Ramblings and Dribbles

by WolfgangNH

This is a posting of ramblings, dribbles, one-shots, unfinished ideas or other stuff I just don't think deserves it's own storyline. Some I plan to finish someday, others are what they are. This is mature reading for some posts. Some items may be well developed, others are not yet, and may never be. There will many different pairings, and sometimes none.

55. Sword and Wand

Sword and Wand

Rambling and Dribbles: A dribble that I hope some enjoy. All updates are now in chapter 1 of Rambling and Dribbles.

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter does not belong to me.

-oOo-

Premise:

Base rules:

1) SAO/HP cross

a) Not a huge game mechanic writer, but will work to include the proper terms and feel

2) Date/Cannon changes:

a) The general story is 26 years shifted. Some changes will be known from it, but on the whole, figure HP cannon happened about the same up until October 31, 2008, when Harry defeated Voldemort

b) Sirius got Harry out. Remus found Harry at the Dursleys when he was about 4 and rescued him. Ran to a place that no one would think to look for him and where werewolves are not as feared: Japan.

c) Harry is 15 (born July 31, 2007) at start of story

d) Attends Mahoutokoro, which allows him to go home on the weekends. He working on both his magical and mundane education

e) Japan integrates magic/technology more. Lessons of isolation from WWII

f) Likes to play games, especially VR games.

g) SAO will not be exactly like the books or shows. I have bastardized the game system a little into what I understand, which a little more in line with gaming like WOW and some D&D. If you don't like it, then tough. I will try to be as true to the SAO as possible, but I just don't it that well.

h) Magic will be added later…

-oOo-

Chapter 1

-oOo-

October 28, 2022

Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

"Thanks for lunch," Harry said to Uncle Remus.

In the house, they mostly spoke English because his uncle didn't want him to forget about his roots. That, and they were supposed to return to England someday, but Harry really wasn't that interested.

"You're welcome. Before you run off," he called out.

Harry had already started for his room. Turning back, he said, "What?"

"Make sure your room is clean before you get on that game and I want you off my five," Uncle Remus told him. "Also, did you finish your revision?"

Harry grinned. "I already put all the dirty laundry in the backet and started the towels. I have my trigonometry, charms, arithmancy, runes and potions are done already. I can get my Literature, Chemistry and Transfiguration done tomorrow morning."

His uncle gave him a look. "You can get your literature or chemistry done tonight. You are not playing on that game all weekend."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Do I have too?"

"If you are going to be on all afternoon and tomorrow afternoon, yes. If you want to play all day today, then you will not tomorrow."

"Fine," Harry huffed. He slid the door closed behind him to the kitchen before rushing upstairs.

The official game was going to launch at 13:00 and Harry didn't want to miss it. Uncle Remus had been able to get him a beta version of Sword Art Online because he was one of the graphic designers on the project. Being able to work from home made it easy on him because of his furry little problem.

Rushing to his room, he quickly made sure that his desk was neat, all his books were put away and the work he still had to finish this weekend was on his desk. He had spent all last night and this morning getting most of it done.

The fact that thy lived in a mixed magical house allowed him to play games like SAO and be like the other kids he went to primary with, and many that were at Mahoutokoro. Uncle Remus had found that his Muggle world education served him better, so he made sure Harry had an education in both worlds.

Looking at the clock, he had thirteen minutes before the game started. Making sure that his headset was connected to the jack, Harry felt the anticipation. He was ready to play and hoped to make the first village before nightfall.

"I'm going live in ten minutes," he yelled down to uncle Remus when he went to the bathroom.

His hands were still a little damp when he jumped on his bed and lifted the head gear. He let out a breath to calm his racing heart. He had only been able to try this a few times since Uncle Remus had gotten him the beta version last week. He wouldn't be a total noob but wouldn't really be anywhere near the top beta-testers. He heard they go to the eight level. Harry had made it to the third.

There were a few things he learned though.

First, the first people into an area usually got the better drops quicker.

Second, working in teams usually got you better drops and earned you more Col since you could take on stronger opponents or more.

Third, going solo wasn't a bad thing either. You should just have lots of healing potions and crystals.

Fourth, never take on a boss alone.

Fifth, if you die, the damage to your gear could be massive. It was usually fifty-percent of the durability. He had lost a few good pieces that way.

The alarm on the side of his bed went off. It was three minutes.

He made sure his wand was on his night stand and he put the headgear on. Flipping the switch, he heard it power on. After about twenty seconds, he felt the tingle as it started to read the signals to his spinal cord at the base of his neck. It was a pleasant feeling.

Smiling, he laid down and made himself comfortable. The game would go live at 13:00. That was just over a minute away… less than a minute now.

He anxiously watched the clock on the upper right corner of the HUD.

12:59.

He counted in his head.

Forty-three.

Forty-four.

Forty-five.

When he got to fifty-five, the clock turned over. He felt the nerve link activate. Everything went black, then white, then it was like he was travelling through a multiverse of colours. It was sort of like portkeying.

The music was rather nice as the login screen came up.

All he had to do was think about login information. It automatically populated and within seconds, he was materializing inside the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Looking around, he smiled.

"Wicked," he said to himself.

In a matter of seconds, there were dozens. Then hundreds of people.

Knowing his goal, Harry took off towards the edge of the city.

He could find the others he knew later. Well, assuming they had the same name and appearance…

Looking down at his hands, Harry realized that his character had slightly darker skin tone and looked slightly leaner.

"Hmmm. Not exactly the avatar I chose, but it works," he muttered.

He opened up his interface as he walked through the city.

He wasn't that happy with the starting gear. Traveler clothes, a leather breast plate, a knife, a short sword, three minor healing potions and a thousand col. The healing potions would recover a 100HP, then another hundred over the next ten seconds. He would have to get a spear as soon as possible, as he found he liked the distance it could give him.

Making sure all his gear was equipped, he shut the interface to his inventory and opened his skills page.

He hated started new. He had three basic attacks. Thrust, slash and charge. He would have to find something to put into his open skill slot soon.

A few others were doing like he was. He suspected they were beta testers. A black hair boy with a blue shirt ran by him. Figuring if he was going to make the next town by the time he had to log off, Harry started to run too.

The fields outside the town were just as he remembered. A few boars were visible. A few players were already attacking them. He figured he should get what he should, but the road to the west was where he wanted to go.

Taking off in that direction, he came up short when someone yelled out in Japanese, "WAIT!"

Harry took a few steps to stop. When he turned, a blonde girl and a redhead were running after him. "Can I help you?"

"Wait," the blond girl said again. They caught up to him. The redhead leaned over, taking in gasping breaths. The other girl stopped a few feet away. "Wait. Are you a beta tester?"

Harry shrugged. "Only for a week. I didn't get anywhere near what the others did."

She smiled at him. "I'm Mayumi and this is Etsuko. We heard some people already knew how to play. Can you help us?"

Harry looked over his shoulder towards the road, then back at them. "Ah. I'm trying to get to the next town."

Looking at them, he was thinking of the second rule. Groups usually got through things quicker. They were rather cute too. The blonde, Mayumi, was a about his height with a lean build, nice hips and a decent chest under her leather breast plate. Etsuko was a little shorter with a stronger build.

"Please," they both pleaded.

Harry sighed, then did a little bow. "Sure. I'll send you a group request. You need to accept it, and we can train on the way."

Mayumi squealed in delight. Etsuko smiled, but didn't say anything. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm Heroku, by the way." He opened his interface, searched for nearby players, then invited both girls.

"Alright, let's go," he said.

"This is so cool. Come on Etsuko," Mayumi said.

"Are you sure, May? We don't know how to play yet," Etsuko said.

"It's up to you. I can teach you what I know, but I want to get going," he told them.

Two other players walked by them. One was wildly swinging his sword while the other was animatedly talking.

"Come on, Etsuko. This is why we got the game. What's the worst that happens? You die and we have to restart here?" Mayumi put to her.

"Alright."

Harry was shifting on his feet. He wanted to go, but someone had shown him how to play so it was only fair he returned the favour. "Do you know how to play at all?"

"Nope," Mayumi said with a smile.

Harry let out a sigh. He wasn't going to make to the village, was he?

Leading them over to a boar in the fields, he said, "You know what gaining experience and col are for, right?"

"We play games, we just have never done a MMORPG like this," Etsuko said.

Harry nodded. "Ok. So, this game focuses on martial weapons. Swords, axes, cleavers, spears, knives and I've even seen sickles. You can throw things, but the mechanics are rather limited. The designer tried to make it so that it was mostly close in fighting. Spears, great swords and polearms are the only real reaching weapons. Spears and knives are the best thrown weapons."

Etsuko pulled out her falchion while Mayumi pulled out a long knife. Harry took out his own shorts word. Looking at the boar he pointed his sword at it. "You understand about aggro?"

"We are used to playing World of Warmonger. We are in a guild there," Etsuko told him.

That was good. They would probably understand working together then.

"Inside your interfaces, you will find your skills and feats. Fighting is a combination of your skills and feats. Your skill is your general use of the weapon, while feats increase your stats or give you a special ability. I have thrust, meaning that when I use it, it will increase my damage when I stab my weapon into the monster."

Turning his attention to the boar, he concentrated on his charge ability. His weapon started to glow blue, then he rushed forward. Getting the animal where its heart was, it gave out a sudden squeal before freezing and then shattering into an array of pixels.

"How did you do that?" Mayumi asked.

"It's in your skill slots. You get three to start and more as you level up. Just concentrate on the skill, and then use it," he said. He pointed towards another boar that materialized behind them.

Mayumi and Etsuko turned, and Harry finally focused on the loot screen. A measly 18 experience, 50 col and a tooth. It was a 1000 exp total to the next level. He accepted the loot.

One of the girls screamed. He looked up to see Etsuko on the ground and the boar turning. "Mayumi, get it when it comes back around."

Mayumi was sloppy with her knife, but she was able to tag the boar, and Etsuko did the final damage when she got up. The girl seemed timid, but she righted herself quickly. They spent the next hour learning how to use their skills. It wasn't a total waste of time. They each earned about 200 exp and a few hundred col.

Looking at the system time, it was now close to three. He looked to the western road. More people had wandered out of the city, but he had only seen a few go any further than the field. "Ladies, I want to head towards Horunka, and I only have about two hours left today. Are you up to a trip or are you staying here?"

Mayumi hopped. He liked how her body moved doing that. This may only be a fantasy world, but Harry could enjoy the girls still. "I'm ready."

"I don't know, May."

"Oh, come on. You are usually one of the first to get out there when a new expansion comes. This is so awesome. I mean, I can feel my body moving when we use our skills," Mayumi said.

Etsuko sighed. "Okay."

"Let's go," he said.

The local area should only have low level beasts. A bear should be the strongest monster they should encounter between here and Heroku, and with three of them, they should be able to take it on with ease. The girls had shown they could work together now that they were getting used to the mechanics.

Mayumi was used to playing someone more like a rogue while Etsuko seemed to want to use magic. That was obvious with how often she used her feats, relying on them more than Harry liked. Mayumi liked to attach from the side or back.

He would have to be the front line out of the three of them.

"How far is it to Heroku?" Mayumi asked as Etsuko played with her interface as they walked.

"Not too far. Three or four kilometres. Unless we get caught in a lot of fights, should be able to get there in two hours," he told her.

"May, I finally found Ryogu," Etsuko said. "He wants to meet up with us."

Mayumi smiled. "Tell him that we are busy and will catch up with him in a bit. I want to see Masai."

Etsuko frowned. "We said we would do this all with him."

"He wasn't here when the game started. Our new friend asked for our help. Ryogu is the GM for our group in WOW. He was supposed to have met us it started," Mayumi explained.

"You can go find him. I only have another hour and forty five minutes before I have to log off today," Harry told them.

Mayumi looked back towards the town. The walls were in the distance. It would take then fifteen to twenty minutes to just reach the gates now.

"Come on, May. We really should meet up with him and I want to keep playing around here until I get more comfortable," Etsuko said.

Mayumi frowned.

Harry called up his interface. He quickly tapped through his screens and then sent a friend invite to them. "Look me up if you are on tomorrow. Send me a message if you want too," he told them.

"Are you sure?" Mayumi asked.

He gave her an easy smile. "I'm sure."

He would probably do better anyways to find a player or two at the next village since they would probably already know how to play. These two would be fun to play with once they got a little better.

"Come on, May," Etsuko pleaded.

"Fine. What time will you be on tomorrow?"

"After lunch," Harry told them.

With a wave, the girls turned back towards the village and Harry disbanded the group. Turning towards the woods, he took off at a jog. His stamina was enough that he could keep this pace, which was about one-and-a-half times the speed of walking, for nearly an hour. He really wanted to reach the village.

-oOo-

About the same time…

Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

Remus found that he enjoyed the quiet life that was rural Japan. The old house he had found for him and Harry was on a hill overlooking a small town in the Kyoto prefecture. Remus had paid to get the best wards and had the old farm house wired with the most up-to-date Wi-Fi and tele optics so that he could do his job from home most days.

In the twenty years since leaving Hogwarts, Remus had gotten his muggle accreditations, with the help of Lily, and then gone to university after the war. He had stumbled into computer sciences and had just graduated when he had finally found Harry.

He couldn't keep the small growl out of his throat to remember the small cupboard he had found the boy in that day he visited Petunia. Harry had been so small and light when he had ripped the door off the hinges and carried him away from the house.

He knew that Dumbledore had been keeping him from Harry, but when he found out why and what Dumbledore had been doing to his accounts, he had just about lost it. Luckily, the goblins had helped him take guardianship of Harry and they had fled the country.

Of all the places in the world, he figured that Dumbledore would never suspect him going to Japan. As far as the old man was concerned, Remus didn't speak Japanese, the goblins didn't bank here, and the ministry wasn't always that welcoming to outsiders.

Luckily, Remus had been introduced to manga by Lily, and he had worked with a few Japanese gaming companies as an intern while in university. He learned Japanese so that he could read the manga in its native language and had become an avid fan of anime cartoons.

Using those unknown skills, he had managed to get on a team at Nintendo, then worked his way into being a rather successful independent graphics designer that allowed him to work from home, meaning he didn't need to hide his lycanthropy, and to be here for Harry to keep him safe.

His, and Lily's, love of manga and anime had been transferred to Harry, as well as love of video games.

Thus, when he had been offered a beta copy of the game, he had done a lot of work on, he happily took it and gave it to Harry last week as a reward for doing well on a few tests. Harry had been bouncing off the walls, especially since his nephew had fallen in love with most VR games in the last few years.

Looking at the clock, he would give Harry another two hours before he took him out the world.

He figured he would use this time to get in an hour or two of more work on the latest game he won a contract for. This one was going to have magic in it, and he was looking forward to actually showing what real magic looked like.

Finishing his tea, he walked it over to the sink when his cell phone started buzz and vibrate with an alarm. Afraid it might be an earthquake warning, he quickly grabbed his phone.

ALERT!
IF YOU SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS PLAYING SWORD ART ONLINE, DO NOT UNPLUG THE HEADSET.
MORE INFORMATION AT THE DEFENCE MINISTRY WEBSITE OR YOUR LOCAL NEWS STATION.
ALERT!

Remus blinked at the message.

There was a sinking feeling in his stomach. His eyes looked at the ceiling, knowing what Harry was doing right now.

He quickly turned on the television in the kitchen

"…this is breaking news. The Defence Ministry has issued a nationwide alert about Sword Art Online and the NerveGear headsets used to access the virtual reality game. We have been asked to read the following statement."

Sirius looked at the severe looking news anchor in his light blue suit. Tickers were running at the bottom of the screen. His heart about stopped when it mentioned that there were reported deaths.

The news anchor picked up an iPad and began reading.

"The Ministry of Defence and the Prime Ministry have been made away for malfunctions involving the interface NerveGear headset that the game, Sword Art Online, uses to immerse the player in the virtual reality world. At this time, the Ministry of Defence is asking anyone that has a child, friend, loved one or neighbour that is currently using the headsets to contact your local police or Defence force.

DO not remove, depower or unplug the headsets. We repeat, DO NOT unplug, depower or remove the headsets.

A malfunction in the headsets has been reported and injury may occur if any of these happen.

If you have one and are not using it, DO NOT attempt to use the headsets. Unplug and keep them away from any source of power or internet connection.

Please remain tuned into your local news agency and for those that report use of these devices, local Defence forces or police will be contacting you shortly."

Remus just blinked at the screen.

The anchor put the pad down. "We have been receiving reports that the malfunction may be leading to the death of the player. It is unknown if these report are true or not, but the Defence Ministry is taking this very seriously…"

Remus grabbed his phone and rushed up the stairs while dialling for the phone that would connect him with the Ministry for Magic.

Bursting into the room, he found Harry still laying on the bed. He was motionless except for his eyes moving under his eyelids. "Oh, shit."

When the phone picked up, there was a very polite woman on the other end. " Kon'nichiwa. This is Ministry for Magic mundane line. How may I direct your enquiry."

"This is Remus Lupin. I just saw the news about Sword Art Online. The mundane authorities just announced they should be contacted if anyone is playing the game. My nephew is currently using one of the headsets and I can't contact the mundane authorities. He's a wizard," Remus said in a near panic. His instincts were to rip the cord out of the wall and then through the headset out the window.

"I see, Mister Lupin. I will get an Auror on the phone," the woman said, clearly sounding confused.

When a man answered, Remus hurriedly repeated what he just said. "Remain calm, Mister Lupin. We were just informed by the Minister. An auror and a mundane government official will be at your house soon."

There was something said in the background. Remus's enhanced hearing picked it up, even over the less than ideal phone connection.

"Tell him to do no magic around the headset. We just got a report in of one dying when it shorted out," another man said.

Remus's eyes grew huge. "Dying! Are you saying that if anything interrupts this thing they actually die!"

"Just remain calm, Mister Lupin. We don't know everything that is going on yet. Just refrain from using any magic until someone gets there," the Auror told him.

When the phone hung up, Remus looked at the still form of his nephew. "Oh, bloody fuck," he muttered, sinking into the chair at Harry's desk. What had he done?

-oOo-

A little bit later…

Aincrad, Level 1

Harry clicked on the healing potion. It was the second one he had to use, and he was kicking himself for not grabbing more before leaving the Town of Beginnings. The bear had been tougher than expected. It had given him a few good swipes and the starting gear was showing the hit to the durability. His simple leather breast plate was down twenty percent, and he was nearly in the red after that fight.

The good thing was that he was close to level two now. A few more good mobs, and he would be.

Opening his inventory, he looked at the skin and a few claws he had gotten. Those might sell well or be able to be crafted into something useful. He was at 912 exp now and had more than two thousand col. Not bad for the first day considering it had taken him longer than that in the beta.

Looking at the system time, he only had fifteen minutes and was still a good kilometre from Masai. He really didn't want to log off in the woods. That was a sure way to die when he logged back on if a monster was nearby.

"Nothing for it," he said, hoping that Uncle Remus wouldn't mind if he was a little late to dinner.

With his measly 250HP back to full, he started to jog again. His stamina was getting a little low. He would have to eat some in-game food soon to get it back up. He had been so excited to start, he had totally forgotten to kit himself out with what he could.

Pushing on, he took on two wolves and a mad cow before finally making to the edge of town. The second he passed the first stone wall of the farms, he could feel he made it to a safe place. NPC, or non-player characters, were moving about the village as the sun got low in the sky.

This little village had become one of his favourite places when he been here for the beta. It reminded him of where he lived with Uncle Remus and some of his favourite manga that focused on fantasy worlds. Harry liked it to laugh at the differences of what people though the magical world was like compared to reality.

Opening the interface, he winced to see it was 17:10. He was already ten minutes over.

There was a small NPC smithy and a trading post here. He knew that getting new gear wasn't a simple five minute thing, so he set off towards the smithy to put in an order with whatever he could get made from the mats he had collected.

If he was going to be in trouble, mind as well be in trouble.

Then he walked in, he was surprised to find another player. She was breaches and a white shirt with a leather breast plate similar to his. Her blond hair with pink streaks and tips was rather cute. She was putting some leathers and claws onto the table. With her interface open.

He stepped up to the table. "Hello. Can you order anything good here?"

She looked up at him with purple eyes. "The armour is double the durability and an armour class higher. That's about it."

"It's an upgrade," Harry said, opening his own interface to see what the NPC offered. "I'm XXXXXXX, by the way."

"Sanami," the girl said.

Harry gave her a little bow, which she smiled at and nodded to him.

He put in the order for a new breast plate and grieves, which took up most of his mats and nine hundred col.

She was still going through the menus when he went to the logoff screen. "Hope to see you soon," he said with a smile as he opened the screen.

"See you around," she commented.

Harry shook his head. She hadn't introduced herself or anything. He could recognize someone that preferred to play solo, so just ignored it.

Opening the menu, he went to tap on the logoff button when he stopped.

It was always the third option down. This time, the third option was to exit the menu.

"What the hell," he muttered.

Him speaking English got her attention. She looked to him.

Harry swiped across the empty space to close the interface. He tapped the air to open it. When to the game menu and stopped when he didn't see the logout button. "Ah, I assume you were a beta tester, right?"

"I think it obvious since I made it here. You are only the second one I've seen this far," she commented.

"Yeah. I only had a few days to play though. Ah, can you log off?" he asked her.

She rolled her eyes and then swiped through the menus. Her frown said it all. "The option is supposed to be in the game menu."

Harry groaned. "My uncle is going to ground me," he said.

She looked at the system time. "When are you supposed to get off?"

"Twenty minutes ago," Harry told her.

Her look said she sympathized with him, probably meaning she was a teen that lived with her parents.

"It's probably just a glitch from the first day," she said. "Once your uncle shuts down the NerveGear, you'll be out of here."

"Great," he gripped. "Thanks. See you around."

She waved as he walked out. If he was stuck here, he could at least unload the last of the teeth and claws he got. Maybe get something to eat. His stamina was recovering, but it was still under half now. He had pushed hard to get here.

The trading post took his other loot, giving him a measly 212 col, but it was something. Looking at the wares, he wished the trading post sold healing potions. He had just bought a few pieces of bread when a bell suddenly resounded through the village. He was hoping it would be an announcement about the bug on the logging off issue.

He was about to walk outside when he suddenly felt a hook in his gut. It was like a portkey with a bright light and moment later he was materializing in the welcome plaza again. Harry groaned, thinking the designers were going to announce a server reset or something because of the bug. If there was one, there were most likely others, and until you went live, it was impossible to know what a game designer might encounter.

The girl he had seen materialized next to him, as did a man with bone club. They all must have been in the same area. Soon the plaza was full of thousands of people. Everyone on the server must have been teleported here.

"What is going on?"

"I was just finding a good place to get gear."

"Meguro! There you are."

It was a mix of confusion, excitement and curiosity around him. Harry looked around and moved towards the back of the crowd. He wanted to get out of here if he could. He just hoped Uncle Remus wouldn't be too upset. He wanted to come back on tomorrow.

The murmuring turned to fear as something red started across the sky. Harry looked up to see red game dialog boxes filling the sky. Looking at them, he was starting to think something was wrong. WARNING! Important message. Was written on them.

When the whole sky was covered in the boxes and a red hue was over everything, a large figure in a red cloak materialized in the sky. Harry felt a bit of panic as the man told them they were stuck and showed numerous windows of news feeds about what was going on in the outside world.

"…as of this time, two-hundred and twelve of you have found out that this game is as deadly as real life, or those on the outside tried to disconnect them. I must stress, what happens in here, happens out there as well. If you die here, you die in the real world," the figure, Kayaba Akihito, said.

There were cries of dismay.

It was jarring enough that all the avatars were broken, and he was looking at the real faces and bodies of all the players, but they were now just told they could die.

Harry swallowed down his own panic. Uncle Remus had told him that panic was the surest way to get yourself killed in an emergency. He had had to learn to deal with some stuff like that with earthquakes and a few times when people had tried to take kidnap him.

It was a battle to control his breathing though. Most around him were going into panic mode though.

"The only way to leave the game is to make it to the hundredth floor and defeat the final boss. How long that takes, is up to you. Just remember, there is no reward without risk. Will accept my challenge?"

With that, the figure disappeared.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Harry muttered.

It was getting dark now. The sunset was still colouring the sky, but it couldn't be the worst time to suddenly tell everyone they were going to die if they didn't get out of here.

The girl he had seen in the smithy was nearby. There was fear all over face. Making a decision, he figured that they had two options. Either get stronger fast to level up or wait here to die. Harry wasn't one to just sit around.

He walked up to the girl. "Sanami?"

The turned to him. Her blond hair with pink highlights and strands was now jet black, like his. She had dark brown eyes, but her facial features were similar to her avatars. He only knew her because of what she was wearing.

Her eyes were wild. "He didn't really mean that, did he?"

Harry pursed his lips. "I don't know, but we knew we can't log out and I think he was."

There were tears on her face. "I'm supposed to go to a concert tonight."

He felt for her. "Listen, I am going to go find more healing potions, then head out for Masai again. Do you want to come with me?"

He really needed someone that understood the game, and sticking together would give them the best chance. Her watery eyes took him in. "I don't want to die."

"I don't either," he told her. "We need to get stronger to stay alive. I think we need to get clear of here soon. People will be farming the local area so it will be hard to level up and we could get to some of the other quests first."

She swallowed. "I spent all my money at the smithy, and I only have one healing potion left."

"I have enough to get us each a few, if you want to do this together," he told her.

Only the fact he could think of Uncle Remus's teachings, was why he keeping a cool head at the moment.

She nodded. The people around them were all in a panic. Harry was getting out of here no matter what.

"Where do we go?" she asked.

He nodded his head. "I know a vendor that sells potions for 90 col each."

She sniffed. "I… I don't know."

"I know you don't know me, but if we stay together, that will give us the best chance," he said. He was about to leave her and find other players when he could. When she looked around, unsure, he moved to leave her. He needed to do something. If he stayed here, he would fall apart like all the others.

She reached out and took his hand. "You won't leave me?"

He knew how a team should work. You don't leave anyone behind in a bad situation. "A long as you want to work with me."

After a moment, she nodded. They weren't the first out of the square, but they were among the first to leave the city as the sun set. He didn't want to move around at night, but he wanted to be wall clear before people started to get over their shock in the morning.

They stopped at the shop he knew of. Harry put most of his money into potions. He was not going to die, and six each should keep them alive for a bit if they were wise about how they fought. The armour should be done by the morning, and he would feel a little better have that as well. They could find a place to sleep to recover their deeper stamina once they made it back to Masai. He kept 290 col so they could find a place to sleep for the night.

By the time they left the city, people were wondering out of the central plaza. Some were still shell shocked and this all a joke. Others were angry. Many were still crying or looked lost. Harry probably should have stayed to help, but he had this gut feeling that he needed to get out of here.

Sanami looked uncertain.

"Sanami, are you alright to go or do you want to stay? If we look at this like a raiding party in a normal MMORPG, then I need you to concentrate," he told her.

She turned her dark eyes to him. After taking in a deep breath, she let it out. "We have a better chance of surviving together," she said. He could tell she was normally a solo player but knew enough about parties to know the advantages. "Are you a tank or DPS?"

"Usually a bit of both, but I don't have a shield or armour to tank." Looking at his body and health stat, he added. "I don't think I'm built for a tank. I have good health and strength, but higher intellect."

She nodded. "I'm better in my dexterity and speed." She put her hand on the more rapier like hilt of her sword. "We will have to focus on DPS for now. Attack fast, pull back, and then repeat."

Harry nodded as he looked out onto the dark fields. "I have a torch but would prefer to so this without one. Night vision could be compromised." A moon was rising, and it was mostly full. "The moon should give us enough light for tonight."

She still scared before pulling her shoulders back. "Right."

"Right," he agreed. They took off into the night. He caught someone running into the woods ahead of them. "Are you good to jog?"

His stamina had mostly recovered.

"Yes. Do you have any stealth?"

"Not yet," he replied.

She looked a little disappointed. "What does intellect get you in this game?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "It helps with non-combat skills, like crafting, cooking and smithing." He didn't want to say magic, as there wasn't any here, but he had a feeling that was why his intellect was highest.

"Great. If you get us killed, I'm coming back to kill you myself," she said, a firing coming back that must have seen her get to Masai on the first day on her own.

"Fair enough," he commented back.

They took off at a jog into the night.

-oOo-

Chapter 2

-oOo-

October 29, 2022

Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

He hadn't slept all night and had refused to just leave Harry's side.

A host of Defence personnel, police and Aurors had already been in and out of the house and now a medical team was here to put tubes into Harry.

He was watching from the hallway as they got his nephew ready for transport to a local hospital. As they didn't know what was going to happen, he had been told they were going to stabilize all the players in their homes and then move them to a hospital in the next few days if this wasn't resolved by then. He hated to see the normally rambunctious teen laying so still and just letting the three paramedics do what they needed with no resistance.

As he watched, he caught the smell of coffee. It was something he had taken to at times when he had been in university.

"Mister Lupin?" a woman in a police uniform questioned. She was holding a cup of coffee in her hands. He could smell the wood of a wand on her, so she was an Auror in disguise. By her ease of filling out the police uniform, he suspected he work in the Mundane Relations Department.

"Yes, Officer Yumoto?" Even after ten years, he knew he still had a slight British twang to his Japanese. Harry sounded like he had lived here all his life.

She held up the coffee. "I hope you don't mind. I was told you have eaten anything yet and I found the supplies in your kitchen."

He took the cup. He knew his eyes were rimmed red and in three days he would have to love himself away for the night. He hoped Harry would be back to him by then. "Anything I have in the house is yours if you can help my nephew."

She gave him a sad smile. "We are doing all we can to help everyone. Do you have a few minutes to talk?"

"I really don't want to leave Harry," he told her.

"I understand, but you worked with the developer of the game, didn't you?" She asked.

He hadn't kept that quiet.

"I was part of the graphics team, but my contracted ended six months ago," he replied.

"I understand, but we have some questions for you," she said. He turned to look at her and notices three other police behind her. He knew he could probably get by them, but he wouldn't do anything to endanger Harry.

"Here or somewhere more private?" he asked.

"We will let you stay here, but this needs to be more private," she said.

He nodded and let them to the sitting room. He liked living in Japan but found having the house furnished more like where he grew up calmed his wolf. Sitting in his comfortable chair, he offered the couch and the other chairs to the officers. Officer Yumoto sat, but the other stood around the room.

She took out a note pad and a pen. "Mister Lupin, just to start, what is your relation to Mister Harry Potter?"

"He's my nephew and ward. I was left his guardianship when his parents died," Remus said.

She wrote that down. "And how long ago was that?"

"James and Lily Potter were murdered in two-thousand and eight. I took guardianship of Harry in two-thousand and two after his previous guardians were found to have been abusing him," Remus said. That was a matter of record he had had to disclose when he immigrated here. If Dumbledore and the ministry knew more about the Muggle world, they would have found them years ago.

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I did see that in his records. What is your relationship with Kayaba Akihito?"

Remus rubbed his temple. "I met Mister Kayaba a few times. The whole graphics team did. He told us what he wanted. I was the lead designer on many of the creatures in the game and worked with four others," Remus told her.

"So, you didn't work on the NerveGear or any of the coding?" she questioned.

"I had nothing to do with the NerveGear. The only coding we did was for movement and the various models of creatures we worked on. He wanted them to be as life like as possible," Remus told her. He wouldn't tell her he and another on the team were key in that aspect, having seem some of the creatures in real life.

"So, you have no idea what the NerveGear does or how it interfaces with the servers and the players?" she pressed.

Remus felt a little irritation. He didn't like to be asked the same question multiple times, and he hadn't slept all night. "I already said that," he snapped.

She held up her hands while two of the other officers reached for their batons. "I understand. I just have to be sure."

He sat back in his chair.

"How did you get the NerveGear?"

"I was contacted by the project lead. He was offering the NerveGear and the beta game and release as a thank you for all the work we put into the game. I thought it would be a fun thing for Harry. I tried it a few times, just to see what my work looked like. Harry had wanted to play with me the first day, but we only had the one set," he said, a hint of despair entering his voice. He should be in there with Harry.

"So, you played the game?" she questioned.

"I did. My name was Wolfstar. Harry wanted to sound more Japanese, so he chose XXXXX. He realy does like living here and it's one of his favourite characters from a manga series," Remus told her.

She gave a small smiled. "I'm a fan of Amache Ishiguro's work myself. When you played, did you experience anything unusual?"

"Not that I know of. There were still some glitches. Tell me that if they die in the game that don't die in real life? In the beta, you were just teleported back to the starting town and incurred a penalty where you couldn't play for a few hours," Remus said. He had been keeping up with the news on his phone.

She looked rather dire. "I'm sorry, Mister Lupin, but I'm afraid the news reports are correct."

He put a hand over his mouth. He wasn't sure to be sick or rage at the situation. "When will he be out of the game?"

"We don't know. The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health is working on this," she said.

"I need him out of the game. He's the only family I have left. I'm the only one he has left," Remus told her.

She looked far more sympathetic. "I understand, Mister Lupin. We are working on the situation. What else can you tell me about working on Sword Art Online or Mister Kayaba?"

Remus took in a deep breath. Over the next hour he went through ever interaction he could remember with the graphics team leader and Kayaba. Outside of working on the models and some of that coding, he couldn't really tell them more about the game.

When Officer Yumoto was about done, he asked her, "How many have died?"

"I don't know the exact number, and all the family members need to be notified before it is released," she told him.

His stomach was gurgling. He didn't know what he would do if Harry became one of the dead. "Can you tell me how many are in the game?"

She flipped to a page at the front of her notebook. "The exact number is not known, but we have confirmed that one-thousand and fifty two NerveGears were given to beta testers. We suspect many were like you, people who worked on the design of the game. Ten thousand were made available last month to the public, and all supplies were sold out."

His eyes widened. "You mean there are eleven thousand people affected by this?"

"I don't know, Mister Lupin. We are still tracking down everyone that purchased one," she told him.

"Dear Merlin," he muttered. "What is going to happen to them all?"

"I don't know yet. Please don't go far for now. I'm sure that there will be more questions," she told him. "You should get something to eat and maybe some sleep for now."

"I have to be Harry. The paramedics said they may move him."

"We are trying to ensure there are beds and the proper facilities before we do, so it will be a few days. Please get something to eat and sleep. An officer or others will be here until this is resolved or we can move your nephew," she said to reassure him.

He got up to see them out, bowing to them like was proper. He had to see Harry before he did anything else. He was in his bed still. Not moving. There were not several tubes in his arms and one of the paramedic were checking his pulse.

He put a hand over his mouth again, fighting down the wolf that wanted to save his pup or rip apart the man that had done this.

-oOo-

The same day…

Aincrad, Level 1

Harry sat on the edge of the bed in the room. He had looked for his wand before realizing where he was.

It was a small room with two beds and a table. Sanami and him had had a rough go at it. The night mobs were not as pleasant as the day time mobs. In the light of the moon, they had come across a werebear that had nearly taken his head off on the first strike. Luckily Sanami knew what she was doing and had distracted it while he took a healing potion and then took over as the tank while she whittled it down.

They had walked into the town about midnight. He as two potions less, while she was one. The game was much harder than in the beta. At least they had both made level 2.

Even though he doubted that there were many other players here, the inn owner had told him only one room was available. At least it had two beds. It didn't mean he had slept much.

Sanami had cried into the wee hours of the morning while he looked out the window at the moon as it moved across the sky. He was sure he was in a state of shock over everything. He was certain that Kayaba had not been lying. If they die here, then they die in the real world.

Seeing his health to 25HP last night and being surprised at the sudden attack from the werebear, he was finding himself scared. He was too stubborn to just give up though.

Seeing that Sanami was finally sleeping, he left a message for her that he was going to go get breakfast and then check on the smithy. He needed the armour and to see if there was anything else he could scrounge up to help. Defeating the werebear and the few wolves last night had only netted the 235 col each. He would need more and to find quests for better drops if they were going to survive.

He found it interesting the mechanics of the game required him to regularly eat. He had noticed that if you didn't, your natural HP regen, and stamina suffered.

"Good morning. I hope you and your lady friend had a good night," the NPC said as he walked down the stairs.

Harry wasn't too pleased at how happy the woman was. He was also surprised she acted a little more like a Westerner would. "Yeah. Were fine," he replied. "Do you have breakfast?"

"I have some grog, porridge and bacon," she said, not seeming to notice his gruff reply.

"Sounds good," he said.

He sat at a table while she hustled off towards the back room. He noticed one other boy across the room who was going through their interface. Harry figures the boy was like him. A beta that had moved away from the crowds as soon as he could. Maybe Harry should talk with him, but if he was out here, there was a good chance he was a solo player himself.

The barmaid came back and put a large tankard on the table of a frothing beverage and a rather bland looking bowl of porridge with some burnt bacon on the top. "Thanks," he said.

"Sixteen col," she replied. He transferred the money.

Before she walked away, he asked, "Are there any quests around here?"

"You can find some work at the board outside of here or a few farmers were having some issues with livestock going missing. Talk to farmer Orugo on the south side of town," she told him.

"Thank you," he said.

When he got back to the inn, Sanami was eating the bland porridge, and the boy was gone.

Harry sat at the table next to her. She looked up. He was in his new armour, but he didn't have the col or mats for anything else. At least he had gained more durability and one-and-a-half armour classes. A sixteen-point-five was a little better than a fifteen.

"Where have you been?" Sanami questioned.

"Checking out the quest board and going to talk with Farmer Orugo," he answered.

"Uhg, this stuff is awful," she complained as she plopped the spoon back into the porridge.

"Eat up. You will need it," he told her.

She made a face. "No thank you."

"Sanami, you need to eat to keep up your health regen and stamina," Harry pointed out.

"I hate you," she said back.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I can go do this alone."

Her hand shot out and grabbed his arm. "Please don't." He nodded. "What did you find out?"

He watched for a moment as she forced herself to eat. "Some simple quest for col and exp on the board. I think we should do them, but I think the big one will be the Missing Sheep on the south side of town. That one had a gear drop as a reward."

She made a face before swallowing the porridge. "This stuff tastes awful. I need to get the armour I paid for last night."

Harry nodded. "I want to go check out a barn I saw on the road to the north. I'll meet you at Farmer Orugo's in an hour on the south side of town."

She nodded.

He had hoped to find something there, but aside from some old farm equipment and a bucket, he didn't think any of it worth his time. Sanami was waiting for him. She had gotten rid of the trousers for a long skirt and the leather chest plate she had was a little smaller and more form fitting to her chest. He found himself liking the changes.

She pushed off the stone wall. "Took you long enough. Find anything?"

"Nothing worth our wild. Did you talk to Farmer Orugo?"

"Yeah. I got the quest. It sounds like we need to go to fields and look for clues," she said, pointing towards the fields on the edge of the woods.

He nodded. He hoped this was worth it.

When they found two dead sheep and a trail of blood going off into the woods, he had a sinking feeling. Sanami stepped up next to him to look at the trail into the darkness below the canopy. "It was something big, wasn't it?"

"Most likely."

"You think another werebear?"

"I hope," he said, now knowing how to fight one.

Sanami swallowed. "This time you move when I tell you too."

"It wasn't like I was trying to stand still last night," he groused back.

She gave him a look as though he was being obtuse. "I warned you that there was something wrong, but you kept walking down the road like it was nothing."

"I get it. I'll listen this time. Are you ready?" he asked, opening his interface to make sure he had three healing potions in is hot bar. As much as Sanami was afraid, she wasn't giving into it. Not yet. Perhaps like him, if she kept moving and doing something, she would be alright.

Now wasn't the time to get distracted with thoughts like that.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

The followed the path of blood and broken branches. He was waiting for mobs along the way, but none came. It was spooky how quiet the woods were. He wasn't sure if that was the game or not. He couldn't remember what the background noises were before.

When Sanami motioned for him to get down, he got his short sword ready and grabbed at the knife at his side. He may not know the way to properly fight with two weapons, but he had a feeling any advantage might help them.

She slowly crept up to a small ridge that was covered in leaf litter. The way her shoes were glowing, she was obviously using a skill like stealth. He wondered if the mobs could see the glow and he hoped not.

She looked over the edge. A moment later, a shaky looking girl came back to him. "I don't think we should do this yet."

Harry looked at the ridge. "Why?"

"It's a giant grizzly bear comping away at a few sheep," she said.

He frowned. "We need the gear. Let's do this like we did to finish the werebear. I'll go in to distract it. You coming in from the side to poke it."

She gave him a stink eye. "I don't poke with my sword."

"Stab it then."

"I really think we should have a few more people."

He looked back. "I don't know if anyone else is around and I really want to stay ahead of the others. The better drops from the first groups to get a quest."

"I only started to play because my brother wanted me to," she said.

"Where is he?"

"He had to work yesterday, so I logged on to get a little ahead," she said.

He put a hand to her arm. "I'm sorry. We'll get you back to him," Harry said. "The stronger we are the faster we can, the faster we can get out of here."

She frowned. "I only made it to level five and the second floor."

"It's more than most. We can do this, Sanami," he encouraged. He hoped they could.

She nodded.

He snuck as best he could around to the side of the ledge. On the other side was a large pit with a cave. The largest bear he had ever seen with shaggy brown fur and a maw that could swallow his arm whole was tearing apart a few sheep carcasses. Above it was a name: Besta the Mauler. This meant it was some type of boss or high level mob. Looking at it, he had his doubts about whether they could do this. "If your health gets below half, get out of here and heal up," he whispered to her.

She nodded.

Harry picked up a rock. He had to pull the aggro so she could pull the main DPS on this. Pulling his hand back, he waited until he could feel the power of the skill, then threw it as hard as he could. He was aiming for its head. He someone how got lucky enough to hit it in the eye. The red flash indicated it. The bear flinched, then roared in anger.

"I think I blinded the left eye," he told her, before charging in. His sprint was doubled for the two seconds it took to cover the distance. As he did, the health bar came up. He realized this thing probably had a 1000HP. His best skill did only 43 damage on a crit.

"Bugger," he muttered, copying Uncle Remus when he swore in English.

He jabbed his short sword into the front leg, then quickly jammed his knife into the things paw before it reared back in anger. Sanami rushed in behind him as the bear stood up and roared. Her rapier stabbed twice, and then the battle was on.

They both jumped back to avoid the swipe of the paw. That had been what almost killed him the night before. He stepped in, bringing is sword down before the bear could back swipe him. Sanami dashed to the side as the bear turned to him. She jabbed it twice more before pulling back. They had hurt it, but the initial barrage had only cut it down by about eight percent because of the bears natural armour and toughness.

The bear spun around to attach Sanami.

Harry charged forward, jabbing his sword into its hind leg. He managed to get his sword up and block the swipe as it spun faster than he had thought it could. One thing about SAO, it had gotten physics right. His sword blocked the blow when he couched the flat of the blade with his palm. He hadn't expected the blow to be so powerful that he was sent flying through the air.

The bear charged him before he could even stop rolling. He rolled again as to heavy paws came down where his head had been a second before. He jammed up, only managing a glancing blow on its jaw. It roared at him. He rolled again to avoid its bite. He had tried to roll to the left side of the bear, but it could obviously see.

"XXXXX, get out of there," Sanami yelled.

He didn't reply as he avoided the jaws again. The bear roared in pain again before turning on Sanami, who had come in and sliced at it's flank. He was able to quickly look at his health bar. He was down to 160HP from that one hit.

He quickly hit one of the minor healing potions and then looked to see Sanami dodging a swipe from the bear. She looked to have been hit as there were now three red slashes on her side.

"HEY! UGLY!" Harry bellowed before concentrating on his charge skill.

The bear turned at his yell just as his sprint doubled again. He ran at the bear before it hit him. His short sword cut down the side of its face. This time, it cut through the left eye.

The bear roared in agony as he turned and got a cut into its flank before he was past it.

"Heal up," he yelled at Sanami before he moved back in. The bear turned towards him, but with its left eye destroyed, its swing went wide. He cut down at the leg and a huge gash appeared in the paw. When the bear put weight on it, it started to limp.

It was still well over 600HP.

"We aren't damaging it fast enough," Sanami said as she stabbed it from the other side before jumping back.

"Just keep at it," he told her, moving it to slice at its leg again. "Hit the legs!"

They did this a few more times before Sanami didn't move quite fast enough. A paw caught her before she could jump back. She was tossed into a tree. He watched as her health bar lost half of what was left.

"NO!" he yelled out as the bear turned to charger her down. She was near 70HP and wasn't moving. She must have been stunned.

He used his charge again. It was starting to affect his stamina to use it so much. Instead of running past it, like the skill was meant for, he used it to run at the charging bear, kick off a rock and then landed on its back. The double jab of his short sword and this knife into the back its neck had the bear spinning, its head wiping up and then over balancing at its legs had already taken some damage.

He held on as tight as he could as the bear stumbled and fell. He had to let go of his sword before the bear rolled over. He didn't want to get trapped under it. He was thrown off and came to a skidding halt on his back.

When he sat up, his health bar was at 110HP. His stamina was at 30 of 100. If he used more of his skills before he could eat but might not have enough stamina to make it back to town.

The bear was on its side, breathing heavily.

Harry knew they had to kill it. It's health bar was finally in the red.

Getting up, he stumbled over. It let out a meagre protest as he stood over it. He reached for his sword, pulled it out, then stabbed it in the neck a few more times before the health bar went to zero. It shattered into a million small pixels then disappeared.

"You defeated Besta the Brawler. Talk to Farmer Oguro for a reward."

The screen behind the message said they had gained 412 exp, 600 col and three hides. This thing must have been made for a larger group with that type of reward.

He thought about for only a moment when a groan had him turning back to Sanami. Looking at her, her health bar was a little lower.

"Oh no," he said, rushing over her. Putting his hand on her back, her realized she was suffering from a bleeding dot. "Crap. Sanami. Are you up?"

She coughed. "What hit me?"

"It was the bear. Here, drink this healing potion. We need to get you back to the village."

"Did we win?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, good. Was there anything in the cave?" she asked as her health bar climbed into the green again. The bleeding was still in effect, but they should have enough potion to make it back to the inn.

"I don't know," he said. He knew how these games worked, but he was more interested in saving her.

"Check. You said we need gear."

"Fine. Get up while I check," he said.

"Heroku?"

"What?"

"Take a potion. Your health is low."

He looked at his health. It was up to 112HP. His autoregen was low because his stamina was low. He took a potion, then went to check the cave. He found a small chest with another 800 col to split and three potions.

He handing a blue to her. "This is a cleansing potion. It will get rid of the bleeding."

She nodded. Her health had climbed back to 250HP when he had gone into the cave, but it was already down to 239. At that rate, they wouldn't make it back into town before she was getting dangerously low.

"Thank you."

They silently walked back through the woods. Neither of them said a thing. He was realizing they had gotten extremely lucky. If Besta the Mauler had gotten a real hit in them, then thy might have died in one hit. For now on, if they found something that big, they either needed better gear or more people.

The farmer met them at the gate of his front yard. "Did you find what was killing my sheep?"

"It was a giant bear." He took a claw out of his inventory. "Here."

The NPC smiled at them. "Great job, heroes. I don't have much, but I do have these old weapons."

He looked at the item that just appeared in his inventory. It was a spear. Harry nodded. "You're welcome."

As they were walking away, Sanami asked, "What did you get?"

"A spear. You?"

"A knife better suited for a maine gauche style," she said.

He nodded.

"I need something to eat," he told her.

"I need a bath," she replied.

"The inn?"

"The inn," she agreed. It was a productive first day. He would take a look at the spear after he got his stamina back up. Two men were walking through the village as they headed towards the inn.

"Hey!" one of them called out.

Harry held up a hand. He was not in the mood to talk. In less than twenty-four hours, he had nearly died, and it was starting to hit him how dangerous this place really was. Sanami looked at them and then went into the inn.

"What's her issue?" a man with a goatee and light hair asked.

"We had a rough day and night," Harry replied.

"Haven't we all," the man said. "I'm Olegson and this is Brights. We made it here from the Town of Beginnings. Any good quests or hunting grounds?"

Harry pointed towards the south road. "Don't do the farmer quest until you have a few levels and gear, or at least five or six people."

The two of them looked at him interestedly. "Really? Is that where you just came from?"

Harry pulled out up his interface and then tapped it. He sent them the quest. "Besta the Mauler is a nasty piece of work. It's a giant grizzly bear. Get more people."

They thanked him for the advice. Harry went in the inn, not realizing that he would never see them again.

He sat at the table, had the NPC take him whatever she had, and then just sat looking at the food for a bit as he contemplated on whether they really would die. He didn't want to think they would, but he just had that feeling. It was a feeling that Uncle Remus had encouraged and had kept Harry out of trouble a few times.

That night, he would stare at the moon again as Sanami cried herself to sleep. He had offered to get them another room, but she didn't want to be alone. Truth be told, he didn't either.

-oOo-

November 3, 2022

Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

He put a fried egg onto a plate, and then some hashbrowns he had made. Turning around, he wasn't really surprised to see Officer Yumoto. Remus dipped his head. He was still feeling the effects of his turn two nights ago.

"I have some more eggs if you want," he offered her. He had offered the officers and the nurse that had been around his house each time he cooked.

"I've never seen it cooked like that before," she said.

Remus gave her a sad smile. "I just can't leave my roots behind. I prefer a more traditional English breakfast. Harry would eat noodles at every meal if I let him."

The woman gave him a small smile. "I can tell you care about him. "

Remus offer her the plate. Officer Yumoto held up her hand. "Not today. They are moving Harry soon?"

"Later today. He is going to Takajeinke Oooe in Obihiro," Remus told her.

She nodded. "They are taking twenty of them there. A wing has been setup to handle the internet traffic and to make sure they don't get any interrupted power. They will all be magical children and four Aurors will be guarding the floor at all times."

Remus nodded. He had been informed. It was over an hour away by train, but he would easily be able to apparate to a nearby spot. "He's scheduled to leave at 10:00. I'll be going with them."

"I need you to come into the station tomorrow. Some investigators from Tokyo are coming up for a few days," she told him.

He looked up. "Am I under arrest?"

"No. You aren't any type of suspect. All the members that worked on SAO are being investigated further," she told him.

"Should I have a lawyer. Is this mundane or the Ministry for Magic?"

"This is mundane. The MOM knows you are innocent after you submitted to veritaserum yesterday. Thank you for that. I know it was the day after the full moon," she said.

Remus nodded. "I would never do anything that would endanger Harry or anyone."

"From what I've seen, you are a good man."

"Thank you." He poured out the tea that was in the pot. "Tea? It's a nice green tea."

"That would be good." She took a seat.

"Is there an official number yet?" Remus asked as he broke the skin over the yoke and then speared a few pieces of potato.

She was concerned. He could also smell she wasn't telling him everything as she spoke. Being an Auror, he wasn't too surprised she couldn't tell him everything. "The official count is ten thousand, six hundred and eight players entered the game. A few of the headsets still have not been found."

Remus felt his stomach tighten. He had to eat though. He needed his strength for Harry. But if the people hadn't been found in almost six days, they didn't have long to live, if they weren't dead already from dehydration or starvation.

"The official death toll is eight hundred and sixty two," she said in a low voice.

He took in a deep breath. "It's only been six days!" he blurted out.

She looked into her teacup. "That is the official number."

His mind was screaming. More than eight hundred people had died. From what he could find, well more than half the people in the game were under aged, if not more. "Merlin," he breathed out.

She looked up, obviously not understanding him.

Remus swallowed. "Is there any other word? How do I know how Harry is doing? Does the Ministry of Defence know how to stop this?"

"I'm sorry, Mister Lupin, but we don't. I have heard that someone may have figured out how to tap into the feeds and see what is happening to individual players, but that could be a rumour as well," she said.

He sat up. "If there is a way, I need to know."

"As soon as we know, we will tell the parents and families first," she told him.

Remus's appetite was lacking now, but he had eaten too little in the last week. His body needed the food. He doubted he would be able to eat after this until he knew Harry was safe. "Thank you. How many magicals are involved?"

"Ninety-eight. The others will be guarded just the same, but we aren't telling others where they are," she told him.

He felt a little better about that. For now, only the families, the Aurors and the Healers will know about this for now. He just wasn't sure what to do if someone finally found Harry while he was in this state.

-oOo-

The same day…

Aincrad, 1st floor

In the last week, Sakami and him had moved to the other side of the floor. They were among the first to make it to Tolbana. Along the way they had teamed up with another player or two here and there, but there were few teams or groups outside those doing a quest.

Truthfully, Harry wasn't really interested in most of those they had worked with. It was mostly solo players and betas that had made it this far.

After working through their fighting styles in the first few days, Harry and Sakami had started to meld as a team. He now had a shield, even if it was smaller than he liked, a better short sword, a new breast plate that had five more AC and a spear with a decent head. He was partial tank but preferred the long reach of the spear when he could.

They were not like the top players, but having just capped level four, they were far ahead of most. They had met a player, Kirito, who was already level six. The experience to level up scaled more than he had expected, with one needing fifty-percent more for each level.

Sakami had adopted a longer, thinner sword with a knife that had a large guard. He through her skirt a little impractical, but since the game only looked at the total AC, it didn't matter as much that you didn't wear full armour. It also allowed her to move quicker, which was her main fighting style.

Sitting at a table in the inn they were staying at, he opened his interface to determine the best way to spend his skill and stat points after levelling yesterday. As he looked at the menus, someone sat across from him.

Looking up, he was surprised to see a man in his twenties. He was obviously an experienced player. "Good morning. I'm Daivel. I noticed you arrived last night."

Harry swiped his hand across the air to close his interface. "Good morning. Heroku. Are you looking for someone to do a quest with you?"

The blue hair man smiled. "Not today. I already have a group I'm going out with later to explore a dungeon found on the edge of town. I am interested in information though. I take it you are a beta tester?"

Harry nodded. "Only got a few days in before SAO went live."

"It must have been enough. You still made it to Tolbana, and I heard you were the one that put the warning out in Tolbana about the nasty grizzly bear," Daviel said.

"Yeah. Sakami and I wandered in there and did it with just the two of us. Almost didn't make it," he said.

Daviel cringed. "You got lucky then. I've heard that quest has killed more than a dozen so for. It's a hard quest for such a lower level area."

Harry winced. He had heard about people dying, but Sakami and him had been trying not to pay attention. He wasn't sure if he could handle it if he thought about it.

"I tried to warm people and left an automated message," he told him.

"That is why I am looking for you," Daviel said.

"I'm not anyone much. I'm just trying to get through this."

Daviel looked rather solemn. "I want to see us all get through this. Not many of us have made it here yet and I heard that there is a monument in the central square that marks all those that have died," he said.

Harry shrugged. It hadn't been an easy six days, but since the first day, Sakami and him had taken it a little more cautiously. He didn't want to think about it. "What do you want, Daviel?"

"Do you have any mapping information or how you defeated areas? "

"Why?"

"Me and a few others are getting a guide together to help those that are new or having issues. I don't want to see anyone else die," Daviel told him.

Harry let out a long breath. "We aren't at the front of some of the best players," Harry said, pulling up his interface.

"You made it here. A few hundred have not," Daviel said.

The breakfast he had just eaten churned in his stomach. "Hundred?" he said in a disbelieving tone.

"Now the teleport back to the Town of Beginning is active, there is word." Daviel swallowed. "Over eight hundred."

Harry had to swallow the gorge that threatened to come up. "I'll give you all the information we have."

"Thank you."

Harry didn't think about it. They had fought had to map out over half the floor and make it here, but if it saved people, he would give up all he had. Calling up his map and the data, he sent it to Daviel.

The man opened the data package. Looking through it, his brow rose. "I haven't heard of some of these quests or seen a few of these maps yet. You say you are working with someone?"

"Sakami. We met the first night and have been working are way here."

"You face a werebear?"

"Yeah. The first night. It nearly took my head off," Harry told him, shuttering at the memory.

"You are lucky. Only two other players have survived an encounter with one so far. This is good." Daviel swiped through that data before doing a few other things. Harry was surprised when Daviel sent over his own guide book and ten thousand col.

"This is too much," Harry said. He had barely been able to get nine-thousand in the last six days.

"For this information, I wish I had more to give you. You might save a lot of people with this," Daviel said.

Harry still felt sick at the number that had already died. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"I'll be by every few days. If you have more mapping data, then I'll pay for it. Otherwise, I can put you on my list for raids and groups," he said.

"We are always looking for people. Should I take on any of the newbies?"

Daviel looked at him. After a moment of regarding Harry, Daviel said, "I think mapping and being part of the frontline will be better for now. I have a few that are helping organize training. Do you need any gear?"

Harry shrugged. "I have good enough for now."

"What level are you?"

"We just capped level four last night."

Daviel nodded. "That puts you towards the top of the ranks right now. If you need anything, let me know. I'll do what I can."

"Thanks. Are you sure you can afford 10,000 col? We haven't even made that much yet," Harry said.

"Keeping good explorers like you in top gear it worth more than what I gave you. If you come across a player named Kirito or Konami, see if you can get any of their data. I hear they are even further than you," Daviel said.

"We saw Kirito last night. He's real quiet. I heard he's already capped out level six."

Daviel looked surprised. "Damn it. Is he sleeping?"

Harry shrugged.

"Right. Let me get this back to the Town of Beginnings. Be safe and let me know if you need anything. Oh, and be careful. There are some that are not happy with the Betas," Daviel warned him.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

Daviel ran a hand through his long hair. "Some of them are blaming us for clearing out the best loot early and just leaving them out to dry. Some of us are trying to help, but the world is different than the notes I had from the beta testing."

Harry had noticed.

"We'll be careful. Can anyone teleport here now?"

"Only if you have touch the stone in the plaza can you. Someone heard once you beat the floor boss, that all the teleport points become available for everyone. Be safe, Heroku," Daviel said. He got up and gave a little bow to Harry. Harry returned the pleasantry.

As he sat back down, he had swallow his breakfast again.

Eight hundred, he quietly thought.

Eight hundred.

After shaking his head, he knew he had to focus on the here and now. He would have to look into the dungeon, as there was usually better loot. Calling up the map and data, he reviewed what Daviel had given them. It only added about a third more than they had, but it more than they had.

He needed to see if Sakami was up yet. They should head out soon. If he could help more survive by exploring areas, then that was what he was going to do.

-oOo-