SAO fanfic

 When I logged into SAO as one of the 10,000 Americans to first get ahold of it, I brought my little sister with me. Once Kayaba revealed his plot I was decimated, I didn’t know what to do. Sis, however, stayed optimistic. She said, “we can just beat it real quick and just go home brother. Come on and let’s fight our way out.” Her words brought me out of that haze and I went for it, but my heart wasn’t in the battles. I was still confused and distracted by homesickness day in and day out. Up until that day, I was never focused, always a mediocre player, but she had real strength. That is, until that day…

We took the shortcut home after a grinding party. “That was a lot of fun Brother, wasn’t it?” “Yeah sis, it was. I just wish I coulda’ killed more mobs than Karren. She’s pretty good.” “It’s ok, next time you’ll do better” With that she beamed a smile that made me feel even worse. She always could read me so well. I always felt so naked around her. “You really think so, Kara?” “I know so..o..o…” It was over like that. I had never seen it coming, which turned into a sort of symbol for me. She stared at me with wide, unblinking eyes until finally dissolving into a million sparkling shards like broken glass. I lost it. I turned on a dime to find a 10-foot tall Bladed-Basilix still in the follow-through of his last strike. Without wasting a second I flipped my sword around in my hand, oddly my mind went cool as I did this for the first time, as if it was meant to be. In the blink of an eye I dashed forward with lightning arcing across the blade of my gleaming tanto. I lunged at his exposed chest with nothing to stop me at all. My blade raced in front of my face to slash away the enemy’s flesh again and again. I don’t remember how I got home, all I recall is the last moments before I lost Kara. I remembered her face, the cheeks, the eyes, even her small nose. All these came to mind only to be replaced by the horrified expression in just a split second. After that there was only broken glass. I had always been close to her, and I had had doubt that this game would really kill you when you died, but what I felt then was the undeniable emptiness that was death. I could no longer feel her presence, distant or otherwise. “I will get stronger, I will escape, and I will end all those who step in my way…” I was never the same. Nothing was.

 The morning mist still hadn’t cleared. Good, I thought. That’ll make it easier to sneak up on him. There was a cool breeze flowing through my short locks. However, the refreshing wind didn’t last, leaving me in a slight bad mood. Though the mist helped me hide, it was still rather humid. My close-fitting leather armor left me stifling as I sat on the tree limb in a crouch. I didn’t dare move though, for my prey was closing in and I must not be spotted if I was to join Black Chasm, a PK guild with a strong presence in Aincrad. As I thought about it, I was never really interested in The Ideals, or the code the entire guild followed. It included the belief that killing others could actually save them and that Kayaba was lying about SAO. I however had already come to terms with the fact that people did actually die. I knew there was no life after this one and I wasn’t lead by the desire to free anyone but myself. I just needed in a guild to gain access to more resources. Up until now I had solo’d the frontlines with little impact on my stats and not much coin to show for it. I had chosen Black Chasm because they would still allow solo assassination missions, so I could keep my play style. To tell the truth, I simply found it easy to kill, almost too easy for the reward it offered; a place in BC. For the initiation, I was to kill a player, of course. I had already scouted him out and devised a strategy. All that was left was to target him after had just finished a quest, as requested by the BC recruiter. I knew I could’ve beaten or killed any of those BC members, but I had to take their bullshit in order to take advantage of their vast networking system. With me among their ranks, I could travel under security and if I shot up the ranks as I intended, I would expect a rookie with my gear at every level, ready to set me on my way. I could deal with the somewhat rude guild members and idealistic codes as long as these amenities were met. I called myself back to reality as I heard a nearing footstep. “It’s showtime.” I silently whispered to myself as my target approached. My muscles tensed, readying for the attack. I felt the system build up tension on my hamstrings. My strength continued to build  until I spotted the walking player. He was strutting calmly down the dark forest path humming to himself. I noticed he had inventory open and was thrumming through his weapons before equipping what I supposed was a brand new wakizashi. I had scouted him a few days prior to see how he fought and to gather intel on the quest he was on. It seemed his goal had been a rare sword to add to his shop. I assume he expected a pretty penny if he was willing to go all the way to level fifteen and get it himself. I shook away these needless thoughts, focusing only on his tender neckline. That delicate opening took my full attention as I gazed upon this tall handsome avatar. When I had studied him recently, he acted like a fairly normal player. Granted he was rather unpredictable in his weapon choice when initiating a battle, he never ventured beyond mid-upper level sword skills in combat. I shouldn’t have to worry if I can get my first hit off without any surprises. He still hadn’t detected me at all, luckily, and seemed in a sort of daze, likely thinking about how he was gonna sell his newly acquired loot. Now that I looked, It was a very nice weapon, I might even switch it out for my tanto, since it had a smooth curve and longer reach. I again shook away the pointless thoughts. All I had to do was kill this guy, steal his stuff, and gain access to Black Chasm. Then I could fly through the ranks to become a general, since I was probably as good as them if not stronger. That cleared my head and I brought myself back into the moment. I had been building up energy for a while now and was ready to dart for that glowing flesh. I positioned my blade for an attack, leaned in, and dashed…