AN: Ok… finally the first chapter! This is just an intro to BTO... Plz tell me if this world is interesting coz I originally wanted to write about SAO or GGO but couldn't think of any original ideas… :P I'll probably write longer chapters next time.

Enjoy! And please R&R!

The virtual world was made up of a huge expanse of colours.

The forests covered the ground completely, fading into orange-coloured sand dunes that constantly moved, giving the impression of a twitching jaw. The eyes- the mountains- were ragged and stretched far into the sky, piercing the clouds above. They were bordered by a thin line of blue, which were rivers and already more than a kilometre wide. The rippling water shone in the sunlight and glittered.

But, the most impressive feature of all was the nose, a huge gaping hole in the centre of the head. The sheer scale of it was in itself amazing, ranging from ten to twenty kilometres wide and thirty kilometres long. The bordering cliffs dropped instantly and the inside was engulfed in darkness, ruled by wild beasts and monsters. It was divided into a hundred layers that were connected only by stairs but when a level's boss is defeated and the floor is cleared, Teleport Gates would connect to it and all players can move around the cleared floors freely. A long bridge, five kilometres long, stretched over the darkness. It led to the Portalwhich stood at the end and would teleport players into the floor of their choice.

There were also small towns scattered here and there so some players preferred to live in the depths of the crater.

The main landmass, which was fifty kilometres from ear to ear and sixty kilometres long, was an island at the centre of a deep-blue ocean. Other small islands dotted around its southern seas. All this was framed with a thick mist curling from the sky. The area resembled a crying skull floating in a pool of tears. There was no telling how much data it all consisted of. Its name was-

Schädella

Prologue

31 October 2022

"Kraghhhh!" The bird-like beast screeched as it shattered into thousands of polygons. Kirito swung his longsword left and right before sheathing it in the sheath on his back. A black dragon stood by his side, her head reaching his chest. She was his 'pet' and would continue growing as he levelled up. In BTO, as long as the player's level was high enough, it was possible to tame any beast, except for bosses, for a pet but Kirito only had the one he was given at the start of the game. He preferred to focus on levelling up and clearing floors.

Like all the other players, he was given the option to choose a free pet when he was registering for BTO, though he could also have just remained by himself.

There were three types to choose from: Healers, Fighters and Helpers.

As the name suggests, 'Healers' heal the player. The amount of HP they can give depends on their level and how much MP they have.

'Fighters' fight against monsters with the player but only participate in duels with other pets.

The 'Helpers' would assist a player if they had a manufacturing or trade-type skill and needed an extra pair of hands. They also increased the player's main skill by two percent.

Kirito liked the idea of fighting with a virtual animal and chose a 'fighter'. The black dragon was randomly selected by the system and he named her Luna after its round, moon-like eyes and dark body. There was a small circle with a cross in the centre marked on its scaled arm. Every pet has some sort of mark on their body.

They shared the same HP bar and stats and fought together in battle.

Luna blinked at the disappearing shards and swiped at them playfully. For the third time that day, she reminded him of a curious child.

He smiled. He usually distanced himself from everyone around him but Luna had been a great friend as well as a partner and he felt a stab of numbness in his chest when he remembered that it would be their last time together.

It was the last day of the beta testing and after that day, all the data- stats, money and pets he had gathered till then would be erased.

Kirito had just made it to the ninth underground floor of Haze, a crater in the centre of Schädella. It had one hundred layers going down where players could fight high-levelled monsters the deeper they went. The Grand Quest was to clear all the floors by beating the bosses guarding the staircases and reach the bottom. He was currently in a stone cave on the east-most side. The monsters there were all quite tough to kill but Kirito was one of the highest level players among the beta testers and, with Luna,managed to beat the last two beasts while only losing a little under twenty percent of their HP.

He had occupied one of his Skill Slots with night-vision and had equipped it as soon as he entered the cave. The skill did allow him to see in the dark but only showed his surroundings in an eerie glow, though it did make it easier when there was something or someone near.

Just as he thought that, he noticed a slight flicker to his left. Slowly turning, he unsheathed his sword and signalled for Luna to pay attention. His body tensed, and his eyes darted around. After a few silent seconds, the enemies appeared. Kirito furrowed his eyebrows. It was a mob consisting of six catmen. Even with Luna, it would be a tough fight.

The first to emerge suddenly attacked, while the others fanned out. The attacker covered the fifty metres between them in only a few seconds and lashed out with its left claws. Kirito had already predicted it and dodged before the attack motion even started. The monster hissed and trained its bright yellow eyes toward him but was off-balance. Luna used this opportunity to strike. She roared and raised her razor sharp claws. They glowed purple as her AI timed her attack. She used a three-hit combo: Execution as she clawed an 'X' shape onto the catman's stomach and brought its neck down with a swipe of her tail. The monster's HP decreased by more than half, almost reaching the red area. Without wasting any time, Kirito then landed five consecutive hits cleanly on the monster's fallen figure.

There were Sword Skills in BTO but abilities players had in real life sometimes affected a player's ability ingame, though the difference becomes less noticeable as everyone levelled up. Technically, Kirito was at a high enough level to have a five-hit combo in his skill slot but he had drilled the move many times and did not need to use the system to execute it. Players could also gain ability points by levelling up which allows them to use better moves. As Kirito had high STR and AGI stats ingame, even without the system's help, the monster's body flew up into the air from his blows. He finished it by bringing his sword down and slicing the beast in half. By then, the five other monsters had closed in and two were already dashing forward.

Even though Kirito knew it was only a 3D virtual monster charging toward him, he had to take a deep 'breath' as he pushed off with his left foot. He met them head on and, as his sword glowed, slashed all the way from right to left, dragging it through their chests while their claws grazed his arm. It reduced about fifteen and five percent of their HP respectively.

'Switch!' He yelled, falling back as Luna lunged forward and breathed a torrent of blue flames. This was more effective. It was called Hell Fire, an attack that dealt a large amount of damage to most types of monsters and steadily caused the victim's HP to decrease. She had mastered it a week ago and had proved to be very useful against monsters in dark places. Unfortunately, it cost a lot of MP so, with their current level, could only be used once without using a crystal. The catmen yowled as they were engulfed in the flames and the one who had taken the direct hit shattered instantly. It was replaced by two others and the last one tried to land a sneak attack from behind. While Luna dealt the finishing blow to the catman who was still on fire, Kirito turned around and blocked the attacking monster with his longsword. The clash between its claws and his blade made a deafening Clang. Both their attacks were bounced off and only scratched each other, decreasing their HP slightly. The monster tried to recover as soon as he realised that that first slash was only a starting move but Kirito was already swinging his sword left to continue with his four-hit combo-Horizontal Square. The monster could only screech as his HP rapidly decreased. After making the last cut, Kirito immediately swung around and dashed forward to help Luna as the monster shattered behind him.

'Seeii!' He yelled as his sword glowed red and cut down the one about to attack with a thrust and left slash. Now there was only one enemy left. Its HP bar was still green while Kirito's and Luna's had almost reached the dangerous red zone. If they took another hit, they would die and be reborn back at Starting Plains while losing one tenth of their experience points and a third of their items.

Smugly, the catman advanced and stretched out both paws in preparation of its slashing attack. It brought them down just as its AI suddenly realised that it was strange that Kirito was not moving.

Too late

The catman let out a high-pitched scream as it was pierced by the dragon's attack. It was one of the first attacks she had learnt but she didn't bother mastering it at first since it took a relatively long time to charge. Even now, the skill was a little rusty and was rarely used. The damage it inflicted was high though and Kirito had just provided her with a chance. She flapped her wings twice and, on the third flap, sharp, black crystals detached themselves from the scales around her shoulder blades and shot toward the enemy. It was the dragon skill Scale Rain. The majority of them hit the catman's back and with a startled yowl, it shattered.

The cave's eerie atmosphere returned as a window popped up, showing Kirito the amount of EXP points, Col and items he had earned.

Patting Luna's head gently with his left hand, Kirito sheathed his sword and used a blue HP crystal to restore their health. He then opened his own window. His pet peered over his shoulder curiously. There weren't many extra items considering that there were six enemies. In fact there was only one.

'…saddle…' He muttered.

Saddle…

He looked at his pet and grinned.

The last few hours with Luna, they spent in the sky, soaring above the clouds. The saddle ability allowed Kirito to ride on her back as she flew. It felt truly exhilarating; speeding through the sky and flying above the island. The virtual wind brushed past his face and he breathed in the fresh scent of the air. He was just starting to get drowsy when-

'Whoah!' He shouted as Luna suddenly dived, a deep purr rising from her throat. If he didn't know better, he would've sworn he just heard the laugh of a little girl coming from her mouth.

Don't you dare fall asleep.

'I wasn't going to fall asleep!' He exclaimed but she responded with a snort of disbelief.

Oh really? But you'd better stay awake to see this. She seemed to say as she glided under the clouds.

Kirito gasped at the view. The whole of Schädella lay under him-The Forbidden Forest, the ocean, the Island of the Wandering…

And Haze…the gaping hole in the centre looked truly frightening as if it could swallow up anything and everything. He felt Luna shiver slightly.

From his position, the stone bridge stretched out over the crater and seemed to be suspended in mid-air. At the tip was the Portal that had transferred him to floor seven, the deepest accessible floor after three months. It glowed faintly as a few players teleported back to the surface with their tamed beasts following behind them. Kirito looked at the group. He had never understood what friends were.

Or perhaps he did, but had forgotten.

Luna whistled lightly and he shook away his unhappy thoughts. They circled around in the sky for a bit longer. The sky was already very dark and a full moon shone through a thick layer of mist. He opened his menu and checked the time-

22:59:59. the numbers flashed.

23:00:00

At midnight, the beta testing would end and all the players still in BTO would be automatically logged out.

Kirito wondered what they should do for the last sixty minutes but it seemed that Luna had already planned it for him. She nudged his back and squawked.

Ne…lets go to that yummy-looking restaurant! Her stomach growled.

Kirito grinned and rubbed her head.

'Why not? We may as well spend the money while we still have it.' He said as his stomach also growled.

He saw Luna try to raise her scaly eyebrow.

Isn't it because you're hungry?