The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Chapter 3 - The Situation

Tolbana offers way better crafting and upgrading services than the Town of Beginnings. Plus it's aesthetically appealing, complete with a town square and what seemed to look like a threatre from the Roman times.

As I was walking along the top curve of the threatre back to my recently rented inn, I heard what sounded like a shout across the threatre.

"Tomorrow we'll have a meeting at the threatre about defeating the main boss on the 1st floor! Those who are strong enough to raid the boss are welcome to join the meeting!"

I turned and saw a seemingly middle-aged man with blue hair and blue attire, complete with armor and all. A great example of a ready-for-war fighter, in standardized terms at least.

I wore nothing of that sort. I only wore a light brown coat that was just long enough to touch my knee joint, and opted to wear the shirt and jeans that I was wearing when SAO was launched.
My light brown coat, which granted a boost in my agility and dexterity stats, was a lucky monster drop during a quest to collect boar meat for an NPC butcher. It really covered up my weakness in combat, where using a spear generally slows you down while attacking, despite its damage output being higher than an one-handed weapon. Also, I preferred to dodge enemy attacks rather than block them anyway.

I walked up to the man amid my curiosity. The man, who saw me moving towards him immediately brought out his hand for a handshake, " Have you come to ask about the meeting? My name's Diavel."

"Zenalyth." I replied, being a little taken aback by his highly sociable attitude while receiving his handshake with a slow hand. I definitely wasn't the type of guy to introduce himself to a stranger confidently.

Based on what I could hear from the voice translation program, Diavel must have been a native Japanese. Plus the way he moves his mouth proved my guess to be correct.

"Well, Zenalyth, what level are you now?"

That was a really direct question right in my face. It just doesn't seem right to reveal my level, especially with passer-by players walking around me in town.

"Um...not strong enough to fight the boss yet....I guess." I paused my words not because I was afraid Diavel would see me as a weak player, but because I didn't want to disclose my level that readily to anyone yet.

Seemingly oblivious that I gave an indirect answer to his question, Diavel replied," It's okay, when you get stronger come find me tomorrow, which we'll discuss the plan to commence the boss raid the day after."

It was then I realized that nighttime was approaching.

Diavel noticed it too, so he bidded me farewell and went on his way back to whichever inn he was staying in (at least, that's what I thought).

I let myself fall onto my inn bed after a few minutes of travelling to the inn I was staying in, which thankfully was consideringly near to the town square. Sleep was still needed in this world, even when I was already technically sleeping in the real world.

With my Wooden Spear +4 tucked away in my inventory, I readied myself for another good night's sleep.

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3rd December 2022

Tolbana, 1st Floor

The morning breeze brushed across my cheeks as I walked to the NPC blacksmith's smithy 5 blocks away.

I needed a better spear to take on the monsters dwelling in the 1st Floor Labyrinth.

The weapon enhancement system in SAO uses 5 kinds of enhancement parameters : [Sharpness], [Quickness], [Accuracy], [Heaviness] and [Durability]. Each weapon in SAO can be enhanced with any of these parameters one at a time, depending on what parameter you want your weapon to be enhanced for.

Every successful attempt of the enhancement of any weapon would add a '+1' to its weapon name. Enhancing the same weapon multiple times adds on that number.

For example, my Wooden Spear +4 was successfully enhanced 4 times, but had an enhancement breakdown of 1S2Q1D (Sharpness +1, Quickness +2, Durability +1).

There were times that I was unlucky, when some enhancement attempts on my spear failed miserably. Frustrating as it sounds, the enhancement materials one uses during even a failed enhancement attempt gets lost forever, prompting you to invest more time to get the materials you needed again for the enhancement of your weapon.

Of course, the smithing skill level of the blacksmith enhancing the weapon for players was also an important factor for enhancement attempts to be successful.

It was my first time changing my Wooden Spear +4 to a better spear, and to do that I had to scrap my current spear into materials, and get the blacksmith to craft a better spear with additional materials I had in my inventory.

I must have been quite lucky, seeing that I got a better spear in the end, according to its item description. I wasn't really particular about the base stats of my new Sharp Javelin, but I cared more in how I would upgrade this spear in the long run.

Satisfied at how successful the crafting of my new spear was, I had the NPC blacksmith enhance it by Quickness +1 , before setting off for the 1st Floor Labyrinth. I intended to level myself up by 2, maybe even 3.

The sky seemed sunny by the time I reached the threatre, though it was actually the ceiling of the 1st Floor and the surface of the 2nd Floor, a reminder that I was living in a giant floating castle.

As I walked past the top curve of the threatre, which was part of the way towards the Labyrinth, I noticed the threatre being occupied by players, who were sitting on the threatre steps watching Diavel, which I instantly recognized due to his blue hair, standing on the bottom stage making a speech I couldn't hear.

Apparently, that was the meeting Diavel had talked to me about.

A short while later, a player with orange spiky hair stood up and seemed to be talking about something quite sensitive, for the players near him started to make some noise about what he had said. The only words I could hear him say were,"beta testers".

Did that guy have any grudge on the beta testers? I had assumed that was the case.

The only player who talked back at Spiky (can't help using that nickname for a while) was a player with a muscular build. He took out a book the size of a hand and showed it to Spiky, who sat back down, looking frustrated.

Diavel then took out his own book and continued his speech. So that's the strategy guide distributed by The Rat, huh...., I thought to myself.

Having thought that I should really get going, I checked that my Sharp Javelin +1 was still strapped to my back before continuing my trip to the Labyrinth.

As far as I know, fighting the boss of the 1st Floor , Illfang the Kobold Lord, was definitely no joke. A 49-player party, which was the maximum number of players that can raid a floor boss was strongly recommended, for them to minimize the possibility of even a player death in the boss room.

As I swiftly took down the Kobold Sentinels in the Labyrinth, I can't help thinking about wanting to take part in the very first major boss raid in SAO. Some player had taken the risk of mapping out the place and eventually finding the Labyrinth, and I want to use that chance to experience fighting a boss too.

I had fought sub-bosses with players I temporarily partied with, which were scattered all over the 1st Floor and its Labyrinth, but none of them were ever terrifying than a boss which needed so many players to beat.

But I wanted to experience floor boss raiding at least once, if not twice in this game, despite the risk I'll be taking.

Frankly speaking , I only wanted to survive in this death game.

But I wanted to do something the front line players were doing now, at least once.

The night before the 1st Floor boss raid, I approached Diavel, who was in the town square with his friends, hoping to be invited to the biggest boss-raiding party in SAO.