Sword Art Online: A New Beginning

[Mega90]

The young girl nodded, rushing after him. There was little sense of direction in the dark tunnels that they ran through, as little to no light was visible, short of that cast by the strange, blue, luminous mushrooms that dotted the walls and ceilings of the cave.

Even as they ran deeper and deeper into the cave structure, they could still hear the dragon’s roar behind them. At times it would grow louder, sounding as though the beast was once again on top of them, only to fade away to a mere whisper seconds later.

Hiroku had noticed that for some time now, they had been on a slight incline, heading deeper into the earth. To his surprise, the farther down they went, the brighter the tunnels seemed to grow. It was almost as though the greater distance there was between them and the sun, the more the mushrooms would glow.

This continued for several more feet until the opening to the cave could be seen below them. It glowed with the same blue that was cast by the mushrooms, only it was of a much greater intensity.

Still unsure of where the dragon was, they rushed through this opening. What stood before them was something Hiroku had never seen, even in all his time in the game. It was an entire city, massive and sprawling, but continued completely underground. The floor of the cave was flooded with a strange water whose glassy surface glowed with a greenish hue, and the stone buildings were covered in a luminescent moss.

In front of them, a rickety bridge stood, leading from the cliff where they were into the city beyond. Glancing around, it appeared that this was one of only several such entrances into the forgotten city.  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku slowed to a walk before eventually coming to a complete stop, raising his eyebrow as the city came into full view. He had heard about such towns existing in Alfheim but had no idea such a thing existed here in Aincrad.

The teen stood, staring at the city for a few moments longer before slowly making his way down toward the bridge.

"Did you have any idea this was down here?" He asked, glancing back at his new companion.  

[Mega90]

The young girl made no response as she took several slow steps forward, coming to the edge of the cliff like area. She stared for several long moments at the strange city beyond.

It was a magnificent sight to behold; massive stone towers composed the subterranean skyline, while granite looking structures made a deep forest of buildings below. The bottom of the cave was flooded, rendering the ground floors of most of these buildings inaccessible, however, they could still be viewed, as strange balls of pale blue light seemed to drift through the flooded streets, just below the water’s surface. Their movements were erratic, almost as though they were being carried by something that was swimming through the reflective sea.

The rest of the city was illuminated by the same strange mushrooms that had dotted the walls and ceilings of the cave leading in. These mushrooms were of a greater size, but otherwise appeared to be identical in composition to the smaller variety they had already encountered.

As they stood, the walls of the cave began to shake slightly, and small amounts of debris fell from the ceiling as the dragons roar echoed throughout the chamber, sounding now as little more than a whisper. Whether this was due to the depth that they were at, or if it had given up and abandoned its hunt was not clear, but Hiroku had the feeling that the cliff that they now stood on was not as sturdy as it had perhaps been in years past.  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku let out a soft sigh and turned.

"Come on, we shouldn't stay here long. This cliff side is far from stable and I would rather not find out what is living in that water."  

[Mega90]

The girl nodded and followed after Hiroku as he made his way across the rickety bridge. The wood was old and weathered and several pieces of it were either cracked or missing entirely.

A strange wind blew through the cavern, causing the bridge to shake ever so slightly. The young girl lost her footing and lurched to the side of the bridge, grasping desperately onto the frayed rope railing that served as the only sides to the otherwise hazardous crossing. Hiroku’s footing was also shaken, though he managed to retain his balance. When the wind settled, they managed to continue over the bridge, coming to rest on a balcony like construction that was attached to one of the granite pillars.

The pillar was more like a tower in construction, but rather than laid bricks, it was all a uniform piece of stone.  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku reached out, gently laying his gloved hand against one of the stones.

"This place is incredible. To think something like this existed all this time and I never knew."

The teen slowly made his way around the balcony, carefully examining the stone pillar and surrounding area while being sure to keep his attention on his detection skill as he did.

"So out of curiosity, what were you doing all the way down here?" Hiroku called back to the young girl.  

[Mega90]

She had also started to take a few, slow steps around the tower at this point, but she stopped where she was and looked back at Hiroku when he spoke to her. Her voice was even and steady as she spoke, though it still carried a childlike quality brought on by her age.

“Hunting.”  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku nodded, glancing over the stone railing at the water below.

"You certainly choose an interesting spot to train. Especially being solo."

Hiroku fell silent as he glanced from the water below them to the stone ceiling high above. He couldn't place what it was but something here made him uneasy. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he returned his attention to the tower they now stood by.

"I suppose We should try and find a way out of here. Thanks to that dragon we can't go out the way we came. Any ideas where we should start?"  

[Mega90]

The young girl ignored his question about where to start looking, favoring instead to continue walking around the pillar. Her voice echoed from somewhere out of sight a few moments later.

“Not training. Hunting.”  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku slowed to a stop, folding his arms.

"Hunting? Hunting what exactly?"  

[Mega90]

There was silence for a moment before Hiroku heard stone grinding on stone, and the tower shook slightly. Another moment of silence followed after that before he heard the young girl’s voice from behind the pillar.

“I found a way down.”  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku nodded.

"Well done. That doesn't answer my question though. What were you hunting."  

[Mega90]

All Hiroku heard in response was the light footfalls of the girl as she descended what seemed like a spiral staircase.

As he stepped around the pillar, he too found an entrance that led down into the darkness of the tower. Unlike elsewhere in the sunken city, there were no lights of any kind in this chamber, and the faint illumination cast by the distant mushrooms was only enough to allow him to see the first six stairs. By this time, the girl had enough of a lead on him that she was completely out of sight, though he was still able to hear her fading footsteps.  

[Zarkon90]

Hiroku sighed softly, shaking his head slightly. The teen took one final look around the large cavern before turning and following the mysterious girl down into the inky darkness below. As he made his way down the stairs his eyes glowed a dull golden as he instinctively activated his night vision skill.

As he slowly descended the stairs his mind slowly replayed the events that had lead him here. Something about this girl didn't feel right. Not divulging what she was 'hunting' in the cavern wasn't all that suspicious, especially if is was a rare skill or item she had found out about. Hiroku let out another soft sigh and shook his head. Regardless of who she was or why she was down here, he had no intention of letting his guard down around her. His silent musings reached an end as he descended the final step. As he did, he glanced around, looking for his mysterious companion.  

[Mega90]

The stairs let out into a massive antechamber. Massive columns rose up imperceptibly high, and though the room was massive, the darkness made it look smaller as the shadows eclipsed the outer corners of the room. At the center of this room, the young girl stood, her back to the staircase that Hiroku had just descended.

Each step that Hiroku took pounded through the open chamber with a resounding click.

“Bad luck seems to follow you, Reaper.” Her voice was quiet, but it echoed throughout the room, reaching his ears even at the distance that was between them.