Sword Art Online - Astrophel Altair -

Chapter 2

Clear the game? Was this guy absolutely insane? Well, of course he was if he decided to trap all these players in here. For a few more minutes, he yapped and yapped before he said his final words;

"Finally, I've added a present to your item storage. Please see for yourself."

"And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online Launch. Good luck, players."

Asta stared at the sky for around 5 minutes, just listening to the horrified screams around her as the supposed creator of the game faded away. She opened her inventory and pulled out a mirror, and it didn't even allow her to look for a second before it transformed her. After a few more seconds, she looked back into the mirror. When she saw that her avatar looked exactly how she did in real life, it startled her.

She let the mirror slip out of her hands and shatter into small pixels when it hit the ground. By the time it shattered, she was already gone from the plaza, as were many. Most people just stayed because they were too stunned or scared to move at all. If Asta was being honest with herself, she was scared, too. Who would be so sick as to do this? What would her mother and brother think if they hadn't seen the news? Mom was probably already home and wondering why she was locked in her room using this machine. She just hoped her brother noticed the news and notified her mom about the danger of unplugging her Nervegear. As much as she wanted out of this nightmare, she didn't want to risk dying.

She stopped outside the plaza, just before the Town of Beginnings met the field of beginnings. The field of beginnings is where the protective barrier ended. If she went out there, it was where she would die. She took a deep breath. In for 10, out for 10, then opened her menu. She never got to equip her gear that she bought, and obviously, it would be helpful. She equipped the armor, as well as the expensive sword. It was pretty heavy, but when she hooked it onto her belt, it felt completely right. Staring out into the field of beginnings sent shivers down her spine. All the monsters are just wandering out right outside.

She figured it would be too dangerous to fight monsters right out here. Even if she hoped no one would be as demented as to take the time to kill people immediately, society wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. As she started to walk, she heard someone yell at her.

"Hey! Don't walk out there!" A girl said. Asta stopped, and whipped around. She immediately recognized the girl who yelled at her as the girl from the game store. Ritsuka.

"What, why?" Asta asks. Ritsuka, now known as Rue in game, stops in front of her.

"Because you're a total noob. You'll get demolished out there either by a strong monster, or another player."

"Seriously? You're quite harsh."

"It's true, don't blame me. If this is your first EVER video game, then you at least need somebody to accompany you." She smiles, hinting that Asta should pick her to come with her. "You remember me, right? The girl from the game store. I'm really glad I found you before you ended up getting yourself hurt, or killed."

"Of course I remember you. You're hard to forget." Asta says, then realizes that was a bit awkward to say. "A-Anyways.. I'm assuming you want to come with me?"

"Say less, I know where we should go. There's a small town Southwest of here. If we're lucky, it shouldn't be raided by the beta testers yet. But we need to be careful. There's only part of the town that's a safe zone." Rue put her hands on her hips. "The danger zones are on the outskirts and the safe zones are pretty big so we shouldn't have to worry."

Asta nodded, deciding it would be best to listen to Rue. She seemed to know what she was doing, and it also seemed like she could be a beta tester herself. Rue opened her menu and sifted through her inventory, gathering some things up in a transfer pouch. She got a couple different potions, mostly healing potions, teleport crystals and some armor. Asta stared at her for a second before her own menu popped up, asking if she was okay with this transfer.

She had a surprised look on her face as she looked back and forth from the menu to Rue. "You're just giving all this to me? For free?"

"Well, yes. I don't want my partner to be lacking in essentials. I see you already bought yourself a few things though." Rue crossed her arms. "Just take it."

Asta didn't say anything else before she pressed the accept button. Rue then scrolled through her menu for a bit longer before another pop-up appeared.

Do you accept this party request?

{Yes} {No}

"What's a party?"

"It's pretty self explanatory.. it's just a pairing. We can see each other's health bars, other stuff like that.. it just easily connects us." After Asta heard what she said, she just nodded and pressed the accept button once again. Rue's health bar did indeed pop up in the corner of Asta's vision, and vice versa.

"Alright then. It seems we are set. What do you think? Can we head out now?"

"Mhm. So pushy.. are you eager to level up or do you have ulterior motives?"

---

It was around an hour later, Rue and Asta were traveling through a dense forest. Asta was a bit nervous, and she had been for minutes ever since they entered the forest. Should she really have trusted this girl? She had no idea who she was besides the fact that she sold video games.

"Rue. Are you sure this is a good way to go? I mean.. we have no idea what's in this forest."

"Relax, okay? I wouldn't get you into trouble. Intentionally at least. I swear this is a shortcut." She turned to her and started walking backwards while smiling.

"How do you know so much about this game anyways? You were a beta tester, right?"

"That's right. I only got up to the beginning of floor 3 though. So once we make it there, we both will be clueless."

Asta enjoyed her wording that implied they'd be partied up for a while; at least until they reached floor 3. She appreciated the fact that it seemed Rue went out of her way to be with Asta and protect her. She spaced out for a second, thinking about 70 different things at once before Rue put her arm out and stopped her from walking. When Asta looked up, she noticed the pack of wolves

"These things aren't strong, but I'd suggest you stay back. I'll deal with them." She said, pulling her sword out. Did she intentionally scrape it against her sheath to make a stereotypical rnnng sound? Whatever the case, Asta did as she said and stayed back, but she put her hand on her sword handle just in case she really did need to run in.

In the blink of an eye, Rue thrusted her rapier directly at one of the wolves, then slashed at the other two. They were all dead within 10 seconds it felt like. Asta was stunned at how powerful Rue was. She walked up to her and started to speak.

"That was pretty amazing, Rue. I guess being a beta tester really pays off."

"You'd think that." She said and put her sword away. "Let's just go."

Asta noticed how suddenly her mood dropped and grabbed her shoulder. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing. Let's go. We are almost to the town and we should get out of here before it gets dark. Monsters spawn more frequently when it's dark."