Starfire Online Level 15: Wonlan
Kestral POV
I walked into my usual bar and sat down at the counter ignoring the muttering of the people I passed.
"The usual I assume?" The bartender Abe, tall slightly tan man with orange eyes and a shock of black hair, asked raising an eyebrow.
"On the rocks, I just finished clearing part of the dungeon." I murmured darkly. He put some ice into a glass and poured some scotch over it before passing it to me. I pressed send on the payment option earning a sigh from him.
"How many times do I have to tell you that everything is on the house?" He asked glaring at me. I downed my drink and placed the glass on the counter before standing up and pointing to the transaction window.
"I know, I just bought the next round." I walked out of the bar my coat billowing out behind me. I glanced at a couple of people who were whispering and pointing at me as I walked by. I sighed and put my hood up covering my long wavy black twintails. How is it that a total noob like me ended up being the most infamous player in this godforsaken game? I wondered wearily. But I knew the answer as soon as the question was asked. It all started back a year ago when this death game started....
2019 Merrigrove, Mass
"You need to take your grades more seriously!" My mother and I were having a fight that day...I remember it clearly.
"My grades are fine! As long as it's passing I don't care!" She was lecturing me because I had a D in math, not that that's unusual for me.
"If you keep up like this you'll never get anywhere in life! You're much more intelligent than this so stop being such a stubborn, obtuse idiot!" I got fed up and stormed up to my room. I locked my door then I walked over to my computer and plugged my headphones into it. I went onto YouTube and tuned into my favorite gaming channel.
"Today's the day folks! The first ever real Full Dive VRMMORPG Starfire Online is out! By the end of the day over 2.5million gamers will have signed on and entered the first ever Full Dive!" I remember the thought of being a part of something that huge made me burst with excitement. I also remember how good it had felt to buy the game and console to spite my mother, to say
"I'm 18 you can't dictate what I buy anymore! You don't have a say when I make my own decisions! You don't have the right to take part in what I want for my life!". I remember so vividly how angry and hurt I was at that moment. More than anything as I plugged in my Sony Dreamscape Full Dive VR console I remember thinking Nothing could possibly be worse than my life right now.
"Log On!" I shouted as I heard my mother banging on my door yelling at me to turn my game off. It was almost like falling asleep, I was in my room hearing my mother on the other side of the door as my eyes drift closed one minute then I'm in a totally black room.
"Hello PLAYER please enter your account data." An automated voice said and a digital form appeared in the air in front of me. I clicked on username and even though I at this point wanted less than nothing to do with my mother, looking back what I chose did pay homage to her. I typed in the word Kestral, the reason why this payed her homage was because she was into birdwatching and a kestral was a type of hawk. I picked the most basic but protective type of armor. When it came to weapons and class I opted to be a duel wielding swordswoman. Two sword sheaths appeared at my back and I was told to choose two swords. I scanned through them and picked one cool but plain two edged long sword with black steel for the hilt and meteoric metal for the blade called Luminous Defender for the first. It appeared in the sheath that went over my right shoulder. For my second one I scanned through almost to the bottom of the list until I saw a solidly jet black thin long sword with an intricate rose pommel with a stem and thorn shaped, foil type hilt with the thorns going out and around to form a type of cage around the stem where there were clear indications as to where you placed your fingers. The blade itself was wholly unremarkable, simple thin jet black metal with no intricacies whatsoever. I clicked on it and got an alert stating that this blade could only be equipped under specific conditions and asking if that was alright. I hit yes and a message saying that Blackthorne had been sent to my storage popped up in front of me. I hit ok and entered the rest of my info. I chose short red curly hair, something id always wanted, for my hairstyle. When it came to skin tone I thought it would be cool to do the opposite from my paper white Irish skin so I made my skin as dark as I could without it being the same color as my swords. I decided to give myself green eyes. The most important thing I did was make myself as tall as possible while still avoiding looking like a bean pole. Once all my info was all set a bright light rushed up to me from in front of me, I closed and blocked my eyes to avoid being blinded. When I opened my eyes and looked around finding myself in what looked like a medieval courtyard. I stood looking around trying to get my bearings when some asshole slammed into me from behind and knocked me to the ground.
"Haha! Watch it noob!" He shouted as he ran off to a field. I still don't know what happened to him after that but I distinctly recall muttering something about how I hoped that he'd be killed by a slime...it makes me sick that I ever thought something like that. Someone walked over to me and held out their hand. I remember how grateful I was, the first time of many when that specific beta tester would save my ass. I looked to see that the hand belonged to a tall blonde man.
"Thanks....um....?" I was so awkward....hell who am I kidding I'm a solo player if anything I'm more awkward now.
"BIGGY." He replied calmly that made me laugh...it kills me that I laughed.
"Your name's 'BIGGY'?" I stopped snickering when he brought out a huge ass broad sword.
"Oh holy shit that's huge! I'm sorry your name isn't funny at all please don't hurt me!" Man I was so scared back then, things weren't even properly dangerous and everything terrified me. He helped me get up to speed, on everything considering I was a 100% noob, then just like SAO we all learned we were trapped here, and also just like SAO we all received mirrors which caused me to learn that BIGGY was not in fact a dude but was a tall curly haired woman. She took me under her wing, helped me make clothes with a creation skill, taught me how to fight. Once the boss room was found, by our party, a huge raid party formed and she lead the charge against the boss. We made sure not to just follow the experience of the beta testers in the party, all of whom stepped up proudly from the start, all of us remembered the pattern SAO followed when it came to the first boss so we made sure to keep our minds and eyes open. In the end we still weren't prepared. We lost 15 people... BIGGY among them. I felt something break in me. I froze, the woman who had essentially become my older sister had just died in front of me I hadn't been able to do anything. I remember just feeling weak. But more importantly I will never forget the moment after, the moment that changed my life.
"I'm small.... I'm weak....I'm insignificant...I'm a noob...and what I do ultimately may never make an impact...but right here...Right! Now! I! AM! PISSED! AS! HEEELLLLLL!" I equipped Blackthorne and charged through the battle. I ran up the far right wall, jumped off it so that I was directly above the boss, crossed my swords in an X and shouted the words that would make me famous:
[Duel Wielding Ultimate Skill] ATOM SLICER!
It was a one move kill. I didn't even wait for congratulations I just unequipped the sword and haulled ass to get to an inn or other sort of safe zone. Since then I usually fight alone and when I work with the raid parties I just mind my own. About three months after the level one fight we got to level fifteen and I met Abe, a merchant who, when absolutely necessary, acts as a tank on the front. After a year of living in this hell I've grown accustomed to the usual routine of going into a dungeon, clearing a bit of it, then going to Abe's for a drink before heading out again. We've lost half of our players and for those of us still alive, at least for me, all that matters is survival.
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Starfire Online
Action"She has two sheaths but only one sword.... they say that if she equips her second sword, it's already too late."
