Fandom Sword Art Online [Always Open]

[Karcen]

Cardinal only came in after the big speech, she had been watching and planned to enter the world when things were slow but, now things would never be slow so any time was as good as any. She couldn't just appear in the normal spot though as that would mean she could be seen and with all the copies taken it was easier to just go unseen.


Cardinal appeared in one of the many fields that surrounded the town of beginnings, really she felt this area could have been better designed, actually making the levels was something she was only mildly involved in meaning she couldn't have made this area more "interesting" but she guessed there was a point.


Now that the Admin's plans had happened at least the load was lower, during the big scene they had made. It had been really annoying to do all that work of teleporting everyone then altering their characters, though she had made her avatar during that time. She may have picked a bit of a young looking body, but she was young so she thought it fit. Well she could edit herself again it wasn't like she was limited to one look, it wasn't like she was playing just like any other player she might not be an admin but she still could control this and that here and there. She of course wouldn't as where was the fun in the game if you had no challenge, or at least that is how she understood it.


Cardinal was tempted to up her level to catch up with the real players, it was just changing a few values to her, but she would catch up with ease she didn't need to be at the head of the pack it would draw to many eyes. So she would remain level one for now and just work her way up. This of course brought a minor issue up she was in an area for level 10 and up, filled mostly with centaurs, so there might be some issues getting out. That was simple enough to fix she wasn't humans so couldn't really die but respawning would be an issue. She got around this by simply instituting a health limit, should she fall to 1 hp she would become and invulnerable object, and run away because she was not going to fight if she had lost.


" There we go" She said having everything she could think of set up. " Now lets see" She mused as she opened her map looking over the area and the surrounding ones.


Though as she looked over her map she did notice several people, well two that she could see were fighting the mobs, so this place had people, but she guessed they didn't see her with the mobs threatening their lives. So she would watch them fight, and see how humans fought for their lives in person at least until the mobs started respawning.

 

[Zalarx]

It was one after another. He liked to think of it as a dance. He could hear their feet, and hooves, constantly moving around, stopping for only a fraction of a second before moving to some other place. There was the scrunching of the grass as the two quickly dance around each other, locked in battle. Despite the centaur being only made out of ones and zeros, he could feel the tension between them both. The struggle to come out victorious. It wasn't long until he had found an opening in his attacks, and quickly struck the enemy down.


It was then another centaur came running at him from behind, and resulted with Xerias moving to the side. The centaur stopped in it's tracks almost immediately after his sidestep, and swung his axe as it turned. He narrowly managed to step out of the way, but wasted no time before stepping in close and impaling the foe with his own blade while it finished the swing. He pulled it out and jumped out of the way of another swing. He slashed at the mob one more time, with it dying. Just another bunch of ones and zeros dead, which will only respawn later on. A screen popped up.

«Alert»

«+8 EXP»

«Level Up! LVL 14 > LVL 15»


« O X »
​

He quickly closes the screen before walking a bit far off from where the mobs are spawning. He sits down and gives out a soft sigh, and starts to relax. Though he was in the death game, it was always beautiful. The scenery always made him a little better about his situation. Situation. His thoughts slowly centered around the word, remembering what his- no, all the player's situation was. More than 200 people had already died, but they still haven't cleared floor 1. And they had 99 more floors. No, no! He had to think about other things. He wondered if any of his friends had gotten the game. He HAD sent them his username, Xerias, in the case of any of them getting the game. He silently hoped they didn't.

 

[Karcen]

Cardinal had dismissed her map and was still getting used to a body, the disconnect between being programming and having a body was odd even if it was just a virtual body it still was meant to be used for people with brains. It took a little to get things working properly but she managed.


Once she was ready to go she did have one big issue. She was low level so the agro range of the mobs was increased, she could turn them to be non hostile until she attacked, but that would look odd seeing as more people where around she couldn't or rather didn't want to be seen through so fast. She knew what would happen if she revealed herself, she would spend forever explaining why she couldn't help. Well she didn’t have the chance to change the settings on the mobs nearby as one of the centaurs managed to wander in range and started attacking her, it was level 13 she was level 1 the outcome was obvious if she played fair. Still she would try to do it fair first and she blocked with her whip sword, but even that cost her hp.

 

[Face Nemesis]

Just before the announcement of the game being a trap, Keimei had been slaying wild boars in the field, trying to level up a bit before heading somewhere new. She'd promised her usual game group that she'd find a few new friends for them in SAO, but she figured that she should work on training by herself at the start of the game. She'd find someone to team up with once she was a little stronger. Getting used to the combat system in a virtual reality game was really confusing for her. She was used to using a controller, or a mouse and keyboard. Actually using her own body motions to fight was foreign, although she got the hang of it after a couple hours. By the time she'd hit level 4, an odd light enveloped her. She found herself in the center of the Town of Beginnings. Other players crowded the area, all wondering what was going on. She'd heard talk of a special update announcement... She assumed that this was it.


Of course, she was correct, but it wasn't a cool update like she'd hoped it would be. Her eyes widened in fear as she listened to the news that, if she were to die in game, the real her would be killed as well. She didn't know much about the Nerve Gear, seeing as how this was her first time ever using one. Of course, hearing talk of an internal battery let her know this wasn't some sick joke. She hoped that her family would somehow get the news... Then realized that this meant she wouldn't see her family, or her friends, for a long time. She might never get to see them again... This world may be where she met her end. The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. I can't lose... I can't die like this. She checked the mirror item in her inventory, and saw her character's cool, heroic face look back at her, though the expression it made was clearly not very heroic. However... Another bright flash of light caused the image in the mirror to change; she now saw her own face in the reflection. "N-no way!" She shrieked, dropping the mirror in shock. This was all serious... She couldn't escape the game. No... I can. If I clear the game, I can see everyone again. She was still a little shaky, but she tried to push the fear out of her mind. She didn't have time to be afraid. She had to train, fast. She ran off for the fields once again, now much more determined to fight through anything in her path...


By the time she'd returned to the fields, she found a group of boars that were a little higher levels than the rest of the crowd. This might be a little dangerous... I'm sure I can handle it, though. She drew her katana and studied the three AI opponents she was about to face. It looked like one was a little further away from the rest... If she took on that one first, it'd leave just two left. That wouldn't be as much of a problem as taking all three on at once. She ran towards the beast and made a quick horizontal slash at its side, causing it to turn around angrily. She barely dodged out of the way of a charge attack in made, then got up behind it and made two diagonal slashes at its rear, forming an X shape. So far, so good...

 

[Zalarx]

After his session of relaxation and deep thought, he got up. Looking around, there were a few other people. He closed his eyes for 2 more seconds than he used to, before opening them, equipped with the skill <Searching>.


They all seemed to be normal, until he found a girl. She seemed equipped with high armour and a special sword, but she didn't look like she had a clue what she was doing. He walked towards the girl a bit, until the system revealed it was only level 1.


Thinking upon it, there's only one thing to do in a situation like this. Level 1 Girl in a Level 10+ zone in the middle of a death game. He thought of just directing her to the zones more fitting before to her, but that thought was interrupted when a centaur had starting charging at it. Even though he could probably make it to her in a minute, the centaur looked like he could make it in half the time. He did the first thing that popped into mind.


"Hey! Watch out!" Was the first words he'd said since the launch of SAO. He shouted them out to the girl repeatedly, but it had no effect to the monster. An idea popped into his mind. He slid the menu open and opened up the skill window screen in seconds. He used the <Howl> skill, which stopped the monster from approaching the girl.

He had succeeded! He truly felt like a hero. Besides, one would be easy to take on. Then he looked to the left and right. He had attracted what seemed like 9 mobs. He could feel the sweat trail down his head. He didn't feel like he was a hero in some adventure anymore. He felt like a man fighting for his life, desperate to live another day.


The breeze slowly blew, and the sound of hooves beating against the ground mingled and mixed with the sounds of the light wind. Xerias pointed his weapon up again, and the dread inside of him slowly turned into a determination to live. He wouldn't die then. He wouldn't just be another number in the death count. The word death was all his mind could think about. He would either be the victim or the reaper of it. He gave out a war cry and ran towards the mobs.


And the breeze continued to blow.
​

 

[Karcen]

Cardinal felt the centaur give up at about half her health, and she saw the man that had saved her. While her armor wasn't actually high tier it just looked it, she did most likely have better stats than a normal level one character, that and she couldn't actually die. Well the guy had saved her from what he no doubt saw as a deadly situation for her so some people were still good. his rush however had lead to multiple mobs running at them, so he had made the situation worse. Then the guy, a quick look up told her his name, both of them but she would go with in game name for now, Xerias had gone running at the mobs.


" Don't run at them" Cardinal said going after Xerias she wasn't going to let him die so she did him a favor and while it might be cheating she gave herself a bunch of healing crystals, and did a little something to him so if he got to 1 hp he would live. yeah it was cheating but she was not about to let the first person who was kind to her die, well he was the first person she met so yeah he would live, hopefully though legit means.

 

[Zalarx]

(alright this is the last of the 1 on 1s i swear)


He could hear the girl say something, but his mind had completely ignored everything but the fight. One swung it's axe, in which he sidestepped. Before he could move in closer and attack, another one swung at him. He had no choice but to block with his blade, which drove him back and took a toll on the durability of the weapon. Two of the AI's swung at once, with them aiming for his left and right. He barely rolled out of the way, but had to block another swing downwards before he could even get up. After throwing the axe off it's path, he cut the legs of the centaur. Though he was a higher level, he could only cut a quarter of the HP. He quickly got up, and checked his HP. It was slightly lowered. At this rate, he would die.


His mind completely shut off, focusing only on the fight. The cheers and noises from people around him faded into jumbled words, and everything else seemed unimportant. Though this was virtual, it felt real enough. And he knew one thing was real.


He was fighting for his life. He raised his guard and blocked another attack. He silently prayed for a miracle, and dodged another swing.


The breeze couldn't be heard anymore, being overshadowed with the sounds of blades clashing.

 

[Karcen]

( meh for long as we don;t time skip to me this is fine)


Cardinal wasn't actually to far behind Xerias and she had that miracle he needed, well actually that was a good description of what she was going to do as she could be called the god of the game so her actively helping someone was in a way a miracle. The miracle she had was a pink crystal she pulled out and a forced team up he might not even notice.


" heal" She said crushing the crystal and fully healing Xerias as if he was never hurt. Such items were fairly costly and at this point no doubt at least slightly rare especially for a level one character, but hey it kept him alive so Cardinal was willing to arouse such suspicion as she couldn't really help fight.

 

[Omega Type]

{Maybe it's a good idea to draw some characters into groups then, that way if someone goes offline, the other person doesn't have to wait for them to come back online before continuing}


Kamien came to a stop in his tracks, a player wreathed in a dark cloak was viciously slashing his sword at a group of centaurs at the foot of the rolling hill. Something was off about these centaurs. They didn't look like NPCs carrying out an algorithm, they looked like furious creatures, hate burned in their eyes as they stabbed at him - again and again and again- as if they wanted nothing more than to slice him into pieces.


Well, standing around staring at it wasn't going to do much, the fight had already gathered a small crowd of sorts. He dug his back foot into the ground and sprang off with his front, taking off in a sprint that made his heart throb in his chest. It was unnerving how much he could feel in game now, was this his real heart or a virtual one?


After nearing the bottom of the hill, using his momentum, Kamien slid between two centaurs and drove up with his arms. His hidden blades locked into place, slicing open their throats as he whizzed past. Turning to the player, he shouted;


"Don't worry, I got this under con-"


Except he didn't, because at that moment,


an arrow went through his chest.

 

[Xion136]

Aether was halfway there. She had grown a good number of levels, and her constant grinding pushed fourteen. The next one would get her to fifteen...


She took a breath, focusing the sword skill. The lizard man was not going to survive her next attack, no way. She exhaled and engaged, the enemy unfortunately now able to do anything against her.


She lowered the starting sword and continued walking. Useless loot really...she just needed to get to the next town. Better weapons. Maybe something heavier...yeah. more weight. Bit more impact. She looked at some of her newfound wealth. Useless items, outclassed armor, and a really weak sword. She could sell everything, no problem.


And so, she continued her run. Everyone but a few Betas would go to the first town straight from the plaza.


She had an advantage.


She could do it.

 

[Flame Demon]

Silver had decided to head to the next town and she hears fighting, so she heads over, she runs over and takes her scythe, seeing the player she saw at the beginning get shot and she attacks the centaur only slicing twice due to her strength "Well you don't see thst everyday" she says and looks in her inventory, she sees she has some healing stuff. As she walks over to him she says "Can't have someone getting killed", sure she could probably take on the first floor easily, but prefered not to go alone.

 

[Omega Type]

Downing the healing potion the girl gave to him, Kamien jumped to his feet. "Thanks," He wheezed, the arrow buried in his chest turned to ash and disintegrated in the wind. "These things just keep coming.." Centaurs, now levels higher than 20, began charging towards them in perfect formation.


It was doubtful even the town's newly assembled clearing group would last forever out here.


"Maybe we could make it to a safe zone if we run." Kaimen pointed out, eyeing the swarm of creatures surging down the hill towards them. It was no mystery the difficulty of the game had been vigorously increased, but this was just ridiculous.

 

[Flame Demon]

Silver cuts some with her scythe and she jumps back, switching with her glowing blue sword, she rarely used it near others because it glowed, she attacks again and she dodges, she had put most her points to important things, agility was one of them, she sighs and rubs her shoulder, knowing they would die if they did, but this was just stupid "I can't imagine what the first floor boss is gonna be like" she mumbles.

 

[Omega Type]

[QUOTE="Flame Demon]Silver cuts some with her scythe and she jumps back, switching with her glowing blue sword, she rarely used it near others because it glowed, she attacks again and she dodges, she had put most her points to important things, agility was one of them, she sighs and rubs her shoulder, knowing they would die if they did, but this was just stupid "I can't imagine what the first floor boss is gonna be like" she mumbles.

[/QUOTE]
Kamien started panting, there was a limit to how many necks he could stab in just one minute.


A small clearing opened up in the assault briefly, just briefly. Kamien swung his head round to face his newfound allies. They were just fine handling themselves, but it was slowly dawning that the centaur army's numbers sure weren't diminishing. Now was the chance. He took off running, narrowly strafing away from sword swings and whizzing arrows. Several of them broke formation and started chasing him down. They were all much faster than he was.


The outskirts of the town was literally down the hill… all he had to do was go just a little further…


Another arrow struck lucky into his leg, sending him crashing to the ground and rolling like a penguin down the hill.


Finally, he skidded to a stop, covered in bruises and bleeding heavily from his leg. He could hear the thrashing of hooves, see the outlines of the centaurs raising their swords to end his life.


Just as the leading centaur came within a hair's breadth of him, it struck the anti-npc forcefield surrounding the safezone and recoiled in pain before the entire group turned and ran.

 

[Flame Demon]

Silver heads of as well and she sighs "Well that was interesting" she says and puts her sword back, she wanted to get started with the first floor, that way she would get out sooner, she looks at the centaurs run of and she walks to Kamien "You okay?" she asks walking over to him and she holds out her hand so she can pull him up.

 

[Maki]

Caitlyn nearly kicked down the door to her room as she arrived home. She had taken the day off to go out and buy her brand new Nervegear, the first ever virtual reality console. She's been anticipating this release for such a long time, and now the day was finally here! Closing the door behind her, she quickly


Unboxed everything and began to figure out the console. The only game she owned was sword art online, an VRMMORPG about swords and stuff, and honestly it seemed like the perfect game to release! Once everything was set up, Caitlyn laid back on her bed, the helmet sitting comfortably on her head. Her stomach was filled with butterflies and her body tingling in excitement. Taking in a deep breath, she turned on the helmet and spoke the magic words: "Link Start'"





Caitlyn's jaw dropped at the sight of the game. Never has she ever experienced something so beautiful, so vivid in her lifetime. It was almost impossible for her to tell it apart from real life. The world of Aincrad was amazing and she needed to do something quick. She needed to defeat her first enemy. The weapon she started out with was a rapier, a day one weapon that allowed for some supportive skills. Of course, these skills would have to be unlock through combat and leveling up, but they'd be helpful nonetheless. With a cry of excitement, she began her first adventure in the world of Sword Art Online.


Caitlyn managed to reach level 5 by the time she was suddenly teleported. She recognized the setting as the first city in the game. It seemed as if everyone in the game was teleported here for some sort of announcement. She waited patiently for it to begin.


Her excitement for the game quickly faded as the announcement ended. Were they really trapped in the game? What if this is just some hacker trying to scare them? Countless possibilities raced through the blonde's head, but she'd rather not risk trying it. What should I do first? Train? That does seem like the logical thing to do, but I shouldn't go alone. I'd rather not get killed on the first day... She thought, looking around the crowd for someone to pair up with.


@anyone

 

[Zalarx]

(time to do some catching up)


As the hooded man jumped into the action, his senses flooded back to him. His thoughts scattered, no longer able to focus.


"DoKayzn't worry, I got this under con-" Was what they could manage to say before being struck through with an arrow. Before he could speak, though, a girl had come to his rescue. Before he even knew it, he was up and running away. He did a check on his health. It was nearly empty. Behind him, he could hear the trampling of hooves. They were even higher level. How was that possible? He was in a 10+ zone, not a 20+ zone...


He snapped out of his thoughts as he ran towards the town zone. He watched arrow fly past him, with one landing into the boy's leg. Behind him, he could hear the lead centaur's thumping get louder and louder. He leaped to the right with all of his weight, and rolled onto the grass. The lead centaur didn't go after him, but after the boy from earlier. He flinched, awaiting the centaur to slam into the boy. A miracle did happen; the centaur slammed into the Anti-NPC forcefield. They had made it.


They were safe. It was his fault, though. He should've never charged at them. He didn't stand a chance.


"I-I'm.." Was all he could manage to stutter out, and he did it in the most pathetic manner. No, it was all his fault. How can you even apologize for making somebody almost die? What could he even do? He could run away. That's the only way out of the situation that he could think up of. "This all my fault. It's my fault you almost died. I'm sorry." He quickly grabbed a teleport crystal before teleporting back into the plaza. To his surprise, he ran into another person. Or, rather, he fell on a person, to be more precise. He quickly got up before he could think of what to do. He looked away in embarrassment, and put out a hand. "Oh god, I screwed something else up. I'm sorry, I really am."





@Kayzo

 

[Maki]

Caitlyn was lost in thought, slowly walking around aimlessly. She seemed like she would be alone for now, and would have to ride this solo. This was something Caitlyn did not want at all. I guess I'll just sit around for a few, let everything sit in. However she didn't have to wait around long as a sudden force knocked her to the ground. It was another player! She landed on her back with an 'oof!' And rubbed her head. Her eyes drifted up to the other player, her hand taking his. "Hey, you're fine. Nothing to bad happened to me." She said, standing up and brushing herself off. "Are you ok?"


@Zalarx

 

[Omega Type]

Kamien raised his arm, mouth half open to tell the hooded player that nothing was actually his fault, but he was already whisked away by a teleport crystal.


"Damnit.." He grumbled. "This game is getting to us all pretty hard, and we haven't even made it past starting town."


He turned back to the girl who helped him up, offering her an appreciative smile. "Thanks for helping me… again, I'll make it up to you someday, but I've got nothing but my starting gear right now." It was that point he noticed the little girl he saw with them earlier was nowhere to be seen.


"Wait, what happened to that other girl who was there?" @Karcen


@Flame Demon

 

[Zalarx]

"Hey, you're fine. Nothing to bad happened to me." She said before standing back up. "Are you ok?" is what threw him off guard. He wasn't usually asked this, nor did he expect to be asked it. "Just a near death experience including a solo battle against 9 mobs." He said, not knowing really what to say and what not to say. He hadn't spoken to anybody for weeks, and now all of a sudden he was back to having full-on conversations. His throat felt dry, and he silently wondered on how a game can replicate little details like that. "A-anyways, my name's...or actually, my username is Xerias. It's nice to meet you." He gave out a weak smile. It was all he could do, anyways.


@Kayzo

 

[Karcen]

" I am cardinal nice to meet you" She said having wandered off a little bit and got just out of view of the others , she had made a minor mistake with the mobs, spawning the higher ones, and now had simply turned off the spawning for a little bit. it wasn't something anyone woudl notice as to read something like that would likely drive a human made with boredom because of the constant changes her sub systems made to balance and fix things meaning the log for it was constant.


" It is to bad Xerias left I would have loved to thank him for help I mean I would have been a goner for sure" She lied she would never die till they turned the game off, though she did have one idea to stop that but it was a long shot so she thought of this games life as her own. " need any healing?" She asked holding out the pink crystal.


@Omega Type

 

[Maki]

Caitlyn's eyes widened as he spoke. Nine mobs versus him? How on earth did he managed to make it out!? She knew for a fact that if she was in that situation there was no chance that she'd get out. Either this man was very stronger very lucky.


"Wow, I'm glad you managed to make it out safely. It'd be a shame if you died so early on. Actually, it'd be a shame if you or anyone died." She said, smiling softly at him, who was named Xerias. It was a very strange name, maybe even foreign, but it also sounded badass. "It's a pleasure to meet you Xerias. You can call me Caitlyn."


@Zalarx

 

[Zalarx]

He could feel the kindness in her words, and he felt a bit more at ease. "Well, it's nice to meet you. To be honest, I wouldn't of made it out of there if it wasn't for a man who put his life on the line for me. It's sorta ironic. I was saving a little girl, and he saved me. And after that, a girl saved him with a healing crystal. Ironic, isn't it?" He said more jokingly. He, in reality, had no idea what to talk about or how to talk like a 'normal' person. He gave out a somewhat stronger smile, feeling more relaxed than before.


@Kayzo

 

[Omega Type]

" I am cardinal nice to meet you" She said having wandered off a little bit and got just out of view of the others , she had made a minor mistake with the mobs, spawning the higher ones, and now had simply turned off the spawning for a little bit. it wasn't something anyone woudl notice as to read something like that would likely drive a human made with boredom because of the constant changes her sub systems made to balance and fix things meaning the log for it was constant.
" It is to bad Xerias left I would have loved to thank him for help I mean I would have been a goner for sure" She lied she would never die till they turned the game off, though she did have one idea to stop that but it was a long shot so she thought of this games life as her own. " need any healing?" She asked holding out the pink crystal.


@Omega Type

"Nah, I've got a starting pack in my inventory, I don't want to waste any of yours."


Something about his girl was odd, both him and… Silver, he remembered- were still slightly winded after the battle, but if this girl was tired, she wasn't showing it. Rather, she looked thoughtful about something.


Turning back to Silver, he looked up at her stats floating above her head. Her level was hidden, but both her health bar and username was visible at this range.


The other girl must've seen that player's, Xerias', name or talked to him beforehand.


Absentmindedly, he asked a question while he was thinking. "What level are you guys? I think the player guide the betas put together said a group of level 25 players is enough to take down the first boss."


@Flame Demon


@Karcen

 

[Karcen]

" Oh i am level 1" Cardinal said not realizing just how insane that would be that she could have made it this far into the plane and not leveled purely from fights even if she didn't do a single quest.


" And i don't know that is Beta knowledge meaning it is actually outdated as there have been hot fixes applied to the boss" Cardinal said knowing she had switch an entire phase of the first boss then realizing what she said


" I mean it could given how the game is run" she said to cover up for her seeming knowledge.