Unital Ring II: The Virtual Study Society

Welcome to Kirito Town

I guess this would have been better said during the previous chapter but welcome to Unital Ring II: The Virtual Study Society. It's 98% written (because I keep adding and changing things), so updates will be consistent and maybe 1-2 chapters at a time.

The majority of the story is from Jaymes' perspective. One reason is that he doesn't stray too far from Kirito in UR, so there is no need for the differing views UR I or the Progressive series has. The other reason is because of what happens from Jaymes' perspective in the Underworld.

Plenty of new characters are showing up; some are from the books, some from past stories, a couple of original characters, some first-timers pulled from the games, and one from another SAO story spinoff. You can see some of them on the cover art. Aside from the canon characters, not all the newbies will have a significant role. I think only three do, all of whom are Underworlders. Also...considering what I said in UR1's AN, I might have lied a tad bit about Kureha.

With that said, if there's not another author's note between now and the end, thanks for reading, and enjoy the story!

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When I logged on, I came just in time for a meeting with Kirito, the four AIs, and all the teenage girls. Everyone's assembled in the living room of the large cabin. They're all seated on the floor, for there isn't a large table and seats in the place yet. Asuna loved the one she had before, and it'd be nice to have one for meetings for the nineteen of us.

I hop up to my feet from the wall and walk over to the giant circle. Asuna and Lisbeth are standing in front of the intact oven with a pot. Looks like Lisbeth is boiling water, and Asuna's adding some powder to it. "What's that, Asuna?"

"While I was waiting around for you last night, I picked a bunch of leaves in the forest, then tried dry roasting them in the pot. They turned into powder, and I got the Pharmaceutical skill. Anyway, I boiled half of them and turned them into liquid, and the rest turned into dyes."

"Dyes," Kirito repeats, then glances harder at Asuna. "...You dyed your own hair?"

"You finally noticed." I didn't understand until I realized that Asuna converted from ALO on her undine account, and her hair is blue. Her hair now is light-brown, much like her real-life and SAO hair color. With that in mind, I look to Koharu, whose hair should be purple as with her imp avatar, and it remains that way.

"How many other dyes did you make?" Kirito follows up.

"Ummm, there's a darker brown, a deep red, and a dark gray, if I remember."

"Hrmm..."

"I'm guessing that bright colors and also pure black are probably rare dye colors." Silica says while playing with her light-brown hair. "It would be a waste for you to change your hair color."

"Hrrrrrmmm," my best guy friend growls.

Chuckling, I sit between Kureha and Rei, disappointed that I'm not being verbally beaten by my longest friend. At the same time, Asuna comes to the table with clay cups made from pottery techniques and fills them with the contents of the pot. "I also managed to make a couple kinds of tea. These leaves were the ones that got the best response."

"Only in comparison to the others," Alice points out while Koharu and Silica nod in agreement. They must have been Asuna's taste testers yesterday evening while the rest of us were out in the world. I look down at the cup present in front of me and stare at the blackish-purple liquid. I smell a scent that could be like tea or medicine. It could be good, but my hesitation to drink the tea is a long-embedded fear of tea made online.