Sword Art Online: Cries of Aincrad

Chapter 1: Enough is Enough

A/N: Welcome to this brand new story that is in fact a side story of Sword Art Online: Black Ranger, this story will focus on brand new characters and will be set parallel in regards to Sword Art Online Black Ranger. Please note that the characters in this story are mainly OC but there will be several cross over chapters as the story progresses.

The updates for this story maybe slower than my Black Ranger fic as I intend to make sure that Kirito and Co are several floor ahead. Though I hope this won't deter you from supporting this story as much as you have with Sword Art Online Black Ranger :)

Sword Art Online is not owned by me nor will it ever will be and any characters used within this story are for non-profitable use.

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Floor 1 – Town of Beginnings

After Kayaba's announcement very little of the players dared to leave the safety of the walls of the town of beginnings the few who did raced off into the wildlands to try and get enough experience to survive but as the days past, floors were slowly opening up hinting that several players were making progress though the floating castle but still many remained within the walls of the Town of Beginnings. It wouldn't be long until a lot of people ran out of money and eventually they would need to leave the safety of the walls just the survive.

Fear, Death and Survival often ran though the minds of the players within the Town of Beginnings but not in all of them for one day in a small inn out on the outskirts of the town a player called Zatro decided enough was enough.

"You can't be serious Zatro!? You're going to go out there and fight!?" shouted a player with a hint of worry in their voice. "You could die!"

"But if we don't do anything eventually we're going to run out of gold and what then?" countered Zatro.

"I don't know maybe Kayaba will step in and help us" responded the player. "I doubt he wants players to die!"

"If he didn't want players to die he would of allowed revives and log outs" snapped Zatro getting slightly frustrated.

Sighing Zatro stood up from the table he had been sitting at, he then looked at the scared player with a hint of sympathy. Before adjusting himself, now he only had basic gear and had decided to go with a grey top with a brown waist coat, he had black trousers and bulky shoes. A short sword was also equipped to his waist, running a hand through his brown messy hair Zatro turned to walk out of the inn before looking at the player and speaking.

"I promise you Madison, I'll do my utmost to not die" grinned Zatro. "Later"

With those words Zatro began to leave the safety of the walls of Town of Beginnings and as he walked through the streets of the Town of Beginnings he looked around and saw many players huddled in allies like homeless civilians back in the real world. It showed how many players spent their money too quickly and were now left with nothing.

Looking at his own Col, he sighed he too was on the verge on of having nothing, he might have just saved his own life as he was now leaving the safety of the walls, he could earn Col and upgrade his gear and potentially survive the death game known as Sword Art Online. It was sad to see that no one was helping any of less experienced gamers but in the death game your own survival was the priority over others and that harsh reality.

Reaching the main town gate, Zatro began to get conflicted as his mind began to making doubt whether leaving was the right choice, gripping his fists Zatro gritted his teeth and ran out of the town gate and as he took his first steps out of the town. Zatro looked around and was flabbergasted by the sheer beauty of the first floor.

'After being cooped up in that town for so long, I'm looking forward to this' thought Zatro as he smiled inwardly.

The beginning of his journey was a fairly quiet affair and as someone who was only level one, it was a welcoming thing, but Zatro also knew that he'd have to put his life at risk if he was ever going to survive this ordeal.

As Zatro continued to walk down the path that would lead him to the next town or village, he froze and gripped the hilt of his short sword, he couldn't see anything but his gut was telling him otherwise as he slowly took a step forward, the foliage next to the path gave a rustle and out leapt a wolf growling menacingly.

Drawing his sword, Zatro took a step back and wait for a second, before leaping at the wolf, forcing the wolf to also attack, as the fight between Zatro and the wolf continued. The player in question began to pant.

Back in the real world, Zatro wasn't really athletic and as such didn't have much stamina but he was an excellent strategist and this wasn't the first time playing an MMO but he wasn't that good at playing them but he did know the basics. As the wolf leapt once more Zatro moved slightly to the before performing Downward Slash a basic sword skill that cause heavy damage if hit in the correct place.

As the wolf yelped in pain as the sword slashed through it body it shattered into particles and the reward window opened up. Taking a deep breath, he stored his sword back on his waist before hitting the ok button on the reward screen.

His first battle and he had lived through it, looking at his status bar, Zatro could see he was extremely close to levelling up to level two and as such decided to keep battling.

Upon reaching the next town, Zatro was now level three and as he entered the town gate, he glanced up and looked at the name of this new town, the words Crest town where written on the sign.

Scratching his chin, Zatro continued to walk into the town. As he continued up the path that would lead him to the town square, in the centre of the town stood a small fountain that gushed but crystal water from a statue that looked like Aincrad.

Looking around the town, Zatro noticed an inn to the right of the fountain and proceeded to walk into the establishment, as he opened the door, the first thing he noticed was all the patron in the room were smiling and laughing with their friends.

Walking up to the bar, Zatro stood patiently before taking a deep breath and speaking.

"um Excuse me"

The barman turned and gave a smile before placing both his hands on the bar and greeting him: "Ah a new face, haven't seen you before what can I do for you?"

"I would like a room please?" Asked Zatro nervously.

"Certainly, of course will you be staying long?" questioned the barman as he brought out a book.

"Possibly, is this the only other town on the floor?"

"yes, there are several villages but none take in visitors for the night and the location most people like yourself go to is the labyrinth"

"labyrinth?" asked Zatro.

Before the barman could speak another player who was next to him spoke up.

"The Labyrinth is the tower like structure just outside the town, didn't you read the booklet that came with the game?"

Blushing deep red, Zatro turned to the voice and took in their appearance, the voice belonged to a female player, who had brown hair which went down to her neck, her appearance included a blue skirt and white blouse at the side of her skirt rested a small dagger.

"No, I did not read the booklet" grunted Zatro.

The girl just rose an eyebrow before turning away from Zatro before speaking once more.

"if you're thinking of going up to the next floor you better think again, a player like you wouldn't even be level five, so I doubt you'll survive the next floor, I hear the monsters there are possibly level ten or so."

With that the girl walked away without saying another word, Zatro just frowned in response and folded his arms. Turning back to the barman, Zatro looked at him before asking.

"how much for a week or so?"

"For you five col or eight col with meals seems you got your work cut out lad"

Rolling his eyes, Zatro could only agree before handing over the eight col required for the room. Taking the key from the barman, Zatro was about to walk upstairs when a board caught his key.

Walking over to the board, he saw several quests listed out some required players to go into the labyrinth and some required to go to a few of the dotted villages to get details.

As he looked through the board, a few quests caught his eye including a wolf attack on a nearby village and a quest called clearing the labyrinth.

Pulling the notices down, the papers disappeared and a window lit up indicated the quests were activated. As he went to walk away the girl who was acting like a know it all, brushed past him and up the stairs.

Frowning Zatro waited for a few moments before taking a solemn breath and walking up the stairs he was starting to make progress and hopefully the next couple of days would be a better and allow him to get a better understanding of the game.

For now, he needed to relax and his rented out room would be the place of relaxation, he was now on his own and hopefully he'd be able to make some friends while he travelled the through the game.

Only time would tell and as for his encounter with that girl. Zatro knew it wouldn't be the last time he saw her, he had a feeling she'd pop up again somewhere.

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A/N: So like Sword Art Online; Black Ranger, this opening chapter is fairly short and just introduces you to our new hero.

The story itself will drive to be a mystery and will mostly like end before Black Ranger does, I do have plans for this story but I need to ensure that it follows Sword Art Online: Black Ranger's timeline as they will eventually go hand in hand.

Please tell me what you think of the chapter as I'll try to get the next chapter for this out quickly, the question I'll be asking for this chapter is should Zatro have a shield or not.

Once again as in all my stories please Follow, Favourite and Review and Share and if you have not done so Please read Black Ranger as well and follow that as there will be elements that will cross from both Fics.

Thanks for reading guys,

LoveAnime93