[SP-F1] Embracing the Virtual World {COMPLETE}

[Ourian 0]

"Link Start!" Sosuke exclaimed, smiling as the Nerve Gear activated and transported him to the virtual world of SAO. Once at the avatar menu, he decided on his avatar: short, black hair spiked to the back, a muscular, yet slim, body frame, and increased his height by a few inches. Once he accepted the avatar, he named it after a character he had created for a book he was writing in the real world: Ourian. 

 

Leaving the Avatar creation menu, he wakes up in a plaza full of other players. His excitement building, he runs over to the nearest building and looks into the window to look at his reflection to find that he was not looking at himself, at least not his real self. He had turned into Ourian. 

[Ourian 0]

Overcome with excitement, he opened up his inventory and opened up the Beginner's Pack that every player is issued. In it, Ourian retrieves the Basic Longsword that he requested upon creating his avatar. Once selected, the weapon materialized itself right in front of him. Grabbing it, he swings it with all of his might, thinking that he wouldn't be able to swing it easily because of his condition.

 

When he swung it, however, it was as if it weighed no more than a stick. He swung it with such ease that it was as if his condition never existed. Then it dawned on him: His condition did not exist in SAO!

[Ourian 0]

He couldn't wait anymore, he just had to test out his new body... and the best way was to pick a fight with one of the low-class spawns. Taking off in a sprint, he rushes towards the gates that would let him leave Starting City and begin his adventure. 

 

As he continued to sprint, he savored the feeling of the rushing air against his face. He had never felt so alive before. Finally, after running for about ten minutes, he slows down to a walk, panting heavily. As he stopped for breath, he scoured the surrounding area for any sign of something to fight. 

[Ourian 0]

"Damn! Where the hell are they?!" Ourian raged, becoming frustrated at the lack of spawns. "The other players must've been through here already... maybe if I go a little further on..." Convincing himself to keep going, Ourian continues to move ahead, following the path.

 

Eventually, he finds himself in a field with a split in the path, a signpost erected where the path splits.  

 

<--[Horunka Village]

     [Tolbana Raid Base]-->

 

"Hmm... Very informative, but where are the damn creatures?!" Ourian shouted, punching the sign. Suddenly, he hears a low growl from behind him. Grinning, he turns around to find a lone grey wolf. Its teeth were bared and it was ready to attack at any moment. Drawing his longsword, he prepares for his first-ever battle.

 

"Alright then! Let's do this!" Ourian says, rushing at the wolf with his longsword trailing behind him.

[Ourian 0]

"YAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ourian screams as he rushes at the wolf, which had started charging at him. As he closed in on his target, Ourian swung his sword.

 

[iD: 14939]

BD: 7 (Successful hit)

MD: 2 (Failure)

 

As he swung, the wolf made the crucial mistake of leaping at him. Ourian paused mid-attack, ducked and slid under the wolf, then spun around to slash its back leg, causing it to yelp in pain.

---

Ourian: [/////]

Wolf:     [///]

[Ourian 0]

Recovering from the attack, the wolf lunges at Ourian again, it's jaws wide open and ready to bite anything it could get a hold of. 

 

[iD: 14940]

BD: 5 (Failure)

MD: 5 (Failure)

 

Preparing for the attack, Ourian raises his sword up in front of him defensively as the wolf jumped on top of him and bit down on the sword. Mustering as much strength as he could, he pushed the wolf off of him and kicked it away. 

---

Ourian: [/////]

Wolf:     [///]

[Ourian 0]

As Ourian kicked the wolf away from him, he was unable to get proper footing to retaliate as the wolf jumped right back on him, knocked him down, and bit hard into his left shoulder. 

 

[iD:14941]

BD: 7 (Success)

MD: 9 (Critical Hit!)

 

"GAH!" Ourian shouted as the wolf's teeth continued to sink deeper and deeper into his shoulder. Taking advantage of the wolf being on top of him, Ourian uses his left arm to grab its leg to prevent it from getting away, then stabs the wolf in the stomach with his sword in his right hand, causing it to yelp once more and let go of Ourian.

---

Ourian: [/////]

Wolf:     [///]

[Ourian 0]

As the wolf let go of him, Ourian kept a firm grip on the wolf's leg and tossed it into the sign post, which flashed for a sec and showed off the message "Immortal Object" as the wolf hit it. 

 

"Now's my chance!" Ourian exclaimed, rushing up to the wolf to deliver the final blow.

 

[iD: 14942]

BD: 7 (Success)

LD: 2 (No Loot)

MD: 2: (Fail)

 

Leaping into the air, Ourian takes his sword and aims it downward towards the ground and lands on top of the wolf, impaling it with his sword through the skull. Almost instantly, the wolf shatters into pieces and disappears.

 

Sheathing his sword, Ourian swings a fist in the air in celebration of his first kill, but soon regretted it as he felt a searing pain course through his shoulder and arm. Looking over to his shoulder where the wolf bit him, he could still see the bite.

 

"Strange... I thought we weren't supposed to feel the pain..." Ourian said to himself, wincing as the wound throbbed. 

---

Ourian: [/////]

Wolf:     [Dead]

[Ourian 0]

Shrugging off the pain, which was now starting to fade away slightly, Ourian decided it was about time to head back to town. Along the way, he found a couple more wolves, but decided to leave them be for now. He was injured and didn't feel like having to wait for a respawn... 

 

Stealth Check: Spotted!!!

[iD:14943]

BD: 2

MD: 6 

 

As he tried to slip past them, however, one of them spotted him and started rushing at him.

 

"Oh great... here we go again..." Ourian groaned as he dashed away, trying to avoid attracting the attention of the second wolf. 

---

Ourian [/////]

Wolf [///]

[Ourian 0]

Managing to get far enough away from the other wolf, Ourian quickly turns around in an attempt to attack the wolf.

 

[iD: 14944]

BD: 2 (Fail)

CD: 12 (Battle Healing!)

LD: 20

MD: 4 (Fail)

 

As he spun around, however, Ourian's momentum was too great and he continued to spin until he hit the ground. Thankfully, the wolf decided to leap at Ourian at the last second and passed over him as he fell. 

---

Ourian [/////]

Wolf [///]

[Ourian 0]

Not wasting any time, Ourian spins around once again to find the wolf lunging at him. Instinctively, Ourian uppercuts it with his left hand, the impact forcing the wolf's head upward and exposing his throat. Taking advantage of the situation, Ourian swings his sword.

 

[iD: 14984]

BD: 8 (Critical Hit)

CD: 5

LD: 10

MD: 3 (Fail)

 

Still stunned from the punch to the jaw, the wolf is unable to avoid the attack as Ourian's blade slashes its throat. Recovering from the attack, it staggers as it attempts to growl at Ourian, but only a gagging cough escapes its mouth.

---

Ourian [/////]

Wolf [///]

[Ourian 0]

Feeling bad for it, Ourian walks up to it, raising his sword in the process. As he got close enough, he stops in front of it and brings his blade down.

 

[iD: 14985]

BD: 4 [Fail]

CD: 7

LD: 3

MD: 9 [Critical]

 

Immediately, Ourian realizes his mistake as the wolf gets a sudden burst of energy and evades his sword and latches on to his sword arm.

 

"DAMN!" Ourian shouts, punching the wolf with his free hand. No matter how hard he hit it, however, the wolf showed no signs of letting go.

---

Ourian [/////]

Wolf [///]

[Ourian 0]

The wolf still latched on to his forearm, Ourian abandons the attempt of beating it to a pulp. Thinking quickly, Ourian lets his sword drop to the ground, causing the blade to sink into the dirt far enought to where it was still sticking straight up with the hilt pointing up. Grabbing it with his off hand, Ourian brings the blade upward from the ground.

 

[iD: 14986]

BD: 7 [success]

CD: 8

LD: 20 [Obtained Loot!]

MD: 5 [Fail]

 

Before the wolf could disengage, Ourian's sword cuts clean through its neck. Giving off one last gasp, the wolf shatters into pieces as it dies. As Ourian sheathes his longsword, however, he notices something glowing where the wolf was just a second ago. Picking it up, a pop-up appears:

 

 

Loot Obtained!

 

Lupine Pendant

Uncommon  Trinket

[Evasion]

Description: A silver pendent that is shaped like a wolf's eye. A faint pulse of alteration energy can be sensed when held.

 

"Sweet!" Ourian exclaims, accepting the pendant and watching as it appeared in his inventory. As he tried to take it out and put it on, however, another pop-up appeared:

 

 

Please allow approximately three hours for item to be authorized. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

 

"Aww..." Ourian pouts, closing his menu screen. Feeling pretty beat up, Ourian decides to head back to town before more wolves show up. 

---

Ourian [/////]

Wolf [Dead] Loot Obtained: Lupine Pendant

[Ourian 0]

Just as he gets close to Starting City, however, he hears a howling sound from behind him. Turning around, he sees a pack of wolves chasing him. 

 

"Geez! There's gotta be at least six of em!" Ourian shouts, stopping in his tracks as the wolves caught up to him and surrounded him. Drawing his sword, he could still feel the damage from his previous two battles taking its toll. 

 

"Well... Here goes nothing! BRING IT!" Ourian exclaims, rushing at the nearest wolf in sight. Before he could swing his sword, however, Ourian's body began to glow and suddenly, he is in the teleport plaza of Starting City. Stopping before he ran into someone, Ourian sheathes his sword and watches as player after player appears out of thin air. 

 

"Just what the hell is going on?!" Ourian says to himself, looking around the plaza.

[Ourian 0]

Once the plaza was filled with players and it seemed like nobody else was teleporting to their location, someone shouts.

 

"Look up there! What is that?!" They shout, pointing up at the sky. Looking into the sky, Ourian notices a flashing red panel that said "Warning." Soon, that onepannel became two, then four, then eight, sixteen, and eventually the whole sky was glowing red from these panels. From the original panel, a red goopy substance started to ooze, forming something in the sky. It was a giant hooded person.

 

"Welcome players, to Sword Art Online. To my world. I am Akihiko Kaiyaba."

[Ourian 0]

"I'm sure a good number of you have already noticed that the Log Out feature is missing from your main menu." Kaiyaba began, causing the players to start conversing.

 

"Ah, so THAT'S why we were brought here!" One player stated, nodding his head to his friend next to him. "He's obviously going to explain what's wrong with the menu."

 

"I assure you: This is not a defect." Kaiyaba announced, causing everyone to go silent with disbelief. "I repeat: This is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was meant to be." 

 

"Umm What?!"

 

"Bullsh-"

 

"My ass!"

[Ourian 0]

"Please also keep in mind that removal of the Nerve Gear in the real world will also kill you. Despite my warnings, a total of two hundred and thirteen player have had friends and family members attempt to remove the Nerve Gear, resulting in their deaths." Kayaba explained, scaring a good number of the players. 

 

"Hey! I can't get out! What the hell?!" 

 

"Me either!"

 

Some of the players decided to try and leave only to find that they were trapped in the teleport plaza, causing more of a panic. Kayaba then opened up his main menu and started scrolling through it. Once he closed it, everyone received an item.

 

"I have just placed a new item in your inventory. Please take it out." Kayaba instructed. Most of the players were hesitant, however some of them, including Ourian, took it out. It was a mirror. As he looked at it, he started to glow.

[Ourian 0]

After his body stopped glowing, he noticed that he was shorter than he was a second ago. Looking back at the mirror he was given, he saw not the face of Ourian like he was expecting to, but his original reflection. Dropping the mirror, which shattered instantly, he looks at his body only to find that he was, once again, back in his frail and skinny body. Immediately, he drew his sword and gave it a light swing. Thankfully, he could still wield it. His condition still did not plague him here in SAO. 

 

Looking around, he noticed that some of the players who used to be girls had turned into boys. He couldn't help but laugh as he watched their faces turn beat red as they were still wearing the female armor and clothing. Looking back to Kayaba, Ourian couldn't help but wonder why he would do this...

 

"Some of you may be wondering why I, Akihiko Kayaba, creator of the Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online, would do this. The answer is simple: I wanted to create a world entirely my own."

[Ourian 0]

"Also keep in mind that if you die in the game, you will also cease to live in the real world. The only way to escape Sword Art Online is to clear the game. Clear all one hundred floors and defeat the final boss. That is the goal of Sword Art Online. Good luck to all of you." Kayaba stated, ending his speech. As soon as he did, his body started to dissolve and turn to smoke. The sky returned to normal as well. Not even ten seconds later, chaos erupted as the news of the Death Game started to sink in. 

 

All over, people were pushing and shoving, trying to get out of the plaza. Some of the others, like Ourian, just stood there. 

 

While everyone else panicked, the only thing that was going through Ourian's mind, and he was sure the other players were thinking the same thing or something similar: Survive.

 

"Death game huh?" Ourian sighed, grinning. "Challenge... accepted..."

[Ourian 0]

Calmly, Ourian made his way out of the plaza and into the open field, unsheathing his sword all the while. He couldn't help but laugh at the others as they scrambled to buy the gear from the NPC merchants. As soon as the town was behind him, he sprinted as fast as he could. He noticed a pond nearby and jumped into it and started to swim. the water was cool against his skin and flowed through his long silver hair with ease. Although he was trapped in this game, he had never felt more alive.