Sword Art Online: Regeneration

4:

I take a quick glance around me, I'm back in the inn room I rented. It was a plain single bed, a chair with a tiny table and a mirror hung on the wall. A lamp was within reach next to my bed and there was only one window and it was about nightfall in SAO.

I look at the mirror, my avatar and I shared a familiar. When first used, a NerveGear would normally   make the user pat their arms and do a scan to estimate your weight, height, eyes, hair, nose, skin color and sex. Some games allowed you to customize your character, however, SAO forces people to use their real faces. Most believe it's to protect people from others who like to scam or illegally exploit the game. However, you could change some things such as eye color and hair. In SAO, I kept my black and brown short hair, however, in the front it was spikier, made me look like some out of place shogun. I had a blue headband wrapped around my forehead, a black haori with bright blue waves designed on the bottom. I wore a plain white shirt and a breastplate underneath the haori. I had matching black pants and dark brown sandals. I used to wear a pair of geta but I soon figured out it did not work well with my stats.

My sword, Sea Phoenix was slung by my back. And I had a two kunais hidden inside my haori. I was more on the speed side however I didn't use a rapier like most. I tried to balance attack and speed so a shield was no option for me either.

I went out of my inn room and climbed down the steps to see Akari. She wore light armor underneath her hooded cloak. She wore short black boots and the scabbard of her sword was by her left hip.

"Took you long!" She sang, I ignore her as I rush to the door, "Where're you going Tanjiro?"

"KoB. I signed up as a recruit. I'm surprised you call me Raito in real life while you call me by a Demon Slayer character."

She clapped her arms and galloped by me, "You're going too? I guess I'm coming with. The guild jobs are lame and Shylock doesn't need any materials at the moment."

I sighed and thought how I could never escape Akari's bull here or in IRL. We left the guild and got to the teleport base. Mare, which is Latin for sea, looked like a town that strives by fishing. It did exactly that. Almost about 60% of this town sells high quality products that were from water bodies. The buildings were made of stone and nipa roofs above. There were multiple docks extending until the end of the town where boats floated by. Me and Akari stood on an eggshell colored stone based elevated by a few inches. We exchange looks and I gave a sigh once more.

"Teleport: Granzam!" We yelled out in unison. The sight of the coastal town disappears and turns to the white light.

Granzam was on floor fifty-five. It was also known as the floor of the smiths. Buildings were made of silver and dark colored steel. You can hear the sound of factories churning iron for making every weapon imaginable. Gamers with maces or bulky armor bustled the streets. Almost all of the blacksmiths started businesses here since a huge metal mine located here. There have been quite a few jobs in Dragon Fang to retrieve an ore to NPCs.

I open my menu and see the KoB meeting spot was at a huge tavern not far from their headquarters. We passed by a few establishments, blacksmiths urging us to get our swords polished or sharpened. We told them we had them done by a certain someone, that certain someone being Shylock.

We turn to a corner south of the metallic town and locate an ostracized tavern. It was not made of metal but wood. The roof was tiled and a few glass windows. It more looked like a house than a bar. We saw a sign that said "KoB Recruit members only." and went in. The bar was brightly lit. There was upbeat European folk music playing in the background. Many players were chatting amongst each other and waiting, waiting for the leader Rogue to arrive. The bar was just ahead and Akari and I bought ourselves ramen. I heard in the old SAO, food options were pretty limited. Most were only European cuisines and tasted the same. Now, the food was almost like eating the real thing. All kinds of different food from various parts of the world could be eaten.

"I bet Lucy might be calling me right now." I murmured to myself as I stuff chashu down my throat.

"Mmm?" Akari was eating the soup of hers, "You wanna log out for a bit and check. The commander ain't coming til five I heard."

"No, I'll call her once it's over. Lucy probably just wants to check on me." I respond lamely. Lucy was probably gonna ask if I've eaten or done homework which neither I'm planning to do once this is done. It's only about 15 minutes since I logged in but about 2 hours have gone by in the game.

Me and my friend both finished our ramen and waited silently for the KoB commander. We heard big footsteps. The bell by the door rang and the room's atmosphere went from lively to dead. Me and Akari turned our heads and saw multiple members of the Knights of the Blood. We froze, even our breathing did. No one dared to move a muscle, when right before us was the strongest guild in the game. Behind the members was a woman heavily armored with a white scarf with red lining wrapped sideways. Her light blue hair covered one here eye although it was tied to a ponytail. She had a cape behind her that was red as the blood that the guild's name carries. Her eyes matched the color of her hair and a sword dangled by her waist like Akari.

The soldiers came to a halt and we looked at the commander. She did seem stern. She looked like she has conquered kingdoms. Or played complicated games like GGO. She looked at me and I nervously gave her a smile. She looked away towards the others.

"I'm assuming everyone is here for the meeting?" She asked, her voice was strong but with a soft edge, "I am Rogue624, Commander of the Knights of the Bloodoath, no need to be formal and call me Rogue. We shall take roll and start our journey to the dungeon at daybreak however we shall be meeting here same time, same place."

Everyone silently was called and said here. There were a handful that were not English speaker but fortunately we had people who could translate what they said.

"Natsu"

Here...

"Misotofu"

Here...

"BenDover69"

Chuckles with a "here" can be heard...

"Raito"

I raised my hand and she gave me a weird look and continued scrolling the party list.

As she finished calling all the recruits names. She noticed Akari wasn't on it. I told here she came in last minute and wanted to come and luckily she allowed it.

"Well, that does about it." She turns her back around us, her guards follow and march out, "I'll divide everyone up into groups, each group will consist of three players and one official guild member. I've already done a list for it and sending it all into your inventories. Once you find who's in your team, we shall teleport to the thirty-second floor."

     Everyone waved their hands lightly down to open their menu. I see the team list in my messages from a direct message from Rogue. As soon as I was about to read who I was going to be with, Akari nosed in, trying to see who was on my team. No one can see another player's inventory unless they are married to the player, having a joint inventory, or if the player themselves allows the open inventory option but it was foolish to let someone see what you have. Especially if you have sword skills that are uncommon.

     "I'm not on your team, that bites..." she grumbled, staring at her screen.

     I proceeded to read and I was with two players named Misotofu and Asugaya. The official KoB member was...I could not believe it. I made sure it matched the name of the person above and yes, it was.

     Rogue624 was our team leader.