10Author's Note
Surprise! Bet you thought you wouldn't see this from me. Yeah, I'm actually writing a story where Aincrad exists in reality. Now before you go off ranting about how the idea is unoriginal by this point, let me explain some things that set this work apart from the others that have done it before.
First and foremost, Kirito is female and all pairings are yuri. Additionally, the female Kirito is at the center of a yuri harem that I'll be attempting to execute as believably as possible while still giving every girl a chance to shine. For a detailed list of the pairings involved, please refer to the bottom author's note – I don't want this one to get super long.
Second, this does not take place in the Sword Art Online universe. It takes place in an AU where magical items – that is, items that are able to warp reality without consuming energy as long as they have the capacity to make the change – have existed since the dawn of mankind.
Third, Aincrad is not the only setting that exists in this story, nor were the people in it trapped their against their will. There's an entire world outside of it that you'll learn more about as the story goes on. But the story itself is predominantly about Aincrad and the people inside it, whose ancestors are from the ground.
There're tons of other differences that I could go on and on about, but any more than this would be giving you too many spoilers. If you're interested, just read it! Couldn't hurt.
Aincrad: A Coming of Age Story
Chapter One: Saved by the Unsavory
A crude, gray battle axe came crashing down at my neck from above. I swiftly jumped backwards and evaded the incoming blow, nothing but a hair's width and pure instinct keeping it from connecting. As the gigantic weapon lodged itself firmly into the ground, I leapt back into the frontlines of combat and launched a volley of thrusts from my rapier.
One after another, my strikes pierced through the dark brown furry skin of the humanoid monster's bulging, muscular right arm, which desperately tried to pull its weapon out of the ground. Each individual hit I landed made my blade glow a vibrant green, its light shining brilliantly in the moonlight as it tore through the air faster than I could follow. Its pale streak fading only after the counterattack as the weapon sprang back to my side, keeping its momentum from its exit of the monster's body and leaving a red spray of blood in its wake.
And every time, I made a minute adjustment to my stance, and the blade once again began to shimmer with green light as it repeated the process all over again. For anyone else, using so many combination attacks in rapid succession would be impossible. Combos typically had charging periods before they activated, post-motion delays after their attack phase ended, and cooldowns that prevented them from being used over and over again.
But none of those restrictions applied to the combos I had been taught by my family from the time I could hold a kitchen knife. I could just keep using them over and over again as long as my body and mind held up.
Finally, after twenty something consecutive stabs that all took place in the span of a few seconds, my giant opponent with the head of a bull managed to pull its axe out of the ground and tried to use the blunt side to knock me back at the same time. I sidestepped with a pivot of my feet that caused a full body twirl—
Only to immediately be forced to block a heavy overhead attack with my thin, light rapier the moment my rotation completed. It creaked and bent from the impact as I desperately put my other hand behind its flat and began to push back with all my might.
But our strengths were too different. It continued to push from above until my knees nearly gave way and I found myself forced into a kneel in order to keep myself from getting hacked down into total submission on the very first day of my coming of age Aincrad trial. But even as my left knee dug through the mossy forest floor and into the dark brown, moist soil and the top of my white socks got stained with mud, even as I put everything I had into resisting…
My arms were beginning to run out of stamina. All those combos in rapid succession had really worn my right arm out, and my left, which I'd never trained to even handle the weight of my own blades for extended periods, wasn't faring much better. To add insult to injury, my rapier's thin frame seemed to be bending far beyond what it would be able to bounce back from – even if I were to escape this situation unharmed, chances were I would need to replace the sword given to me by my own parents to commemorate the start of my trial.
This is bad… any more strain and I might both lose my rapier and fail my trial before even getting past the first floor…
Things didn't look good. Even though I knew the monster couldn't really kill me, to have been taken down by one so early on, even if it was a dungeon guardian… if I let this happen, I'd fail my family bloodline. If I couldn't even get past floor one before my coming of age trial ended, how could I call myself a real Comet Blade user?
At this rate, I'd become nothing more than a genetic reject in my own clan. They could never tolerate a failure like this! I'd be thrown out of my own home before I even got a second try! I'd lose everything I valued all at once—
Two golden streaks of nearly blinding light flashed before my eyes at a speed that rivaled my own fastest combos, and suddenly, all of the weight and power I'd been fighting against with all my strength vanished all at once. My bent rapier sprung skyward as far as my arm would take it as I rapidly blinked my eyes to try to get my vision back to normal. By the time my sight returned to me, the entire dynamic of the battle had changed.
The Minotaur I'd been fighting had been knocked back a considerable distance and into a large oak tree, and seemed to be immobile as it leaned against it inelegantly, as if it had been stunned. And instead of the beaten beast, standing in front of me was a girl that looked to be about my age, if not a little older judging by her stature and physique.
Even though she was somewhat off to my right side, because she was facing the enemy she'd blown away with sheer force, her back faced me. Because of this, I couldn't discern a whole lot of what she looked like beyond her choice in apparel – namely, a long, black trench coat that went down to her knees, matching colored combat boots, and a deep, dark gray pair of denim pants. Her lustrous black hair appeared to be long, but because she hadn't even bothered folding the collar of her coat or pushing her locks over it, I couldn't tell exactly how far down it would reach.
But more significant than any of those minor details were the two major ones she held in her hands. Details that, when combined with the double light show I'd just been given by her combo, brought to mind the story my parents told me when I was little about the man our clan's leader fell in love with, but failed to win the heart of in turn. This girl… she…
She can use combos with two swords! Just like the story said! Is she really from his bloodline…?
Considering all the stories I'd heard about that man's gallantry and kindness, I half expected this girl to look back at me and gently ask if I was unharmed. Maybe even for her to sheathe one of her swords in one of the scabbards at her waist so she could help me to my feet. Those expectations, more than anything else, became the key reason why, when she peered at me from over her shoulder with her gray eyes reminiscent of the steely color of her two matching swords, the first thing she said to me came as such a shock.
"If you have time to sit there gawking at me, you have time to get out of my way!" she growled in a low, unnaturally sharp voice that instilled in me a deep fear of her. "You tried and failed. Now it's my turn to show you how to actually fight properly!"
With those incisive remarks, she turned back to the Minotaur just as it began to get back up. Before it had even entered a battle stance, she launched herself at it with a speed that I never expected to see on zone one, her twin swords trailing rigidly behind her thin frame while pointed at the enemy. They both began to glow with a bright blue light that resembled the afternoon sky, and after dashing the remaining distance, her shining blades were tearing right into my target's chest so quickly that I could barely even follow the motions.
First a diagonal slash from her right sword, then one from her left. Once both her arms were crossed, they horizontally swung outwards at once, cutting clean through the Minotaur's six pack abs like a heated knife through butter. Finally, they came back together for a double stab right into its chest, with one of them hitting the heart, a critical weak spot of all mammal type monsters.
Every strike had so much raw power that the trails of blue light they left in the air stayed there for far longer than the actual blade did, fading in what seemed like slow motion compared to the attacks that created them.
Then, the very moment she made the final twin stab, the forest guardian stopped moving altogether, as if something had frozen it. I recognized the phenomena right away from all the times I'd seen it since my trial began this morning – her attacks had managed to kill it. The corpse began to glow with a rainbow of whitish colors for a few moments before dispersing into particles of light that were all gatherings of specific patches of color from the glowing effect.
Then, before they could begin to fade, the tiny orbs of light began to gather in the air in the same spot they dispersed from, taking the shape of a large, pure white sphere that exuded a rainbow-colored aura. It was much, much larger than the ones I'd triggered by fighting normal enemies… which made sense, considering this guardian was supposed to be on a different level from the rest of its kin in the forest.
Swiftly sheathing both of her once again steely-colored blades with a harsh clanging noise, the girl touched the sphere, and it disappeared in an instant. Whatever items it had contained, they were hers now – this was her right as the one to land the killing blow. Even if I did most of the work, and she really only did the final few blows…
Having finished the fight in only a few seconds despite her guardian enemy clearly not being on its last legs yet, the girl turned to me with a sheepish, apologetic expression. It felt completely different from the icy, unforgiving stare she'd sent back my way from behind her collar right after saving me. This one had the opposite effect of putting me at ease – though whether due to it being truly disarming or due to the contradiction telling me she wasn't all harsh, I couldn't tell.
"Sorry about stealing your kill and all. I was trying to show you how to fight at high efficiency, but it died before you learned a thing," she told me, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck with her left hand. "But either way, you sure as hell weren't going to finish it with that bent up rapier."
Hearing her bring up my weapon brought my attention back to the state of the last gift I'd been given by my family. They'd told me that they expected me to use it to start down the path to supporting myself or contributing to the main house, so they wouldn't be giving me anything else after this. And yet, on day one, I'd managed to bend it up so far that it would take a professional blacksmith to bend it back into place.
I can't even move forward without a weapon…
My emotions as I brought the blade down to eye level to get a closer look must have been showing on my face, because the girl resumed talking a few seconds later, her tone and facial expression somewhat resembling my original expectations of her demeanor.
"Hey, don't worry about your weapon. Since it didn't shatter, you can melt down the metal and use it to forge a new one. With the materials you can add in, you'll end up with something even better than what you had before."
I shook my head, a bitter smile on my face. "I appreciate the sentiment, but… I don't even know any smiths… because of my lineage, I've lived most of my childhood without a much contact with the public."
For a moment, even with only the moonlight to go on, I saw a very clear change in the girl's eyes. They lit up, as if the fact that I came from a privileged family meant something to her. But then, just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, and she gave me a crooked half smile.
"A rich girl, huh? No wonder you couldn't fight," she commented, shrugging her shoulders. "I happen to know a pretty talented smith who does work here on the lower floors. I can call her down tomorrow morning if you want, and I'll even foot whatever parts of the bill you can't cover yourself. Her rates can be a bit expensive for beginners on their trials."
My father had told me to be wary of people who gave especially generous offers like this. He'd said that they were only being so kind because they expected something in return, and if they didn't think they were going to get it, they'd leave without ever looking back.
But to see it in action is… irritating.
"How nice of you…" I trailed off, sharpening my tone before resuming as I got to my feet. "You swoop in, save the day, and even offer to help me with resolving my problems. What's the catch? What do you want from me in return?"
Her half smile widened into a full-face grin. "Perceptive. I like you already, miss rich girl. I do want something out of you… but right now, are you really in the position to refuse me based on that?"
She's right, but… should I even let her know that I don't have any other options?
"You clearly have an emotional attachment to that rapier… and the only way to salvage it is through reforging it," she kept going without waiting for my reply, and with every new word I felt like she was nailing me into a coffin of my own design. "You could spend days looking for a mediocre smith on this area of the floor… or you can just let me call up the one that I know who works on higher floors and get a result that will last you much longer."
Her last words before she turned as if to walk away played a starring role in my decision. "I'll still do it and even pay for what you can't, whether I want something in return or not. Just follow me tonight to show me you're interested and you'll have a shiny new rapier by tomorrow afternoon. But it's your call. Choose wisely."
With that as her parting phrase, she took a step away. Then another, and another, until my best opportunity at getting a new and improved rapier began just leisurely strolling away with a certain swagger that showed her overbearing confidence. That… that girl… she knew exactly what she was doing and how it would affect me!
She knows I can't refuse her in this situation! I know I'm playing right into her hand, but—
"W-wait up!" I shouted, beginning to chase after her.
This rather rocky start, as much as I hated it in every way, was my fated first meeting with the enigmatic heir to the Twin Star Blades bloodline.
Author's Note
Okay, so you've either read the story and gotten to this point, or you skipped here from the top to see what pairings the story will have. I'm going to give that list before getting on with the note so that the skippers don't get spoiled before they decide to read the chapter.
First off, here's a list of people in Kiriko's harem, in order of chronological appearance in canon (or in some cases, the game canon): Asuna, Argo, Sachi, Philia, Suguha (who is now Kiriko's distant relative in that their earliest Aincrad ancestors were siblings), Rain, Yuuki, and Sinon.
So yeah, that's eight. Over the course of the story, they'll all get their time in the spotlight, with more than one of them actually entering a relationship with her at some point (one at a time, though).
If you're wondering about Liz and Silica… Liz and Kiriko are going to have a sort of "bros before hoes" type of relationship but with girls, and Silica is going to be like Kiriko's little sister figure. As for Strea, who will also be included, she's just too innocent for me to justify putting her in a harem or a pairing, so she's staying single.
There will be other pairings outside the harem, but because I want you to actually not just be told them… I'm not going to say what they are. You'll have to read to find out the side pairs!
Anyway… this chapter was a little short. Which is fine considering it's one scene, but… I'm gonna make the next one a bit longer than this. Chapter two, tentatively titled "Everything You Know Is Wrong", will have two or three scenes… but I doubt any of them will be as long as this one was.
Also, if you're wondering how old the main characters are, given the whole coming of age trial thing, they range from 14 (Silica) to 17 (Asuna and Liz). Everyone else is somewhere in between. As for the minimum age that one can begin their coming of age trial… generally, the accepted age is 15.
Anyway, I'm gonna sign off now. Not sure when I'll next post something, but thanks to the helpful structure of having floors to clear, I expect that this will get updated rather frequently…
See you next time!
