(Sword Art Online x Male Reader)

Chapter 1: Mito

You were running through the canyons on the 1st Floor trying to complete a quest to hunt down 5 Giant Anthrosaurs. You already killed three and were now stalking the fourth one as it was running away from you. All of a sudden a purple and violet blur fell down from above, straight in the path of the enormous hairy lizard. You saw that the blur was a female player and she got up quickly, saw the monster approaching and readied her scythe. A scythe? What an unusual weapon to use, especially this early on in the game, you thought to yourself. She attacked the beast with skill and ferocity that betrayed that she was exposed longer to combat than this death game started, which left two possibilities: she was a bèta tester or she fought in real life. With every swing of her weapon the health bar of the Giant Anthrosaur depleted bit by bit, until it hit the red zone and it lunged at her and smacked her aside. She quickly got up and tried to attack it again, but you jumped in from the side and used the sword skill avalanche to decapitate the overgrown lizard and depleting the rest of its HP bar, turning it into blue shards that dissipated into the air.

'Are you okay?' you asked her, while you looked her up and down. She had  two braided strands of hair that was put up in a high ponytail, with red eyes. She wore a purple dress-like, long-sleeved shirt with dark purple hot pants underneath and thigh-high boots in the same color, but with beige-brown trimming. She also wore a leather belt, chestplate, bracers and a violet, hooded, long cape. She dusted herself off and said: 'Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for that.' 'You're welcome. So, what's your name?' you asked her. 'My name's Mito. Yours?' she answered and asked you. You replied with your player name and asked what she was doing here. 'I was up there,' she said as she pointed to the top of the canyon, 'with a friend of mine, who I know irl, grinding for monsters, until I spotted a Spry Shrewman and went after it. I got it, but when I looked back I saw that my friend activated a linear to kill a Little Nepenthes Nepenthes Nephentes but one with a fruit, the trap ones, was right behind it. So I tried to stop her, but the skill already activated and she killed both. After that I stepped on the edge of a cliff and it fell away. All I could see was that she was surrounded by countless of the plant monsters, before I fell down here and facing that Giant Anthrosaur, with which you helped me fight against.' 'Then we gotta be fast,' you said simply. Mito looked confused at what you meant. 'If you wanna save your friend, we better hurry up before these monsters get the better of her,' you explained. 'Ah, shit, you're right! We gotta go!' she exclaimed and ran off to a passage on the cliff side that led upwards. 'Wait up! Two people are better than one!' you yelled at her, running off after her.

Somewhere halfway up the cliff side you encountered a horde of Little Nepenthes blocking your path to the purple girl's friend. 'Let's go!' you said to her and ran in, hacking and slashing left and right, killing one after the other. Mito nodded to you and followed suit, covering your back, while you covered hers. The two of you easily breezed through the horse and not even five minutes later they were all shattered into blue polygons.

You both walked through Horunka Woods in order to find the scythe wielder's friend, who was apparently called Asuna. The red eyed girl also explained that they knew each other in real life, before the entire death game thing started. That's when you suddenly heard a scream ringing through the forest and in your ears. 'That's Asuna!' Mito said loudly and ran off. 'Can't you wait for me, for one time?!' you said, frustrated at her tendency to run off on her own and you just running after her. After running for a solid two minutes you saw a chestnut haired girl with hazel eyes and in starter clothes, lying in the ground with a Giant Anthrosaur with its jaws right over her. An expression of shock and fear was written all over her face. You wanted to jump in, but a boy with black hair and in blue starter clothes and a metal chest plate was faster and started slashing and hacking at the overgrown, hairy lizard with his own slashes and sword skills. When the enormous reptile was on its last sliver of health you threw your sword at its head. It travelled through the air, spinning, and hit the monster straight in its forehead, turning it into a weird unicorn, and it shattered into cyan particles. Directly you got the ping of a quest update, saying you completed it and could gather your reward in Horunka. You stepped out of the forest to retrieve your blade. 'That was a nice throw, though very risky,' said the black haired boy shyly. 'Thanks, and I knew how to do it, as I've done it before irl,' you answered him. 'T-thank you,' said the chestnut haired girl. 'You're welcome,' you said and walked to your sword, picked it up and sheathed it fluently. The black haired boy gave some health potions and map data to the girl and tried to put his sword in its scabbard, but failed miserably. He eventually just kept his sword in his hand and walked off. You couldn't help but chuckle at his silliness and then turned to the girl. 'Hope I'll see you around and stay alive and save, Asuna,' you said and walked off, refusing to elaborate on his you got her name. Man, what do I love confusion and chaos, you thought, as you walked back to Mito, who stayed in the shadows during the entire interaction.

Asuna's POV

What?! Who was that boy? How did he throw that sword so perfectly? And how in God's name did he know my name?!

Second Person Perspective

As you walked past Mito you asked her what was on your mind this whole time. 'Why didn't you come out to greet her?' you inquired, 'She's your friend after all.' 'I couldn't. I just couldn't face her. Not after what happened. Maybe at a later time,' she answered you, while looking down. You patted her shoulder. 'It's okay, you face her whenever you want to, but know this, you better do it before it's too late,' you said,  'Come, let's find go back to Horunka to complete my quest and get the reward, then go for an inn.' The purple haired girl said with a small smile: 'Yeah, let's do that.'

And so you arrived at the small village in order to finish the quest you've started a couple of days ago. You knocked on the door of the NPC that gave you the quest and a person opened the door with a yellow cursor above him. 'Hello, can I help you with something?' the man asked. You gave him the items and said: 'We completed the quest you gave me a couple of days ago.' 'Ah yes, thank you for slaying those Giant Anthrosaurs. Their hide is very protective and also flexible, thus makes for light but very protective armor,' the NPC said, 'If you'll come back over two days, the reward will be ready.'

A couple of days have passed and you walked to the leather worker again. There you got the Anthrosaur Armor Set. It was completely black, as Anthrosaur Hide was naturally that color and consisted of boots, greaves, kneepads, chestplate, shoulderpads, elbowpads and bracers. You looked at the stats and saw that it was as light as leather armor but gave the protection of iron. 'Wow, this armor is amazing! It's really protective and durable, but also very light,' you said and showed it to Mito. 'I would like a set of that too,' she said, 'It seems very practical and gives us a higher chance of survival.' So, you both did the quest again and got another set of the armor, but this time Mito dyed it purple, while yours remained black. By the time you were finished, it was almost already time to go to the 1st Floor Boss meeting and so the both of you set off to Tolbana.

A/N: Hello reader, this is my second SAO book, as I didn't know how to continue with my old one. I also felt that book was quite bad to be honest, but I mean, it was my first so that kinda makes sense.

Anyway, I kinda need help from you. I can't think of a title for this book and/or description. So if you've got any cool ideas, let me know.

Also, yes this is heavily based on the Aria of a Starless Night movie. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this new book (even though I know I should continue my old ones). Support and criticism are always welcome and as always laterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - Dodominic2021