Sword Art Online. The world’s first VMMORPG. Created by a young genius in his early twenties, it was set to be the greatest game to ever bless the planet. Thousands lined up overnight to get a copy, and experience complete submersive virtual gaming. With no beta test, the game was tipped to have several faults due to this. However, other believed the game would be absolutely flawless.
The Town of Beginnings was a huge place, as is the starting location for all new players. Here there are a massive number of shops, restaurants, and socializing spots for players, however... these things cost money, and seeing as everyone had only just logged in, they wouldn’t have enough the pay for anything. Everyone is equipped with a basic version of the weapon style they have chosen, and the same goes for armour and equipment. Some players had selected to own pets, sacrificing an ability to do so, but everyone seemed generally happy and excited about the immediate features of the game.

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*Mmph* She tumbled and hit the floor. Yuki cried out as her elbow smashed the desk on the way to the ground. Laying there for minutes with no help, she sighed and crawled to her chair. She somehow managed to hoist herself up onto the desk and into the chair. She was exhausted. Her life sucked. She rolled over to her bed, staring in awe at the new game lying wrapped in plastic, along with the nerve gear system. She frantically flicked from her clock to the game. 60 seconds till the servers came online for real. She gasped and scrambled with the nerve gear, pulling it onto her head, and starting the game sequence. She had already calibrated herself a few hours before and she was ready to play.
“LINK START!”
A sequence of colours and shapes filled her eyes and she was transferred into the gaming network. She kept her character appearance the same as that of her own. *ZAP* she continued and was warped into the gaming world. The town of beginnings. She could feel the breeze on her face, the heat beating down on her, and most importantly, she could feel her legs. She hesitated, before taking one step forward. She was very shaky, and lost her balance, but by god it counted as a step. A tear rolled down her cheek and dripped to the ground. She could walk... She yelled out in happiness, before continuing to practice. Before long, she was walking like she did when she was a young girl.

Ryan tapped on the NerveGear as he thought about what was to come. It seemed amazing that soon he'd be standing inside of a game, one that wouldn't just be a game, but almost like another life. An adventure was a better explanation for it. "All right... Let's get going then... I have to be one of the first online so I can get the best armor as soon as possible!" He layed himself down onto his bed, putting the odd helmet on. "All right... instructions said..." He glanced to the booklet that had come with the NerveGear. He had left it on a nearby desk after reading it. "I think it said... Link start!" He watched the colored cylinders flew past, listening to the sounds. Seemed odd to put all of this before what could be the most amazing game he'd played yet.

He waited through the system checks before going into the game. He looked around, watching the light from the sky pierce the clouds as if it were real life. "What? Jeez... did they just put a camera feed from the real world...?" He looked down at his hands, opening and closing them. "No... This is actually the game..." He couldn't help but smile as he thought about how amazing it would feel to stand up to monster after monster wielding... Now... What would he wield? He was thinking along the lines of a heavy weapon of some sort... He thought back, remembering the instructions from the SAO booklet, and swung his arm down in front of him. He looked through the menus, shortly finding the skills menu. "Alright... What do we have here... There's a lot of skills here..." As he scrolled down he seemed to find one that caught his attention Two-handed axes, eh? Sounds good! Time to start fighting for one... and some... Heavy Metal Armor!

He glanced around, noting some of the players around him. Some of them had instantly started running for the first place they could try out the game, so he didn't get a good glance at any of them, but he did see plenty of people still here admiring the features of the game, somewhat like he was doing. "Huh?" He raised an eyebrow as he saw someone having trouble with their balance. She seemed to be fixing it quickly though, and began to walk. He shrugged before looking at what he could of the horizon. In the distance he saw many buildings in between him and what looked like green fields, and that was where he would start fighting for his equipment. He began running as fast as he could, unsheathing his weapon as he did. The fight was about to begin!

Alex Ran up to his room as fast as he could, the nerve gear under his arm was secured in bubble wrap so if he dropped it while running, no real damage would happen to it. He almost tripped on the last step of his staircase but managed to recover and continue running. Nothing was going to prevent him from playing today, not chores, not dinner, not even that lousy last step of the staircase that bends a little to much when you step on it. In his euphoric rush he could hear his mother trying to talk to him. "Alex! Who was that at the door?" She yelled to him from the living room. "Nobody Ma', just postal express droppin' off my new video game." He slammed the door behind him as he entered his room. He plugged the nervegear into the computer and rested the head piece on the couch in his room. He took a quick picture of the nervegear and posted it to his blog. "Okay, time to get down to business...now wheres that manual." He looked in the small square box that held the nervegear and took out a small thin pamphlet. He skimmed most of it, only really reading the startup and setup. He didn't really care for the maintenance or warning sections. He laid down on his bed, turned it on, and said the two magic words that were about to transport him into an entirely new world.."Link start!"

Alex was no longer himself, from this point on he was Cashmaker2324. Of course he regretted choosing the username he used for all his accounts on the Internet, but it was like tradition to him. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the glistening rays on the sun beating down on the cobblestone roads in front of him. "Whoa..." He whispered to himself with awe. He looked around for the other players who must be logging in now, but he was always distracted by the magnificent beauty of the landscape. He noticed a few of the shops had people at them...wait... they weren't people, they were NPC's. It was astonishing, how they acted and looked just like people outside this virtual heaven. without a conscious thought, Alex started walking through the town of beginnings, passing by the users and NPC's. He'd made sure he opened his menu and selected a few skills to have before he accidentally ventured into some weird abyss that would have him killed. One-handed dagger and Hiding were the first that he had chosen. He walked through the streets paying little to no attention to his surroundings. He was in a bliss like state, wandering through the incredibly detailed town of beginnings.

I had just finished getting the NerveGear on after making sure that all of SAO's files had installed correctly and that I wouldn't have to worry about a hiccup in my internet connection like I sometimes had playing some of my other MMOs. Once that had all been cleared up, I laid down on my bed for just a moment, enjoying the thought of climbing to the top five of another leaderboard with the best gear I could get, whether I bought it, found it, or had it crafted. Chuckling quietly in anticipation, I close my eyes. "Link start!" I watched the rainbow colored cylinders and other things fly by, a semi-familiar scene since I'd taken the time to calibrate the gear to me.

Once I'd reached the character creation section, the only thing I changed was my hair. I made that just a little longer for dramatic effect and then confirmed my character. A few steps and a loud *ZAP* later, and I found myself standing in the Town of Beginnings on the first floor of the game, with many other gamers already mixing and mingling and forming groups. First I needed to upgrade what gear I had. I had gone with single handed swords for my weapon with light metal armor for protection.

Looking around, I can't help but admire the way they'd managed to make the game look so real. I could feel the warmth of the suns rays and actually had to squint when I looked into a fountain it was glinting off of. "Need to start leveling..." Taking a moment to look for a spot, I see a good field to start in over several buildings and set off at a sprint. "This is gonna be awesome!"

Carol was crouched on the floor, staring at a certain plastic package with awe. After hours of waiting, she had her hands on the new VMMORPG; Sword Art Online. Muttering strange things, she reached for the package, touching it gently as if it were a sacred idol. The images just ran through her mind - she was totally going to rock this game. No more real bleeding cuts, no more getting in trouble with teachers and the police. She would be able to do fighting, legally and virtually.

"CAROLL!" her first brother screamed. "Oh, please no," she hissed. "She's got that stupid game!" another brother cried out. "WHAT?!" the last brother said. She bolted up from the floor and quickly locked the door, shoving her chair underneath the handle. "You are NOT going to take this game away from me!" she yelled, diving for the package as she ripped it open. With the nerve gear at hand, she jumped onto her bed and pulled it onto her head Before the game even came out, her brothers had explicitly said not to buy the game for whatever reasons. But oh, she couldn't resist. As the head delinquent of her school, she was going to play the game that everyone was going to play later on. Link Start Within a few dazzling and colorful moments, she was finally disconnected from the real world.

Carol carefully thought through her 'character' decision making, trading her normal dark brown hair to a velvet purple. Also, she made her self a tiny bit taller, because being short was no fun. Other than that, she kept her general appearance the same. Then she was warped into the Town of Beginnings, which was pretty darn cool because there were a whole lot of people already. In her hand was a two handed assault spear (that was definitely bigger than her) and she was dressed in a light chest, leg, and foot plate armor. And what do you know, she had tiny little heels on to give her that little 'tall' fix. Then, she opened the menu and selected her skills. Carol, or Faeron, was absolutely satisfied with her purple and silver plate/cloth armor and her pretty rad pointy stick.

"This. is. so. cool!" she squealed, jumping into the air. "And this totally feels real!" she gushed when she was back in contact with the ground. Then those spear techniques she had been practicing for a while? She gripped the spear with both of her hands, finding it incredibly easy to use, just like in real life. Faeron grinned, swinging around the weapon as she staggered around the streets. The next thing she knew, she had slapped someone with a spear. She stepped back, horrified.

"I - sorry!"

Isabel sat on her bed, hugging her knees. She stared at her NerveGear, waiting for the SAO servers to go up.

Her father had not been happy when he found out that she went to buy the game alone at midnight. He had started throwing and breaking things, yelling at her. Life had been just bearable when her sister still lived in the house, but now she was living with her boyfriend. She visited nearly everyday, but it wasn't the same.

Noticing that it was time, she wiped her eyes and put on the NerveGear.

"Link start," she said softly, afraid of being heard.

As the game started up, she afforded herself a small smile. She'd be able to live a different life in SAO, if only for a few hours at a time.

In no time she was in-game, now known as Izzy. She stood still, in the Town of Beginnings, in awe at how everything felt so real. So real that at first her mind refused to believe that it was a game. But all around her, others were spawning into the world, appearing out of thin air. She swiped at the air, trying to call up the game menu. She let out a small gasp when it worked. As she scrolled through the floating menu, equipping herself with basic items she found in her inventory, she finally accepted the fact that she was in a game. Which meant she could do things she could never do in the real world. Like...

She summoned her two-handed hammer, which was colored black and very plain looking. It hovered over her outstretched hands momentarily. Her instinctual reaction was to not catch it, because it looked insanely heavy. She fought that urge, and the hammer fell softly into her hands.

She stared at it, once again in slight disbelief. It felt so light in her grip. She swung it at the air a few times, testing it out.

Izzy smiled, excitement replacing shock. Thanks to the skills she had chosen, she could wield a massive hammer with ease. Outside of the game, she wouldn't even be able to lift this weapon, let alone swing it around.

Done with the hammer for now, she quickly used the menu to put it away so she wouldn't need to carry it around.

Deciding that she wanted to try fighting something, she began to walk, making her way outside of the town.

Shortly after having set off at a sprint towards the fields, he reached his destination, looking around to see all of the boars walking around. "Boars huh... Let's see what I have to deal with you! He looked down at the default weapon he had unsheathed, unhappy with how small and weak it seemed. "Alright... Maybe they started me off with one of each type of weapon in case I didn't like this?" He opened his inventory, soon finding a few pieces of weak equipment to take the position of his current gear. "Perfect!" After equipping the new weapon he instantly began his charge anew. "Alright, let's do this!" He shouted as he sprinted at the first boar he could find. He smiled as he got the axe into a ready-to-swing position, running as quickly as his in-game character would let him at the boar. The axe began to glow as he prepared his first strike Just like the instruction manual said... Perfect! He let out a battle-cry as he swung the axe towards his enemy, the aim-assist instantly allowing the strike to hit.

As usual with two-handed weapons, they give up defense for raw power, meaning just the first swing caused the boar to shatter into shards of data. He smirked, seeing the data float away. He was almost surprised by the rewards menu as it popped up in front of him, showing him the EXP and small currency he got from the boar. "Sweet... Already off to a great start! Guess I should walk around town to see if there are any quests I can do, though." He turned around, running back into the town, imagining all the battles he'd get into in this game. All the attacks he'd take full-force and stand there unphased because of his armor. No matter what it took, he'd make sure he was as tough as possible so that he could live out his fantasy. As he ran through town, he decided to sheathe it, but didn't really want to put it back in his inventory, so he went ahead and used the actual sheathing capability of simply putting the axe on his back.

He glanced around, not seeming to find any real quest markers around, but he sure found plenty of market stalls and the such. He looked through them, finding food, armor, weapons... Everything he'd need in this world... But... Wait, why food? He scratched the back of his head as he stared at the food stalls. They can't possibly expect us to eat in this game all the time... Unless it's just for EXP bonuses? Or just for the delicacy? Oh, no... I remember now, they do actually have an actual need for food in this game... Guess when I log out I should look up whether our characters still get hungry while we're logged off... "Hmm..." He used what little money he had to buy some basic cooking supplies, as well as some raw food to cook. "Might as well start working on this... If my character dies of starvation I don't want to have to restart or anything..."

As Alex was walking he did a small twirl in th street, looking up at the peaks of the builds as he spun. Nostalgia overran his mind as he remembered playing outside with all his friends years ago. He stopped spinning but he wasn't facing the way he was before. Just before turning to the right direction he noticed someone who looked familiar. That's right, this boy was from his school, he was on the school council. "Huh, I guess this game has a larger demographic than I thought." He stopped and looked at he boy, almost starring, trying to remember his name."That's it...Jacob Adams...Yeah, he's the one who organized the end of the year trip." Alex said to himself, unaware and uncaring if someone heard him. He shrugged off his thought and turned on his heel to continue walking. He seemed to have gotten hit by something, because after a muffled thud he was knocked back against a wall. "What the h-" Alex was going to continue until he laid eyes on a girl who had startled, almost scared look on her face. She was roughly the same height as him, she had nicely kept purple hair and a slim figure, He wondered if she actually looked this well in real life, or if she was a girl at all. Before he could ask any questions, the girl apologized, there wasn't any excuses to why or how it happened it was just "Sorry" and that's it. It was sort of weird to Alex, everyone is always so quick to justify their actions but very seldom do people just take responsibility and say sorry. This caught Alex of guard.

He placed a hand on her should and spoke with the most friendly voice he could conjure up." It's okay, I bet it was an accident. Don't even worry about it, I can hardly...In fact I can't feel it at all." He chuckled a little as he felt his closing wound with his hand. At first he felt a small gash, but it almost instantly healed. There must be no PvPing in this area...cool, He thought as looked back at the girl. He stuck out his hand, "Nice meeting you, my name is Al-...I'm CashMaker2324...Huh, I guess it does sound as lame as it looks. Here, just call me Cash." He smiled at her as he waited for her to introduce herself.

I reach the fields in good time, having logged in before most players would even consider looking at their copy. Sliding to a stop at the edge, I look at all the different areas that the field encompassed and smile, enjoying the sight. The boars looked real, the wind felt real and the sun felt real. Heh, I could live here if I had to. Life's so much easier in a video game. Reaching over my shoulder to grasp the hilt of my hand-and-a-half blade, I draw it with a smooth, practiced motion, the shrill ring of the metal leaving it's sheath a satisfying sound to hear.

"Now then," I say, appraising the boars in the field, "which one first...That one works." Charging a boar nearby, my blade begins to glow red as I close the distance, and I slice downwards, knocking the boar back, but not killing it on the first try. While it recovers, which takes all of five seconds, I remember I need to equip another skill I'd figured would be good to have. "After this then." The boar charges me and I leap to the side, barely managing to get out of the road in time. Coming up in a crouch, I charge the boar again, my blade glowing red again and I strike.

This time it shatters, leaving me with a feeling of accomplishment. "So while it's not as strong as a heavy weapon, it seems to be stronger than a normal sword or a rapier. Perfect for me." I'd always enjoyed a little challenge and I smile as I review the small amount of exp and money I'd gotten for the kill. I'd also gotten some boar meat. "Why do I need meat? Well, maybe...maybe if I cook it then eat it when I'm low on HP, like in other MMOs."

Dismissing the menu after taking everything, I move to attack another boar. I wanted to level up a little before heading back to town.

Faeron stared at the boy she had just pummeled to the wall as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He wasn't mad? She had expected for him to swear at her, or even worse, attack her. Yet, he... didn't. Strange, yet sort of a refreshing change from all of those dorks back in school. Faeron curiously peered at his wound, watching in fascination as it closed up. "Oh god, that is so cool," she thought to herself. But then again, wasn't there a section in the manual about Player versus Player? She certainly didn't want to be tagged with an orange name. She supposed that the Town of Beginnings was a no PvP area. Which was, well, good in her case. Faeron squeezed her eyes shut. Never again would she wildly swing around her weapon again.

After she made that mental promise to herself, she opened her eyes, meeting the gaze of the boy she had hit. He stuck out his hand and introduced himself as...Al -CashMaker2324. Faeron suppressed a snicker, taking his hand and shaking it ferociously. "Yeah, it's pretty lame," she laughingly agreed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Cash. The name's Ca-" she caught herself, a weird look crossing her face. It was certainly hard to keep up with her in game name. "Faeron," she finished. She smiled and let go of his hand, glancing around. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed some players head towards a field. Maybe that was where the monsters were? She felt her hands tingle in anticipation; she was ready to try out her weapon on a monster. "As an apology from my earlier, completely accidental, attack," she began, "I will...Ah, this is really awkward," she murmured. "Want to go hunt some monsters with me?" she brightly asked.

IC: Aaron jammed the loose wires back into his nerve gear hurriedly, running a last check to make sure nothing would fry his brain.

Why he waited to do the new hardware install the day before launch, he didn't exactly know.

Aaron slammed the Nervegear onto his head, the boot taking agonizingly long. Finally, the logo for SAO appeared, fuzzily at first, before sharpening, the last connection remade. A few quick selections and he had determined his skills, appearing in the town with plain leather armor and other assorted starter items. He summoned his preferred weapon from storage and headed for the end of town.

A flicker in his peripheral vision as his Detection activated, alerting him to an incoming spear swing from an extremely close player, which he barely dodged. Another player wasn't as lucky.

"Woah, woah, woah!"

Izzy had killed a half-dozen boars by now, quickly getting used to the combat. Eyeing another one of the beasts, she stepped towards it and activated her Sprint skill, allowing her to close in on it quickly. When she was close enough to hit it, she planted her right foot on the ground, spinning around and leaping a few feet in the air to gather momentum for her swing.

The hammer connected solidly with the boar's head, shattering the creature instantly. The now-familiar rewards screen came up, and she quickly dismissed it, going after another enemy. Every skill in the game had a max level of 1000, and only a few of her's were even at level 2. It would take a long time to max them out.

Izzy stayed out in the field as long as she could, but eventually she began to tire and her health got uncomfortably low. She returned to the town and dismissed her hammer.

She walked through the streets and made a point to avoid eye contact with anyone. It may have been a game, but all these other characters were real people. She couldn't get over her timidity that easily.

She found a store that sold health potions, and bought a few. She drank one, noting that it was fairly tasteless, but certainly not bad. Reading the item's description in her menu, she saw that it would heal her slowly over time, which meant she couldn't go back out into the field for a little bit. She decided that that wasn't such a bad thing, as she was a feeling a bit fatigued from her first excursion. The wait would let her catch her breath.

She found a nearby bench and sat down. With nothing else to do, she tried to discreetly study the happy players who milled about.

Alex's arm shook viciously as he shook hands with the girl who just hit him in the face with a spear. I guess this explain the incredible knock-back on that spear, This girl must have been raised by superman or something, He thought to himself as he took back his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Faeron. It's always nice to meet new people on your first day playing game." Alex said formally. He looked up to the clouds and then back down to the market place, just about ready to walk off and wander through the streets a little more. Just before walking off, Faeron purposed an offer to him, "Want to go hunt monsters with me?" She said in a very cheerful manner. This is all Alex caught because his mind was elsewhere.

Alex's smile grow a little bit as the offer was presented to him. With the slow downward swipe of his right hand, the whimsical menu floated gently into place. He had to go through 2 sub-menus to reach the weapon part of his inventory. The items in his inventory were nothing spectacular, they had low stats and weren't the most aesthetically pleasing. This'll have to do, He thought to himself shortly before equipping his weapon of choice and some low level armor. He clicked the small icon button that represented the default dagger, only seconds later did the aforementioned dagger materialize an arms reach away from Alex. As the dagger appeared so did his leather armor, being a perfect fit on his body. He reached out and grabbed the dagger by the handle, holding it so the blade was on the right side of his right had, "Lead the way, Faeron!" Alex said joyfully as he held his left hand out towards the fields just beyond the next road up.

In such a short time, Cash, the aspiring assassin, had already made a friend, a pretty one at that. This was just the beginning of a marvelous adventure, he thought to himself as he walked down the road with Faeron.

Faeron waited for Cash to equip his weapon and gear, curious as to see what weapon he would have. A dagger soon appeared which was soon gripped in a very rogue-like manner. So, he was an assassin! Interesting. Faeron nodded, sensing joy radiating from Cash. She felt relieved, after all, her request was rather abrupt and uncalled for. Yet, it seemed that this polite assassin seemed to be happy to make a friend, just like Faeron. She eagerly led them down the road, and soon enough, boars and other players emerged into sight. Most of them were in combat, and she could spot a blade user <Raven> not far from where the pair were.

"Hm," she hummed, her eyes on a boar that was pretty far away. It looked... real. "Aw man, this is so cool," she breathlessly said. She waved her hand downwards, pressing through several menus to read through her skills. Parry, Sprint, Acrobatics, and Two handed assault spear skill. She bit her lower lip and closed the menu, exhaling. Sure, she read the manual but this was actually very nerve-wrecking. Her very first fight in virtual reality, not counting the little accident from before. Well, at least she had Cash beside her. Nothing would go wrong, would it? She placed both of her hands far away from the bladed point, giving her an extended reach.

"I'm going for it!" she said in a faltering voice, glancing back at Cash. Her weapon began to glow and she began running towards the boar. Ah, was it just her was she going unusually... "Kya!" she screamed as she continued sprinting. "Wait what what what!" she frantically screamed. She was going way too fast for her liking. Faeron was pretty fast in real life but this, this was the speed. The boar she was charging at raised it tusks and charged at her as well, preparing for a fight. Faeron gritted her teeth, she didn't buy this game just so she could freak out (pretty loudly) in the middle of combat! Like second-nature, she dug her heels when she was at a close distance from the boar, shifting her hand position so it was closer to the blade. As a two-handed spear user, it meant she would be able to deal out much more force then with her hands closer to the handle. With one swift strike, Faeron swung her spear, bashing the boar into tiny data pieces. A rewards menu popped up, much to Faeron's delight. She was given some EXP, currency, and a boar meat. Closing the menu, she looked behind her at Cash, a huge grin on her face.

"That was AMAZING," she yelled.

If Faeron had known earlier that these virtual reality games were this cool, she would have bought one long ago.

I finish off my last boar, with my acrobatics, swords, and light metal armor were at level three with my battle healing having just capped over to two. My over all level was four, which wasn't bad for having just started. As I look around, I notice a girl with an assault spear kill a boar in a single attack and whistle quietly to myself, noting the dagger wielding assassin nearby. That was impressive. She seems like she planned it all out too. I'll have to keep her in mind for the boss once we're all high enough. I'll still stay a solo this time though. Noting that my health was starting to get a little low, I turn back towards town and start walking, deciding that I didn't want to get caught by surprise by a boar.

As I walk by the spear wielder and assassin, I send a PM to the girl.



Confident it had sent, I close my menu and keep walking for towards the Town of Beginnings, making a mental note to get some health crystals and maybe a couple potions when I got back.

IC: Aaron watched the pair as they walked away. Ordinarily he'd attempt to form a party, but they already had one pike wielder. He smirked slightly and turned back toward the village, leaning against his spear and watching players wander by, some obviously adjusting to nerve gear for the first time, others chatting, still more running out into the wilds. One looking toward the ground, avoiding eye contact, obviously nervous... Maybe her first MMO? A quick couple of steps and he had crossed to where the girl had sat down, holding out his right hand, spear disappearing.

"I'm hauntedWoods, but you can call me Haunt. You doing okay?"

Alex hardly flinched as he stood there, dagger in hand, watching as Faeron rushed the boar with her two handed spear. He nearly burst out laughing as he heard her confused scream followed by some quick rambling. His left hand slammed against his mouth so she wouldn't hear his muffled laugh and lose confidence. That was almost cool...almost, He thought as his laughing subsided. His laughing turned into a genuine smile as she recovered from her panicking, watching as she took the reins and killed the boar almost effortlessly. He watched as she dismissed the reward menu and looked at him, her face filled with elation.

"That was AMAZING," she yelled. Alex could tell the experience of killing your first boar was ecstasy, not only by watching Faeron, but everyone around him seemed to light up when they killed a boar. The reaction to killing your first boar is pretty noticeable even across the vast fields.

"Looked pretty awesome, I think Imma give it a shot." Alex said as he walked past Faeron. "Don't wait up. Who knows, I might like this so much I'll fight boars FOREVER!!!... I'm just kidding." Alex walked off about 15 or so feet to the next boar, luckily for him, The boar was facing the other way. Alex ducked down into the typical assassins pose, seemingly activating his hiding skill. Dagger out front leading the way, knees bent to keep you low to the ground, and just to play the part he even held his breath, as if the boar would hear him otherwise. Alex walked slowly behind the boar, making sure to keep his footing pattern in check so he didn't trip in front of a girl. He was about three feet behind the low level monster before it was alerted and started to turn around. Before it could make it's full turn Alex's dagger started to glow yellow, and in that same moment Alex put his left hand on the boars head, keeping it in place, and drived his dagger deep into it's skull. The boar stopped moving for a few seconds, then shattered into data that floated away, back into the games system ready to be re-spawned again. Alex stood up from his crouching stance and waited for the reward menu. It popped up, Alex had acquired some EXP and a few coins of Col, aincrads currency.

Alex looked back at Faeron with the same expression she had only moments ago,"Yeah....Amazing!" Alex said, excitement filling his words. Alex looked down at his dagger and at both his hands, astonished that he could preform such a feet without even breaking a sweat. He walked over to Faeron,"I guess my hiding skill isn't high enough to assassinate without detection." Alex said as he scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment,"Would you like to form a party? we'd gather a lot more EXP and Col that way." He added.

Izzy rubbed her left thumbnail against her teeth, staring at her feet and impatiently waiting for her health to fill up.

"I'm hauntedWoods, but you can call me Haunt. You doing okay?" a boy said.

She paused for a moment, uncertain if she was the one being addressed. She looked up slightly, seeing that someone was indeed standing in front of her, hand held out.

"Eh?" she breathed, head snapping up to see the boy's face as she quickly hid the hand she had been holding up to her mouth.

In other games, when a stranger spoke to her, it was easy to ignore. They were only polygons and a speech bubble. But in SAO... well, she may as well have been in the real world.

Her face went red as she realized this, and her gaze drifted back towards her feet. She decided to do what she would outside of the game - be as polite as possible.

"I'm, um... I'm Izzy," she stammered, accepting Haunt's handshake - albeit very weakly. "A-and yes, I'm fine, thank you..." She added, kicking herself on the inside for being so socially inept.

"Oh no, please don't," she jokingly said as she watched Cash pass by her. What he said got her thinking, these boars were pretty vicious. Only one could wonder what the game maker had store in the later levels of the game. All in all, these boars were the first steps into becoming a great player. Suddenly, a window popped up in her screen.



She glanced around her, spotting the sword guy walking back to the town. She assumed it was him, since no one else was around this part.



She closed the window and then proceeded to watch Cash. He crouched down low, activating his hiding skill. Faeron watched in awe, amazed that the boar couldn't see Cash at all. Then the next thing she knew, Cash had already driven his dagger into the boar's skull, killing it instantly. She grinned when she saw Cash's elate face, clapping. "Yeah, but soon enough, you'll probably be able to back stab without the target noticing," she reassured. Ah, later on. Buying this game was probably one of the best decisions Faeron had ever made in her life. She just couldn't wait till she became stronger.

Cash's voice jolted her from her thoughts. Faeron stared at him blankly for one moment, then she opened her mouth and closed it. He was embarrassed and now she was embarrassed. "U-uh oh, yeah! That would be nice," she stammered, opening her menu. She selected the party option and then touched Cash's color cursor.

"Link Start!"

The Nerve Gear heard the voice and nudged Aiden into the virtual world of SAO. He saw the options Japanese and English. He flicked the English button. A customization bar appeared. After making a slightly tall black haired and green eyed avatar, he pressed the [Confirm] He found himself as Magi in the realm of Aincrad, standing in Starting City. He smiled and saw the players run around in joy. He opened up the map and made his way to the blacksmith. He walked into the building, picking out a basic rapier. He was definitely going to use something he could manoeuvre with quickly, his reflexes being his greatest weapon. When he bought it, the weapon appeared on his belt. He proceeded to buy a hooded cloak. Magi was a more mysterious type than Aiden. He didn't want to attract too much attention to himself or have anyone see who he is if he saw someone he already knew. He left the building with his hood covering his face. He decided to go and gain some Exp before he started to play seriously and made his way to the border of the city.

~~~

Magi saw a group hunting boars ahead. Just as he was turning to find a new place, one of the boars in the vicinity got a preemptive attack, which he noticed and dodged rapidly. He quickly drew his rapier and stabbed it with the first available rapier sword skill, Linear. The blow threw the boar back, making it slowly vanish.