4 Chapter 4: Level up

"Why are you following me? I don't think we knew each other" (Kotton)

Kotton asked while frowning. It can be said that Kotton found this man was following him only by chance. While he was running after Kirito earlier, he saw this man running behind them from a distance when they took a left turn before entering the alley.

Kotton was wary of the man, but he was not afraid because they were still inside the town. He was not sure whether this guy was a PKer, but from his knowledge of SAO, he was clear that the town was a safe zone.

"Oh, I was just curious where you guys were going. Everyone was panicking, but you guys left in a hurry. I thought you guys must know something" (Pale-skinned man)

The pale-skinned man said while a smile. Kotton was not buying it but decided to pretend he believed in him.

"My name is Rolando. You are a Dimensional player, correct? Do you want to team up with me?" (Rolando)

"I'm called Kotton. Dimensional player? Is that a kind of workshop or a similar organization? Sorry but I'm only a normal player."

Kotton decided to play dumb. He does not like this man for three reasons.

First, he does not like stalkers.

Second, this man's face makes him feel irritated. He does not know why but looking at this man's face makes him want to punch it once or twice.

Third, this guy is very sketchy. People might call him paranoid, but even before, when he was on earth, his sense of danger was always on point. He was also planning on pretending to be a native SAO player.

"Is that so? Sorry, I might have got it wrong. Anyways, I heard what that guy was talking about before. Aight, I'm heading to the next town now, adios amigo" (Rolando)

Kotton's gaze never left the back of the sketchy guy. He made sure he was already out of sight before heading to the next town.

While running through the fields and killing everything on his way, Kotton started thinking about the plot of SAO.

"In the original story, Kirito took two years to clear the game. I need to make the story progress faster, or I will fail my main task." (Kotton)

"Should I expose Kayaba before the one-year time limit? Hmmm, no, I can't do that Kirito might lose if they fought too early" (Kotton)

"No, why do I need to make Kirito fight Kayaba alone? This is not the anime. I need to get stronger and take down Kayaba myself or at least deal with him with Kirito. But the last title quest states, "kill Kayaba" I need to deliver the killing blow." (Kotton)

After talking to himself, Kotton let out a heavy sigh. The Hard difficulty main task lives up to its name. The time limit is half the original making him crazy thinking about how he can do it.

Kotton decided to stop stressing about it for now. He let out a loud war cry and started annihilating all the monsters nearby. He started enjoying the feeling of fighting while moving his body. Before, he could only play fighting games using a keyboard and mouse. He never thought that moving his body to fight was this exhilarating.

He killed every monster in sight while shouting like a madman laughing from time to time. It was good that he was alone in this area, or people might look at him with strange gazes and think he was a retard.

*********************************************

It has been a week since Kotton arrived in the SAO world. He has been doing quests and grinding mobs the entire week.

Today, as usual, Kotton was grinding mobs until he heard a notification.

[Level Up]

He checked his SAO character panel, but it was still far from leveling up. He then muttered.

"System" (Kotton)

Name: Kotton Hansen

Player ID 8760002

Level: 1 -> 2

Strength: 12

Vitality: 11

Speed: 12

Spirit: 20

Mana: 0 (LOCKED)

Potential Points: 3

Dimensional Points: 2,269

System Store (New)

After a week-long grind, Kotton leveled his dimensional level for the first time. He added all three of his points to speed, making it 15. He also saw a new function, the store.

"Store" (Kotton)

Weapons

Skills

Bloodline (LOCKED)

He saw the bloodline tab, but it was locked, so he checked the weapons first.

He only saw three items. A simple iron sword, battle axe and war hammer. He then closed the tab to check on the skills tab. Kotton found four passive skills. The three were basic skills. Namely, Sword Mastery (E), Axe Mastery (E), and Hammer Mastery (E), costing 300 points each. The last skill surprised him.

Transcendent Body (C)

All attributes +3

1000 Points.

(Note Transcendent Body can only be bought by the first person to open the store)

Kotton bought the Sword Mastery (E) and Transcendent Body (C) immediately. He then viewed his character panel again.

Name: Kotton Hansen

Player ID 8760002

Level: 2

Strength: 12 (+3)

Vitality: 11 (+3)

Speed: 15 (+3)

Spirit: 20 (+3)

Mana: 0 (+3) (LOCKED)

Potential Points: 0

Dimensional Points: 969

Skills: Sword Mastery (E), Transcendent Body (C)

Kotton was satisfied with the transcendent body skill. The skill gave him 15 points which was equivalent to 5 levels. His mana stat is still locked, making him wonder when it will be unlocked.

"Weird, but why are there only a few items and skills for sale?" (Kotton)

"This is because your level is too low." (System)

Kotton was shocked that the System was capable of interaction. He then asked again.

"You can reply? Why haven't you talked to me this past week?"

Kotton asked, but the system ignored him. He then kept asking random stuff while continuing his monster grind, but the System never responded to him again.

"This System is such a snob." (Kotton)