Sword Art Online: A New Beginning

[Mega90]

“It’s very simple. I give you a knife, and I’ll throw a Cor in the air. All you have to do is pin the Cor to the target back there, with heads facing out. Think you can do it?”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve considered for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, I suppose that's fair." The young girl held out her hand and waited for the knife to be placed in it.

Once the vendor had, she closed her eyes. Taking a deep breathe in and exhaling it before opening her eyes and readying her knife.

"Ready when you are."

As the man tossed the Cor into the air Eve drowned all other sounds out, waiting for it to flip in the air a total of nine times before hurling the knife outward.

The blonde girl held her breathe as she saw the knife fly toward the falling coin.  

[Mega90]

The knife sliced through the air, contacting the coin and slamming it into the wall. The force had been enough to pierce the Cor and hold it there. The man walked over to the target in near disbelief. It was apparent that he was not used to seeing someone come even this close. Still, there was the matter of whether or not it was pinned heads up.

He stood for a moment, examining the coin. Then, the he pulled the knife off the wall and walked back over to the table.

“Well, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Congratulations little lady, you won! You can go ahead and talk to the gentleman in the stall next to me, and he’ll get you your prize.”

Kaiyaga paid the man for the game and they moved over to the next stall. Unsurprisingly, the prize stall was absent of any other patrons. Apparently, not many people won that game.

“Those are some pretty nice knife throwing skills you’ve got there. Where’d you learn that?” Kaiyaga questioned as they walked.  

[Zarkon90]

Eve shrugged slightly.

"I have a lot of free time and as there isn't a lot of restrictions in ALO or Sao for weapons I tried to familiarize myself with most of them. Knives were something I enjoyed using and they are good for ambushes.

The young girl glanced back at the stall they had just left.

"I don't think many people win that game honestly. Bet that npc has a small fortune from tonight." As Eve spoke, her voice was soft and almost bitter.

"So what now?" She asked, glancing up at Kaiyaga.  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga gestured to the myriad prizes that hung from the stall.

“Now, you pick your prize, if you want to.” There were stuffed animals, various pieces of furniture that could be used in the housing system, several different pieces of food, and even a weapon of two.  

[Zarkon90]

Eve glanced as the assortment of prizes for a long moment before pointing at a long, slender Bow.

"That one if I may." She said softly.

Eve gently took the bow from the vendor merchant, staring at it for a long moment before turning to look up at Kaiyaga.

"So what now?" She asked.  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga shrugged and scraped at one of the stuffed aanimals on the table.

“That’s up to you, princess. We can play more games, get some souvenirs, check out some of the food and drinks, or we can make our way towards the center of town for Heaven Spire’s big announcement at the end of the night.”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve tilted her head curiously.

"Announcement? What about?" She asked, raising her voice slightly as a group of other players pushed past them.  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga shrugged.

“Not sure. You know those big guilds, they like to make a spectacle to try to get more recognition. Could be nothing, or it could be something. We’ll just have to wait until tonight to figure it out, I guess.” He gave Eve a playful wink and looked up at the sky, gauging the time. “Looks like they should be starting any time now.” He began to walk again, his hands hanging lazily in his pockets. “A couple years ago, the Heaven Spire guild managed to get the Dev’s to allow them to announce the Release date of the SAO expansion, so who knows. They may have worked something out with them again this year.”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve tilted her head slightly.

"They released that kind of info at an event like this?! I can't believe the devs would allow such a thing."

"Who exactly are these people anyway? I know they are one of the strongest guilds in the game but no one should be able to get the kind of treatment that they do. Not even crestfallen gets that kind of privilege." Eve said, chasing after her companion.  

[Mega90]

A group of players rushed past them with bright sparklers in their hands. Kaiyaga stepped aside to let them pass and then continued on this original path.

“The Heaven Spire guild is one of the biggest in the game, like you mentioned, and so they have a lot of sway within the community. It’s also rumored that there are several developers and community managers that are actually members of the guild. More than that, though, they do a huge amount of promotion for their guild offline on social media and such. The official numbers have never been released, but it’s speculated that they bring in thousands of new accounts per month, as players join thanks to something they saw from the guild. Guess the dev’s reward them for all the cash they earn for them by giving them special perks.” Across a small lagoon in the center of town, the sky erupted in various shades of bright colors. Fire danced across the darkened heavens, and Kaiyaga stopped to look up at it. At first, it was just a single explosion, but it was soon followed by dozens more as they erupted in brilliant displays of light and sound. “Well, would you look at that?” He commented under his breath. “Guess it’s a good thing I bought these.” He pulled two fire sparklers from his pocket. “You want to light one with me?” He asked with a crooked grin as he held the small orb out to her.  

[Zarkon90]

Eve looked at the small orb for a long moment, a thoughtful frown playing across her lips.

"These are fireworks? Really? And when did you even have a chance to buy those?" She asked, staring at the brightly colored orbs.  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga gave her a playful wink and tossed it lightly in his hand.

“Don’t worry about it. If you want to light it, all you have to do is funnel a little bit of MP into it and aim it into the air. It’ll shoot out of your hands and up into the sky, just like all of those.” He gestured to the dozens of dancing lights in the sky.”  

[Zarkon90]

Eve stared at the strange orb in kaiyaga's hand.

"I wonder if they could be used as weapons. If the are fired at another player, it could be a useful distraction and leave them wide open for an attack."

Eve mused to herself more then anyone around her.  

[Mega90]

Kaiyaga let out a loud laugh.

“You’re quite the little spitfire, Eve. I’ll give you that. Only you would take something so beautiful and transform it into a weapon.”