SAO Beta

There was a normal screen asking for account information. He typed in his username and password, motioning towards the "login" button. He stopped. He was hesitant to log in. He did want to get sucked into another game that would distract him from his work like League of Ledgers, World of Witchcraft, Devil 3, and brother lands. Eh, why not.

He logged in and was amazed at the visuals that followed. Blue lights rushed towards him sending him forwards, suddenly they faded away and the remainders flew skywards, they looked like blue flower petals, revealing the world around him. 

He was standing in a courtyard. It was open and somewhat empty. Before him stretched a pathway, which was decorated with shrubbery that cut through the middle and four stone columns that dotted the entrance. Well...impressive to say the least. 

He looked down at his hands. He was wearing normal starter equipment. Suddenly more and more people surrounded him. Everyone was logging in as the public beta had just become unlocked. As more people logged in chills were sent up his spine. He decided to leave the area. He found a shaded alley and crouched down behind a box, he was breathing heavily. He heard footsteps, not many but footsteps none the less. He looked at the mouth of the alley, waiting to see who was causing them.

Natsuki pushed open the front door to her small house and closed it silently behind her. The dark hallway engulfed her. She panted as she unhooked the pedometer from her shorts and squinted to read the numbers that were shown on the screen. Can't see... She sighed and quickly kicked off her sneakers.

She made her way down the short hallway and entered the living room, where she turned on the light and read her time and steps. A pleased smile formed on her face as her golden eyes finished examining the digital numbers. She then went on to place the pedometer down on her glass coffee table and plop down on the nearby couch.

After a moment or two of lying there with her eyes closed, she reached towards the coffee table and grabbed her phone. As she turned it on, the screen flashed with a missed call from her counselor, a text from her friend, and a reminder. Her eyes lit up at the sight of it and she instantly bounded off the couch and into her bedroom.

Beta time! She thought, an excited smile on her face as she grabbed the Nerve Gear off her desk and crossed the floor to her messily-made bed. She had been waiting a very long time to play this game, and it was finally time. Beta released, and she had been taken as a tester. She wasn't exactly a big video game player, but this one sounded too cool and was too hyped up about in the media to not try. Who wouldn't want to try virtual reality? Sword fighting? Being a different person?

She hopped onto her bed, put the equipment onto her head, and laid back into a comfortable position. "Link start!"

Zoooooom. Colors rushed past her at great speed. The log in screen appeared, her information was put in, and once again she was moving. Zooom. "Welcome to Sword Art Online (Beta)!" shown before her eyes just before she was engulfed in a vortex of blue. Before she knew it she was standing in the middle of a courtyard full of other starting players.

She glanced down at herself... or, well... Fuji. She was taller than she was used to being and the hair that fell over her shoulders was black and straight. Cool. She stepped back so that a group of running beta testers would not bump into her. She was wearing a starting outfit- skirt, long-sleeved shirt, short boots, gloves, breastplate... the whole package. On her back was something heavy, and as she glanced over her shoulder, she saw that a large hammer was strapped to her back.

She smiled once again and looked around, wondering what she was supposed to do first.

Luna looked toward the window. Beautiful, beautiful view outside today. Too bright, though. She pulled herself closer to the window in order to close it, and a sharp voice was heard from the doorway.

"Stop! Be careful, you'll hurt yourself." it said, and Luna's stunned face looked over. She blushed and pulled the covers over her a bit more, but the light was gone. As the woman left the room she heard the door shut, and the breath she held was released. Her eyes scanned the room until it found what it was looking for: NerveGear, ready for her to play and enjoy. Getting into a more comfortable position, she stretched and yawned. A month into Summer... She can't wait until school started again, honestly.

Then again, yes she could. Talking to people scared her, and her teachers were more than determined to have her answer questions in front of class.

She thought they were sadists.

She also thought that they were trying to help her.

She shook her head briskly before locking her eyes on the NerveGear again.

Did she really want to play this game? She quit most games six years ago in order to focus on school, and she didn't know whether or not she could do it again. Before, she would play them so much that she was known for missing school constantly.

Well, it is the Summer.

She put it on her head, laid back, and closed her eyes.

"Link start." she whispered, her voice light and sweet, yet shaky. She hadn't spoken for two weeks.

Vivid colours flashed around, and she jumped.

Or she would have if she could.

Before she could react and get over it, there was a log in screen. She stared at it for about a minute before entering in the information, and suddenly she was being thrust into the game. The first thing that she saw was somebody standing across from her, probably having just spawned. Her hair was straight and black, and they were taller than her with a large hammer on their back. Before she knew it, she was stuck staring at her. She didn't want to, but she was scared to look away, too; she was scared to look at the world around her. She could hear voices and steps all around her, and she bit her lip in order to alleviate some of the stress.

If she didn't say something soon, it would get a lot worse.

At least, that's what she thought.

Maybe that's why she spoke first.

With a stutter, though.

"H-hello?" yet again, light, sweet, and shaky.

He watched the mouth of the alley. The steps were close. Her saw two people enter, immediately hiding behind the box again. They began to talk another...he couldn't tell their gender by the way they spoke.

Why am I hiding behind a box? If they catch me they're gonna think I was up to some weird shit.

He heard the first person speak loudly. "WHAT?! You don't even know how to equip your weapon. You're so hopeless. You go to the menu and..." he kept listening to them talk. Following the instructions he opened his equipment tab revealing his weapon. It was a Two handed hammer that look pretty beaten. I don't know what I was expecting, it is starter gear. He equipped it but was surprised at it's weight, instantaneously falling over. They noticed him.

He scrambled to his feet and began to walk away, they spoke about him as he did. "What a creep. Who the hell hides in a place like this? He character looks goofy as hell too." Calm down...they're just talking. Just talking. "I bet he's a pervert."

He stopped dead in his tracks. I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THEM. He turned around and walked quickly towards them. They gestured to move out of the way but he kept walking towards the one who spoke about him. He grabbed the person by the shirt pulling them up a bit. "DIDN'T YOUR PARENTS TEACH YOU ANY MANNERS?" He got a good look at the persons face, it was a girl. I should stop this is going to get bad...WHAT AM I SAYING SHE WAS TALKING SHIT! 

He put her down. "You have three seconds." They stood still. "One...two...THREE!" They ran away and he chased after them, screaming insults at them at the top of his lungs. They were running back to the spawn area. HE didn't care much about the crowds though. All he cared about was teaching the two girls a lesson.

He was catching up to them. He swung his hammer just missing. It took him all of one second to pick it up again and keep chasing them. In that one second however, he saw people staring at him, two being a tall girl with black hair and a little girl who was closing her mouth as though she had just finished speaking. I'M GONNA KILL THEM FOR MAKING ME LOOK BAD!!!

He left the area, continuing his pursuit.

Natsuki heard a small voice behind her. A sort of greeting? Just as she was about to turn around, she heard an even greater commotion and her eyes met a guy with black hair swinging his hammer at two girls. She raised a brow in confusion, her jaw dropping slightly. What the hell? He looked in her general direction before turning and continuing the chase.

Her eyes flickered to the young girl behind her. She was caught between the urge to chase him down and stop him and the pleading, nervous look that sat deep in the girl's eyes. "Um..." Taking one last glance towards the predator and his prey, she sighed and turned towards the girl. She said, turning towards the girl. "Hi!"

Luna's thoughts were broken when she heard a commotion arise. She looked over to it and what she saw was half funny, half scary. With a light giggle she forgot that she was in the middle of a ton of people, and she wasn't reminded of the person she spoke to until they replied. Her heart dropped for a second as she turned back to the person and thought of what to say. She should introduce herself, right? That's normal. Her mouth opened as she thought of the words, happy that she might b--

"Hi."

Her heart fell again. Her face went from the light shade that it is to a bright red. "I... My name..." she hesitated, having forgotten her name in such a situation.

I mean, it's not like she hasn't heard it for 16 years, right?

Then she realized that she should be using her name that she has in game, not in real life.

"Is, um, Fuyu." success.

Flush.

Embarrassment.

Now that she gave it thought, she didn't think her meek weapons would help her much, so she would need to group.

Right?

"Would you l-like to group?" she asked, socially anxious, while opening her menu.

He kept running after them for what felt like miles. This is actually kinda nice. I usually can't run this long on the outside. Maybe i should stop smoking. He stopped. They were gone. 

He wandered around the market for a bit trying to stay calm. That is, until he saw one of the two he was chasing. That isn't the one that was talking shit. He calmly walked up to her. Now that he was looking at her with a kind of level head she was much smaller than him, her head only reaching his chest. He tapped on her shoulder. She turned around with what started out as a smile and slowly turned to pure fear. 

She tried to run but her grabbed onto the collar of her shirt, yanking her back towards him. He shoved his face into hers making a "konk" noise when their foreheads collided. "Where. Is. Your. Friend." She made a face that looked like her very soul was seeping out of her body before poiting in the direction her friend was. He bolted leaving nothing but dust behind him.

He ran for a while before seeing her again. "YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!" She looked back and saw him. Startled, she ran away into a field. We're a ways away from the town...I wonder if we'll run into monsters. He paused his thought process wondering if he should stop. FUCK IT I'LL STOMP ON ANYTHING THAT GETS BETWEEN ME AND HER! 

Suddenly two wolves cut between him and his target. They aggro'd on him. He let out a scream as he came to a halt readying his hammer. "GET OUT OF MY WAY" He yelled before beginning to fight.

He ran towards them and swung...he wasn't pleased with the damage he saw. 1...1...1. The wolves countered doing roughly 28 damage. WHY AREN'T I DOING DAMAGE?! I-I need to run. 


He sprinted away and the wolves chase. Predator had become prey. He kept running, making back into the town. Looking behind him he saw no sign of them. He sighed as he sat down in a criss cross apple sauce fashion. He opened the menu and examined it. I have to be missing something.

The girl looked a little caught off guard. Natsuki felt something that resembled pity for her. She's so shy... She offered her a smile as she once again began to talk.

"Hi." She said once more. She blushed. Natsuki held in a giggle, knowing it wouldn't exactly help the girl's situation. Before graduation, she often intimidated the shy kids. She'd try not to do that right now. "I... My name... Is, um, Fuyu."

"Would you l-like to group?"

"Group?"' She repeated, a little caught of guard. Is that what they call it? What benefits are there? I would like to learn the basics myself so that I won't seem like an idiot... but... I can't say no to her... I'd crush her confidence! She wouldn't dare talk to anyone else! She raised her eyebrows, her thoughts racing, though she made sure it did not transfer into her expression. "Sure!"

Luna smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Then she looked around, and saw that there were many people messing around with menus, and others trying to figure out what was going on. She sent the group request and navigated around, finding her skills. Her eyes lit up for a second.

"We should equip our skills..." she says, a bit more confidently. She held in a blush, and quickly equipped her desired skills.

Throwing Blades, Extended Weight Limit, and Hiding.

Then she looked back at the one in front of her. "Uhm. Wh-what is your name?" she asked quietly while testing her legs, and once she got an answer she would then ask, "S-shall we leave?"

She was too nervous to lead the way, so she'll just follow her.

He looked through the menus that popped in the air in front of him. He gravitated towards skills. He saw a lot of skill open up before him. He already had experience in some of them...must have been a bug. I'm not gonna complain though. He equipped Two-handed war hammer, Battle healing, and light metal equipment. Wait equipment am I even wearing? Guess I'll find out. 

He stood up and began to walk back towards the field. He heard several conversations as he walked through a couple of crowds. He found out where he could get potions, weapons, armor, where people went to rest. However, one thing peaked his interest. The beta had only been open for a short amount of time but rumors were already going around. He heard multiple people talking about a "reward" that goes to the highest level. He didn't give it much thought.

He walked for a while before returning to where he encountered the wolves. He scanned his surroundings. They...aren't...here. He kept going on until he countered one. It's not much but it'll do.

Enemy Wolf:

He was holding the hammer with one hand near the pommel and the other by the head of the hammer itself. He moved towards the wolf using both hands to swing his hammer, making sure to put more power near the head once he was sure it was going to hit. It connected and he was surprised to see that he hit it for 22. That's better then 1 damage at least.

The wolf ran at him. It jumped up and bit his left wrist dealing 12 damage. After this he healed for a measly 1 damage.

Enemy Wolf:

Player HP:

Upon receiving the group invitation, she accepted tentatively. She seemed to know a lot more about games. She was fiddling around with something else.

"We should equip our skills..." She said. Her eyes widened a little bit, wondering where she could equip skills. She looked through her menu and finally found the skills menu when she heard more words coming from Fuyu.

"Uhm. Wh-what is your name?" Oops, I forgot to introduce myself!

"I'm Na-... Fuji. My name's Fuji. It's nice to meet you Fuyu." She said confidently and as friendly as possible. While speaking she had selected three skills: Two-Handed Warhammer, Parry, and Light Metal Equipment. It seems they go together well. I'll work on other skills later... I'd like to dabble into Sprint and Ac-

"S-shall we leave?" She said. She didn't make any movement to lead.

She was going to make her lead. Goody...

"Yeah, we... shall!" She said turning around and glancing around the crowd. Where should she go?

Maybe now she should go see what that guy is up to. If you got hit by a hammer in this game, would it hurt? Should she have stopped him sooner? What happened when you died? Did he kill those girls already?

She wondered if she should rethink her decision or not.

Probably not.

She didn't have any other ideas. She looked over her shoulder at the girl she was nearly towering over. "Want to go after the crazy man?" She asked, her voice carrying humor.

As she looked back at her, she saw that she was smiling and ended up feeling slightly embarrassed. However, the moment didn't last long as the girl navigated her menu and answered her question. Fuji. Nice name.

"Yeah, we... shall!" Fuji replied when asked if she wanted to leave. Relief. Fuji looked around, and Luna then realized that Fuji would have no idea where to go, but there was not way she could walk in front. She was more used to the shadow, after-all. As she pondered what to do, she looked around and noted some smaller alleyways, and two really big roads that formed a right angle in the beginning plaza. That man had ran up the North passage, so he would soon hit the North road in assumption. Why else would there be such big roads?

Meaning she would like to go West, and make as much distance from that person that she can. As she was about to say this, Fuji spoke up again.

"Want to go after the crazy man?"

No.

"S-sure."

Why.

His blood was boiling. His body felt hot. This is kinda fun. No this is fun. NO THIS IS A LOT OF FUN!

He swung at the wolf again, this time the hit made a satisfying "smack" while inflicting another 28 damage. 

The wolf clawed his leg. He read that he was supposed to feel pain but he just barely noticed it. That still affects me even when i'm in a game? Either way he took another 16 damage. 

He felt another tick of healing take place. This ability is fucking trash at the start. 

Enemy wolf:

Player HP:

"S-sure." Fuyu said. Natsuki nodded and began jogging in the direction that the guy had ran. Her agility was higher than a lot of people she ran past, but she still felt a little slow in comparison to how quickly she had just completed her jog in the real world. She hoped that Fuyu could keep up.

She ran through the Town of Beginnings, taking everything in. At the moment, she saw nothing chaotic. It really was as though she was in a different world. She was smiling widely, checking over her shoulder every now and then to check on Fuyu.

They were heading steadily towards one of the exits of the town.

Luna followed apprehensively, and kept to the shadows. She was slightly faster than Fuji, but...

Her brows furrowed for a second as she almost felt like crying, and she dismissed her thoughts and kept running after Fuji. It was a game, after-all. She should be having fun and enjoying herself while trying to make friends.

How could she make friends, though, when she can hardly say hello without exploding into a stuttering mess? She gave her head a shake again as she opened her menu and started to look through all of the options. Her level, her skills, different information.

Then the environment changed around her. She closed her menu as she slowed down to look around, and what she saw amazed her. A vast plains surrounded by mountains was around her, and the grass and sky were vivid and beautiful. She saw a group of two wolves running around, and all of her knowledge on the animal popped into her mind.

She looked around, and noticed that they weren't too spread out, meaning that the wolves would eventually pile together. They probably got into groups of six, and then split into groups of two, but stayed together so that they wouldn't be too far if one gets attacked.

Sure enough, as she gave another glance to the area she noticed two more groups of two wolves staying within a certain distance of the other one. If they wanted to fight, they'd have to draw the attention of one group.

Or, one of the groups could break away from the others.

"Fuji." she says, pointing at the group that was slowly making its way to them.

He ran towards the wolf again. This time doing a an overhead swing. He hit the wolf again inflicting 25 damage.

The wolf attacked clawed him again dealing 18 damage.

This thing is pissing me off. He turned to the right doing a 360, swinging his hammer around hitting the wolf in the neck dealing 29. It fell down on it's side,letting out a loud yelp, before bursting into shiny fragments. 

Loot:

He let out a sigh and looked at his hp. He was at 278HP...heal tick...280. He went to walk forwards when a wolf ran towards him out of the grass.

This world was breath-taking, and she found herself caught up in admiring it. When she heard her character name, she almost didn't respond to it. When she remembered it belonged to her, she slowed down and snapped out of her daydreams.

"Fuji." Fuyu had said. She was pointing at a group of wolves heading in their direction.

"Oh... you want to fight 'em?" Natsuki replied, her tone surprised. She unhooked her war-hammer from her back and tried to find a comfortable way to hold it. "I take you haven't fought before, either?" She said as she found the correct way to wield it. Please say yes. Her golden eyes locked onto the wolves, an excited smile playing on her lips. The war-hammer was heavy in her hands. I'll pack a punch, but I'll have to be super careful when I swing.

Luna pulled out three Throwing Picks and looked to one of the wolves. Though she never fought before, she had never ranked lower than third best on any game she played. Taking a few steps back so that she wouldn't be a direct target, she picked her target and got ready to fight.

Then quickly she threw a pick and it hit for 14(+1) damage. The wolves caught aggro, and ran toward her. She'd have to rely on Fuji to take the aggro. She spun and let loose another pick without hesitation, arming her other hand with three more, and with the last one in her hand she let it go, and both hit their target dead on.

Three year running champion in Throwing Darts with a very large ego will give you some interesting skills, that's for sure.

She has less of an ego now, but still a bit of the skill.

The damage hit for 16(+2), and she got prepared for the continuation of the fight, pulling out her dagger just to be safe in close distance.

She then saw the wolf take 3 more damage, and her eyes widened slightly. A DoT?

Enemy Wolf:

Enemy Wolf:

Were they hunting together or something. Wait does this game even go that deep into how wolves act? 


It was approaching him from behind. Veins started pulsing in his neck and the area around his cheek bones. "If you're gonna attack someone...DO IT HEAD ON!" the last bit echo'd. He turned slightly so he was just facing the wolf. Twisting his back he swung the hammer upwards, it was like he was golfing. Only the wolf was the ball. The wolf ran into the attack and took 41(+1) falling backwards onto it's back. 


The attack made his hammer land behind him just over his shoulder. It pulled him back a bit, but he pulled it back over his shoulder into a downward strike that struck the wolf in the chest, taking another 34(+1) damage.


Now this is more my speed.
Heal tick.

Enemy wolf:

Luna began throwing picks at the wolves. Natsuki watched as the wolves began running towards her. "Oop!" She ran at the wolf that was farthest from Luna. She was surprised how easily she could lift the war-hammer, and with just as much ease she brought it down upon the wolf's back, which dealt 38(+1). It let out a howl and turned to her.

Uh oh... She jumped back and it ran at her, growling intensely and baring its teeth. The other wolf kept after Luna. I only got one! "Careful!"

The wolf jumped at her, but Natsuki caught the bite with the pole of her hammer. She swung the wolf off and went on to swing at it from the opposite direction, catching its right hind leg with a crunch. This dealt 33(+1) damage. She was facing away from Luna now, which she didn't like. She wouldn't want her first team member dying because she wasn't paying attention to her. She turned and began side-stepping towards her and the other wolf, the wolf she was battling slinking after her with a hatred.

Enemy Wolf:

Enemy Wolf:

Luna watched as Fuji took aggro of the other one, and she knew instantly that she wouldn't be able to handle the wolf in front of her. Why? Her dagger literally did no damage. In the midst of it, she took a hit for 24 damage. She bounced back and turned her attention to the other wolf. It was low health, and if she hit three good hits she'd be able to kill it. She threw one of the picks, and it hit for 11(+1). She smiled, and quickly dodged the attack coming from the wolf. With another glance around she noticed two more wolves coming into the area, they would probably hit Fuji's aggro range soon. Throwing another pick as she kicks the wolf in front of her and knocks it away. Her second pick deals 7(+1) damage. Just one more hit!

She held her breath, took aim, and felt a slight tingle as she threw a glowing Throwing Pick. 13(+1) damage. She didn't know if it did anything different, but it sure as hell felt good. As she was still in a battle encounter she pounced back and pulled out three more Throwing Picks. With each jump backward she threw one of the picks at the wolf in front of her and dealt 28(+3) damage, and quickly grabbed three more.

Her eyes again darted to Fuji in hopes that she would get out of the other two wolves aggro range, but she didn't want to say anything. She was too scared to speak to her, still.

Enemy Wolf:

Enemy Wolf:

Player HP:

She watched as Luna finished off the wolf that followed behind her. In turn, she ran to the wolf that was attacking Luna, lifted the war-hammer over her head, and brought it down on this one's back. It dealt 32(+1) damage. Perfect hit! YeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaH! The wolf fizzled into pixels and a sense of accomplishment washed over Natsuki. She held up her hand to Luna.

"Good job! High five!"

Loot:

He took a step back to take a breather. The wolf recovered faster then he though it would. It bit his leg. He saw 14 damage drop from his HP. It back-stepped growled.

Nanashi swung his hammer in a fit of rage. Hitting the wolf on it's leg for 32(+1) and then it's rib cage for 31(+1). This time it only bursted into shiny fragments. 

Heal tick.

Player HP:

 

Loot:

Luna looked at her hand for a second, and put her picks away. Somewhat hesitantly, she gave a light high-five before gazing lightly at the floor. She turned away and looked out at the world around her. Should they keep fighting? Work on a strategy or a game-plan? What would she do here?

Wait, their loot. How would they split the loot?! This was something she really didn't want to deal with. If it came down to it, she'd be willing to let Fuji have all of the loot. She turned back to Fuji in order to ask about the loot, but when she opened her mouth no words came out. She closed it and blushed, then opened it again to speak.

"A-about. What about..." she didn't know what to ask. 'What about the loot' sounded too blunt, but it seemed the simplest way. "H-how w-would you like to, uh, split the l-loot..."

Player HP:

Nanashi wandered around for a while. He didn't run into any more wolves. He did however see the area where the wolves cut him off. He searched his surrounding for the girl he was chasing with little success. He did however spot two people in a field to his left. 

Shit, people are making their way out here. If too many people come here i'm gonna have to find new hunting grounds. 

He stuffed his hand in his pockets. He took them back out and motioned towards his mouth. He was expecting to light a cigarette but failed. He stomped on the ground three times. I'M A DAMN IDIOT. Still, this feels a bit too real. I wonder if they have stuff like that in this game.