[SP-F1]<<Earning a Living>> Garou, Performing Wolf(Complete)

[Garou 0]

Garou was strolling through the Starting City with a stride in his step. He had just killed a dozen boars and was racking in experience and col. He stopped as he brain began ticking. Hmm, he thought. All this killing sure is fun, but all the people around me are having so much fun. It sure would be nice to attend a party of sorts... The boy kicked the tile on the road and sighed, thinking of the job that could best suit him. That's it. I'll get a career.

He continued walking through crowds of other players, interacting with merchants. Hmm, being a merchant would mean haggling with complete strangers. He'd rather not have to go into haggling and deep conversations with complete strangers all the time. As a merchant in a funny blue robe handed a player some fresh tomatoes, Garou decided that life as a merchant was out of the question for him. I don't want to have to talk to strangers all day. I guess that eliminates being a blacksmith, a tailor, an artisan, or an alchemist, too. I can't have a shop and not converse with others. He proceeded to walk off.

Minutes later, Garou stood before a fishery. Hmm, he pondered. I definitely don't want to cook. Whenever I had to cook for mom and dad, it was boring and it felt like it took forever. The boy gazed at some fishing rods lying around. Maybe I could do some fishing? That could take my mind off of the struggles of trying to survive this game. The thought sounded quite therapeutic to him, and just as he started heading inside to ask about a fishing professing, Garou heard a sound ring through the air. It wasn't just any sound; it was a clear, beautiful vibration that twirled through the air, swooping into his left ear and dancing out his right. It sounded like a string instrument. Enthralled by the note he had heard, Garou began running the direction from where the sound came from, seeking its source.

[Garou 0]

After only about ten seconds of searching, Garou found the player of the instrument: it was a pleasant, tall young man who was wearing frilly, yellow clothing. Under his chin the bard grasped a violin and strung on it softly but surely. The blonde performer smiled as light but exact as his strokes with his bow with his eyes closed, and the music carried Garou away into a peaceful realm of thought. The music was entrancing, and the boy felt like all of his troubles in Sword Art Online were over. He began to notice that others were enjoying the music around him, some overflowing with emotion and tears. On a final note the musician opened his eyes and looked directly at Garou, who could only gape in awe.

A loud applause immersed from the crowd as the bard bowed. Several players walked over and dropped a healthy chunk of col into the young man's hat which sat before him. It was at this moment that Garou was able to analyze the violinist. He growled in disgust- An NPC. Is this supposed to be some kind of sick joke? Is Kayaba so full of himself that he not only designed Aincrad to torture our souls but to soothe them as well? This is sick... Garou turned to walk away as a sonorous voice called out. "You there! Come here, if you please!"

Garou instinctively turned back to the bard and saw that he was pointing at him. He took a step back in surprise. His hands suddenly felt clammy and a nervous feeling settled in his bones. The boy felt like a child picked out for a magic trick at some wacky, dangerous show. "M-me...?" Garou responded weakly.

[Garou 0]

The young bard gave a brilliant laugh as he picked up his hat and slung it on his head, cor and all. Instead of putting his violin in his inventory, the performer put it in a case on his back where a sheathed sword should have been. "You seem a little down, son. What is the matter?"

Garou looked around as players began to walk away and continue shopping for wares. "Well... I.. um..." the boy stammered. This was rather awkward in his opinion: he knew NPCs could talk to players, but only when trading and in quests as far as he understood. Could this be a quest? "Erm... I was walking around town looking for a job..."

The bard slapped Garou on the back as he tilted his head back to let out a hearty laugh. "A job, eh? Wouldn't you rather just play the days and nights away as a simple bard? You do not need to work like a dog to make money, son." The young man turned to walk down as alley and waved Garou on. "Come now, follow me, Yon."

Garou walked with the man as his nerves rattled, seeing that the alley was deserted. What if this NPC is really a player killer in disguise, and he planned to slay me? The bard's pace was brisk, however, so the boy with purple hair had to walk faster to catch up. The alley went for minutes without any signs of life. The NPC came to a stop at an dead end and looked up at a two-story wall with a veranda and some windows. "What do you want?" Garou called out.

[Garou 0]

The bard pivoted his torso to look back at Garou and put a finger to his lips. "Shhhhhh." The bard looked back to the wall and hopped up about ten feet. He grabbed the bottom edge of a window and pulled himself up without even a pause to collect himself. The blonde performer scaled both stories onto the roof in a matter of seconds, using the man-made changes in its surface as footholds and places to pull and push himself up with his hands. Standing on the rooftop, the musician flared out his hands dramatically as he smiled at Garou. "You see, to become a performer you need to have stamina. Parkour is the art of traveling in an urban environment like the primates we truly are! Now, do you have what it takes, or will you settle for being a simple commoner, Yon?"

Garou then realized what all of this was about- the NPC was training him to become a performer! Although he didn't exactly want to perform for strangers, it seemed to be the best career path available. Garou pulled up his quest log on his HUD menu and saw he was right: Earning A Living was an active quest! The boy nodded to his new mentor and tried to jump, but only could manage a few feet. He tried to grab onto the bottom-floor window's top extension, but his fingers slipped and fell on his back. "Ow..."

The musician above him laughed, his yellow frilly clothes, black cape, and the brims of his black hat flapping steadily in the wind. "You'll have to try harder than that! Come now, son! This is Aincrad! The rules of physics in this virtual world can be slightly distorted!" Garou pulled himself back up and shook out his limbs, not eager for another mess-up. Maybe I really don't have what it takes... Maybe I'm not cut out for this line of business... The lad contemplated the situation, considering if he should drop the quest entirely. It was late into the day, sunset wasn't far off, and he was tired. However the next call from the NPC set his mind. "Come on, now! Are you a coward, Yon!?"

Seething with anger, Garou launched himself his full height into the hair and dug his fingers into a crease in the bricks. His feet landed on the window sill of the same window that had just bested him. The boy pulled with his fingers and pushed with his feet with all his might to haul himself higher. Garou grabbed for a protruding brick and pulled himself up about to about one-third of the wall's full height. His arms already ached from the stress, and for a second he almost lost his grip. No way, he thought. Not now. This isn't a real wall. Its far easier to climb than a wall in the real world. Maybe easier than a chain-link fence, or even a ladder. The boy's optimistic train of thought seemed to be enough to keep him moving. His next move was kicking off the wall onto a gutter pipe running vertically down the wall's corner. Garou inched up the pipe about two feet and pressed a foot on the conjoining wall. He launched himself onto the second story window's sill and almost slipped off again as his legs hung in mid-air, but he slowly continued moving up to the top.

[Garou 0]

The bard offered him a hand with a gentle chuckle and pulled a panting Garou up over the edge onto the roof. The boy was covered in sticky sweat from the climb, and his limbs were so exhausted he almost wanted to tear them off to stop the pain. "By the way, Yon, my name is Doe. John Doe."

"Guh..." was all the player could manage, almost throwing up in the process. He looked up at the blonde, smiling NPC and breathed hard. The man walked around for about a minute in silence, allowing Garou to catch his breath.

Finally the performer turned to the weak boy and let his elegant voice ring out. "You're well on your way to becoming an acrobat, son. I assume you want to learn an instrument more, but acrobatics are an excellent way to stay fit enough to play out the long songs. And the ladies love a man who can somersault through hoops."

"G-guh..."

John brought the poor boy to his feet. "Now listen. I'm going to have you craft your first violin yourself. You'll need to find some mats of an uncommon tree bark. They're hoarded by beetles in the forest as an obsessive hobby of theirs. If you kill five of them, you'll surely get the five mats you need!" The NPC spun Garou, who almost fell of the building from the movement. The skilled musician extended his arm and pointed to the gate of the Starting City. "Now, onwards!" Garou's head spun as he swooned and fell unconscious on the tiled rooftop with a groan.

[Garou 0]

When Garou woke up from the sunrise the next morning on the roof, he slapped himself in the face. Why do I keep forgetting that I can't actually feel pain in this blasted game? The boy forced himself to his feet and almost tripped on the slanted roof. His purple hair swayed in the wind while his lime-green eyes shimmered in the dawn's rays. The lad leaped down into another road past the alley and fell with buckled knees. He checked his healthbar: he lost two health points as fall damage. He had to still get used to landing before he started swinging around cities like Tarzan, he figured. Garou checked his map of the first floor and located the forest on his Quest Log objective. It was a different forest than the one on the Red Diamond Hunt event, a little farther away. Nevertheless he set off to race to it.

[Garou 0]

Garou made it to the forest after about fifteen minutes of running. He already felt like he had more stamina, for this time he did not end up panting like a dog. He roamed around the woods until he found a clearing. In it was a colony of beetles. Excellent! The boy took out his two-handed longsword and jumped between the gang of giant beetles. He raised his sword to the sky as a purple glow surrounded it. "Cyclone!" Garou spun and swung his sword with him, surprisingly tearing all the beetles apart with that one skill (there were eight in all). He recieved plenty of mats for making the violin and smiled to himself as he sheathed his sword once more.

Garou sighed as he checked his inventory. He had yet to purchase any healing potions or teleportation crystals from the city. He reluctantly began to walk slowly back to the Starting City, loot in tow.

[Garou 0]

When Garou finally reached the Starting City, it was already noon. He gave a drawn out breath as he saw the NPC bard that was his teacher just waiting inside the gates. The performer bowed and took off his black hat, catching the col that was still atop his head with it. "I see you have the uncommon wood, Yon. Follow me." Garou nodded as he followed the flowing black cape. The boy was still filled with energy from his nice kill this morning.

John Doe led Garou back into the same alley and to the dead end where they scaled the wall. The instructor turned to him and handed him a small saw. "Now. Use this on the wood and try to make a fine instrument with it." The man turned around and closed his eyes, waiting for Garou to craft his first instrument. "I highly suggest the violin."

[Garou 0]

Garou looked down at the saw in his hand and breathed deeply. He got down in crossed-legged sitting position as he put the saw down on the tiled alley road for a second. The boy brought up his HUD menu and selected the uncommon wood in his inventory, dumping five chunks onto the ground in front of him. Garou once again picked up the tiny saw and nervously held it above the gathered mats. "C'mon, get a good one..." he muttered under his breath. Garou clicked on the Craft option and the wood glowed. The wood disappeared and left him with nothing. "Uhhh..."

The tutor turned around and frowned when he saw that Garou's crafting had failed. He pinched his nose and scrubbed his blonde hair as he tossed two more uncommon wood mats. "Here. Don't waste these either."

[Garou 0]

The boy felt a surge of irritation flow through him as the NPC's tone of disgust was voiced. Garou brought up his HUD once more and dragged out the other three mats he had obtained and gathered together with the mercy wood John had tossed him. This time I won't fail. I'll show you. Garou held the saw to the wood again and selected the Craft option, causing the second batch of uncommon wood to glow. This time an old violin with a dusty bow beside it replaced the pile of wood. Garou picked it up and examined it: Poor Violin.

Just before Garou managed to curse about his crap luck, John Doe applauded. "Very well, Yon," he said with a smile. Its kind of low in quality, but you'll be able to play it." Garou sighed as he looked down upon the piece of junk he had manifested into this world. He began to tap on it and put his finger on the selection to put it into his inventory when he heard the performer again. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Come now, son. A performer holds onto his instruments with pride, no matter how abhorred they are!" The bard gave another brilliant smile as he gestured to his own fine violin strapped to his back.

Garou nodded to him. Well, this is kind of an accomplishment for me. In fact, its a milestone. I should wear it with pride! The boy chose the Equip option instead, resulting in a second belt-like strap to cross the one holding his sword. Although the leather was torn and aged, it was still firm. The violin and the bow materialized on top of his longsword on his back. Garou adjusted the straps on his chest until it made an 'X' over his lungs.

[Garou 0]

The boy finally gave a smile to his mentor and bowed himself. "Thank you, John." The bard simply laughed with a grin as he turned again to look at the wall he had climbed the evening before.

"Now I have to teach you to learn to play the violin." John Doe pulled out his own instrument and played the song he had played before. While the man played the beautiful music, Garou grabbed his own violin and bow and waited for him to be done. They spent the next few hours doing music lessons. The older fair man was the instructor while the purple-haired boy was the student. It didn't take long for Garou to get ahold of playing, and he soon learned the song that John Doe had played yesterday when they first met: "Spellbound Dream."

As the sunset was nearing, the NPC applauded Garou as he finished playing the song by himself perfectly. "Magnificent! I've never heard such a beautiful tune out of such a lowly instrument! You are a natural, Yon!"

"Thank you." Garou replied. "I think its time I got a room at the inn again. I had a long day and all. Farewell, John Doe." The boy turned with a wave and started leaving, pleased by his new profession. After only a few steps, Garou stopped cold in his tracks. The man had been referring to him as Yon this entire time, his real first name. I don't remember giving my name to the Nerve Gear site to log on... Then again, it was days ago. Maybe I was just so excited to play SAO I entered it in a rush subconsciously. As Garou turned to ask the bard about how the system knew his name, the NPC was nowhere to be seen. But something had been left behind.

[Garou 0]

All that was left of John Doe was his wide-brimmed, black hat. Garou walked over to it and flipped it over: what he discovered inside of it was a note, as well as almost overflowing col. The boy took out the note to read it:

"I am most pleased with the progress you have made on this journey. Believe it or not, son, you have taken one step closer to being a man. Perhaps one day our paths will cross again?

PS. You get to keep the snazzy hat.

PSS. I'm not an NPC.

Sincerely,

John Doe, the Caped Performer"

[Garou 0]

Garou stared at the message for a few minutes, utterly perplexed. Eventually, the boy silently pocketed the note and the col with a neutral expression on his face, not sure what to think of the matter. He picked the black hat up and flapped some dust off of it, and almost found himself lost in staring again. This time he pulled his thoughts away from his confusion and began to beam down upon the hat. Garou tossed it onto his head and giggled in a near insanity. The long brim kept the sun away from his whole head, and the accessory was a perfect fit. He took it off of his head again and examined the object: Caped Performer's Hat. There was no added protection or abilities from the hat; it was just an old, nice piece of clothing.

[Garou 0]

The lad plopped the hat back on his head and looked to the top of the wall. Garou backed up, feeling his virtual muscles tense at his mental command. With an explosive surge of power, the purple-haired kid leaped up double his height and grabbed a veranda with both hands. Garou pulled himself up with a quality more reflective of control and power compared to his first climbing attempt, and in about fifteen seconds he was pulling his chest onto the roof. He stood at the top, watching the sunset.

One day we'll meet again, "John Doe." And you're going to explain everything.

[Garou 0]

The young performer looked down at a disconnected street with a few NPCs walking around. Garou took a deep breath, remembering what it felt like when he jumped the first time. He then hopped down and landed with one knee down, taking a second to rise properly. He was relieved to find that he had only lost one HP this time. Garou walked casually through the Starting City, looking almost at home in the simple refuge of the generally unimpressive city.

He stopped at the door of the local inn and stretched before heading inside. The building was a little warmer inside, making Garou think about the first floor's climate. It seemed to be almost astutely average, perhaps a room-temperature neutrality. Just now he realized this, and he felt uncomfortable in the stuffy warmth. I sure hope its cooler on later floors, he thought. Garou paid the innskeeper for a room and trudged up to his bed for the night. The boy fell onto it, tired from the day's earlier music lessons. It wasn't long before he drifted off into the realm of sleep, fully clothed.

[Garou 0]

Garou opened his eyes, seeing red error signs all over the sky. People were around him talking at first but falling silence as the blood red dome overhead completed itself. He got up from his laying down position and noticed he was at the center of the Starting City. A red hooded figure materialized overhead and he felt anger in his bones. Kayaba... The red hooded being then took off its hood, revealing Ryujin underneath. The cloaked boy leaped down from his hovering position and took out his trademark sword, slashing down onto Garou. He held up his hands to defend himself, but they were dashed off, only useless scraps on the ground now. Ryu's red cloak opened to reveal a gang of wolves tearing out at him. Garou rolled away as one of the player's sent them scattering.

He looked up to see that the setting had changed to the fields outside of the city, and the boy was deep in tall grass. He hauled himself up and looked at his hands, now returned onto his wrists. Garou drew his shoddy longsword and held it up as he searched the area around him. The player who had helped him was struggling with the wolves. It was Amtrum! The boy ran over to the man, getting back to back with him as he did before. "Finally," Amtrum said to the younger player. However, an arrow pierced his heart as trees grew around the duo. Garou tried to wrestle free as the forest grew within seconds, but realized both him and Amtrum were pinned down by the same arrow. He looked up to see a player killer with a bow and an cruel smile. Before him was Ruby.

[Garou 0]

Both Amtrum and Garou struggled against the tree and the arrow as Ruby ran away. Garou stopped and broke off the arrow's end, pulling away from the mess. The Red Diamond Hunter trampled through the trees, and before he knew the boss was standing right in front of him! Powder fell from its serpentine mouth, paralyzing Amtrum as he was still restrained to the tree. Garou held up his sword weakly, which was casually knocked out of his hands by the monster's axe swing.

Before the beast took another swipe, Rage rolled by and grabbed Garou away from there. He looked down at the boy. Be more careful from now on... the new boy said. Garou looked up and saw Shanok where Amtrum had been, caught on the arrow as others were before. The Hunter's sword slammed down on him, causing Shanok to explode into blue shards. Garou gave a silent scream as he watched the other die before looking up to see another confusing change. The performer who had gone by the pseudonym "John Doe" knelt above him.

"There's not much time," the bard said. "Use your head; find a way to maximize your acrobatic training. Do NOT stop playing your instrument, son. Now go!" He flung Garou away, who craned his neck back to look at him. The Caped Performer was struck down by the field boss, but the boy had no time to stop running. He turned and ran into a female figure that he recognized before briefly crashing into it. Seeing her for a split second was a memory at the edge of his mind, like a word on the tip of the tongue. Before he could do anything she embraced him, Garou feeling a heavenly sensation.

"Yon..."

[Garou 0]

Garou heard a young man's yelling that woke him from his nightmare. He felt himself shivering, realizing it was his own jaws that were emitting the terrified hollering. He stopped as his mouth began to feel clammy and sighed, wiping sweat off of his forehead. Its a good thing the rooms in an inn are soundproof, he thought.

The boy walked slowly over to his window; it was still night outside, but some players were still buying equipment from markets, desperate to survive in the hellish land that was Aincrad. Garou sat on his bed and unequipped his clothing down to his boxers. His thoughts were still on the relentless nightmare he had just suffered. What could that guy could have meant by helping myself progress in acrobatics faster? The boy though harder and harder, until his mind almost lit up like a lightbulb. Aha! Some martial artists used to train with equipment made of lead to strengthen their muscles and perform better without it! Garou took a deep sigh, remembering the "reality" he was in. Did bodies in SAO work like those in real life?

Garou laid down and fell into a dreamless sleep. He woke at eight in the morning, about an hour after the sun's rise. Garou equipped his clothes, sword, violin, and Performer's Hat and walked out of the room. When he broke onto the streets, he decided to pay a visit to the local blacksmith. He looked up at the player, who was already Level 7. "Good day, sir! What can I do for you?"

"I want the heaviest chains you have," Garou asked the blacksmith.

"C-chains? What do you want them for...?" the older player asked, looking suspicious of the boy.

"For training my skills," Garou said with a reassuring smile. The blacksmith gave him a funny look, but took some silver chains from a storage room.

He held up the shining silver chains proudly. "Reinforced Silver Chains, kiddo. Almost the strongest around. Naturally, silver is very weak, but with the right amount of oomph its the most secure there ever was." He eyed Garou oddly. "I hope you have the cor to pay for this, kid."

Garou brought up his HUD and showed him what he had gotten from "John Doe's" hat. The man almost gasped at the amount. "Will this do?"

"Th-that's fine..." the blacksmith said oddly with a forced smile. They made the transaction and the blacksmith retreated to his private quarters. "Come again anytime, little man!"

[Garou 0]

He walked down the paths bustling with NPCs and players alike, carrying the heavy chains. Hmmph. These must be seventy pounds... Garou stopped by a few merchants, buying some new clothes. He had a nice, dark Victorian dress coat with a fancy vest underneath, and underneath that a nice white dress shirt. It went along well with an old-fashioned, frilled white neck-bow. He also got a pair of devilish looking black leather boots.

Garou walked into the alleyway he and "John Doe" had been to, equipping all the new apparel and wrapping the chains around his arms, crossing over his back, and down his legs to his boots. The weight and strain on his body was almost too painful to bear, but the boy reminded himself that it was all just a game. The pain seeped away, only the uncomfortable stress of the chains themselves remaining.

The fledgling performed trudged over to the wall he had familiarized himself with the past few days. Garou took a deep breath and slowly began his grueling descent upwards, chains and all.

[Garou 0]

Garou at last reached the roof after nearly ten minutes of pushing his way up the two-story wall. His body felt like it was about to explode, but he didn't mind. He already felt slightly stronger. He pulled out another piece of clothing he had purchased from the city streets below, a pair of fine, white linen gloves that only a gentleman, carriage driver, or esteemed butler would wear. He put both the gloves on and linked each glove to the corresponding arm-chain that was running down said arm. Perfect. Now I can take off the chains for dire situations in an instant.

The boy took out his decrepit violin, playing "Spellbound Dream" as his virtual muscles tensed under the weight of the huge, silver chains.

(Complete)