Sword Art Online: A New Beginning

[Zarkon90]

Eve smiled softly.

"Who we are isn't important. The fact that you are all safe is. do you all have teleport crystals or do you want us to escort you back to the town?"

Eve asked softly, her eyes kind as the long golden hair fell into her face, obscuring her right eye.  

[Mega90]

The players nodded and removed teleport crystals from their inventories. Their friends had, by now, awakened and after a few more words of thanks and goodbye, they teleported out, leaving Even and Kaiyaga alone in the field.

Kaiyaga crossed his arm and leaned back on his right leg.

“Sorry to steal your kill there, kiddo. I know you had him dead to rights. I just didn’t want to make you have to worry about saving the players in addition to killing him.”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve hung her head, hair falling forward to obscure her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was soft, almost childish, and unlike anything the young teen had heard from her before.

"No..you saved me and those players...if it hadn't been for your intervention at least three if not all of them would be dead. So..um.. thank you.."  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga smiled and placed his hand on her head, rubbing it gently.

“Hey, Kiddo. Don’t go getting all meek on me now. Where’s that famous spitfire attitude you’re known for?” His tone and gaze softened, and he leaned down, coming to eye level with her. “That’s what being part of a team is all about. You join a guild so that you have the strength of the group, and so that you don’t have to tackle everything all by yourself.” He stood up again and placed his hands on his hips, looking out over the gently setting sun. “C’mon, why don’t we head back into town and I’ll buy you something to eat? You did good today. What’s the point of succeeding if you don’t get to celebrate after it, eh, Kiddo?”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve's head remained down, her tone soft.

"But you aren't part of my team, I don't have a team. You aren't even part of the guild you know." Eve's tone was soft and surprisingly held no distain or anger as she spoke.  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga smiled and continued to look out over the distant field.

“True enough, I suppose.” He turned around and extended his hand to her. “So I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we form a team? If you ever need me for anything, just shoot me a quick message and I’ll come running and a moderate pace; and if I ever need anything, I’ll know I have you that I can fall back on. Deal?”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve was silent for a long moment before nodding slowly and almost whispering.

"Deal.."  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga gave a soft smile and retracted his hand, turning around once more to look at the sun.

“Good, if that’s all taken care of then, let’s get out of here. I could really go for a drink.”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve nodded, standing up straight and brushing back her hair. When she spoke her tone was strong again.

"Of course you could. You are just lucky that you can't get drunk in here or you would be useless to Master Shiro. I would have to haul you off the floor every time we needed to do anything."  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga gave her a devious smile and shook his head.

“You underestimate the amount of alcohol that I can safely consume. Just because you can’t hold your liquor doesn’t mean I can’t.” He gave her a short wink before beginning to make his way back to the teleport gate.  

[Zarkon90]

Eve opened her mouth to fire back a response but instead thought better of it and ran after the taller teen.

"You're buying when we get back you know."  

[Mega90]

He let out a loud laugh and placed his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, and you know what, kiddo, you can get whatever ya want.” Together, they returned to the teleport gate and headed back to town.  

[Mega90]

Rin walked into the arena and looked around. Strangely, she appeared to be alone. She checked the time once more to make sure that she was not early. The clock read seven fifty eight. Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited, and even though she knew it was only for training, Yamen had a reputation for being imperceptibly strong. She was grateful for the time that he was taking to train her, but at the same time, she was extremely nervous about what to expect. Time seemed to drag on, and the next two minutes felt more like hours. However, as the clock struck eight, she heard a voice from all around her.

“Good, you’re here. Are you ready to get started?” The familiar tone was from Yamen, but she could not place where the sound was coming from. It was as though he was all around her, his voice echoing throughout the large, empty stadium-like area. She looked around frantically, her head darting left and right. Perhaps she had missed him in the stands somewhere? “Down here, Rin.” This time, the voice was from directly in front of her. It no longer echoed, but was far more direct. Her head snapped forward, and there before her stood Yamen. He had his left hand in his pocket and his right hand rested absently on the hilt of his sword.

Her heart stopped for a moment as she saw him. There was no way that he could have made it down from all the way up in the stands in such a short amount of time. Yet, there he stood before her, a bored expression on his face. Removing his hand from his pocket, he stretched his arms over his head and then returned to his relaxed stance. The air fell silent, and time seemed to stop for a period of several seconds. At length, his voice broke the still air.

“Come at me.” His tone was matter of fact, and left no room for ambiguity.

“W… what?” Rin started, clearly surprised by the instruction.

“If I am going to train you, I need to know what I’m dealing with. So, come at me and show me what you’ve got. I want to see your technique. This is a real fight, so hold nothing back and use every advantage you have. Got it?” Rin faltered for a moment, but after a reassuring nod from Yamen, consented.

Drawing her weapon, she burst forth towards Yamen with impressive speed. Using the skills that she had learned from Re-Re, she gave a quick jabbing motion, aiming for critical mass. Instead of the satisfying strike that she had hoped to land, Yamen easily side stepped the blow, bringing his leg up under her foot. Thrown off balance, Rin tumbled into the dust of the earthen arena floor. She began to rise to her feet, but was interrupted as Yamen delivered a sharp kick to her ribs. She rolled sideways, coughing in both pain and surprise.

“Get up,” he commanded. “You’re too easy to hit while on the ground.” Again, he gave a short kick to her ribs, rolling her further across the arena. The constant movements made it difficult for her to get her bearings, but after two or three more kicks, she rolled onto her feet, delivering a sharp slash. Yamen stopped his advancement immediately. Leaning back, he easily avoided the strike.

His movements were fluid, not in the same liquid way that Re-Re had transferred her weight, but in a more flowing nature, almost like grain being blown in the wind. There was no sort of tension or restraint in his movements. Each motion, regardless of how slight, was executed with confidence and fluidity.

While Rin was still completing her horizontal swing, Yamen leaned back in and grabbed her wrist, delivering a strong downward pull. He used her own force to increase his own strength and pulled her to the ground. His knee flew sideways, stopping centimeters from her head. Her eyes trained on the advancing limb, but his iron grip prevented her from doing anything to stop it. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but was surprised to feel not the blow to the side of her face as she had anticipated, but a boot on her shoulder, gently pushing her onto her back. Her eyes opened and after a moment of adjusting to the bright sun that shone overhead, she saw Yamen’s same casual expression staring down at her.

“Is that it?” He asked. His tone was not condescending or insulting. He was simply inquiring if she was finished, or if she had more attacks that she wanted to try. The thought of surrendering crossed her mind, but in nearly the same instant, the advice from Re-Re echoed throughout her head. Her teeth grit in determination.

Grasping her sword firmly in her hand, she slashed sideways at Yamen’s legs, hoping to off balance the man. Instead, he lifted the closest leg, and with precision timing, brought the heel of his boot down onto the flat of the blade, pinning it to the ground. Rin struggled with the sword, trying desperately to free it. Such an attempt was futile however, and she released it, opting instead to roll away and put some distance between them. Staggering to her feet, she braced herself to dodge whatever attack he tried to throw at her. She scanned her enemy with incisive eyes, not only trying to anticipate his next move, but also trying to locate any weaknesses that she could exploit. The effect, was quite the opposite, however.

Before her was not a heated warrior ready to charge back into the battle, but a nonchalant man who had one hand in his pocket, and the other resting on the base of an undrawn sword. For all her efforts, she had not been able to even force him to unsheathe his blade.

With a casual movement, Yamen dragged his foot backwards through the dirt, turning the blade on end. He worked his toes underneath the curved blade and kicked upwards. The blade arced through the air, digging into the ground near Rin’s feet. She looked down at it quickly before shifting her attention back to the man before her.

“Pick up your sword and let’s continue.” Again, his tone was smooth and unfluctuating. There was no anger, disappointment, irritation, or other emotion in it. It was simply matter of fact.

Rin grasped onto the hilt and raised it once more, holding it between her and her opponent.

“This is a real fight, right?” Yamen nodded in response, giving a slight vocalization to the gesture.

“Mhmm.” Again, a pause fell over the arena as they both stood looking at each other. Slowly, Rin’s eyes traveled down to the sand covered silver blade that shimmered in the early morning sun.

“Alright then.” Her thoughts vocalized in these words, and she ran her hand across the top of the blade. It glowed a light red for a moment before bursting into flames. They licked off of the blade, hungry to consume whatever she swung towards. After training with Re-Re, Rin had taken her advice and begun to work her skills around magical infusion of weapons, rather than straight spell casting. The result was the start of a hybrid style. She knew some sword skills, and she was in possession of a few spells, but the majority of her strength lay in adding elemental damage to her melee combat.

The corners of Yamen’s mouth ever so slightly curved into a light smile as he saw the crimson flames begin to emanate from her weapon. Her plan was simple; up until this point, Yamen had defused every one of her attacks by getting close to her and turning her own weapon against her. However, if she could make it so that there was no way to get ahold of her blade, and potentially deal damage by mere proximity, then perhaps she stood a chance to land a critical blow.

She skirted the perimeter of the imaginary ring that had formed between the two, waiting to see how Yamen would react. The result was as unsettling as she’d expected – he didn’t. Unmoved, Yamen stood with in a relaxed stance, his one hand in his pocket, and the other laying idly across his sheathed sword.

The amount of time that she could maintain the infusion was limited, so she couldn’t wait. Dashing forward, she changed her trajectory at the last minute, sliding behind him and jabbing quickly at his back. Her attack found no purchase, however, as he leaned ever so slightly to the left, lifting his arm and allowing the blade to pass through the space created between his side and elbow. The dodge must have bene calculated, as the limb was raised just enough that the flames merely kissed his coat. He threw his arm backwards, slamming his elbow into Rin’s forehead and laying her out flat on the ground. In the same instant, he stepped on her wrist with such force and speed that her hand opened for a fraction of a second. In that time, he moved his boot across her arm and hooked his toe underneath the hilt, delivering a hard upward pull. As before, the blade soared through the air, extinguishing as soon as it was out of the casters hand. It dug deep into the earth some ten feet away from her, and as she attempted to get to her feet, she was met with the base of a sword hilt. Her eyes traveled up the long wooden shaft until they at last met Yamen’s. His eyes were wearied, and his mouth had returned to its neutral frown once again.

“Now are you done?” Her choice had already been made for her. She had no weapon, low MP, and no chance of defeating him in unarmed combat. She heaved a heavy sigh and nodded. “Alright, well that was a good start.” He pulled the sheathe back, allowing her to get up. As she began to rise to her feet, his hand appeared in front of her vision.

A bit startled, she lurched backwards, throwing herself off balance again. A strong grip caught her and hauled her gently to her feet. Yamen stood over her with a smile.

“Not bad, Rin. You’ve got a lot of promise. It’s just really deep under single player tactics.” Rin looked to the side, unsure of how to respond. “But, we can actually use that. Believe it or not, most players have patterns that they follow as well. They are just less predictable and often more incessant than trash mobs or bosses.” With even steps, Yamen made his way across the arena to where Rin’s sword protruded through the earth. Digging it out, he moved to the young girl and handed her the blade. “Alright, on your feet. Now’s when the real training begins.”

§

Rin stumbled out of the training area, her hands shaking as she struggled to remain on her feet. For the past two hours, Yamen had drilled her again and again on different fighting styles, strategies, and methods that would work best for her and her playstyle. She had learned a lot, but in the process, she had completely exhausted her energy. Being so early in the day still, she wasn’t sure whether to log out, or to simply head to an inn and get something to eat. As she was considering these things, she walked past Amara. Their eyes met for a moment, and Rin did her best to offer a friendly wave, though her arms didn’t lift quite as high as she would have liked them too.

Amara could see that she was a bit shy about talking to anyone in the guild, as her reception had not been the warmest one.  

[Zarkon90]

Amara watched as the young girl attempted to wave, waiting until she passed her before speaking.

"So, how was your first day of training with Yamen, princess?"  

[Mega90]

Rin let out a tired sigh and looked up at Amara. Her eyes were still surprisingly bright considering the training thatshe had just done and she smiled.
“It was intense, but good. Also, would it be alright if you just called me Rin?” Her tone was genuine, obviously meaning to convey no offense.