[OP-F1] Coming to Grips �COMPLETE】

[Shiro 0]

Shiro's eyes had an almost feline quality about them. Not necessarily in physical appearance, but more in the way they looked at the world. Everything was worthy of scrutiny. Her gaze was sharp as a razor, but right now, her cat-like eyes gazed softly across the vast, green plains on the first floor of Aincrad. She had been incredibly excited when she found out that her waiting in line for her copy of SAO had paid off. Only 10.000 copies were sold, and she had considered herself exceptionally lucky to have received one. To think that of some 200.000 plus NerveGear owners, only 10.000 would have a chance to experience the majesty of a game as immense and perfect as Sword Art Online. Only... as she had discovered, the game wasn't perfect.

It hadn't taken her long to notice an important feature missing from her menu screen: the option to log out of SAO. It hadn't bothered her at first, but only minutes later, she (along with the entire population of the game) were transported back to 《Starting City》 to receive a very important message from the creator of this world: This was no longer a game. There would be no logging out. There would be no casual questing. There would be no carefree gameplay in an imaginary world. Aincrad was no longer a fantasy. It was real, and it had a very real consequence. If you die in Sword Art Online, you die in the real world.

The real world... Shiro thought to herself. This was her real world now. but unlike that other world, she wasn't going to be able to live her life by coasting through a routine. No more wake, work, game, sleep, repeat. She would have to get strong if she was going to survive.

Her delicate fingers caressed the handle of the《Basic Foil》at her hip and a soft sigh passed over her lips.

"Garbage..."

She was referring to the quality of the sword. Shiro had spent three years of her education as the captain of the Fencing Club and had continued to practice the sport periodically after graduation. She was far from a master, but she knew a thing about swords in games and in the real world. This sword was not up to her standard.

A gust of wind lapped at her tattered skirt. She placed her hand on her lap and continued looking out across the lush, beautiful world that had been laid out before her.

"Still... For now you're my best and only friend, sword."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar is walking along the first floor, checking out any new shops. He was always hunting for new materials to work with. His is strapped to his back, and he is humming to himself as he walks. There were still lots of players left here on the first floor, many never had left to start training. It was understandable though, he hadn't been able to leave at first either, a mixture of fear and the unstable internet he had until he was moved to the hospital. He pulls out a piece of bread, sighing as he starts to chew on it. It had very little taste, but it was cheap food, and he wasn't about to waste all his Col on a fine dining meal. Distracted as he was, he almost walks into someone sitting near the road.

[Shiro 0]

This little corner of 《Starting City》was one of Shiro's favourite places. It was "off the beaten path" so to speak. People still passed by from time to time, of course. 《Starting City》was, after all, where most of the players of SAO had decided to hole up. She didn't really know what she had been waiting for all this time. Maybe she wanted to gather enough info about this world to feel comfortable about venturing into it. Maybe she was just waiting for some mysterious opportunity to present itself. In the end, it was all just stalling.

"Today. Today's the da--" she cut herself off mid word and stood from her perch on the side of the road. She nearly jumped to avoid a man who was apparently too distracted by a piece of the tasteless, hard bread from the shops here to pay attention to where he was going.

"Watch where you're going!" she called to him as he hummed away, oblivious.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar looks up, startled out of his own thoughts as he hears a voice yelling at him. Looking around, he grins sheepishly.

"My appologies. Guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Its been a long few months, sometimes its nice to just take some time off from all the fighting."

He stops walking, looking around.

"So, what are you doing all the way over here. Its pretty empty out here, I don't think players have even started inhabiting buildings here yet."

[Shiro 0]

With a cross look, Shiro's feline eyes examined the man up and down. He looked fairly strong, and the smile on his face seemed genuine. It was hard to tell, though, as the system had a tendency to exaggerate facial expressions. One thing was certain, though: this man wasn't an 《orange player》. He was at least as trustworthy as that. Relaxing her guard a bit, she closed her eyes and replied, matter-of-factly.

"You can see the field from here..."

She was going to leave it at that and sit back down, but something about the smile on this man's face coaxed more out of her.

"To be perfectly honest, I look at that field every day. Trying to force myself out into the world. I've resolved myself to leaving today. I have to g..."

Shiro trailed off and looked at the ground sheepishly. Quietly, she finished what she was saying.

"I have to get incredibly strong..."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar looks out into the field as she talks. He remembers his own first venture out, and how close he came to death that day. He had barely escaped with his life, and with Vile and his Maverick squad roaming about now, it was becoming even more dangerous for low levels.

"Would you like some company? I'm not doing anything today but gathering materials for my shop, but its always safer, and usually more fun, when you have company. It can get kind of lonely running solo."

[Shiro 0]

Company? Was he suggesting a party even though he didn't even know her? More importantly, from what she understood, her ability to gain money and items would be severely diminished if she went off partying with someone too much stronger than her. Then again, the possibility of death in this world is very high. It could be useful having someone strong around in case something bad were to happen. In addition, Shiro was a 《One-Handed Rapier》fighter. The 《Basic Foil》on her hip would certainly allow her to attack much more quickly than most, but her ability to take damage was severely diminished by comparison.

She calculated all of these things in her head and decided it might be better to have a friend in this world. With a reserved look, she finally responded.

"I'm Shiro."

[Seldentar 0]

Seld smiles, swiping his hand down as he scrolls through the menus, sending out the party invitation.

"Its nice to meet you Shiro. Im Seldentar, although most people just call me Seld. Tends to be faster."

As the party invitation window pops up for her, he looks out to the field again, and brings up his map data from floor 1. Even after all the times he had been here, it still wasn't fully mapped yet.

"So, where do you want to go?"

[Shiro 0]

A small window, only partially opaque appeared in front of Shiro.

You have received a party invite from Seldentar.

She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to stick with her decision and tapped on the "accept" button. The window disappeared and under her HP bar, another smaller bar appeared that read "Seldentar Lv. 17". So he was pretty strong after all. She immediately felt better about venturing out into the big bad world of Aincrad. Good.

"I don't really know much about the floor beyond the 《Starting City》. I couldn't even begin to tell you where I want to go with any degree of specificity. But..."

She paused for a moment, a bit embarrassed to admit her next sentence.

"I've never actually fought in SAO before. So I suppose somewhere with weak monsters that I can practice against would be nice."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar nods, highlighting an area of his map.

"Out here are the weakest of the boars. As you venture further from the starting area you find stronger monsters. But the ones out here tend to only have a few hit points."

He points to a village on the map further away.

"Once your leveled up a bit we can go there. A lot of people like the area because theres a weapon quest there, although if you use a rapier its not much good to you since its just a long sword. But if you get any material drops from monsters while we are training, i can try to make you a new weapon."

[Shiro 0]

Having only left《Starting City》one time, and then only just outside the western gate and back inside, Shiro had practically zero map data for floor 1. So when Seldentar changed his map of floor 1 to show mode and started pointed areas out to her, she paid careful attention. She watched as he indicated different areas and listened as he explained to locations of some wear boars, a nearby village, and a quest for a longsword.

He was right. The longsword wouldn't be much use to her as a《One-Handed Rapier》user, but it brought up an interesting though in her mind and it caused her to giggle. Seldentar was trying to explain to her that he was able to craft a better rapier for her, but her giggle turned into a full-bellied laugh at the memory that entered her mind.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar looks over, a bit confused and concerned. She wouldnt be the first person to have a mental breakdown in this floating castle.

"Hey Shiro....are you ok?"

He was growing concerned. A breakdown in the field could result in death if you werent careful, and he didnt want to be responsible for someones death.

[Shiro 0]

Trying to control her laughter, she quickly shook her head in response to Seldentar, wiping the smallest hint of a tear from her eye.

"Sorry! Sorry, it's just... When I first started SAO I didn't actually want to be a rapier user. I actually sort of pictured myself using a big scythe, but I didn't think something like that existed. So I chose to fight with a rapier since I did fencing before... well you know, before all this."

She managed to reign in her laughter for the most part. The image of herself, 158cm tall wielding a massive scythe in combat amused her greatly.

"Sorry again. So, boars, huh? That sounds good."

She smiled. Probably for the first time since arriving in《Aincrad》.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar smiled at the thought. Still, nothing was impossible here.

"I havent seen any scythes, although there are two handed battle axes. That would be kind of close."

"Anyway yeah, boars. Unless you want to try something a bit more challenging. The only enemy on this floor I cant handle zre mavericks. I dont like fighting pkers."

[Shiro 0]

Any comfort Shiro had gained by joining a party with man vanished as he said he couldn't fend off the PKers on this floor. But she decided not to dwell on it. Any PKer who would resort to fighting players on floor 1 was a coward anyhow. That thought was enough to bring back Shiro's calm.

"Alright, then. Lead on, Seld. I defer myself to your tutelage."

She bowed ever-so-slightly, her hair swaying gently in the breeze.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar nods, remebering the last time Vile had shown up.

"Do me a favor, if I tell you to run, dont hesitate. Most pkers are small time, but theres one whose different. Our strongest front liners have gone up against him and failed."

After a moment he shakesnhis head and smiles.

"Still, we must press on. If we allow fear to control our lives, then we have already lost. And I intend on seeing the end of this death game."

He turns, and walks out of the safety of the city into the wilderness.

[Shiro 0]

Shiro was a bit taken aback by that declaration of a player so powerful that the《Assault Team》members had trouble with him. But Seld had suddenly begun walking, so she jogged the few steps to close the gap and slowed to a walk on his left side. It didn't feel any different. She thought for sure that crossing that boundary that separated the floor 1 field and《Starting City》would invoke some sense of grandeur within her soul. She felt no different at all. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe this meant she was already stronger than she had thought. She reasoned, if walking outside of the safe zone didn't feel any different than the inside to her, then she wasn't as afraid as she'd let herself believe. And now, with Seld by her side, she had someone to "show her the ropes" when it came to the ins and outs of combat.

Shiro knew how to handle an épée. After all, she was a championship fencer back in that other world. But she had yet to experience what differences there were between there and here. She knew how skills worked, but as she understood it, actually fighting just as you would outside of SAO worked as well.

"So Seld... Are weapon skills really all that important? From what I've heard I could just fight with my foil like I normally would."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar nods as she speaks

"Having weapon experience in the real world helps, but its really about the skills you train. Monsyers can learn as you fight, and if you stick to the same attack patterns, you risk not being able to hit. We have a technique we use for that. By switching out after it learns yojr attack pattern, you can let someone else fight it virtually unchallenged for a short time. Still, even with sword skills you can miss. Mess up the motion trigger, and your attack will cut out mid swing."

[Shiro 0]

"I see."

So it was even more like a real fight then. "Smart" opponents with the ability to learn how you fight. Shiro was glad to know there was a method to counter this, but it seemed like going it alone would be pretty challenging. Without a party member to switch out with, she would have to be really clever and try to avoid being to predictable. For now, she would just concentrate on fighting with Seld.

As she walked along at his side, her sharp eyes too in the world around her. This place really was amazing. She could see the grass sway with the breeze. Ripples formed on the surface of distant lakes. Birds flew by overhead. She could even see clouds if she looked to her left, as《Starting City》was near the edge of the floor.

She was excited for her first fight; she couldn't wait to get to these boars.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar moves forward, until they come to a wide open field. Looking out, he sees several boars in the area. He grins slightly, his hand reaching to his back and drawing his blade.

"Ill go first, and show you the basics. The most fundamental thing here is the Sword Skill. Its triggered with proper motion activation. You have to get used to learning the right movements to trigger the skill."

He moves forward at the first boar, before rushing forward. As he nears the boar, he kicks off the ground, raising his hand with his sword up into the air. As he does so, the sword begins to glow as the skill activates, and the system assistance kicks in, as he rushes back down at the ground, his blade slicing deep into the boar.

1 - 5 Miss

6 - 8 Hit

9 Crit +1 Damage

10 Hyper Crit +2 Damage

Total Damage Dealt: 1 + 2 + 1

Seldentar 37/37

Shiro 5/5

Boar: 1/5