by Ike was excited. Against all odds, he had been accepted into the closed Beta for the VRMMORPG known as Sword Art Online long ago, but now, here they were, about to go opening day. He could barely contain his excitement. So many playerswould be logging on today for the first time, some of them, never even touching a NerveGear before now. Well, that just means I'll need to show some people the ropes then, wouldn't it? Riggs was no fool. Inexperienced players were a danger to other players, and especially to themselves. As far as he knew, he was one of the very few Americans even remotely interested in joining the Beta for SAO, and so was able to join. He smiled at the mirror, not really surprised by what he saw. His dark hair was an unruly mess, and he was dressed in some of his most comfortable clothes; jeans, converse tennis shoes, a brown, leather belt, a Black Veil Brides rosary hang around his neck, and he was wearing an orange camp half blood tee shirt. Hey, he was a fan, okay? His blue-green eyes looked at him with an eager gleam, as though questioning why he wasn't already plugging in. Seeing no reason not to, he sat on his bed, looking at the various pendants he had, denoting all the things he had become a fan of. First, there was the Camp Half-Blood tee shirt. He also had a peice of paper with the word Dauntless written on it. Hanging from a bedpost was a neclace that had a small, unadorned gold ring. On a fishing vest that had the crest of the possum brotherhood, he had fastened a Mockingjay ping, and drawn on the headboard of his bed was the Hylian crest. He had a purple-striped robe that said Hufflepuff over the Hogwarts crest, and on his nightstand sat two wooden objects: his wand (10 inches. cherry wood, unicorn hair core), and a ping pong paddle, interestingly enough, that had practically become an inseperable accesory for him. Don't ask him to explain why, he just liked that ping pong paddle. it had joined him onto many an RP site as a tool, a weapon, and a ping pong paddle, when the occasion called for it. The thing was nothing special, however, it was just a ping pong paddle. Laying on his bed, he decided to log in. They would be letting the new kids join any second.
Log in: Theseus12
Password: ******************
Your Beta Save File is still Available. Would you like to load it?
Yes
No
Naturally, he selected yes. Then..."Link Start!" Ike called out, and the initializer started. It asked for a prompt language. He naturally selected English. He understood absolutely zero Japenese, or any other language besides Sindarin and Drow, really. Soon, the initializing had finally ended, and Ike Riggs faded from the world, leaving Theseus12 to awake in another.
For a brief moment, all that Theseus12 saw was a bright, white light tinged with a light blue green color. Then it faded, and Ike found himself in familiar territory: The Town of Beginnings, the city on the first floor of Aincrad. More specifically, he was in the main courtyard of the town of beginning. The Beta Tester rested his right hand at his hip, only to have it slip, and slide along his thigh. He had forgotten something very basic about himself in this world; no ping pong paddle to rest his hand on. Basic mistake. glad too many people hadn't yet logged in. He started walking around. was he a few hours early? The news in Reality made it sound like a whole bunch of people would be joining in. Wait.... Oh, right! in America, he was just a few hours ahead of them on the time. He had a wait ahead of him. Choosing to utilize it, he decided to look into weaponry. He found a weapons shop run by an NPC; a Non-Played Character. looking at the weapons, he was prompted wether or not he would like to try any of them. shrugging, he decided why not. He picked up a rapier, and almost immediately set it down. 'Dear gods," he muttered. "Like picking up a damn roothpick... except longer." Forgoing rapiers in favor of more traditional blades, he looked on a Roman Gladius, and considered. Picking it up, he discovered he didn't like the way it felt in his hand. it had decent weight, but was actually kind of short for him. He wanted something with a bit of reach. That being decided, he went for the big boys. Claymores, Bastard Swords, Greatswords, and everything in between. Picking up one, it actually was a bit too heavy. The thing looked like something Cloud Strife would use, in any case. He ignored the spears and hammers, even a particularly wicked-looking scythe (too reminiscient of Kronos), and just kept with the swords. Ironic I'm here, in any case, he thought to himself. Usually, when I made an RP character that I based off myself, he was usually weilding Pinger and a two hander sword... Thes thought with regret that this was one universe Pinger couldn't come with on, but Dam it if he didn't have a good sword to make up for it! He picked up another sword, and thought to himself something said once in a book he read. "The Wizard doesn't choose the wand. The wand chooses the wizard." The same principle possibly applied to swords. He took another in his hand, and swung the blade around with an ease that surprised him. Also, unlike the other swords he had grasped and tested, the blade glowed with a slight blueish gold tinge, letting him know he was utilizing his sword skill. "The blade has chosen," he thought to himself. Quickly, he went over the stats. Apart from a minor damage bonus from being a two hander, as well as a special attack penalty for attacking single handedly with it (completely normal things for all two handers), the blade was nothing special compared to the other blades. Then again, it was the Town of New Beginnings. If there was anything exceptional around here, it wasn't anywhere that he knew about, and he had an exploring habit. Still, the bronze-like color of the blade reminded him of a home, a summer camp he never really attended, but friends that he made there nonetheless.
Smiling, he paid for the blade, sold his old one for a small chunk of his cash back, and went to the armory. He quickly realized that, after buying the sword, he couldn't afford any armor, but that was okay by him. He never put too much store on protection. It was a lot easier to just dodge a blade, as opposed to cockily beleiving that his armor could protect him from any danger. At least he had basic cloth armor. He wondered if he could change the basic color scheme. Finding his could, he was soon wearing a lot of blue. Sure, he could have taken some other color, but "The White Knight" or "The Black Knight" were rather overdone in his culture, so a blue clad warrior would be rather refreshing. Then he heard a crackling, and looked to the sky. A whitish beam came down from the sky, reminiscient of some scene from Thor, or something. A new user! He thought excitedly, running to the square again. As he ran, more beams came down from the sky, landing in the square. More of them were logging in. He slowed down, mostly to put his sword on his back. He didn't pretend to know how it stayed on, but it did, so he wasn't about to complain. Skidding to a halt at the edge of the courtyard, he walked in casually, as though he had been calmly waiting at the edge in deep contemplation. He was wary of the people, though. He didn't trust people all that much, even on the internet, where he was slightly more kind. He sat at a park bench, and decided to sit there, and wait around to see who would walk up to him. He reached below the neck of his shirt, and was surprised to feel bare chest. Oh right... his Pentacharm was on his Physical body... Embarassing. Putting his hands in his lap, he watched as the beams dissolved, leaving Users in their places. Ah... Here we go...[/color]
