary here. Dance. Celebrate your arrival. The woman whispered as she went, but her voice projected the message clearly. Her countenance was stunning. But her expression was stony, Uncaring. A clear deterrent.

Understanding the message, people began to pair. They danced to the music, and before long the magical undertone of the situation faded. Thousands of people swaying their hips, eating, laughing, and generally having a good time. Even the mages among the crowd couldn't detect the powerful spell that was cast on them. And so pleasant noise enveloped the environment. Pairs swapped partners, and a few of the more ostentatious even told stories of their non-existent conquests in the game so far.

Doubling back and ignoring offers for a dance, the woman surveyed her surroundings. The players that seem to be a bit more suspicious of what in the world was going on gradually dismissed their caution, so with her job done she returned. To them, this must be some kind of launch event.

Her pale skin and dress felt foreign on her body, but she did not show it outwardly. Floating up the steps, she seated herself on her throne, and waited for the opportune moment to draw attention to herself.

_GDFO_

Thrum dropped into the hall wearing a jet black tux. Tensing, Thrum resisted the urge to raise his hands and set his weight firmly. Glancing around the area, he could see the anxiety and confusion on the faces of those around him and felt it creep itself inside of himself.

To think l wanted to be around other people so badly, but now that l am l'd rather be out there in the wild. Thrum scanned over everything: the disheveled people about him, the soothing music fluttering in the air, the food -which made his stomach growl in need- as well as the phantom flowing by. . .

What in the freak? Thrum was dumbfounded.

Once the phantom lady had passed through the entire atmosphere changed. The players or NPC around him became so at ease and he felt it slowly but surely seep into his own muscles. Inconveniently the music piqued and Thrum was dragged into a spiraling dance with a pretty older woman with -thankfully- tan skin and shoulder-length brown hair. The mismatched couple spun smoothly, "lsn't this interesting, such an amazing launch event?!" The woman asked with a dazzling smile.

"Er. . Yeah? l'm sorry but l thought everyone here was non-player characters. Do you know what's going on?" Thrum asked.

"No. But that's okay, because l am sure in a bit she will tell us." The lady, who seems to be in her late thirties, said referring to the phantom from earlier. And then she was gone. The music's tempo had changed slightly, signifying to every person there that it is time change partners, and so Thrum had lost one, for another.

This went on for the next hour or so. Dance, dance, switch partner, dance some more. Thrum tried his hardest to interrogate his partners, and while some seemed unconcerned and ditzy, others were very helpful/pressed for information themselves. Realizing that he is in the wrong place to gather info, and scanning for his friends along the way, Thrum maneuvered his way to the 'food wall' as some had called it while he danced.

For some reason, dietary needs are a thing in this game. As Thrum made his way to the punch bowl he realized that he and his lover had ordered food in real life as a matter of fact. Maybe my real life hunger is seeping into the game? A good addition to keep people from playing for too long at a time. l don't know how logging in works in this game. l'll just get to a secluded spot by the food and logout there. Thrum decided to himself on the way.

Just as he found a good place to chill, Thrum saw a familiar face. Josh! Erm. . Ultorem?

_GDFO_

Ultorem turned from his plate of white pastries. The pointed stare of eyes from somewhere making him tense slightly. A dark skin male, black hair, tall, and those unmistakable facial features.

Json, or Thrumaticus Thomil? Mouthful of a name.

"Hey Thrumaticus. l see you got here in one piece." Ultorem said, as Thrum approached.

"Thrum is fine," Thrum's grin widened. "ULTOREM." He said with wide emphasis.

They shared a smile at their fanciful names. One down, about eight more to go. Give or take if their friends have found each other or not.

"Have you seen The Crew?" Thrum asked.

"No. And i'm assuming you haven't either. Have you heard about the ultra-rare launch drops? Apparently if you search the area of your spawn and beat the other players to your terrain's temple you can get one. Though it must be over now with this launch party the Devs are throwing right now." Ultorem asked/said. He himself had to fight tooth and nail underground to get his hands on the dagger that he has now. Though it's nice to see my name labeled in it's name. He thought to himself.

"Yeah, l got my hands on a sweet pair of. . .WAIT MY GEAR!" Frantically Thrum opened his menu to check his Inventory for his arm gloves.

"Your gear is in your lnventory alright, it was the first thing l checked before coming here to chill." Ultorem left out the whole berating bit, even if Thrum forgot to check if he still has his stuff and simply enjoyed the party. Really the only reason he didn't make fun is because its just them until they find their other friends.

"Yeah okay, okay, l gotchu. But even still l gotta jet for a bit to get some food in my stomach. Sarah and l ordered pizza and who knows if the guy showed up already." Thrum checked his lnventory for his stuff anyways, before searching for the way to logout. Coming up empty he asked Ultorem for some help.

And so for the next couple of minutes the two teens searched frantically for the logout button, referring to the Help Menu for a bit before giving up on that in frustration. Just as Thrum was going to swallow his pride and ask one of the many party goers about, their attention gots siphoned to the disgustingly-beautiful woman at the end of the dance hall.

_GDFO_

Radia drew the attention of everyone in the hall with her delicate and magically-enhanced voice.

"Greetings Areaians, My name is Azura Rivera and l have been working on this game for years. This is my world, my baby.

Everyone in the hall had gone silent, even the ambient music has dwindled away.

I have inhabited the body of one of this game's goddesses to bring this message to you. Some of you may have realized that there is no logout feature in the menu. This is no bug, this is no mistake. After waiting for all twenty-thousand players to log into the game, l think it is time, time to re-create that precious existence that was Sword Art Online. You must have seen this coming, somewhere in your heart you must of seen this as a possibility, and yet. Yet you are still here, that bravery will be invaluable soon. Invaluable and misguided." She smiled for the first time then.

As she spoke, players all throughout the hall were losing their smiles. Making a bit of space between themselves and their peers. Without a pause in her speech, Azura flicked her hand, causing those who happened to be closest to her to flinch inadvertently. Like a wave, the formal dress that everyone of them had been wearing disappeared, starting from the throne and spreading all the way to the players in the back. Now garbed in their best gear, Azura continued.

Today is a day to be remembered. If by nobody else but you. There is no escape from this world besides the defeat of fifty bosses in this world. Each exponentially stronger and more difficult than the last. Tread wisely because there are no safe-zones in this world as well. Only through special exceptions can you sleep soundly, and even then there will be a severe cost. Finally, do not forget to beware your fellow players. . . Azura's smile became that of a snake, the wary looks each of the players gave towards one another making it hard to believe that they had been dancing and enjoying the company of each others, and she loved it.

For they may be the makers of your demise.

Staring at Azura stupidly, the severity of the situation did not sink into the minds of the Areaians until one woman spoke. With the dead silence, her voice carried a lot farther than it typically would of have.

"Y-You cannot be serious? A woman of your prestige and standard would nev-"

And all of the eyes on the brown-haired woman speaking widened. From behind, in the middle of her speech she'd been stabbed. A sickening squelch, and whimper sounded. And then the sound of a body falling limp to the floor splashed surprise and fear in the face of those who could hear but not see. There was no explosion of lights, no chime of death. Some of the players present had seen other players die earlier. This scene they saw now wass completely different from what they saw before. A dead player's body would usually disappear and they would re-materialize with a sheepish smile.

There shouldn't be a pool of blood. Or a bloodied dagger. The dagger of an assassin!

Not a sound peeped.

Not one.

Until a shrill, incoherent scream filled the air.

All at once the hall became a rush of motion, people going for the doors, windows, anyway they could manage they would find and use it. Some were killed for gear for a head start on their life, others because of panicky fright. The world became a mass of chaos then. Most if not all had read articles of the SAO survivors, of what they had to do, what they went through and subconsciously they knew it was their fate now to relive it with more modern technology.

The noise was chaotic and broken, with all the rhythm of white noise but Azura loved it. Nothing was guaranteed or set in stone for anyone there, the world was devolving into hell and the only true constant that could be found was Azura's smile.

_GDFO_

A man with brown hair waited at the door of an apartment patiently. He had been waiting here for a few minutes now. Pizza in hand, the man raised his other to his head and scratched at the red bandanna tied there.

Whoever's in there must not like pizza that much. . .

Or maybe they prank called? l'm not sure. . .

Shuffling about nervously, the man hesitated, go back to the car or wait here a bit longer.

After knocking again and still getting nothing the man cut his losses and left. In his opinion if you're not hungry enough to open your door, you must not be all that hungry in the first place.

But he couldn't keep himself from shaking a feeling of déjà vu as he walked to his car.

_GDFO_

Authors note: Big thank you to Kipopo for being my beta in this chapter. :v

And that just about does it for this chapter guys! Did you enjoy it, are you curious about what's going to happen next? Find out next time on- Ahem never mind. Lets keep it simple and short shall we. I update every week, this week l was a bit early, and dont forget to review. They make me happy. Jason signing out!

Uploaded September 12th, 2016

Updated January 27th, 2018