Hold over Myriad of Worlds

Over a year has passed since we arrived in this world. All this time, each of us lived a carefree life, focusing on gathering power using our identities. Though, as Flame Chasers are who they are, aside from Mei and me, only Su and Aponia did anything remotely approaching 'gathering power'.

But that was not important at the moment, as today was a day when we all gathered together to have fun. And that brings us to the present situation.

While waiting for others to arrive, I decided to step from the road and walk through a grassy plain when I was attacked by a red boar. Drawing a simple iron sword from my belt, I met its charge head-on, swinging my blade cleanly through the wild animal. As it took two more steps and passed behind me, it suddenly erupted into a bunch of crystals before dissipating into the air.

Ignoring the 'level up' screen that popped up before me, I continued on my way, soon arriving next to a calm lake. Finding this place scenic, I sat down while looking around, still being a little unused to not being able to use my perception here.

While I was marveling at the feeling of 'limits' I had long forgotten about, I was approached by a group of people.

-"Excuse me, are you all right?"-A gruff-faced man asked me while showing worry.

~"I'm all right. Just getting used to all of this."

-"Ah. You must be using FullDive for the first time. You'll quickly get used to the slightly different feeling."

~"Let's hope so. I'm Yue, you are?"

-"Mito, nice to meet you. And this is..."

-"Yu... Ehem, Asuna."-A girl with brown hair answered from behind the Mito.

~"Nice to meet you too, Mito, Yu-Asuna."~I joked slightly.

-"Are you alone?"

~"For now. My friends are still logging in. You know how the servers are. We planned to gather in around an hour by the gate, so I have some time to waste."

-"Then how about joining us? I'm a beta player, so I can give you some tips."

~"Hou? Color me interested then."

-"Here, party invite."

~"Thanks."

After standing up, I followed Mito while listening to his explanation about some hidden functions and mechanics. When we encountered a red boar, she showed us the basics of fighting, and while her weapon skills were what you would expect for someone living in modern times, the information on how the game treats you in a state of battle was something useful to know in the future.

The next boar was left to Asuna, who was rather afraid of charging beasts, but after some engorgement, she defeated her first opponent.

-"Now it's your turn. Any questions?"

~"Hmm, how does the game treat any methods of attack not using a weapon?"

-"You mean?"

~"Like throwing stones, kicking, and the like."

-"Interesting question. Using the environment does deal damage, but it's reduced severely. As for kicks, there is a skill tree of a martial warrior, but it's rather defense-oriented, so I was not interested in it."

~"Tank... Not my preferred style. Are there any interesting weapons?"

-"Of course. I plan to focus on scythe this playthrough, but there are many types of weapons, from giant hammers to daggers, with everything in between."

~"Any restrictions?"

-"You can use only one weapon at a time, but that's it."

~"I see..."

-"Oh? Look out! Boar is coming."-Asuna colled from the side.

After turning my head toward the charging animal, I walked a few steps forward to step between us and it. Taking the sword out of its sheath, I put my left hand behind my back while pointing the sword toward the ground with my right.

The moment the boar stepped in my range, two swift slashes made it erupt into the crystals. But before I could relax, two rabbits with horns on their foreheads jumped at me from nearby bushes. Changing my grip on the sword, I dodged the surprise attack while countering with an attack of my own. Stepping back to my previous position, I now held the sword in a reverse grip, watching out for any other attacks.

-"Wow! Are you truly a noob?"-Mito was surprised at how easily I resolved three animals.

~"I'm new to this game, but when it comes to fighting, I can be considered an expert. Swordplay, especially, can be considered my field of expertise."

-"Hou? Is that a real-life skill?"

~"Yes."

-"Do you have a dojo somewhere?"-Asuna asked, also interested in my skills.

~"Not at the moment. I once thought some people, but now my other responsibilities take most of my free time."

-"Ah, I see. It would seem that adulthood is truly a killer of joy."

~"Haha, you can say so."

-"Ah! It's already a few minutes past six! My mother will kill me!"-Asuna jumped next to us.

-"It would seem that it is time to quit."

~"Indeed."

-"Here, if you ever need a party, hit us up."-Mito sent me a friend request.

~"Sure."~I accepted it without thinking much.

-"Eh..?"

-"What's up, Asuna?"

-"The 'log off' button... It isn't working."

-"What?"

I looked at the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on while smiling to myself. Feeling that we were about to be teleported, I knew that everything was about to begin.

Arriving at First City's central plaza, I looked around, quickly locating Elysia and other Flame Chasers. They also noticed me, so moments later, a pink bullet shot my way.

-"Yue!"-Elysia jumped at me.

~"How are you?"

-"Good!"-Elysia smiled, loosening her hug.-"Hmm? New friends?"

~"Yes. This is Mito and Asuna."

-"Hello."-Asuna greeted new people politely despite being worried about what was happening.

-"This is..."-Mito, on the other hand, was focused on the red panel blinking high in the air.

As more people started noticing it, more and more such panels started to appear, quickly covering the whole plaza in the red barrier. From between the panels, red goo started to leak, slowly gathering together and morphing into a giant figure.

What followed will hound most people present for years to come, but to us, it was meaningless. Let alone die. The electrical impulse of power NerveGear could output wouldn't even tickle any of us. What worried me now was the state of my two new friends.

-"How could that be..."-Asuna was still in denial.

-"Everything will be fine."-Mito, on the other hand, kept trying to assure Asuna, not showing her own distress on the surface.

Before I could approach, the light that teleported us here shined once again, changing our virtual avatars to match our true appearance. When the light receded, I noticed that while Asuna didn't change much, Mito became an entirely different person.

The previously gruff-faced man turned into a beautiful girl with long purple hair and a delicate face. I expected that she was a girl before due to some awkwardness in the way she carried herself previously, but her true appearance surprised me a little.

-"This."-Mito looked down, and after noticing what happened, she looked at Asuna and later at me.-"Yue..?"

She was visibly surprised by my true appearance. Before, I made my avatar look rather ordinary, but now it has been restored to a normal state.

~"You all right?"~I decided to ignore the appearance changes for now.

-"..."-Mito continued to look at me without speaking.

~"Sigh. Let's calm down first. How about you two join us for now? After we get to understand everything more clearly, we can plan for the future."

Mito nodded and helped Asuna up.

Together with the two of them, we sat in a nearby restaurant to discuss what to do next. At first, Elysia introduced everyone to two girls, so by the time some food arrived at the table, we were familiar with each other enough to talk casually.

-"So we should talk about the main matter now. What that GM said is most likely true, so we should consider how to live in this world for now."-Dr. Mei looked at me while speaking.

~"Then we need to consider three issues: money, health, and purpose."

-"Right. The purpose is obvious. Reach the hundredth floor. But health and money..."-Mei turned to Mobius and Su, who were the only medical doctors present.

-"Mental health is not my expertise, but I can assure you that you don't have to worry about that."-Mobius rolled her eyes at our worry.

~"It isn't us who I'm are worried about. it's them."~I motioned my head at the window through which we could see people crying and wreaking havoc on the streets.~"If we were to work only in our group, arriving on the top floor would take years. My calculations based on some basic understanding of game mechanics suggest at least ten years, but our bodies outside..."

-"Tsk~ Forgot about that."-Mobius clicked her tongue.

-"Keeping a coma patient alive for years is not a problem, but the addition of virtual technology exhausting people's spirit..."-Su thought for a moment before continuing.-"For people to return in a 'relatively sound' state, we should keep a limit of five or six years in mind. Longer than that, psychological problems, dementia, dissociation, if not worse..."

-"As for money, we should test professions such as weaponsmiths or alchemists and look for the best way to earn money."-Vill-V spoke up.

~"Indeed, but true money won't come from the game."

-"But from other players."-Mei understood my thoughts.

~"Yes."

-"Then isn't it easy?"-Elysia tilted her head.-"Let Eden sing, and everything will be all right."

-"Ellie..."

~"Sigh."~I shook my head at Elysia's proposal but also decided not to think too deeply for now.~"We are here to play, so let's play. Mito, is there any mechanic such as guilds?"

-"Yes, but the cost to build one is something no one can afford now."-She seemed a little weirded out by the seriousness of our subject but more relieved.-"The most important thing is a Guild Hearth that can only be exchanged on the third floor."

~"Then this will be our first short-term target. Mei..."

-"Nope."-She interrupted me.-"This is my honeymoon. This time, I'll be the one taking the front and not caring about everything else."

~"Sure... Ehem. What about you, Mobius?"

-"Hmm... As I can't do any lab work, I will also look for something interesting. Little girl, is there any way to train monsters or something?"

-"Little girl... Me?"-Mito looked at Mobius, who appeared to be ten-ish.-"There are no classes, but some skill to tame beasts."

-"Then I'll do so. Here, those pets shouldn't run from me."-Mobius smiled sweetly, but as I know how she is, that smile was a little creepy.

~"Sigh, I'll deal with money. You lot do whatever you want."~I surrendered after hearing how the two most reliable members duped me.

-"I'll stay with you, Yue."

~"Thank you, Fu Hua. Aponia, Eden, can you try to lift people's spirits?"

-"I'll try my best."-Aponia directly agreed. After all, to her, my words were almost like a divine decree, as she was almost as a pious believer of mine as Jeanne.

-"Sure. Ellie, will you help me?"

-"Of course!"

-"I'll try to find some other doctors to discuss issues of mental health and promote them together."-Su was focused on helping like always.

~"Good. This will help us gain goodwill in the future."

-"The rest of us will focus on leveling."-Mei looked at those who didn't speak until now.

-"I'll stay with brother Yue."-Griseo shook her head and looked at me pleadingly.

~"Sure, I'm happy to have you by my side."

-"Can we help you too?"-Mito looked at me.

~"Of course. Your knowledge of the game is invaluable to us, so I planned to invite you anyway. Also, you seem to be about the average age of players here, so your perspective would help us, who are a little out of tune with trends. Would you mind helping us, Asuna?"

-"Can I?"-She looked a little unsure of herself.

-"We would be happy to have you on the team."-Mei looked at the shy girl.-"Not counting Yue, we all have our fields of expertise so that we can perform well as a team. Who knows, maybe you'll find your own field in which you'll excel and help us be a better team."

-"What about Yue?"-She asked.-"Why you don't count him?"

-"You'll get to know him in the future."-She smiled mysteriously.

-"Can I ask you for something, Yue."-Mito spoke up after considering my invitation.

I nodded and looked at her.

-"Can you teach Asuna and me?"

~"Oh? I don't mind. But my techniques might not translate into Sword Skills in the game."

-"I know, but while I might know game skills, I never learned how to fight. Learning how to do so correctly might save our lives."

~"You have a good head on your shoulders. I'll teach you so that you can handle even the most dire situations."

-"Thanks."-She smiled at my compliment.-"At first, it would be best to get some levels, so I suggest leaving town and heading to nearby villages where there are fewer players and more quests."

~"Good, we will follow your lead."

-"We will need some supplies."-Mito listed out some items and explained their purposes.

~"Vill-V and I will learn skills for smithing to sustain our party in the field. Su, Mobius, alchemy is left to you. I won't meddle in the rest of your skills and such."

-"You will get more skill slots as you level up. Normally, you can have up to five at level twenty, but there might be methods to gain more, as that's where bata ended."-Mito explained.

~"Then we need to level even more. Let's buy what we need and get going."~I stood up and, after settling the food bill, left the restaurant with everyone following.

First, we visited the training arena and picked our first two skills. After testing some weapons, I found that you can fight only by using weapons skills, but I also found them restrictive if not outright crude, so after some consideration, I settled on the Martial Arts Skill like Fu Hua. It mostly consisted of simple kicks and strikes, giving you the ability to chain them as you wish, so it fits my 'free' style of fighting.

After visiting some shops to get potions and new weapons, we gathered next to the city gate.

-"So you picked the Martial Arts in the end. I thought you would stick to the sword."-Mito commented after seeing me wearing special gloves made for my skill.

~"I might add a sword later. Ok, let's get going."

-"Then follow me."

As our party was rather sizable, we attracted the attention of many players, who, seeing us leaving, had mixed reactions. Most were afraid and thought that we were stupid. Some decided to also start moving forward, stood up, and went to pick a weapon, but what worried me most were a few malicious gazes aimed at us, especially the girls.

Looking back to find their sources, I quickly located a small group of caped people. Noticing them moving to follow us from a distance, I smiled, deciding to play along and wait for their move.

-"My Lord."-Sakura moved closer to me.

~"Ignore them. Just be ready to respond when they act."

-"Yes."