[SP-F1] Riff-Raff, Street Rat [Complete]

[Lycan 0]

Where does one even begin after being told your consciousness has been sealed into a video where "Game Over" is meant in the most literal sense? Well, usually with a complete and utter breakdown. After that is out of the way, shake it off like Taylor Swift and get out into the world. If freedom means beating the game, then start playing.

Lycan, in his finite wisdom, decided to forego the instruction booklet clipped to the inside of the SAO game case and jump right in. How was he to know he was signing some sick blood pact with the game creators? Regardless, he was here and this was now. Lycan spent his time frequenting the marketplace. Here, NPCs, PCs, and Information Brokers flocked in droves. Of everything being bought and sold, nothing compared to information. Surprises in this game didn't just cause a pair of sweaty palms and a damp controller. No, they caused full fledged panic attacks and fights for your life.

Lycan wasn't ready for that. Not yet. Instead, he found himself doing what any veteran RPG gamer would do:

Edited February 20, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

"Hello!" Lycan greeted with a wave of his hand. The girl he locked eyes with smiled and offered him a curt bow.

"Hello, sir!" she chimed back in a sweet, melodic voice. Her head tilted with a smile and a few rogue locks of her fuchsia hair danced across her cheeks. "How are you today?"

Lycan took a minute to take in the gravity of that question. Were SAO what he thought it was when he bought the game, his response would have been something along the lines of, 'Freaking Amazing!'. Instead, he went with:

"Considering I just involuntarily dropped out of school, forgot to pay rent for lord knows how long, and signed up as a full time game tester to a game on initial release and likely prone to bugs, I could be better!"

Considering she was an NPC, Lycan knew he probably should have kept it simple, but who better to vent frustrations to than someone with a set dialogue?

[Lycan 0]

The girl's expression soured with a frown, one very unbecoming of her warm and modest design. Lycan raised a brow.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir. Many of the new adventurers seemed troubled as of late. I do hope your day improves." Her tone was sincere, fluid, and natural.

"Uh..." replied Lycan, jaw agape as a few of the nearby onlookers cracked smiles or giggled to themselves.

"Is she really an NPC?" he thought. "I've heard of context sensitive dialogue chains... but..."

"Yeah, me too." Curiously, the teen boy approached the girl and jut his face close to hers. Immediately, she reeled back with arm held up defensively and a rosy hue upon her cheeks.

"C-can I help you?" she stammered.

"Wow," Lycan mumbled. "So real. So this is the Cardinal System that Game Informer talked about."

"E-excuse me?" she asked, increasingly uncomfortable. 

[Lycan 0]

"Sorry! Sorry!" Lycan backed away from her, hands up and embarrassment on his face. "How disrespectful of me. Please forgive my rudeness."

The girl eyed him with caution, but returned to her usual fixed posture with both hands resting on a basket filled with colorful carnations.

"I'm just not used to such... uh... lovely aroma!" he tried to correct.

"Ew, no, that sounds like I wanted to sniff her..." he internally struggled.

"I mean the flowers! The flowers smell great!" he blurted to much of the few onlookers' amusement.

"Nailed it."

The girl smiled, hefting the basket closer to her chest.

"They're wild carnations from the field! I pick them daily! Would you like one, only 15 Col?" she chimed.

"No, no," Lycan dismissed. "Not today, I'm all out of Col. Wait... You said you pick them from the field? What about the Wolves and Boars out there?"

"They don't bother me very much. It must be the scent of the flowers that keeps them calm. So long as I don't scare them or get too close, they leave me alone!" The young girl swayed her basket rhythmically. 

[Lycan 0]

"Out of the way, kid." Thundered a deep, booming voice followed by a meaty hand on Lycan's shoulder.

Lycan turned just in time to get a glimpse of a man clad in full plate minus the helmet. The green chevron above his head indicated a player, same as the two new looking and equally attractive female players behind him. Before Lycan could give way to them, he felt the cold cobbles of the street collide with his tailbone. Lycan winced, only to find the pain far less minimal than the times he recalled in the real world. He was pleasantly surprised and grateful, but that quickly turned to anger at the looming monolith of a man.

"Hey!" Lycan shouted. "What gives?!"

The player didn't respond and the two ladies looked down upon him silently - one with a smile, the other with bangs hiding her eyes and spear tucked close to her heart.

"Prick," Lycan mumbled.

"Here you go, ladies, a stack of five flowers for each of you," the large dolt spoke as he opened the trade menu to both of them. "Use these while we're out in the field. They keep the monsters from generating hate within their threat radius. So long as you stay out of melee range, they won't attack."

Both ladies chimed in their appreciation with either a slight bow or curtsy of their war skirts. The giant's gruff expression softened. Lycan assumed this to be the closest thing to a smile that meat head could manage. The teen dusted himself off out of habit and rose to his feet. The giant snarled a lip at him before returning his attention to his party members.

"Come on, girls. Let's see about getting you some potions and crystals next." The brute motioned toward one of the many player ran shops peppered with elegant vials and sparkling crystals. "Every player needs to keep some HP consumables on their person at all times..."

The trio melded into the crowd and out of Lycan's vision. Thankfully, that rude encounter provided some benefit. Now, he knew that this girl's flowers weren't just some cosmetic item. She was, in fact, a vendor.

[Lycan 0]

"Are you okay?" Lycan heard from behind him. A familiar voice. He turned to see the flower girl looking at him with concern. Again, the young gamer was surprised at the complexity of design this game offered.

Even if it was a mass slaughterhouse...

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"My pleasure! Will you be needing anything else from me today?"

"Actually, where exactly do you pick these flowers? Just curious?" Lycan asked as he squinted to read the display name faintly hovering over her head. The more he desired to see it, the more opaque it became until it read, Flower Girl, Aeris.

"Wasn't that from some really old game? I swear I remember dad rambling on about something to do with a katana dude killing her off? Whatever..."

"Oh yes! If you take the west gate and head southwest, you can find a lovely field of them. Be careful though, sometimes Killer Bees frequent there and unlike the other animals, they're attracted to the flowers!" Aeris replied.

At that moment, a small semi-opaque prompt flashed in front of Lycan's face with a melodic chime.

"Optional Quest: Flower Picking
Giver: Flower Girl, Aeris
Location: Floor 1 Fields
Details: Journey to the Southwest of the West Gate
and find the field of Wild Carnations & harvest
(5) Wild Carnations.
Reward: (5) Wild Carnations.
Accept?
Yes or No"

[Lycan 0]

"Oh, well... Guess that's how quests work..." Lycan mumbled to himself after poking the 'yes' button.

Surprisingly, the menu yielded a slight haptic feedback like tapping a thin piece of plastic. Another chime sounded, the prompt vanished, and in the far upper right edge of his vision, a small icon in the shape of a scroll with an icon began to flash.

"How the hell do I..." he muttered, waving his hand as if swatting at invisible insects. In that motion, his arm spanned one fluid horizontal arc with an open palm, and another chime sounded. This time, a full menu appeared.

"Okay... let's try that again."

Lycan waved his hand and the menu disappeared. Once more, and the menu reappeared. This time, his attention was drawn to the blinking notification similar to the one in the top right of his hud. He pressed it and a list of active quests pulled up, Aeris's being the only one.

"Good, I can work with this," he muttered.

"You okay over there?" Aeris asked, breaking the boy from his studious trance. He waved his hand to dismiss the menu.

"Yep! Totally fine! Thanks for your help, Aeris!" Lycan bowed slightly in formality. Aeris returned the gesture.

"Then I hope you have a fantastic day! Sword's blessing upon you!"

"Uh... you as well?"

Then, Aeris directed her attention forward to the crowd, her eyes always on the nearest player as they passed.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

The young teen began to feel a little more confident with the game. With the menu down and quest system operational, he just needed to figure out... everything else. Great.

Lycan took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders, and cracked his neck. Wait, his neck? The game picks up on that too? Impressive. He looked around the streets, from medieval shingled building to dark and mysterious alley. He tried to discern the next NPC to talk to, but struggled to differentiate player from non-player. With so many people moving through the streets with green chevrons over their heads, it became nearly impossible to tell which chevron belonged to what avatar. 

Until, his amber gaze fell on on a shaded, hooded figure sitting atop what could have been boxes in a dark, shaded alley.

"What the...?"

He narrowed his gaze, activating the system's built in analytic function like he did with Aeris. However, the more he narrowed his gaze, the more he realized it wasn't working like before. Lycan raised a brow.

"Maybe I have to get closer?"

The boy started sifting through crowd, everyone moving towards something equally important to them. He bumped shoulders, caught a hilt or two against the top of his head, and gathered a few obscenities from stressed players further inconvenienced by his actions. As Lycan approached, he noticed something even more peculiar about this mystery figure.

Not only did it look like it had fangs, but that its eyes were glowing.

"A monster in town?" Lycan thought to himself as he slipped into the alley. The figure rose, and turned to him. Its hands, or arms hid beneath the black shawl it wore.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

Spoiler

 ID# 48557 results:

 Battle: 10

 Craft: 2

 Loot: 15

 MOB: 5

"You, boy." Its voice was deep, growling, almost primal.

"Me?" Lyan asked, his head turning left, right, and every which way.

"Yes, you." Each word sounded foreign, like a second language spoken by a tourist to a far off land. Lycan watched it extend a finger toward him, a finger with a long, pointed talon fixed on the end.

The young teen felt a shiver crawl up his spine and put the hairs at the base of his neck on end.

"It's not a monster, right? Monsters don't talk. Is it a glitch? Oh god, am I going to die?"

Just then, the identifying data appeared over the avatar's hooded figure. Unlike Aeris, it appeared as though it were made of static fading into view. What Lycan saw only confused him more:

??????, &# %he Beast Arts

"Why are you here?" It asked.

"I-I don't know? I'm new?" the statements came out at questions. Something didn't feel right. Lycan wanted to flee, but something bound his feet to the cobblestones. An invisible tether? Fear?

"Why are you here?" It asked again. This time, taking a step closer. As its foot hit the stones, an uncomfortable clicking noise echoed in the alley.

"This is not good."

"I-I'm just trying to figure out how to survive? I don't know!" Lycan's fear raised his voice to a near shout. Passer's by from the main street looked to him with concern and confusion.

"What does it mean to survive?" it asked, taking another threatening step forward.

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"What does it mean to survive?" it repeated.

"What is that kid doing?" Lycan heard someone whisper behind him.

"I have no idea, talking to air? He must've snapped," came the hushed reply.

"You don't see that thing?!" Lycan shouted, pointing at the hooded figure.

"What does it mean to survive?" it asked again, nearly breathing on the teen.

"I don't know! Strength?! Power?! Courage?! I don't know!!" the teen cried out, his feet still frozen.

"Can you bear the mark?" it asked.

"Mark?!" Lycan repeated in a frenzy.

It reached out its clawed finger closer and closer to Lycan's face. Lycan reeled back, but still could not move. Then, the claw touched the teen's forehead and eerily traced down to Lycan's chest.

"You, boy, are marked by The Beast..." its guttural words rang like church bells in Lycan's head, forcing the boy to his knees with both hands clapped to the side of his skull.

"Survive..." Lycan heard, this time more distant.

Then, he heard the chime of a new window. The ringing subsided, and Lycan opened his amber eyes.

Item Received!
Name: Mark of The Beast
Quality: ???
Shop: ??????, &# %he Beast Arts
Description: You bear The Mark.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

"What. The. Hell?" Lycan rasped between heavy breaths.

The alley way was once again empty, dark, and lifeless.

"Is he having a breakdown?" the youth overheard from behind him.

"Hey, kid! You okay?" another shouted.

Lycan turned to the crowd that had gathered at the alley's opening. Eyes of over a dozen gazed back at him with whispers on their lips and concern in their eyes.

"Did you see that thing?! The NPC?!" Lycan asked, pointing to an empty alley.

"Nope, just you kid. Talking to yourself and acting awfully strange."

"Yep, he's lost it."

"What a freak!"

"Come on, let's go grind some Col..."

"Loser..."

"No, really!" Lycan shouted. "There was someone here! An NPC! It had claws!"

"Must be one of those role players? Kinda sick... This isn't a game..."

"Psh, what a looney."

"Really! It was there!" Lycan shouted, but by this time, the last of the onlookers carried on to their intended tasks leaving the boy to himself and the item screen in front of him.

[Lycan 0]

In the cool shadows, atop damp cobblestones, alone, and overwhelmed by the situation this game had become, Lycan sat in silence. The small item window hovered just in front of his face, still visible even with his head hung low. His eyes focused neither here nor there. As he sat, the world moved on... without him.

"What the hell is going on? That had to be a quest giver, right?" Lycan asked in his head. "Why couldn't they see him? Did they complete that quest already?"

Name: Mark of The Beast
Quality: ???
Shop: ??????, &# %he Beast Arts
Description: You bear The Mark.

"What the hell is the Mark of The Beast? Why is part of it all static?" Lycan's mind filled with numerous questions. VRMMO's were far different than anything he had ever played before. If something like this happened in a console, he'd assume it was a glitch.

"Wait. What if this was a glitch?" he thought, finally rising to his feet. The only way he would find his answers would be to seek them out. Lycan had overheard of people called "Information Brokers". Perhaps they might be of some use.

The boy stood, dusted his pants off, and rejoined the swath of bodies moving in the streets. Information Brokers frequented the marketplace, it was only a matter of time.

[Lycan 0]

As the boy wandered through the streets, he began to grip at his left arm. His face twisted in concern as the dull ache continued. In the corner of his vision, he checked for status ailments. Instead, he saw his normal HP at full bar, crisp and new as the day he logged in. Yet, his arm still ached and more than the usual pain inhibitors prevented. As he continued to search for a broker, the pain stretched further up to the shoulder. There, it stopped, and the whole arm now ached.

"Something is definitely not right. God, I hope something isn't happening to me in the real world..." he thought as he contemplated people breaking into his apartment and doing god knows what. Hopefully, he had already been moved someplace like a hospital. He had heard of some players just collapsing in the streets. Other players chalked the reason up to the user's body giving out in the read world from hunger, or dehydration.

He felt his heart race at the thought. Was that his real heart? Was that the game?

Thankfully, his attentions were distracted as he pinpointed a cloaked player surrounded by several others. This player stood alone, no stand, no shop. Instead, he managed a menagerie of windows and popups with the several players nearby.

"An Information Broker."

Hurridly, Lycan rushed to the group, his arm still clutched in hand.

[Lycan 0]

"...here's the map data. That'll be 2k Col," the information broker continued.

"Hey! Hey! I need your help!" Lycan interrupted, the nearby players giving way to him.

The information broker gave the boy a foul look.

"Can't you see I'm in the middle of something? Wait your turn," he spat.

Lycan shook his head.

"I can't! I need your help! My arm is on fire!"

The broker raised a brow. "Your arm looks fine to me. Your HP is at full... Go prank someone else, kid."

"No really! I saw this-this, thing in an alley! It did something to me!"

"Here you go, Calrex. Thanks for your business," the broker finished, closing out the menu he had open. One of the players shot Lycan a raised brow, then turned and left. "Alright, kid... Clearly you're a newbie. What's the name of the quest?"

"It's not a quest! At least, I don't think it is... It gave me an item, that's it!" Lycan continued, the grip on his arm growing tighter as the ache continued.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

"Sounds like a quest to me..." the broker added, his tone one of complete disinterest. "What's it called, kid?"

"Uh, the Mark of The Beast!"

"Hmm..." The broker swept his hand across him and an array of windows spread wide. Like a pianist from the future, he ticked, clicked, typed, and dragged. The longer he fiddled with his windows, the closer his brows pressed together.

"What? What is it?" Lycan asked, picking up an air of uncertainty from the broker.

"Mark of The Beast, you say?" the Broker continued to search, certain windows closing out and his gestures getting more aggressive. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, why?" Lycan winced, the pain now a stabbing sensation as if something pierced down to the bone. A muffled whimper escaped his lips.

The broker closed out of all his windows and leaned into Lycan.

"No such item in the data banks kid. You're not pulling my leg, are you?" The tone sounded threatening.

Lycan couldn't speak through clenched teeth. Instead, he only shook his silvered head and dropped to his knees.

The broker raised his brow. "Then show me. Pull up a trade window."

Lycan nodded, shook his head, then nodded. He took a deep breath to steel his concentration and swiped open his menu. He tapped the only icon he could assume was the inventory and found the item. He clicked it, but the item name only flashed red. Nothing happened. Lycan hit the item again.

"It's not working, I don't know how to trade!"

"Just click the item and hit trade, kid. Then put my name into the--"

"It's not working!" Lycan shouted, the pain ringing loudly in his head.

"Fine, no need to shout. Prick... I'll come to you." The broker walked around and behind Lycan then crouched to see his menu. "I don't see anything."

Lycan shook his head and pointed at the item tag. "Right there!"

"There's nothing there, kid." The Broker scoffed. "Real piece of work..."

The broker stood up, placed his boot on Lycan's afflicted shoulder, and shoved him to the cobblestones.

"You know there's people dying out there, right?! People with lives, families, and jobs?! Where do you get off playing pranks like this, huh? You make me sick. If this weren't a safe zone, I'd have my dagger to your throat," the broker spat.

"No! Really! I... I..." Lycan's voice began to trail. The world in his vision waved, blurred, and dimmed. Breathing became heavy. Pain became dull.

Then, darkness.

[Lycan 0]

Did you know that even in this game, people still dream? Though the game itself is one elaborate, horrible nightmare, one can still dream. Sweet dreams, old memories, possible futures, and indescribable horror...

From the darkness, Lycan felt a sharp pain in his side. He glanced down to find a massive beast's claw buried deep in his flesh. Blood freely seeped from the wound and a howl filled the air. Lycan tried to open his mouth to scream, but sutures held it shut. He felt the claw dig deeper, his body writhing uncontrollably, his mind swathed with madness. His hands clawed at it, pulled at the fur, and flailed for something to grip onto. They found nothing, just endless void in a sea of black.

Then, from the pitch, two yellow dots shown in the distance. Fighting the gut wrenching torture and bleeding from taught sutures at his lips, Lycan found himself uncontrollably focused on the lights as they drew close. Lights became eyes. Eyes became a snarling snout, and soon the head of the beast came into view. It encroached within hair's breadth of his face. The heat of it's breath burned a fire upon Lycan's skin, the whiskers close enough to brush his cheeks. Lycan tried to turn away, but his body only continued to writhe in pain.

Deep growling filled the air. The beast reeled back and opened its serrated maw. It poised to attack, to crush Lycan's head with its rows of ivory teeth.

Then, like a horror never seen before, something fleshy wiggled at the back of its throat. First a finger, then a whole hand. It slid forth, dripping with saliva and reached for him. Lycan tried to scream only to produce muffled tones. It reached closer.

Closer.

Closer...

"Take my hand!"

Edited February 19, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

Lycan shot up, screaming, heart beating wildly, sheets drenched in sweat. His ears rang and vision struggled to focus. Wildly his hand patted his side where the beast claw held perch on his flesh.

Nothing.

His breathing, still panicked, began to slow. It was then, he felt a pressure in his opposing hand. Shocked and frightened, he spun about and scrambled to his back against the wall.

"Easy! Easy!" the voice sang sweetly and softly. "You're okay, you're fine. Calm down."

The blurred edges came into focus on a woman's face. Her magenta hair fell in waves over her shoulder and across ornately embroidered cloth. She smiled at him and two concerned people stood behind her. Lycan recognized one as the Information Broker. The other was unknown.

"What happened, where am I?" Lycan asked, his voice hoarse and rattled.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Lycan

[Lycan 0]

"Relax, you're at the Inn," the woman cooed. "These two gentlemen carried you in. They said you passed out in the streets."

"After this guy kicked you, of course," the unknown stranger chimed in.

"Sod off!" The Broker retorted, scowling. "I thought the kid was yanking my chain."

"Enough you two," the woman scolded before she turned back to Lycan. "How do you feel?"

"Good question..." Lycan thought, beginning to regain his whereabouts. He patted himself, chest, legs, arms, and face. He took a few breaths and shook his head. In the top corner of his vision, his health bar read full. Everything seemed fine. Even the pain in his arm had vanished. However, what he wasn't prepared for was to find his tunic completely missing and to be sitting bare chested in a bed surrounded by unknown people. His eyes grew wide.

"Why am I topless?! Where's my shirt?!" Lycan howled. The woman smiled softly.

"Sorry about that. I needed to remove your equipment to make sure I didn't miss any injuries, curses, or markings. Plus, I thought you would be more comfortable sleeping this way without getting your clothes sopping wet."

As she spoke, Lycan hurriedly produced his menu, selected his gear, and equipped it back on.

"I didn't find anything unusual," the woman continued, "Except..."

"Except what?!" Lycan interrupted as he tugged his clothes to a more comfortable fit.

"The broker said you were new at this game, but how long have you had that tattoo?" she asked, pointing to Lycan's forearm.

[Lycan 0]

"Tattoo?" Lycan asked. He began to roll up his sleeve until the marking came into view. 

On his forearm near the bend of his elbow it sat. Lycan's eye grew wide. Instinctively, he tried to rub off the mark as if it were made of ink. The mark remained.

"What the hell is that?!" Lycan shouted.

"That is a tattoo," the broker added. "In fact, tattoos are pretty rare in SAO. The makers of the NerveGear specifically intended the scan to prevent tattoos from translating into the game. Reasons being, the tattoos would be offensive to some players and a violation of the Terms of Service. So, tattoos in game are exceptionally rare. Only a few recorded players have them. Now, apparently, you do." 

Images of the nightmare flashed through his mind and a dull pain radiated from the mark. Just then, the words of the strange NPC came to mind.

"Well, I determined it doesn't seem to be a curse or anything that can harm you," the woman added.

"Some tattoos add permanent stats, other ones are purely cosmetic. I've never seen that one," The broker added, pointing at the mark. "Is that the Mark of The Beast you mentioned?"

"The mark?"

Lycan quickly pulled his menu back up and flipped to the inventory screen. The item in question sat there in the menu, but this time it was grayed out. Lycan raised his brow.

"It's grayed out?" Lycan remarked. "It still won't let me select it."

The Broker and red head leaned in to look. The broker shook his head.

"Still nothing. It's blank to me."

"Me too," added the woman. "It's blank."

"I believe you though," the broker added.

[Lycan 0]

"So, is it a quest?" Lycan asked, still a novice at the game.

"No, I can't say that it is. If it is a quest, it's one no one else has discovered," the broker added.

"Well, I think my job here is done. Are you sure you feel alright?" asked the women.

Lycan took a deep breath. This first day of initiative proved far more overwhelming than he had originally intended. So much happened in the last few hours, his head still felt cloudy from the events.

"Yeah..." Lycan sighed. "Thanks for the help."

"I'll be on my way then. I hear they're about to clear the thirteenth floor." The woman pat Lycan on the head before standing and turning to the broker.

"Althina..." the broker bowed to the woman. She bowed back.

"Axios," she mentioned back before passing by him and exiting through the door. 

"Hey, kid," Axios began. "I'm going to send you a contact request. If you need anything, let me know. Sorry about earlier, and let me know if anything happens with that Mark you talked about."

A window popped up beside Lycan with Axios' request. Almost as if puppeteered by an unseen force, Lycan hit accept. He remained quiet. Somber. 

[Lycan 0]

Axios pursed his lips. Humility possessed his features with a tinge of pity.

"Hey kid," Axios commented. Lycan looked up. "Good luck."

Then, Axios followed suit and left with Althina. The unknown contributor kept in tow with Axios, leaving Lycan to himself in the Inn room.

"What is going on?" Lycan asked inwardly. "Why is this happening to me? Isn't this being a death game enough?"

Lycan ran his fingers through his damp hair. As his arm came to rest beside him, his eyes fell on the mark. Another dull pain radiated from it.

"What are you?" Lycan asked to the mark.

At that very moment, a haunting growl crossed his mind. A familiar growl, similar to the unknown NPC that caused this whole ordeal.

"Survive...."