Sword Art Online: Recurrence/Rebirth

[LatinoHeat90]

Max opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a notification. "Speak of the devil, Viola just messaged me, she'll be here soon. then we'll get started." What a relief. I was afraid that if I spent time with Musashi he would just keep calling me a pervert and we would get into another fight. "Hey, Crod..." The look on Musashi's face turned serious, I could tell he wasn't going to insult me. If anything it looked as though he was going to confide somehting about himself to me. Then in a moment he changed his mind. "That's just wrong man, I can't believe you."

"What the hell are you talking about Musashi?" I went from content, to concerned, to confused, then to upset within the few seconds I have been talking to Musashi.

"Nevermind, listen, I need to talk to Viola about something important. If you wouldn't mind, could you go snoop around a shop or whatever you do for a minute once she gets here?" I felt like staying to spite him. "Please?" What!? Why would he ask politely?

"Sure, that is no problem." I then felt concerned again. Were they having relationship problems? Things started to piece together. "Take your time, just message me when you both are ready." I started to walk away when I noticed someone walking toward us, staring intently. It was a girl character, with pink hair, that looked very familiar.

"Well, who do we have here? I'm surprised to see you again, but then again, this is the floor you usually visit to find some ladies using your 'samurai' charm, which I find gagging." I stood in awe. Musashi was cheating on Viola with this girl, and perhaps many others. I felt a strong urge to grab my axe and challenge Musashi to a PvP match. How could he betray his Sunny Delight? He had fought with such passion to protect her from me, not even allowing me to explain myself before attacking.

"Also, I'm joining the tournament and as much I hate to admit it, I am willing to work with you for the time being, I don't know if you're a good fighter or not, but I'll be watching you and don't even try to pull that charm on me.." Her glare sent a chill down my spine. I think I am wrong about this. She obviously was never interested in him nor did they do anything. Even though she said Musashi put his charm on all the ladies that could have been before he met Viola, his true love.

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Viola found herself easily exiting the forest. What was once a complex and almost maze-like forest now seemed so familiar it was as if she had visited these woods throughout her life. As she made her way out, a fruit fell from a tree and slid from leaf to leaf. Viola watched, nearly mesmerized by the situation as it slowly dawned on her that the green fruit would eventually land on top of her. The girl held her arms out as the fruit fell and caught it with ease. For a second, she wondered if the fruit would be poisoned or otherwise harmful, but she realized that there would be no harm in at least carrying the thing around. Adding it to her inventory, she quickly made her way to the portal and entered, allowing the city sounds to overcome her.

On the other side, Viola easily found Musa and Crod, as well as a few other people she didn't recognize.
"Yo," She said easily to the group, "what's the dealio?" In a real life situation, she probably wouldn't have been able to speak so easily in front of people she had hardly known. Even Musa and Crod were only day-old acquaintances. But this wasn't a real life situation. Everyone was hidden behind a mask, including herself.

 

[Max]

"Sure, that is no problem. Take your time, just message me when you both are ready."

Crod didn't look too happy at first, but once I threw in that "please" he seemed pretty understanding. I'm glad he decided he could give us a moment once she got here. I could talk to Viola about what I needed and I could make it quick, and then we could move on with our business.

"Well, who do we have here?" Oh God, that voice sounded familiar. I could feel the virtual sweat on the back of my neck. A chill went down my spine as I turned to see Maya. "I'm surprised to see you again, but then again, this is the floor you usually visit to find some ladies using your 'samurai' charm, which I find gagging."

"Listen Maya," I said, trying not to sound scared out of my wits, "I'm not looking for a PvP-"

"Also, I'm joining the tournament and as much I hate to admit it, I am willing to work with you for the time being," she cut me off. I guess she wasn't done talking... Work with me?! After what happened the last time we met, why would she even bother coming over to speak to me. I remember walking around looking for a couple party members to help me complete a quest. I heard that there was a bar filled with women, "ladies night," I think they called it, so I wandered in. And it was true, there were women all over the place. I had to scout out someone good looking and strong. I had to be able to look at them long enough to complete a quest, but I also had to know they'd have my back. Maya was sitting at the bar, and her pink hair along with her rapier drew my attention. I made my way over to her, and it went downhill from there...

I remember asking if I could buy her a drink, and she refused. I ordered her one anyway, and then she seemed to get all uppity and she refused to drink it. I tried letting her know why I needed to party up, that I needed help with a quest. I also let her know about my choosing in partner, and how they had to have looks and strength. I thought women liked honesty, but not her. She ripped me a new one, cursing me out and calling me names, and going on about how she swings for the other team. Figures. She then promptly threw me out of the bar, and no one within that bar's vicinity would even speak to me.

"Why should I-" this time I stopped myself. She sent me a friend request, and I was dumbfounded. I reluctantly hit accept, and then there was her name in my contacts list. Maya.

"I don't know if you're a good fighter or not, but I'll be watching you and don't even try to pull that charm on me.."

"Yeah right, like I'd even waste my time. Besides," I pointed a finger at Crod as I kept my eyes on Maya, "he's the real perv, not me. I just try to have a little bit of fun, but this guy has probably already taken screen-shots of your avatar so that he can photo-shop himself some nudes later. I'd watch it around him if I were you."

Before we could continue on any further, another player made his way over to us. "Hey there... I'm heading upward as well mind if I join your group? I'm Renegade."


We were starting to get a bit crowded. Viola hadn't arrived yet and already we were being faced with too many people to make a party. Of course, before we were worried we wouldn't be able to find anybody, now we were faced with picking and choosing.

"Well, Renegade," I said as I directed my attention to him. I noticed he wielded multiple weapon types. He honestly must have been a skilled player. Most players who try to master multiple weapons tend to fail at it, and are constantly left behind on older floors. But Renegade here was heading up like the rest of us, and he had no other party members in sight. He really must have had a handle on things. I stopped myself before giving him an answer.

Who do I party with? Viola is coming with me, no questions asked. I still want to ask her for some advice, and I promised to protect her. I've seen what Crod can do first-hand, and I do think our fighting styles will compliment each other well, but his rapist eyes... And then there is Maya. She's definitely strong for sure, but how do I know that her rapier won't be sticking out of my neck partway through the dungeon? And then Renegade, the random new guy who fights with a unique skill set... Not much can be said for him considering this is our first meeting. Decisions decisions...

"Yo, what's the dealio?" And there she was. Viola had finally arrived and greeted the group as she looked around at each person. I sent her a party invite, and then made my way over to stand beside her.

"I've gotta ask you about something," I whispered to her as I approached her, "just gimme a minute." I turned to look at our group of three. How should we handle the party... I didn't want to exclude anybody, which left us with the option of splitting ourselves into two groups. But either way here, one of our groups was only going to have two people.

"Okay everybody, we have obviously hit a predicament due to the four person party limit," I put on my grown up voice and proceeded. "We each have a common goal in mind, to finally take on and defeat the floor 30 boss. I say we all work together. We can make two parties, and we'll scout out the 30th floor. With two groups, we can cover more ground. So I think we should split up and search for the dungeon. After one party finds it, they can notify the other party and then we can meet up and we'll search for the boss chamber together."

I really hoped no one was taking this as me being pushy, and just understood that this was probably the fastest way for us to handle this. Again, I came to the issue of who should be in what party...

"Viola and I will be one group, I think you three should be the other," I sent a friend request to Renegade since he was the only one who wasn't in my contact list. As long as we all added each other, then we could at least send messages between the two parties.

I awaited the group's response to my plan. Hopefully the other group wouldn't have a problem with it since they were being given the upper hand of the three-man team. And hopefully Viola just didn't mind. If everyone agreed, then I'd get my perfect opportunity to talk to Viola as soon as we began our search.

 

[Shinra]

I was amused at Max's, I mean Musashi's natural leadership although no one could see it under my calm face... As for when Viola arrived I had a sense of deja vu, like I had heard the voice behind her avatar later that day. It was oddly melodic yet I couldn't place it as easily as I did Max's voice. Musashi said that Crod, Maya, and I were to party up so we could scout the 30th floor more easily. Meanwhile Him and Viola were to continue together as well. I was soon drawn to the -blip!- noise that indicated I had obtained a friend request from Musashi. I opened it and confirmed the request, Then I turned to Crod and Maya and said: "It seems like a good idea to me... what do you two think?"

 

[Roxie1563]

When I heard Musashi's plan to put out two groups to scout ahead for the Floor 30th Boss, I had no objection which was surprising to me, considering our little interaction from a few days ago. I wondered who would be good to pair up when the new guy, Renegade, spoke up.

"It seems like a good idea to me... what do you two think?" He said to us.

I shrugged my shoulders as I slowly gazed at the girl that stood by the pervert's side. "I'm in; though, I'm warning you two in advance: I'm not a damn princess that needed to be protected, got it? And also, if you try to do anything like flirting, don't," I warned in my most threatening voice as I could muster.

"After all, Captain Pervert here," I pointed my finger to him so they'd know who I am talking about, "Attempted to ask me out a few days ago in a lesbian bar here in town; I told him no over and over, but he was so drunk until he asked me out. I promptly punched him in the face and threw him out of here," I said while putting my hands on my hips, a grin on my face.

I then turned to the armor guy, Crod, and put my right hand on his left shoulder and proceed to tell him this. "I don't think you're a pervert.. You look like an honest guy and I trust that; Not to mention, that Axe of yours is pretty strong as my rapier, so with the three of us working together, we'd stand no chance against anyone else, including the Floor 30th Boss and all future bosses!" I smiled at them while I looked to see what Mushashi were doing with that poor girl.

I told them I was originally going to grinding, but now that we are in group, I'd think it's better to train together and see what we can do in a team. "I mean, if it's all right with Captain Pervert," I gave out in my sarcastic tone as I walked to the girl.

When I approached her, I gave her an wink and spoke while clapping my hands together, smile on my face. "Hey there! My name's Maya and I'm curious to know.. Are you two together? I mean, I'm surprised you fell for his ridiculous 'samurai' charm," I said to her while shooting the most harsh look at Musashi as I could, making sure to really scare him so he'd quit being so charming, "After all, he tried to do the same with me, but I kindly punched him in the face while shoving him out the door.

I thought she looked fantastic, even though I wasn't sure if she'd handle being around him.. Then again, it is Musashi I'm talking about here. I decided to sit down so I'd save some energy for future adventures while waiting for them to make a move.

I people-watched other people while slowly my thoughts turned into, oddly enough, Carlos. I turned my head to see his face and for an instant, I thought he looked like Carlos, but it was impossible. I quickly turned back before he noticed what I was doing and sighed. It's funny that even though he was just a newbie in the job department, he actually did great at anything. Maybe I'd give him some more pointers, though that usually left Max to do it since he's practically the head of everything.

I then turned my thoughts over to the relationships I had around here.. There had to be someone else that is truly interested in me other than just having one night-stands. I gave out a groan that wasn't meant for the group to hear and quickly covered by clearing my throat, almost ended up coughing.

"Bug.. It was a bug in my mouth," I tried to cover up, but it was close enough for Crod to see it was not so. I wrapped my arms under my chest as I crossed one leg over the other, my head up and looking at the sky.

 

[Kiba]

Kali: The Next Level

The grass was dead.
Most of it was withered and dry and crunched when stepped on. It had taken on a dingy golden brown color like a banana that is on the verge of being too ripe. Kali’s footsteps were noisy as she walked through it. The ground was hard beneath her feet, dried by the unbearable sun. Her sun hat helped, but the heat still caused beads of sweat to form on her brow.

After leaving the inn, she’d made her way through the town and tried to find any signs of people looking for one last team member. Those she asked had already filled their last spots. Most people were nice about it. Others weren’t. She gave up after 20 minutes of searching and decided to just try to level herself some more. Deciding that level 29 and the area’s around Hostene would be too crowded, she made her way to level 30.

There were less people on level 30 since most of the players were still getting ready. When she’d asked around about the monsters on level 30, most people told her they were only slightly stronger than those on level 29. She was told level 30 had rolling hills and sprawling cave systems. They hadn’t told her it was basically a dead wasteland. At the portal, the level looked serene. Green grass, a couple trees sprinkled about in the distance, gentle breeze, blue skies, etc. Away from the portal, all of that changed. In one area there were heavy winds, in another a blazing sun. Dead grass covered most of the area and a forest of dead trees sat surrounding the portal on all sides. Kali hadn’t seen the forest until she walked about a mile from the portal.

It was eerie. A chill went down Kali’s spine that she quickly shook off. All the dead trees with their spiny, twisting branches gave her the creeps. She took a step into the forest, grass noisily echoing her footsteps to any creatures within earshot. Any sign of other players in the area was almost nonexistent. There had been one or two players sitting near the portal waiting for the rest of their team. Other than them, she hadn’t encountered anybody else.

Kali took another step. C’mon, Sam. Don’t be a chicken. You’re strong in here. You’re Kali. She thought to herself. She exhaled and started off north at a steady pace. There is nothing to be scared about. The sun is out. There’s a slight breeze. The bees are pollenating. Wait. Bees? Bees don’t pollenate dead trees.

An incongruous buzzing replaced the silence as several giant wasp-like creatures descended onto the dead branches. Kali froze. She’d heard about the wasps. They usually flew in swarms. Ferocious little bugs that didn’t stop attacking until their prey was dead. The buzzing grew louder as more of the creatures sat their bulbous bodies onto the trees. She looked up, eyes growing wide as she took in their large, painful looking stingers.

Her mind was running one hundred miles per minute trying to think of a way out. If she ran, they would hear the commotion and attack. If she tried to sneak away, the grass would give her away. She cursed her situation with words unspoken. There was only one way to get through this. The woods that had creeped her out a minute before looked extremely welcoming now. I have the terrain to my advantage. She had the plan worked out in her head. All she could do was hope that it worked.

 

[LatinoHeat90]

"Yeah right, like I'd even waste my time. Besides he's the real perv, not me. I just try to have a little bit of fun, but this guy has probably already taken screen-shots of your avatar so that he can photo-shop himself some nudes later. I'd watch it around him if I were you."

"Not this again." I slumped my head down. Once again Musashi has claimed me a perv, and in front of a beautiful girl. "Look I am not a perv, he just thinks I am."

"Hey there... I'm heading upward as well mind if I join your group? I'm Renegade." Another player approached us and made an offer to join the party. I had no clue what to do. We had gained two potential party members within a couple of minutes and Viola had not arrived.

"Yo, what's the dealio?" Wow, this was simply amazing. In the woods, I feared Viola and Musashi would reject me and now we have enough people for two parties. With Viola present I knew that a decision would have to be made, who was going to have to be rejected. I prayed that it wasn't going to be me. But, I wasn't the kind of person to stand up and tell everyone that. I just waited for someone to do something.

"Okay everybody, we have obviously hit a predicament due to the four person party limit. We each have a common goal in mind, to finally take on and defeat the floor 30 boss. I say we all work together. We can make two parties, and we'll scout out the 30th floor. With two groups, we can cover more ground. So I think we should split up and search for the dungeon. After one party finds it, they can notify the other party and then we can meet up and we'll search for the boss chamber together. Viola and I will be one group, I think you three should be the other." Musashi came up with a great plan, and I don't say that because it took a lot of thought, this gave him the opportunity to talk to Viola and mend their relationship. I nodded my head to agree with the decision.

"It seems like a good idea to me... what do you two think?" Renegade asked.

"I'm in; though, I'm warning you two in advance: I'm not a damn princess that needed to be protected, got it? And also, if you try to do anything like flirting, don't,"After all, Captain Pervert here, attempted to ask me out a few days ago in a lesbian bar here in town; I told him no over and over, but he was so drunk until he asked me out. I promptly punched him in the face and threw him out of there." I had to smile, thinking of Musashi getting the crap beat out of him pleased me. And, I wasn't the one being called Captain Pervert.

"I don't think you're a pervert.. You look like an honest guy and I trust that; Not to mention, that Axe of yours is pretty strong as my rapier, so with the three of us working together, we'd stand no chance against anyone else, including the Floor 30th Boss and all future bosses!" Thank the lord she didn't think I was a pervert, I couldn't take being called that by more than just one person. She made a valid point that the three of us could take out the boss. Renegade looked as if he had great speed and agility from the armor and weapons he used. The rapier Maya used was fast and powerful and that would match her play style. I would be slower than the two but my ability to take damage and deal it will allow us to be a powerful party. Everyone conversed for a little. I remained quiet. I usually don't speak unless someone wants me too. I prefer to listen to get to know others.

"Bug.. It was a bug in my mouth," Maya tried to hide he loud groan with weird excuse. She knew I had seen her and she continued to try to play it off. She is going to be an odd one. She talks big too but with the confidence and fierceness in her voice I had to believe it. Some time passed and we all started to get antsy. It was time to search for the dungeon and it was time to see how our new parties would hold up. I turned to Renegade and Maya.

"Uh..I think we should get started searching for this dungeon." I sent them party requests. I had never sent a party request before, usually I was the recepeint, so it took me time to find the link in the menu. "Musashi, Viola, see you at the boss location. I hope everything goes alright. Good luck." My encouragement had a double meaning, I was afraid Viola might kill Musashi if their relationship broke down, especially with Musashi being such a player. I turned back to my party mates. "Are we ready?" We made our way to the gate and teleported to the 30th floor. It was a grassy, wasteland area that looked rather spooky. I drew my axe and moved forward. "I will take point."

 

[Shinra]

I mostly just nodded as I kept tabs on what everyone was saying. Maya bungled with her excuse, and Crod had sent both Maya and I a party request. I accepted it rapidly and smiled. Although I shifted my head back to Viola... I still hadn't figured out who she was although I heard her voice before. I closed my eyes and took on a stern expression as I continued thinking.

My thoughts were interrupted however when Crod started speaking again. I didn't bother listening until the end though.

"Are we ready?"

"I sure am... Mind both of you that although my extra skills are up to par, my weapon skill is not because I'm wielding two different weapon Classes."

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Viola was confused. First Musa had told her they needed to talk, which made her slightly curious. Though she was fairly sure he wanted to talk about the upcoming boss, she had already been wrong once today. At the very least in this context there was a lesser chance of her being on the opposite spectrum of 'wrong' like last time. Whatever it was that he needed to chat about, it apparently would have to wait. Musa split the large group of people into two separate parties: 2 to 3, with them being the pair.
"I'm cool with that," Viola said, "lemme just add all of you to my friends list. That way we can at least stay in communications." She filed through menus, adding everybody present while trying her hardest to remember whose name belonged to who. Almost as soon as she had finished, one of them approached her. It was a rather familiar looking girl, though Viola couldn't place her anywhere. What a warm welcome! Man, Musa's friends were nice. It's a wonder how she hadn't found any friends like these by herself in this virtual world yet.

"I'm curious to know.. Are you two together? I mean, I'm surprised you fell for his ridiculous 'samurai' charm, after all, he tried to do the same with me, but I kindly punched him in the face while shoving him out the door."

"Wh-what?!" Viola's shouted as she turned a bright red and placed her arms in front of her, waving them madly. "No! Nononono, it's nothing like that! I've only known the dude for a day! I mean, yeah he kinda hit on me and he uses dumb names and stuff, but I figured that's just how he is!" Wait, was this what he wanted to talk about?! Not again; twice in one day?! Why were the worlds so cruel. "No, we aren't together," She said after calming down slightly. "I'm not really 'with' anyone, I guess. Um. Yeah, anyway. We fightin' bosses and stuff, yeah? Cuz I'm all set."

 

[Max]

Oh my God, really? Maya just had to keep going on and on about that bar. It was probably one of those things I would never live down.

"Alright Maya, listen. Sure, I may have flirted with you a bit the other night, but I was mainly looking for a party. I needed help with a quest! So I like to flirt with girls online here and there, so what, it's just a bit of fun. I'm sure you do your fair share of flirting with the ladies, am I right?" Man, I was being way too serious about this. "Whatever, I'm sorry okay, don't hold a life grudge."

Everyone seemed okay with my plans as far as splitting up the parties went, and Crod surprisingly took the initiative on his side by sending party requests to the others. And with that they were off.

"Alright, looks like it's just you an me Princess, let's go." After we officially partied up, we finally made our way to the 30th floor.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hraaaa-" I screamed as I sliced through a Goblin Warrior. "Whew, that's the last of them. How you holding up McMuffin?"

That was already our 9th battle. The 30th floor wasn't too bad so far though. The enemies were tough, but I felt like we were at a pretty decent level to tackle this floor. The weirdest part about it was just how freaking huge the grassland seemed with absolutely no towns in sight on this floor.

I looked over to a nearby freshwater spring that sat right next to a cave. "Hey, that looks like a perfect spot to rest, what do you say?" I made my way over and sat down right at the edge of the water. I took a sip of it and felt the water run right down my throat. I was still amazed at how realistic this world truly was.

"So hey, Viola, about what I wanted to talk to you about earlier... I know we don't really know each other that well, but you seem like an easy person to talk to, and I wanted to know if I could get some advice from you?" Might as well not beat around the bush. Viola seemed like the kind of girl to be straight with you, so it was only right for me to do the same.

"Well, okay here goes. I'm entering serious mode for a moment. Believe it or not, there's this girl I really like. I know her in the real world, and honestly you could probably say that I'm just not that smooth when I feel serious about someone. She's really cool though, like you, but even so I just don't really know how to tell her how I feel. Do I just straight up tell her? Do I casually ask her to hang out? God, you could probably tell me exactly what to do and I'd still mess it up." I couldn't help but laugh at myself as I opened up to Viola, and a big smile worked it's way across my face.

 

[Roxie1563]

I was deep in thoughts as I looked up to the sky when I heard the beep of a friend request notification pop up. I looked and quickly opened it in my menu. It was from Crod, Viola, and Renegade; I accepted them as Crod spoke up about leaving to scout ahead.

I smiled at him as I got up, stretching around when I heard Musashi telling me to shut it. I glared back and walked away with Crod and Renegade, but inside I knew he was right about all that and I hate it. I even knew I was being little mean to him, but he doesn't know why I do it.

We reached the gate and teleported to the 30th Floor, which was surprisingly huge with hardly any town to be seen by miles and miles. I closed my eyes and took an deep breath in and out then opened my eyes and walked ahead.

----

"Hiya!!" I screamed as I sliced the Goblin warrior with my rapier. I twisted to narrowly miss the sword of another Goblin and activating my Sprint ability, I ran fast and swiftly cut down the monster, slashing quickly as I could, ending it with Linear. I took the moment to take a quick breath as I checked my new friends.

Crod seemed to be handy with that axe of his while Renegade is surely strong with his weapons as well. We managed to reach some few levels as we continued our way to scout for the door that would lead us to the Floor 30th Boss. I set my rapier back in its sheath then patted my clothes away that was covered in dust.

I thought of what Musashi said and I knew I should apologize right away, so I opened up my menu and contacted Musashi.

"Hey.. Listen, I know I'm not one to really hold a grudge but I feel the need to clarify some things and I feel it would be better to do it in face to face once we meet up. Okay? And tell Viola I said hey and um.. Well, you're right and I do flirt with women, but I don't go and brag about it; beside, I'm waiting for the right girl to come into my life.. Anyway, talk to you later once we meet up. Bye," I wrote out then sent to him.

I sighed and looked to Crod. I thought it would be prudent to learn about him so I walked up and spoke to him. "Hey, Crod.. I know we hardly got to know to each other, so let's talk. How long have you been here? I have the feeling this isn't your first rodeo online, and you're great in battle," I said with respect in my voice as I look straight in his eyes.

As I awaited his answers, I quickly checked to see if I got any message from Musashi and hid my disappointment to see it wasn't so. I closed my menu then looked around my surroundings and realized this floor is going to be some working to do to complete this.

"Man, this is going to be some battle once we find that door, huh, guys?" I spoke out to them, my arms crossing my chest, the breeze blowing my jacket.

 

[Shinra]

I was soon greeted by another friend request as I was about to go through the portal, this time from mysterious-yet-familiar Viola... I accepted it quite easily and soon turned to pay attention to my party as we warped to floor 30.

___________________________________________________________________

Renegade shifted his grip on his sword as he turned to face another goblin and swiped his blade horizontally as he ducked, tripping his opponent then his claw was clad in a similar blue aura as his blade and he screamed: "SHORYUKEN!"

The fist hit first sending the goblin upward then he jumped backward and onto his feet before meeting his target mid-air and stamped his left foot down and stretched back as he sent the goblin flying with a punt of Chie-level exertion. He soon saw the last one taken out by Maya and Renegade smiled. "good... It's over for now... and I need to... catch my breath." He hunched over his knees and tried to slow his breathing.

"Wow... you guys are good... I've seen you before but to think I'm barely able to keep up is understandable though..."

 

[Kiba]

Kali: The Dead Forest

The plan was to run deep into the thicket of gnarled trees. The trees would act as her spindly shield against the massive insectoids. Her heart was beating fast as footsteps crunched swiftly through the forest. The plan was to turn and attack when the terrain was ideal, when she was surrounded abundantly by trees and misshapen, sharp branches. With the terrain to her advantage, she’d have the upper hand. She would be able to hold off the bugs until someone found her. That was the plan.

When she had slowed her run and twisted around to stand her ground, there was silence. No buzzing. No wasps chasing her. Her eyes darted about in every direction, her body prepared for the inevitable ambush. This is a trick. She reflected. They’re going to get me when I drop my guard. Its an ambush. An ambush that never came. The wind rustled her hair about her face as she waited several minutes while nothing happened.

The adrenaline was flowing through her body as she released the tension from her body, switching from her crouched, fighting stance to standing upright and tall. Brown eyes searched about for anything dangerous. There was nothing. She sighed. Relief washed over her. “Ugh,” she groaned, trying to shake off all the adrenalin. She lifted her gaze to the sky. Blue, as ever. Too blue. Cloudless.

After a moment of composing herself, she began to walk further into the woods. There was no point in going back towards the wasps. She didn’t want to try her luck with them again. One encounter was enough and she wasn’t equipped to battle an airborne opponent yet. Her footsteps continued to make the lifeless grass crunch loudly. As she walked, her thoughts went to the boss on the level. What was it? How large? How quick? What did it look like? It had to be a difficult boss if it took a team to defeat.

That was one thing she still lacked. A team. At that point, she would have taken anything. It disheartening. Not a single one of her friends that she’d met in the game had asked her to join them. I guess that’s what I get for being somewhat of a recluse. She spent most of her time before the tournament farming or doing menial tasks that were oddly entertaining to her. Those she did befriend would invite her to go ranging with them, but she usually declined. This accounted to her being at a lower level than most people in the tournament at this point. She’d passed the 10th and 20th floor bosses by joining parties and sticking to the back. Those she had joined before hadn’t even accepted her requests.

“Bah!” She kicked up some of the ground and stopped walking. Her little trip had lead her into the middle of a clearing. The circle of trees surrounding were alive, green, and bore strange fruits. There were purple and yellow flowers sprinkled around the edge of the ring. She knelt down and ran her hand over the green grass. It was moist and soft, welcoming. It was a perplexing place. Some weird watered in the middle of a dead forest didn’t seem right. Her fingers plucked a few blades of grass and released them to blow freely away with the breeze.

“Weird huh?” came a voice from behind her.

Kali stayed still. Her weapon hand flexed. She was about to materialize her scythe, spin around and attack the stranger, but then she felt it. The ice cold touch of steel that lay softly against the back of her neck. His sword. “Don’t even think ‘bout it.” He warned.

Her mind was a jumble. Sam’s mind. Focus. “I wasn’t.” she replied, and then immediately felt stupid for saying so.

He laughed at her response.

The voice had a baritone’s timbre. It would have been an attractive voice if it didn’t belong to someone who held her virtual life in his hands. One fell swoop and she would be a head shorter and out of the tournament. The tournament seemed so much more important now. It felt like it had barely started and she was already at risk of death and loss. She considered begging, but Kali didn’t beg. Sam begged. Kali was strong. She was clever, cunning, able to take on one person—even in that position.

“I’m not here to eliminate you.” A woman’s voice now. Soprano. High and musical. Lovely.

Was there more than one person? That wouldn’t be good. Depending on their levels, she wasn’t sure she could take on two people. Kali can. Her hand flexed open and closed again. She could take the two on. It wouldn’t be easy, but she could take them. They wouldn’t expect it. They would expect her to be submissive and scared. Kali didn’t fear… Kali tried not to fear. Her head remained bowed. Eyes fixed on the grass. “What are you waiting for?” She offered. If they were going to end her game, she wanted it to be quick.

“I’m not here to harm you, Kali.” Another voice. Male. Deep. Rough like sandpaper. And gravelly. Almost like a man who’s seen too many years. And he knew her. He knew her characters name. She kept Kali’s name hidden to strangers. Only those she friended could see her username.

“I’m here to help, Sam.”

Kali’s head snapped up. “Who- How do you?” She was at a loss for words. Only one person knew Kali as Sam. Someone she hadn’t seen in several months virtually or in reality. But it couldn’t be her. How would she find her all the way out in this forest.

“How do you know my name?” Kali demanded. Her shaky voice giving away her surprise.
“In due time.” The baritone.
“Who are you then?!” Her patience was spent. She needed answers.

“A friend.”

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Viola let out a cry as she charged headfirst into a small group of goblins. She collided into one with her shield, and it ended up flying a few feet away, knocked out of the fight for good. Crowd control, this was what she was good at. She had high strength, but she worked better when she could easily keep her momentum going from one enemy to the next. Adding in her shield for the extra defense, as well as having the ability to bounce back attacks made fighting against a large number of foes something that she was good at. After the fight, the pair decided to rest by a small spring. The cave next to it interested Viola, but it would probably be better to take a breather before plunging in to another horde of goblins. Once they sat down, the girl opened her inventory and selected the green fruit she had found inside the small forest. Much to her surprise, Musa needed advice on a girl from the real world. She sighed in relief. She had at first been worried that Musa was also considering a serious relationship in the virtual world with her. That would have been awkward, especially since they were now in a party by themselves. 'sorry, I'm not interested, but hey we still a party, yeah?' Good thing that didn't happen.

The problem was, she didn't really know how to answer. She cut the fruit into two halves with a knife she had in her inventory and gave the samurai one of the two. What would she want if it was her? She thought back to Cashier Guy and felt herself blush slightly.
"Well," She began, "you probably know her better than I do, so you should know how to handle it. I mean, I know a lot of guys seem to think that girls want guys who seem super confident and assertive, but really it would probably be nice for her to know that you're...I dunno, scared might be the word I'm looking for. You just gotta be yourself, I guess. If you let someone think you're something your not, there'll be problems down the road. Kinda like how you keep acting around chicks here in SAO. You end up having situations with people like Maya." She smiled as she took a bit of the sweet fruit. "Sorry, I don't think that really helps, does it?"

 

[LatinoHeat90]

The goblin lifted it's club to block my downward strike, it wasn't an issue. The club burst into data confetti and the axe continued it's coarse until the goblin was split into two pieces. The goblin's advantage was brute strength and numbers but it wasn't a problem for our party. Maya made her way to me as she had just slain a goblin herself.


"Hey, Crod.. I know we hardly got to know to each other, so let's talk. How long have you been here? I have the feeling this isn't your first rodeo online, and you're great in battle."

I was taken back by her tone. I felt like she would always be an aggressive person to be around but she had little show of that when addressing me. I bet it was just Musashi's fault, he brings that out in people. I reflected on her comment and question. I had also thought about the fact we barely knew each other, nor did I know Renegade. We all felt somewhat reserved around each other. We were still feeling each other out, Musashi would take that the wrong way.

"I have been playing SAO for about a year now. I had played other VRMMO's but this one is still the best. When the tournament was announced I joined this server as fast a possible. The idea of beating the game and only have one life is exhilarating." I paused for a moment. Thinking about what I said. "Well, it is not like the death game that took place. That would have been horrifying." I realized my expression had changed, I had a serious look on my face. I turned it into a smile. "But, we don't have to worry about that, so this is just fun."

Renegade was taking care of the last goblin. It was very interesting seeing someone use two weapons. It offered a great deal of improvisation and flare. I turned my attention back to Maya.

"You are very strong too, Maya. It seems like you don't need much protecting at all. But, trust me, I will have your back."

"Wow... you guys are good... I've seen you before but to think I'm barely able to keep up is understandable though..." Renegade said as he caught his breath, just having defeated the goblin.

"Man, this is going to be some battle once we find that door, huh, guys?"

"Yeah, I think we can handle it, but it definitely will be tough. Renegade, that was some classy stuff you pulled off. We will move a little slower for a while so we can regain stamina, you are mastering to weapons at once after all." I had to look up to Renegade, not many people could handle it. Maya was also an adept player. None of us relied on the sword skills alone, we used our own techniques, unleashing sword skills in ways that were deadly and unpredictable. Unlike beginners, that solely rely on the sword skill and specific moves, we had our own flavors.

We began to move on again. Seeking the dungeon that would hold the boss of this forsaken floor.

 

[Roxie1563]

I listened to Crod's responses to my question while I looked straight ahead to see the field that laid out in front of us when he brought up the Death Game. My breath became short and I struggled to keep myself under control.

Why? Why did he have to bring it up? I thought to myself as the memories of my dear brother came crashing back. It had been some few years since his death inside the game and I found it hard to move on. Not wanting to ignore Crod or Renegade, I forced myself to turn to them and gave them an smile that was fake, but to them it was sincere.

I turned back to the field and I spoke out loud. "Guys, see that cave over there? I think there might be a good chance that's where the door is. I might be wrong, but there's a way to find out," I pointed out to the direction with my index finger to the cave that was probably couples of miles away.

We walked our way there while slaying goblins that had returned once more. As I slayed another one while twisting out of the way, memories of brotherly/sisterly bonding kept flooding back. I growled at the one memory that kept coming back and that was his death.

I screamed in anger, my temper rising to the point that I just totally lost it. Without knowing how I managed to survive, I slashed around rapidly, moving in synch with my rage flaring, destroying all but one goblin which was taken down by either one of my newly made friends.

My anger finally subsided to the point that I was shaking in my sweat as I set my rapier back in its sheath. I shakily walked slowly until I had to stop and crouched to my knees, my eyes watering as tears came down to my cheeks. I couldn't shake off of what Crod said about the tournament being fun. I hated it when he said that and before I could stop myself from saying something really royally stupid, I got up and whirled to him.

"You think it was funny when thousands died to get home? You think it was funny for my brother when he had to survive on virtual food?" I screamed at him. "I had to watch his fricking body slowly becoming less and less of muscles and more of skin and bones. For two years, TWO years, I visited him at the hospital every day and all of sudden, he's gone." I spoke in a quiet voice.

I looked straight at him. "I believe someone killed him before he woke up. I'm on a damn crusade to find the killer and you might think I'm in the wrong, you're right.. but of as now, I don't give a crap," I spoke out.

It was then I realized that I might had hurt his feelings and I quickly apologized to him. I gave out a quiet sigh and turned around and kept on walking toward the cave, my feelings raw.

I sure hope once we complete this floor, it'll be one step closer to finding out who killed my brother. I thought to myself as we walked on.

 

[Shinra]

Renegade's eyes narrowed as Crod mentioned the death game... He remembered both his and his brother's failure at saving his twin sister Raelyn. He glanced at his claw before and sheathed his blade as raised his head as he heard the peculiar grunts of the same type of goblins they just killed.

He drew his blade and looked further down the trail. He saw at least 10 goblins guarding the door to a large stone hall. " Guys... I think I see the door to the boss but there's a large group of goblins guarding it... Message Musashi and Viola... unless you two think we can take them ourselves." But just as Renegade pulled back the group spotted him and blazed down the trail. "Crap!" He jumped back and drew his blade.

 

[Max]

Viola took out a piece of green fruit and offered me half of it. I smiled as she handed it to me and took my first bite as she began with her response.

"Well, you probably know her better than I do, so you should know how to handle it. I mean, I know a lot of guys seem to think that girls want guys who seem super confident and assertive, but really it would probably be nice for her to know that you're...I dunno, scared might be the word I'm looking for. You just gotta be yourself, I guess. If you let someone think you're something your not, there'll be problems down the road. Kinda like how you keep acting around chicks here in SAO. You end up having situations with people like Maya. Sorry, I don't think that really helps, does it?"

I couldn't help but laugh at her response. Before I could reply, I got a bit choked up on a piece of that green fruit. After coughing through it a bit, I cleared my throat and looked over to her.

"I'm okay," I assured her. That was a little embarrassing. "Anyway, yeah, I guess I know what you mean. I just always liked the idea here, in SAO, that I could be whoever I wanted to be. Here, I was supposed to be able to be a romantic samurai, full of honor and great with the ladies. But instead... Yeah, you know. But I totally get what you mean, I just need to be straight up with her. Maybe I should just tell her exactly how I feel, no beating around the bush." The smile on my face remained as I turned and looked Viola in the eyes. " Thank you Viola. I'm glad we met, you seem like a good friend. We've only known each other a day and you don't mind helping me out with my real life issues." I stood up and stretched, feeling a little more confident in my real self. Tomorrow, I planned to talk to Zoey and let her know how I felt. I knew I would still be scared, but I needed to tell myself that I had nothing to lose. I saw the blip of a message pop up on my screen and I opened it. It was from Maya.

"Hey.. Listen, I know I'm not one to really hold a grudge but I feel the need to clarify some things and I feel it would be better to do it in face to face once we meet up. Okay? And tell Viola I said hey and um.. Well, you're right and I do flirt with women, but I don't go and brag about it; beside, I'm waiting for the right girl to come into my life.. Anyway, talk to you later once we meet up. Bye,"

Did Maya just open up to me a bit? I didn't see that coming. She mentioned having something she wanted to clarify when we met back up face to face... I clicked the respond button and typed out a reply real quick. "I'll let Viola know you said hi. And yeah, that sounds good, we can talk about whatever when we meet back up. Later."


"Maya said hi," I told Viola as I swiped my message box away. With that taken care of, it was probably time we started pulling our weight a bit and continue the search for the dungeon. I turned to Viola who was still sitting down and reached out my hand to her. "What do you say we go and take a look at that cave?"

 

[LatinoHeat90]

Something was wrong. Maya was killing the goblins, but the way she was doing it showed her feelings. She screamed as she slayed the enemies, her actions powerful but unruly. She was putting herself in a terrible situation. She kept moving forward and was leaving us behind, goblins surrounding her. I moved as fast as I could to catch up. It didn't matter. She had slain all but one. I quickly sliced through it with all my power. It's two pieces hitting the ground before turning into data flares. I turned to see Maya crying. What was going on?

"Maya, are you alright?" I moved toward her. She quickly turned around, I stopped, seeing the anger and sadness in her eyes.

"You think it was funny when thousands died to get home? You think it was funny for my brother when he had to survive on virtual food? I had to watch his fricking body slowly becoming less and less of muscles and more of skin and bones. For two years, TWO years, I visited him at the hospital every day and all of sudden, he's gone. I believe someone killed him before he woke up. I'm on a damn crusade to find the killer and you might think I'm in the wrong, you're right.. but of as now, I don't give a crap,"

I was completely shocked. I didn't know what to say. I told her I thought the death game must have been horrifying, but I did say the tournament was fun. I saw my mistake. I never lost anybody I knew in the death game, I really couldn't imagine the horror of it. Maya had lost someone to it and I said this game was fun. I'm sure she gets enjoyment from this game but she as an ulterior motive, revenge.

"I am sorry, Maya. I didn't know." I was still at a lose for words. Maya came back from her rage and quickly apologized. I kept thinking about how she must have felt, and how I could not understand it.

" Guys... I think I see the door to the boss but there's a large group of goblins guarding it... Message Musashi and Viola... unless you two think we can take them ourselves." Renegade broke the silence when he discovered a large temple type building. I moved towards it, my back to Maya. I stopped and offered the only condolence I felt I could.

"Maya, I don't know what you went through and I don't know if what you are doing is right," I looked back to her "but like I said before, I have your back." I hoped that if she had someone she knew she could count on she would feel better. It wasn't all talk, I meant what I said deep from my heart. We haven't been friends for long but she seems like a person to fight for.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We fought the goblins around the temple. Maya and Renegade were crowd control, picking the goblins off from the sides as I went through the middle. I offered the largest distraction, allowing them to destroy the goblins more efficiently. I took damage but it was my role as the tank. We cleared the enemies from the surrounding temple and then began to observe the structure.

"Sorry Renegade, this isn't the boss door. The boss door is always connected to a large tower that is the means of getting to the next floor, usually in a dungeon area. This is probably a mini boss that is guarding a treasure." I was getting excited, these things are rare and usually offer up a lot of Col or rare items. The mini bosses are also tough and offer a lot of experience. I came across one once but didn't engage it since I was doing it alone. Now, I was in a party. "Let's go in" I was being hasty but I was getting more excited. I pushed the massive doors open, in the real world I wouldn't had been able to budge them. The doors slowly opened. The light from the outside flooded the building, slowly revealing the giant goblin that stood about stories tall. It wielded a giant club but had no armor on its body, his arm had gauntlets and his legs had shin guards but that was it.

"Look behind it." Behind the giant goblin were three chests. My heart started beating faster and faster with anticipation. "I think we got this. I will go at him straight on, I should be able to block his attacks and keep him busy. Both of you should be able to deal the damage." Before getting confirmation from them I began my charge. "I get the chest on the left, called it!

The giant slammed his club down at me. I raise my axe to block it. The impact was so great I felt my body tremble. I smiled at my successful block, it quickly went away as the giant goblin kicked me. I flew through the air and landed in front of Maya and Renegade, back where I started.

"Shit!"

 

[Shinra]

Renn's eyes flared as he killed the goblins with the ferocity of a tiger, slashing and stabbing with reckless abandon both with blade and claw. He began faltering as more foes were divided more onto his side of the group. They slowly surrounded him and a sword goblin as well as a spear goblin plunged both weapons toward his head. He blocked both weapons with both of his own but the goblin ahead tried stabbing him with a dagger and he had no choice but to back step and duck as the sword goblin slashed horizontally leaving a cut on his shoulder through his new jacket.

He swept the feet of the three before switching the grip of his sword again and swiped across their throats... Although he was focusing on the fight he couldn't help but think about what Maya had said. She wasn't the only one. He finished off the last goblin with a stab to it's digital heart and said: "Maya... you're not the only person who lost a loved one to that dreaded phenomena... I lost my twin sister to that god-forsaken madman's machinations."

Renegade was soon cut off by Crod.

"Sorry Renegade, this isn't the boss door. The boss door is always connected to a large tower that is the means of getting to the next floor, usually in a dungeon area. This is probably a mini boss that is guarding a treasure."

"Oh well... my mistake. At least we'll have a souvenir from this floor."

"I think we got this. I will go at him straight on, I should be able to block his attacks and keep him busy. Both of you should be able to deal the damage."

"Okay then! Let's do this together! Also I call the chest in the middle!" Soon enough Crod was kicked back in front of them.

"we gotta play a bit more tactically Crod... You should have waited for us to charge with you... It may be a mini boss but we can't lose you here. I'll go in first, distract him then you both move in with a sword skill. Then he should focus not so much on me then we can go to town on him together."

"Ok... Three... Two... One... Go!"

He dismissed his claw into the inventory then activated sprint as he crossed the line of sight of the goblin. Renegade's Agility kicked in as he went into a sliding kick and aligned the blade's edge with his arm and as he dodged the club and as he slid through the Goblin's legs he slashed the inside of the goblin's left ankle with his blade before he got up and slashed at both the goblin's heels as well before switching back to the regular grip of his sword.