Chapter 1: The Begining

Once upon a time, there was a castle called «Aincrad», but unlike any castle, it held a world of battles fought with swords. The castle continued floating and engulfed approximately ten thousand people. Inside the castle holds hundreds of realms. Otherwise known as...

«Sword Art Online»

Aincrad is a huge castle made of stone and steel floating in an endless blue sky. That was all this world was.

It took various groups of craftsmen one month to survey the place; the diameter of the base floor was about 10 kilometres, large enough to fit the entirety of the map from within. Above, 100 floors were stacking straight upwards; its sheer size was unbelievable. It was impossible to even guess how much data it consisted of.

All was made possible by the people who dedicated their hearts and souls to this. They are the ones to take gaming to the next century.

Inside, there were a couple of large cities along with countless small scale towns and villages, forests and plains, and even lakes. With each different floor is a change of terrain and biomes that creates the sense of diversity generated from this world. Only one stairway linked each floor to another, and the stairways existed in dungeons where large numbers of monsters roamed; so discovering and getting through was no easy matter.

Only the strong will survive...

To the 10,000 players who were trapped inside of the game during the first day of its official service. The only way for them to escape this virtual hell is by clearing all the floors of Aincrad, the floating castle that is the setting for the game and defeating the final boss.

Many will die, but some will survive...

Survival is the game. It was one of the many goals. But ultimately, it was The goal.

'We are not alone, we are as strong as each other, we're all family.'

That's our code, our very word that binds us together.

Some others may claim that we're thieves, killers, or cheaters.

Some might say we're ruthless and unpredictable...

But we'll always say, We are all...

<<Rogues>>

****

"Today is the day."

A young man with short brown hair and two Hazel eyes that looked about his early twenties was sitting at his desk watching the live broadcast on the first VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online. The reporter was talking about how the beta testers all gave positive reviews on the game and that the 10,000 hard copies of it sold out in seconds.

"Hey, It's Akio!" The young man excitedly called out on the phone. "Hopefully I could make it home next week, just make sure Ashton and the lots don't wreck the place ok. Love you, Hanabi, tell mom I love her as well."

He put down the phone and placed it on his desk and continue to stare at his monitor as it views a news broadcast from Tokyo.

Unlike any news this was special, today is the day that Sword Art Online will release to the public. Only ten thousand copies would be made on the first day as suggested by his boss.

The news then when on talking about the excitement about the latest technology that made the game possible and how Akihiko Kayaba and his team manage to bring gaming to a new level.

Akio checked his watch and realise it was almost time for the release of the game. He turned his computer off and plugged in his NerveGear. He inserted the Sword Art Online cartridge into the helmet and put it on. He then lay on his bed and closed his eyes.

"Link start!"

Akio shouted the phrase and immediately the machines activated. Logging into his administrator data, he found himself staring at his avatar. it was a caucasian male with an albino appearance with snow-white hair and crimson red eyes. Akio could only feel the chills running down his veins as he read out his name,

"Nomad."

As Akio confirmed all of his desire from the menu screen, he was yet again blinded by another bright light. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in, what he believed to be, the Starting City of Aincrad. He squinted when he looked up to the sky.

His crimson red eyes could see the bright blue sky, Akio gave a huge grind before screaming at the top of his voice, "HELLO AINCARD NOMAD IS BACK!" His voice echoed throughout the empty town, fully aware that he was a few minutes early.

Looking down at his hand Akio could make out his outfit to be a light grey long-sleeved shirt with grey metal elbow pads, long black pants, black fingerless gloves, brown boots, and a brown sheath strapped to his hip that holds a wooden stick.

Although having full access to the administration command, Akio simply disabled those powers for the time being. Right now his main focus was to see the reaction of the people and to have good old F-U-N with some people he knew from the beta test.

Akio then swipes the air to reveal a holographic menu that hovered in front of him and quickly checks on the time.

The clock suddenly switches to 12:59. About one minute remains until launch. The chill rushed through his body as thirty seconds remained. And as the ten seconds started to approach, Akio mentally counted the number.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

The time just reached 13:00 and immediately thousands of blue flashes appeared on Nomad's screen as 10,000 people simultaneously logged into Sword Art Online.

Right at that moment thousands of readied players simultaneously emerge from the blue light and enter the world for the very first time. The joys on each face and awe on every person's face were becoming commonplace, all admiring the realism, effort, and skill that help to make one of the first VRMMORPG to be put into the market.

Immediately, Nomad navigated through the dense crowd while overhearing mostly positive reviews on the game. Certainly, those words were a lot to him as one of his many dreams in life was to create the best game in the world.

After two minutes of wandering around the streets and into the town square, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Immediately Akio gave a wave to the person responsible, "There he is!"

Akio smiles and quick dashes toward the players who were standing next to a clock tower in the town square. All of them wore the usual beginning outfit that was identical to Akio but all differ in colour. Many of them welded the starter sword that every beginner gets but the leader was seen with a short sword which was sheathed inside its scabbard on his back.

"Nomad!" One of the players shouted. The player was a tall, Red-haired male, who like the rest wore the standard beginner's clothing. But some of the accessories that he wore were the only thing that separates him from the rest of his crew. He wore a black bandana that was wrapped around his neck and had a unique sword that could only be obtained on one of the quests during the beta test.

"Isn't my man, SkollCrussher in the flesh?" Nomad laugh. "Oh, please tell me you passed your English exam." the rest of Skoll's group started to lightly chuckle but many started to uncontrollably laugh.

The Beta tester rolled his eyes as he blushes in embarrassment at his poor grammar. The two gamers then gave each other a friendly fist bump. "Long time know seen Nomad."

"Likewise." Nomad looked around to see three people huddle up behind Skoll. One male and one female avatar player all clad in blue and pink. "These two must have been lucky to get their hands on the NerveGear."

Skoll chuckled, "They all have to camp outside for a few days."

Nomad nodded, it's surprising to think that Skoll's friends would give up their time to get the game. That's some great commitment his friends have kept, Nomad really respected that.

"Well, since we're here," Nomad said, "I think we should go outside of town. Plenty of boars for the rookies to levelling up."

"And how would you know that?" one of the female players asked, arms crossed.

"Because Nomand's a Beta tester too. Just like me."

That's right, one of Skoll's friends -By the name of Yui- remembered. Skoll is telling them almost every day about how great the game was and couldn't wait to hop in. But, when it comes to knowing his way around the game, he's one that she can definitely trust. "Well, then show us the way," she said, gesturing with her hand.

"Well do," Nomad replied with a butler-esque accent.

Outside the town of the beginning were the fields.  It was enormous with a length stretching as far as the eye could see. Grass tickled their boots as the group made their way through the field. "I can't believe this is virtual," Yui said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"It's almost too life-like," one of Skoll's friends, who is called Jin agreed. "I swear if I close my eyes I could believe this was real."

Nomad smirked as he spied a small mob of wild boars not too far away from where they currently were. "Okay, follow me," he said to his new friends. "So, I'm guessin' you all have some idea of swordplay, correct?" They both nodded. "Great, so I don't need to teach moves. However, you need to be aware of Sword Skills."

"Sword Skills?" Jin parroted.

"That's right. For example." He approached a boar and took a pebble from the undergrowth of his feet and raised it above his shoulders before tossing the pebble at the boar, attracting its attention. The boar in its rage charged at Nomad, narrowly landing a hit on him. "Now that we have its attention, I'll show ya what I mean." He drew his wooden handle to which hundreds of metal fibres expanded to create a short sword, activating a blue gleam on the blade.

"Woah!" The two players stared at nomad with awe.

"If you wish to use a Skill properly, you need to set your motion just like this and time it just right." Nomad streaked towards the lower level creature in a red blur.

"Ha!"

*Swish---!*

The Boar exploded into blue pixels with a crip sound, a victory screen taking its place. He turned back to the two, smirking in victory. "Get the idea? It's easy when you get used to it."

"Y-Yeah, I think so," Yui said. taking a defensive stance as she locks her eyes on a lone boar.

"Remember, they're no dummies, they'll hit you harder than you could say ouch. but if you somehow die just come back here from the plaza." Skoll informs his group. "If it is too hard there is always a correction mode you could act in your settings. The system will pick your sword skill into motion and hit the target for you."

"Like hell, I need a children's assist," Jin said.

Häyhä looked at the player's name tag, "Devil_SanJin, ey? That's the spirit!" The player just rolls his eyes in annoyance at Nomad.

"Ah!"

Jin has been violently pushed back by the boar and lost parts of his health, "Dammit!" he cried in frustration and aggressively got back up and attempted to activate his sword skill once again.

"Take it easy there, it's not like you're going to die in real life, ok?"

"Jin is a competitive gamer." Skoll explains before leaning forward into Nomad's ear, "He just bitter about his loss in the national kendo tournament. Just give him some time, he'll warm up to ya."

"Noted." Nomad reply. Immediately Akio's mind was racing with all the possibilities that this world has to offer, from parties being formed, countless battles raging against monsters for loot, and brave armies of players marching into the dungeon to clear out the floors. These are some of the countless possibilities that loom in the software of Sword art online.

Just the way he and his boss intended.

"Here. Let me try," Yui said, drawing her rapier. Like Nomad, she activated the same red gleam and charged at a boar, taking its health down to the orange. With another few swipes, she took the boar down, its body exploding into blue pixels. "Top that!" she teased.

Jin gritted his teeth as he felt his face heating up. Agitated and not wanting to lose again, he decided to try again, going for the same boar. He took a couple of swings to get its health down. 'I could do this,' he said to himself. He ran at the boar with his skill active. This time, the katana met its mark, killing the boar. His smile grew wider at the appearance of the victory screen. "Hell yeah! take that you bastard" he shouted.

Nomad and Skoll clapped for Yui and Jin, "They're catching on quickly, aren't they?" Skoll commented to which Nomad smiled and nodded in confirmation.

"They good for beginners but they still got a long way to go."

Skoll chuckled, "I'm sure they'll surpass most people in this game." Skoll suddenly draw his attention to Nomad's weapon and asked: "Just what kind of sword is that? I've never seen anything like it."

"Oh, this?" he took out the wooden cylinder from its sheath. "Think of it as a Swiss army knife. It could be whatever I wanted to be. Officially, it's called the 'Blood of the Phantom' but I call it a Sabre."

"Blood of the Phantom?" Skoll parroted. "Where could I get one?"

Nomad chuckles, "it's a secret."

Skoll chuckles as he shook his head in disbelief, "You're a man of mystery, Nomad."

****

After a few hours of levelling up and a quick trip to the central market for supplies, Skoll, and the rest of the group found themselves in a field near a cliff edge. They stared at the seemingly endless stretch of plains as the sun started to set, giving off a beautiful orange glitter from the grass. Up north beyond the plains was the silhouette of a forest, a sparkling lake east of it and a giant cylinder pillar that stretch things into the heavens. That cylinder was the dungeon where the most wicked and vile monster could be found and if you are lucky to survive there might be a chance to locate the boss of floor 1.

Finally, with a satisfying day, the group relaxed in the glittering sun. Yui was sitting with her legs stretched out and her arms supporting her. Jin was laid back on the ground, feeling the soft grass under his fingers. "It's hard to believe that this is virtual. The only thing that sucks in the virtual world is you can't satisfy hunger in real life." Jin picked at a few blades of grass, letting them fly away with the breeze. It was astonishing how this world was made. "To the creator of this game, I salute them"

Nomad smiled at Jin's comment, "Kayaba is a genius," The other two looked over at him. "The food may be good, but it never beats the real stuff. What time is it, anyway? I fancy some food in a local cafe."

"Oh, crap!" Skoll swiped open his menu, sitting up in shock. "Crap! It's five twenty! We're supposed to be going out for dinner together!"

"That's right you booked sits for us for half five." Yui cried out with panic in her voice.

"Hey Nomad, I don't mean to force you, but is there a chance you could introduce us IRL?"

"I mean I have a tight schedule all week. But when I get the free time then maybe."

"Great!" Skoll cheerfully cried. "Well, we'll be logging off for a bit. It's really good seeing you again." With that said, Skoll put his hand forward to which Nomad smiled and shook his hand.

"See you around," Nomad said as he let go of Skoll's hand.

Skoll took a step back and swipe his index finger to bring up his main menu window. Immediately, he presses the bottom right rectangle to which it glows orange. Skoll and his friend squinted their eyes in confusion as the box was blank. The Log out menu was gone.

"Eh... Where's the log out button."

Nomad looked back and chuckled. "In your menu. Where else?"

Right there Nomad moved his finger and scratch his head and swipe to see the menu to investigate the situation. "No button? It can't be, look a bit closer maybe it's somewhere else."

The Admin hastily searches his entire menu to find the Log out button to no avail. Just where is it?

"It definitely not here."

"It's got to be somewhere, Skoll" Nomad replies.

"It has to be some sort of glitch or a bug." Yui thought aloud.

'I've got a bad feeling about this,' Nomad thought mentally in a quivering voice.

*Ding, ding*

All players apart from Nomad heard a chiming noise. it sounded almost like a bell. Suddenly a blue pillar of light surrounded Skoll and his friends in the field and engulf them a the same time.

"Skoll?!" Nomad shouted in confusion as he assessed the situation. "What the hell? force teleport?"

*Ding, ding*

Nomad then heard a chiming noise and soon the pillar light would surround him...