Demon Swordsman: Remastered (Sword Art Online X Male Reader)

Chapter 16 - Rain

(A/n): I have to say it, but this chapter is a long one. Also, long overdue. Enjoy.

Teleporting between floors is the easiest thing within Sword Art Online.

The teleport process is fast and simple, either done through Teleport Platforms within certain settlements, placed there by the system, or through a Teleport Crystal. The name of the location is required to be called out before the process could begin, so if one wanted to travel to the first-floor town, where everything began, they would stand on a Teleport Platform or lift a Teleport Crystal in the air and shout, "Teleport: Town of Beginnings!" It was simple and efficient, especially since instantaneously, the player would be engulfed in a brilliance of light before being whisked away to the destination. It was one of the fastest ways of travel within the Death Game, a way widely known to all players, even those who never risked their lives out in the field.

However, even with the unusual methods teleporting could be used for, such as escaping an extremely difficult dungeon or simply a way to return to town, there are limitations placed on the system function. Most are limited to the Teleport Crystals since there are usually no problems with the Teleport Platforms. Those restrictions range from situation to situation, with no limitations being discovered even more than a year into the Death Game, but one of the riskiest restrictions is known as Anti-Crystal Zones.

As the name implies, Anti-Crystal Zones restrict the use of crystals, healing, antidote, and Teleport Crystals. Most of them are placed within dungeons as trap rooms and are extremely difficult to escape from without using a crystal, so they are effectively Death Traps. A large majority of players suffer death through these trap rooms because crystals are an escape within the dungeon, a way to survive and see the next day, but to have that restricted and prevented is heavy on the mind and will to fight, shattering any confidence to survive against the contents of the trap. The higher levelled a player was, the easier it would become to survive as long as they were tenacious and determined to survive.

It is nigh impossible for a low-level player to survive a trap on the higher floors.

Being trapped on a floor is not caused by these Anti-Crystal Zones most of the time because either death awaits or leaving the designated room with the effect would allow Teleport Travel. One other method of being trapped within a dungeon is through running out of healing items and Teleport Crystals, effectively trapping a player within the dungeon as long as they are unable to freely traverse on their own without incurring death.

No ordinary player would travel on a whim with a low selection of crystals. A Teleport Crystal was a must amongst the population of Aincrad, even as pricy as they were to buy from vendors, much less the rarity of their drop rate from a monster. They are only used in the direst of situations, where life and death are truly a split-second decision away. Wasting them is for only those that horde the crystals, yet even then they are pricy to restock.

However, back to the process, causing any irregularities during it is almost always unusual. They are usually done when a player is standing up or sitting down, which does not pose any problems with the process as they would simply appear as such on their designated floor. Yet, if a teleport were done in the air, they would appear as such and continue the momentum onto their designated floor of travel. It would not kill the momentum of a player. It would be like stepping through a doorway with one side where the player is and the other side where they wanted to be.

So, when U/n teleported to the fifty-first floor, he nearly tumbled face-first onto the cobblestone of the main plaza.

U/n had to steady himself by holding a pillar to his left, grabbing his head with his right, and groaning with his lack of energy. It felt like he had just woken up from a long nap, and waking up was not a speedy process. His nerves, brain cells and signals sent through the NerveGear felt as slow as he did. Everything felt slow, like his storage space was full and his hardware was dying for some semblance of freedom, one he could not give right then. It wasn't like he could delete his memories or anything. Part of him wished he could, though.