Diclaimer: Log Horizon and everything that it is related to belongs to their own respective owner. The only thing I own is the idea for this story and almost all characters that appear in it. Have fun while reading! :)

Quick warning by the way. The real life equivalent of this story's setting is New York. I don't live in New York. I'm not even american. If I make some sort of cultural mistake please forgive me.

Akama turned another corner and found himself by a giant river. Green moss covered the land beneath him and he was on what seemed to be a long abandoned road next to the river. Stumbling a bit farther, he moved along to the very bank of the river so that he could sit down and consider his situation.

His head was a mess as countless thoughts, questions and concerns flew by, competing with each other to take a larger part of his brain. However among all of that, one question was the most prevalent:

"Where am I?"

As he thought this, he could tell that he wasn't the only one thinking that. Along the bank of the river, there were several other shadows, screaming and moaning.

"What the f*** is happening?"

"Help! Somebody help me!"

"God, this is the first time I've prayed to you. But please, save me!"

"Where's the admin? Explain this!"

The screams came out like an angry protest. He felt like he was in the middle of a crowd that had found out that the entire country was being sold to China.

Seeing them all made him want to burst into screams for help and agony but that seemed ridiculous so he restrained the desire.

(I can move my body… but it feels a bit weird. I can walk faster and I feel stronger)

Behind him were long abandoned ruins and in front of him was a giant river with a faraway island that had a giant statue of a lady, dressed in a magnificent robe and holding a staff.

There was no doubt about it.

This was the city known as "Big Apple" and the statue was the "Mother of Liberty".

These two things were something that he was accustomed to seeing almost daily now. But not through his naked eyes. He saw them through his computer screen and through his favorite online game: Elder Tales.

The Big Apple was like a giant medieval ruin. Its buildings were all large multi-storied towers, but they had all crumbled after long time of misuse and were now home to vigor vines and moist moss. On each of them were colorful signs that had once been operated to advertise the contents of the massive stores such as "Nacdonalds, S-mart or Worst Buy". The streets were covered as usual by people wearing medieval armor, though they were all either screaming for help or sulking in despair. This active, giant and fantasy-like city was Big Apple, the starting city for the American server of Elder Tales.

But Elder Tales was a game and what he was seeing was definitely real. So what was happening?

(Have I been sucked into a game? Isn't that too anime-like?)

Elder Tales was actually a long-running title, boasting a 20-year history. Of course, its contents and game engine were replaced with the latest version by frequent software updates, but its abundance of data and deep game traditions accumulated from its long operation were the things winning the popularity of its users.

Today should have been the day to commemorate the release of the 12th expansion pack of Elder Tales. The data he had downloaded beforehand would be lifted from its restriction and would bring about new items, new zones, new monsters and battles, and, above all else, raise the level cap of the world of Elder Tales.

Today was also the very day the expansion pack was brought live, so there should be a great number of players connected to the game world. From the immense density of people he had seen in the city earlier, this was probably true.

Akama was frankly, a long-time player of Elder Tales. He had been playing since middle-school, so he boasted the highest level of 90, though it was shared with about half of the player community.

But that was just in a game. In real life, there wasn't magic or monsters or a dangling menu screen that he could see if he focused or health bars or mana or spells or…

He took a breath to cleanse his thoughts as he felt his mind overheat. The air here was cleaner than in the real world and the lack of pollution was a rare treat for his lungs.

(First things first, being alone in a crisis is bad. I should find someone to partner up with. And if its partners…)

As if answering his train of thought, a ringtone sounded off in his head, signaling a telepathic call from one his friends. He immediately checked it and was relieved as he saw the name.

Incoming friend call:

Rildeo

(Damn good timing as always…)

"You're late."

"Shut it. Running here took longer than in game."

Akama replied to the sharp response of his best friend, Rildeo.

Rildeo was his childhood friend, a buddy he had been with since grade school. They started the game together and though they sometimes separated to do different quests, they usually always stuck together since they knew each other best.

Rildeo was dressed in dark blue robes and had blonde hair. He was relatively tall and an elf in the game, seen by his pointy ears.

By the way, Akama was dressed in bright red and black cloth and had black hair. In real life, his hair was brown but he decided to let his avatar be black haired.

"So? What are your thoughts?"

"On?"

"What else? This whole situation, you star-struck idiot."

Akama giggled as Rildeo criticized him as usual. He found solace in this everyday bicker that seemed so far away now that they were in this foreign land.

"Well? What can I say? This whole thing seems ridiculous. I would think I'm in a dream, but my dreams usually involve me rolling in naked women."

"That's disgusting, you pervert. But really though, this is nerve-wrecking. I mean, if you look around you can see people holding magic staves and swords."

Magic staves and swords were common weapons in fantasy games but seeing them real close was another thing. Thinking that one of them could easily kill you was enough to scare off a veteran soldier. It was like being in a war camp, surrounded by the grizzled soldier's fierce guns.

The only place you could find these ridiculous weapons would be in a roleplay shop.

"I look like a bloody role-player. And here I thought cosplay was your thing."

"Now that you mention it, you look the same. You don't look exactly like your avatar."

"You too, though your hair is still black. Why did you even set it like that?"

"Duh. Cause it fit with my image."

Akama cried out, though it was in vain. Stuck-up pricks like Rildeo wouldn't understand true fashion anyways.

"More importantly, Ridleo, let's get back on topic. Tell me everything, wise sage."

"I'd love to but even I'm dumbstruck. I mean, this is something that nothing could prepare me for. However, there might be something I missed…"

Ridleo sat down onto a crooked bench and started his "thinker pose". Akama slightly smiled as he knew that his buddy was always reliable when he started thinking.

"First of all… this isn't a dream. I'm a light sleeper so I always stay somewhat conscious as I sleep. My mind is without a doubt fully immersed in this world. Of course, if you don't trust me, I can drop you off from a cliff. The shock might wake you up."

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

Akama was nodding along as Rildeo thought over the situation carefully.

"Second, this is without a doubt the world of Elder Tales. Have you seen the status screen?"

Nodding, Akama once again focused on his status screen, looking at the data he could see.

Akama-Adventurer-Lv. 90

HP: 12789

MP: 7732

Since Elder Tales was a game, the strength, stamina and all sorts of abilities were represented in the form of numbers. All sorts of commands in the game were input through the menu.

There were no such game-related screens anywhere you looked in this world. If you focused on your forehead region, the world would present a translucent status screen displaying all sorts of values and graphs. By controlling the cursor with your mind, you could perform all sorts of action.

Akama got a hang of the controls after a few minutes but it was hard and gave him a migraine.

There also was a telepathy function, similar to the friend calls from the game. You could call anyone on your friend list which you could find through your status screen.

As he thought about this, Akama abruptly came up with a thought.

"Wait, are the others on? Are any of our friends here with us?"

"Gimme a sec to check my friends list. Um… Ethan is offline. I remember he said that he had to go to cram school today so he should be safe at home."

"I guess that's good for him. Let's hope he stays safe."

Ethan was another one of their buddies that they only knew for a few months. But he played the game too and was a decent assassin. Hopefully, he would notice something wrong and not recklessly get sucked into this world like them.

"What about our in-game friends?"

"Well today was the day of the patch so most of them are on. Of our closer friends, Nemoto is off but Umineko is online. If I remember, she was down in the south, questing."

"I'll call her."

Umineko was a female player that was a friend of theirs. She was a good cleric that had been friends with them since the level 30's. She was a timid player that didn't have the courage to speak with in-game voice-chat and instead communicated through the text-chat. Well, people that used text-chat were somewhat common so it wasn't a big deal to him, especially since Umineko was a fast typer. He couldn't count the amount of times that her heals had saved his hide.

Focusing on his head to scroll down his own friend list and call her, he used a considerable amount of concentration. As the beeping sound of the call started to ring, he realized he was making a mean squint because of his concentration. He'd have to work on moving that cursor so he could do it without scaring anyone nearby…

"Wha?"

"What's wrong?"

"She declined the call…"

Akama was clearly surprised as he was sent a message stating that his call had been declined.

"Hmm… well she's probably pretty shocked right now. She might not want to really talk to anyone. Let's leave her alone for now and move on."

Rildeo, however, was staying calm and decided to keep a straight focus on their goal.

"Do you have any idea why we have been brought here, wherever this place is?"

The calm youth asked as he crossed his legs. Out of everything so far, this was probably the most important question.

"Yeah, I don't know and I doubt anyone else does."

But of course, Akama had no answer to the sharp question.

"To begin with, dude, we don't have any real info. If anything, the only person that might know would be a game master or admin, but since none has come out after all the screaming in the plaza, I think they're off on more than a lunch break."

"I'm surprised you're even able to think that clearly, Akama. I have two theories to what might have happened."

"Heh, I know right. I'm smarter than I loo- Wait, what? You're damn quick, bro."

Akama jumped back in surprise. He knew that Rildeo was a fast thinker but he didn't expect for his best friend to be able to think of any possibilities that might've happened to them.

(I might have to start thinking of him in a better light)

"Calm down, it's not that big of a thing. They're very simple theories but here's how I see it. There are two possibilities that might have caused this situation: One, the world has been changed to resemble that of Elder Tales, the more gruesome theory. If this is the case than everything we knew has been deleted and replaced with this magical fantasy."

"That's surprisingly dark…"

If possible, Akama would've liked to not think about the fact that his entire everyday life had been erased just like that.

"If this is the case though, we are presented with the questions of how the world was changed and why? What happened to everyone else that was not an online Elder Tales Player? Is there a way to change everything back? These are the things that accompany my first theory."

Akama could only listen, unable to provide any valuable feedback.

"My second theory is that we've slipped into an alternate universe that is just like that of Elder Tales. This theory also comes with its bundle of questions though, as you'd have to ask what happened to the versions of us that belong in this world. Why did we get pulled into this world? Are the rules of this world the same as the one we knew? Do alternate universes even exist?"

"So there's no easy answer… Ah, let's not do this right now. Thinking about this whole thing makes my head hurt."

"Agreed. I don't want you to lose anymore brain cells. You're lacking quite a few already."

Stopping the intense theories, the two took a second to look at each other, before awkwardly smiling.

In a crisis, things can become chaotic. You don't know what is happening, why it's happening and you feel like the world is ending. Akama had gone through a pretty easy life with very few troubles, but every time things became even a bit rough, Rildeo had his back. It was weird, really, to think that this sharp, criticizing smart-ass had such a positive effect on the young man's life.

Rildeo, as well, seemed considerably more comfortable in the situation than before. He stood up, getting off of the crooked bench, pumped up for some action.

"So, before I tell you what I think is our best next plan, do you have anything to add?"

"Woah, you've already thought of a plan? You're a genius, Richard."

"Of course, I am. Also, don't call me by my real name here, Aaron."

Akama scratched his chin as he thought of anything that was clearly a problem.

Well… he was sucked into this weird place, akin to another world. He might never be able to see his family again. He'd never be able to go back to school, sleep in class, hang around at the arcade, be awkward around his highschool crush, stop by the burger joint he always went to, battle his sister over the tv remote… he was losing all of these things that he treasured. He might never be able to go back. His life might as well be over as he was now basically starting a new one in a new world. Is this what it was like to lose things precious to you? And worst of all…

"I can't watch anime here."

"You know, I thought you were seriously depressed for a second there, you bloody weaboo."

"I thought I told you, I am not a weaboo. I am a full-blooded Otaku."

Well, there was nothing he could do about the things he was losing. He'd have time to grieve later. Right now, survival in this foreign world was most important.

"Alright, listen up, you fake-taku. The best thing we can do right now is getting used to this world. There should be boundless differences between this world and the real one. Being able to move and live normally might be the key to any emergency we face later."

"I guess you're right. It's a bit weird moving in a stronger body. And if we end up fighting later, we'd need to know how to perform combat. I've never swung a real sword in real life so this will be a first…"

Akama's mind started to begin filling with all the game info he knew. Skills, zones, mobs, gold, classes, stats… How would all this apply to this new world?

"And one last thing I need to question."
"What is it?"

"I wonder… if we die here, do we die for real?"

Akama's eyes widened as Rildeo finished his question. How could he forget such a simple question?

In the game Elder Tales, one could revive at the cost of losing some EXP. Of course, if you died in a game and couldn't play it anymore, it would be really saddening, so the revival system is important. But did that apply to this new world?

"So that's why, Akama, I have to ask you to do something for me. Please don't do anything reckless. I don't want my best friend dying in this twisted world."

"Yeah… thanks for the concern, bud."

Rildeo was, quite frankly, an introvert.

In real life, he never had many friends. He was the type of person that would hide in corners while everyone else busily went along with their life. He wasn't athletic, overly smart or active in any club. To everyone else, he was just that nerd that would sit in the corner of the classroom reading. Give Mr. Corner or Dr. Shadow a personality and they would be popular mascots for introverts everywhere.

By 3rd grade, he had accepted this fate. He was almost non-existent to everyone else, not standing out in anything. He had just started playing Elder Tales back then, interested in how much of his vast free time he could spend on the game.

Being lonely wasn't bad. In fact, for him, it was the seemingly best option. He didn't have to bother with keeping any social appearances, or spend spine-breaking time working on an extra-curricular activity. He wasn't a social person and he was fine with that. Bright, energetic youths might as well be the social ideal, spending their time trudging along the sunny path. But did that mean that loners, who have carved their own dark corner of life, were wrong? No, of course not! He could find solace in the lonesome of his, reading or playing video games.

Yet, his one-man army, his stand-alone brigade, his lone wolf-pack ended on that one unmemorable day.

"Yo, dude. Can you lend me some change? I left my lunch at home."

These were the exact words that the young, grade-school Akama said to Rildeo, whom nobody ever bothered to talk to. It was childish, selfish, rude and cocky. But it ended up starting a friendship like many other…

"You know why I'm sad that Umineko isn't here, Rildeo?"

"What?"

These two best friends were joyfully chatting as they made their way to one of the nearby low level zones, where they could try and get some combat experience. Rildeo's avatar was shorter than his real life counterpart so he found a bit of trouble in walking. It was like suddenly losing your head, looking through a much shorter camera instead. The ground seemed so close and he felt honestly weak, despite his supposedly stronger fantasy body.

"We don't have any chicks man. Look at us; we're just two dudes walking around together. We gay or something?"

"Can you refrain from summoning such nasty thoughts? An image of that just appeared in my head and I feel like puking."

Rildeo had to take care of the childish Akama since they were children. He knew him best and also knew all the annoying parts of him, such as his weird love for Japanese culture, or his obsession with old currency or how he always had to eat with chopsticks, despite not knowing how.

But as they passed the border of the city, his mind drifted from thoughts of Akama's stupidity to the current situation.

"Akama, you can hit on girls later. First of all, try hitting a monster."

"I like what you did there. Alright, leave this to me!"

The zone they had just entered was right next to Big Apple, a small forest area. It was about 2 km in radius so it wasn't too hard to navigate. Since it would be difficult for beginners to face high-level monsters after starting, the nearby areas were filled with very low level monsters. And of course, the ones they ended up facing were extremely low leveled too.

"Green Boars, huh? Isn't that a bit weak?"

"There's no such thing as too much caution. Besides, this is just to practice our movements and skills."

The monsters that they immediately found were a herd of Lv. 2 Green Boars. Green Boars were weak swine monsters that had green fur. There was nothing really special about them though and were seen as a base monster.

Immediately, Akama walked forward and unsheathed his blade. Probably holding back, he was using a cheap basic katana instead of his usual high-level sword. Grasping the blade, he focused on one of the boars and began his attack.

"Take this! Sure-fire Ultimate Sword Attack!"

He was screaming as he charged the beast and started slashing wildly at it.

Akama's class was Samurai. The Samurai were a warrior class that had high defense and was known for using Japanese-themed equipment, suitable for the weaboo that Akama was. It was tanky but lacked a shield so it wasn't the ultimate defense. Despite this, most players used the samurai as a versatile tank, attracting its enemies with taunts and holding them off while his teammates used their powerful attacks.

Well, Akama's not exactly known for being orthodox-

"Dammit, pig! Come here and become my bacon!"

Akama was ridiculously shouting as he chased the Green Boar around the area. He was having an expected amount of trouble and should be occupied for a while.

"If he's playing around with pigs, then I might as well too."

Rildeo stated and started focusing on his status screen. He had taken almost half an hour earlier to get the controls for the cursor down, and even now he was having trouble. Scrolling down the skill list to find the skill he needed was harder than he thought. In real combat, he wouldn't have the luxury to do this. He'd have to find a way to shorten the process.

After a short toil, he found the spell he wanted and selected it with his mind.

"Summon Follower: Armored Boar."

Following his spell, an array of light appeared underneath his feet and blue particles flew out from it. The blue particles came together like specks of dust and formed a large boar that was covered in steel armor.

"Hey, Old pal. Looks like spells work after all. I guess a plus to this whole situation is that I can talk to you guys and not look as stupid."

Rildeo smiled as the boar formed and started to pet its cold, steel armor.

Rildeo's class was Summoner, one of the three mage classes. They were known for their ability to summon monsters that could aid them in battle. Each monster had different abilities which made the Summoner a very versatile class, making it a popular choice with solo players. He began the game by himself, without Akama, so he chose the solo mentality of Summoner. Back then, the puny monsters that he summoned were his only friends.

"Rildeeeeeoooo… I'm back… Woah! Hey, its good ol' Armored Boar. You managed to summon him?"

"Yeah, through some hard work though. How was it on your side?"

"Mn. Fighting is hard. You actually have to swing the sword as you attack. And then when the boar turned and fought me, it was hella scary. I know I'm level 90 but those tusks feel like they could pierce my body."

Rildeo nodded as he listened to Akama, unsummoning the boar. As he thought, fighting in person was hard, especially when facing monsters that seem so frightening up close. Tusks, claws, flames, swords… even if one's mind knew that they wouldn't hurt as much, one's instinct would be that they could do irreparable damage.

"What about you, Ril?"
"I tried using skills. They work but take longer than I would like. I'll have to find a way to shorten the time. This will be even more important for you, since you might have to use skills while also trading blows with an enemy."

"Ah, there's so much to consider… But there's time and nothing to really do. I guess we'll get better with practice."

"Yeah… we can practice. But I'm worried… we're out here training but how will everyone else react?"

Rildeo couldn't help but feel unease as he looked back at the giant city. Others might not be as calm as he was. They might desperately look for info, recklessly train, fall into despair or, worst of all, break into a riot.

There was very little information as what must be tens of thousands of people were sent into a foreign world. If something wasn't done, things might get bad…

(But what can I do?)

Rildeo was just a lone player. Sure his stats were pretty good and he was pretty experienced but he had very little real power. In fact, he wasn't even in a guild, since he preferred partying with Akama. If he wanted to help out… he'd have to seek out someone with some real power.

"Hey, Akama, mind if we don't train for a bit. I have someone I want to talk to…"

"You know, Rildeo, it's rare that you'd want to talk to me. I thought you might have wanted to chat with me and help comfort the tragic situation that we've all been put in. Instead, you come here, barging in with your serious face, demanding a conference. How is my timid heart supposed to react to such an abrupt and solemn tone that you bring to me?"

"Cut the small-talk, Dorian. You should know that your smooth tongue doesn't work on me."

Akama could only nervously sip his tea, which tasted like tap water, as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Right now, the two youths were sitting on the top floor of the guild building of the top guild, the "DxD brigade". The DxD brigade was a famous guild known all over the American servers for its size and number of achievements. Boasting a formidable size of about 3,000 members, the brigade had a similarly large history of 12 years. Furthermore, in these 12 years, the guild had racked so many raid quests that one would think that it was comprised of earth-walking gods.

They were in one of the executive offices in the divinely expensive guild building, which could house thousands of players. It was a dozen meters wide and elegantly furnished. At the head of the room was a desk made out of fine wood, facing two similarly elegant chairs. Behind the desk were bookshelves, filled with magical books and tomes. Most impressively though, was the chair behind the desk, where the owner could comfortably sit. If Akama was correct, it was made of Holy Cedar wood, a super rare item that could only be obtained through the raid quest "March of the Ancient Dead". It was additionally crafted with gold and diamonds to make its luster shine magnificently. The whole thing was probably worth tens of thousands of gold.

The man sitting in front of them, calmly gulping down the tea despite its bland taste, was Dorian, the head of the brigade's 3rd battle division. He was a top-class Sorcerer, well experienced in the many monsters that could be found in dungeons. However, Rildeo and him have some bad history.

"You're cold hearted as always, Rildeo. Remember when we used to party together? I will never understand why you and Akama here decided to leave us."

"We left cause we didn't feel like this was the right place for us, no harsh meaning behind it."

As mentioned, the two of them were part of the DxD brigade once. They stopped in middle school because Akama had decided that being in a guild was too troublesome. However, he felt like, even if he didn't decide so, Rildeo might have quit because of how much he started to dislike it.

"Yes, yes, the same old excuses. Very well, I suppose that will suffice as always. So? Why are you here?"

"Glad that we're back on track. I'm here for a very simple reason really. I just wanted to ask how the DxD brigade is responding to the situation."

"We're worried about the city, afterall."

Akama managed to chime in a few words, but even just speaking felt hard. The tension was thick in the room and he wondered if he was the only one feeling it.

Looking over at Dorian's assistant, standing in the corner, he realized that he wasn't.

"Oh yes, this horrible situation. Did you know that people are calling it "Armageddon"? It's really horrid and I shiver at what might happen."

"Which is exactly why I came to you. How is the DxD brigade trying to help the situation?"

Akama could feel Rildeo's persistence on the matter. Depending on Dorian's answer, he might end up exploding in a fit of anger.

His best friend really did have trouble with his emotions in heated moments…

"Oh that's really simple. We're doing all we can. First of all, we're trying to recruit some newbies into our guild. Some players had just started afterall, so we would like to do all we can to help them."

"A reasonable response. I'll have to hand it to your guys for that. I hadn't thought of the new players."

Akama hung his head down in shame for a bit.

(Ah, how could I be so stupid to forget the new players?)

But before the young man could bash himself with shame some more, the conversation continued on without stopping.

"Yes, it would be horrible for the inexperienced to be stuck in such a situation. I especially am scared for the kids, who must be frightened out of their wits. I'd love to just hug them and tell them that it'd all be okay."

"Well, that's good of you. But what about the experienced players? Any movement for them?"

"Well, my boy, we really haven't done much in terms of that. The veterans don't really need our help; they know what they're doing."

"What? But there are so many possibilities that could end up in worst-case scenarios. What if they recklessly go out and end up dying?"

"What can we do about that? We're not the police or anything; we don't have a reason to help them. We're too busy doing what we can. If they end up dying, is it really our fault?"

The two youths were instantly silenced. They were wide-eyed at Dorian's logic, his utter lack of care for the other players and his immoral but somehow sound logic.

Right now, the world was filled with chaos and confusion. Was it really someone's fault for looking after themselves first, before others? In fact, the brigade was even above that: helping out the beginners.

(Since the crisis, we were really just looking out for ourselves too, learning how to move in this world. Do we really have the right to criticize others?)

With these kinds of thoughts in mind, the two stopped and just looked at the ground in reflection for a few seconds. Noticing this, Dorian considered his point made.

"Well, if this was all you came for, you got the information you wanted. Now if you excuse me, I'm a little busy. The boss wanted me to go over all the new members."

With a slightly self-reassured look on his face, Dorian got up and headed for the door.

Akama could only watch him leave in pity as they seemed to have gotten very little done…

"Wait!"
Abruptly, Rildeo shouted out, stopping Dorian in his tracks. The young summoner stood up and faced the sorcerer.

"I have a question. You guys are actually finding the "Armaggedon", as you say, useful aren't you? You get heaps of new members and all your rivals are in chaos. Could it be that the DxD brigade is trying to capitalize off of the current crisis?"

All sound disappeared in that second. Akama and Dorian's assistant could only stare wide-eyed at Rildeo's bold accusation. Time flickered by as silence came over the room. The air was so still yet Akama could feel the teacup in his hands shake.

"You know, my dear, Rildeo, nobody likes a smart-ass."

Leaving these words, Dorian promptly left the room.

Silence once again took over and the assistant awkwardly bowed before exiting. Akama was left staring at Rildeo, watching the door that Dorian had left through. To a normal person, Rildeo might have seemed alright, serene even, but to the well-trained eyes of Akama, he could see the deep emotions that were harboring in his best friend: Pure uncensored rage.

"Bloody twat!"

Rildeo kicked the chair that he had been sitting in out of anger, causing it to fly across the wide room and smashing into the wall, breaking the fragile expensive wood into pieces.

"Come on, Akama. I can't stand to be in this building any longer."

"Yes-a-roo!"

Swiftly descending the stairs, the two rush out of the building, attracting the stares of many people. On their way down, they saw a large group of kids, the newbies that Dorian mentioned.

Only once they were out did Ridleo speak again.

"Alright, Akama, let's review what we learned."

"Oh okay. Um… let's see… The DxD brigade is trying to use the "Armageddon" to boost their power and they serve some really bland tea. Either they use bad tea leaves or food doesn't have taste in this world."

"Right, we'll experiment with food after this. Also, we need to find a place to stay and sleep. After dinner and securing a base, we'll go back to training. Tighten your heart; we'll be really busy for the next few days."

"Yosh!"

As the two hurriedly dashed away from the guild building, they only saw the mass amount of stuff ahead of them. It was making Akama a bit giddy-hearted.

(Alright, I'll have to work hard.)

Just as they were about to march towards the marketplace to test the taste theory, Rildeo abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"One more thing, Akama…"

"What's up?"

"Well… thanks for leaving the DxD brigade. I didn't think I'd be able to stand that place any longer. So yeah… thanks bro…"

"…No prob, bro."

And so began the fight for the two of them.

Character Info:

Name: Rildeo

Race: Elf

Class: Summoner

HP: 7506

MP: 14034

Item 1: Grimoire of the Ancients

An Ancient-level book that has been passed down through generations of holy sages. Its pages contain ancient texts that are said to grant their reader enlightenment. Despite its old age, the grimoire looks brand new due to its magical power. Significantly decreases cast time.

Item 2: Hood of the Fleeting Dream

A cloak used exclusively by mages, made from the dreams of young adventurers. It can only be obtained through the "Full raid" Quest: Night Waltz in Wonderland. Its special ability absorbs the thoughts of its wearer and boosts Phantasmal-based spells.

Item 3: White Weasel Necklace

A necklace made out of the tooth of a White Weasel. It is a little weak for Rildeo's level, but it was a birthday present from Akama, so he treasures it deeply.

Author's Quick Afterword:

Hello, this is Zikari8 here, the author to Log Horizon: The Sword of Liberty. I'm a relatively bad author that has very little experience so I'll have to ask you to pardon me if you do not like my story. It has been ages since I wrote anything and I feel like anyone that has favorited any of my stories deserves to burn me on a stake. But a writer is a fickle man so this time I'm writing a new story on the slightly popular anime: Log Horizon. I hope you liked this first chapter and anticipate the next one... which will be coming out when I feel like it. Bye! XD