[SP-F1] Preparation [Complete]

[Cayden 0]

"Japan's #1 speed runner huh?"

"Mhm... yeah."

"Then what the hell are you still doing here!" Reiji's kick landed squarely on the left side of Cayden's body, and while it inflicted neither pain nor damage, the sheer force of the blow threw him out of his chair and sent him rolling across the floor of the cottage. "You said that you were going to speed run the game, that you'd clear it in less than two years... but you haven't left town since we got back!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Cayden said, both hands raised up in front of him to ward off further blows, his face a mixture of appology and bemusement at his young friend as he pointed to the desk. "Just let me get back to my stuff and I'll show you why I'm still here."

Slightly mollified, Reiji stepped away, no longer looming over his friend and allowing him to stand once again. The pair of them proceeded to the desk, and for the first time Reiji got a look at the myriad papers and diagrams that littered it, along with two new items. One was a sword, a dull grey slice of lifeless metal that still seemed to exude power. The other were a short pair of gauntlets, a mixture of brown and grey leather.

[Cayden 0]

"You've probably never participated in a speed run of a game before, but it is very different from other sorts of gaming." Cayden began, slipping back into his seat and sliding a piece of paper across the table. His handwriting was almost illegible, but a trio of Chibi doodles of himself in the margin seemed to exist to clarify things somewhat.

"The first thing you need for a Speed Run is an uncompromised understanding of the mechanics. Now since we don't know anything about what is past floor 8 our information is limited, so when I'm focusing on is basic systems."

"Basic... systems?"

"Mhmm" Cayden continued with a nod, pointing to his three drawings. "This page for instance, is my overview of the defensive systems in Sword Art Online. Right now there are three distinct variants. Parry, Block and Evasion. The mechanics for each share some similarities but the end result of each is very different. So which one should I use?"

"I... I'm not sure. Which one is the best?" Reiji asked after a moment of staring at the diagrams, his knowledge hungry eyes turned towards Cayden.

"That's the trick isn't it?" He reached across the table, pulling a makeshift spreadsheet from the piles and placing it next to the overview. "This covers everything I've learned about players who use each of the defensive options. Their survivability, the amount of skill points used in the process and so forth."

[Cayden 0]

"The short version is that each has their own benefit or niche. Parry is wonderful for players who drastically increase their own damage, as it allows them to slowly whittle down their opponent. Block is useful in that it always allows for a counter attack, meaning that a blocker would most frequently want to go hit for hit, relying on their armor. Evasion is by far the most risky, since a failed evasion means an inability to strike back, but if maxed out evasion allows for a player to avoid all damage entirely while doing full damage in response."

"Uh... huh."

"That was a little long, wasn't it." Cayden said with a small laugh, before pushing his finger down onto the picture of himself in light armor jumping back from an attack. "Evasion is going to be my focus at higher levels. Currently it isn't effective enough to matter, and I'll be increasing my defenses and relying on block for dealing with low level mobs. Once I have my feet under me however, I'm going to be focusing less on absorbing hits, and more on not taking them in the first place."

"It took you two days to figure that out?" Reiji asked, annoyance plain on his face even as Cayden gave him a playful shove.

"Not just that Reiji. I had to decide what weapon to focus on, the order in which to build up my stats, I'm still somewhat uncertain what profession, if any I should be undertaking. Alchemist seems strong... since there are already a lot of smiths... however..."

[Cayden 0]

"Okay, okay! I get it" Reiji insisted as he waved both hands in Cayden's direction, urging him to get to the point. "You have a lot of research to do. You said that is just the first part to a Speed Run."

"Oh, yeah." Cayden said with a blush, sitting up straight in his seat and reaching for another set of papers. "Once you understand basic systems, then you have to work on pathing. Again I don't know anything about the higher levels of Aincrad, but I can draw inferences, and especially in these low levels I can use information gained by other players to speed things along drastically. "

"It took five months for the assault teams to get to where they are, but I should be able to catch up in less than a month because I can use the data that they've provided to plot the most efficient routes. " He reached out again, pulling a map of the first floor out and spreading it across the table. "Moreover, there are patterns when it come to spawn placement. Not all the developers were as obsessive as the big man himself, so they reused information on monster placement and mechanics that should help me progress quickly through the upper levels."

[Cayden 0]

"So like a walkthrough?" Reiji asked.

"More or less, yeah." Cayden nodded with a smile. "I know where all the good quests are on these levels, I just have to decide the order in which I want to run through things, which is where all of this comes in. This is planning for months, even years in advance. But it isn't the most important part."

"Oh?"

"Mhmm. The most important part of any good speed run is the exploits. "

"Exploits?!" Reiji repeated, his head cocked to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Well when I was young I set a record for MegaManX. The way I did so was by finding sequence breaks, glitches and other errors that allowed me to advance more quickly than I should be able to." Cayden smiled at the memory, though it nearly faltered as his thoughts drifted to his absent father. "Sword Art Online is a very, very strong game but it isn't without its weaknesses. The Exp gained from certain types of monsters at certain levels, certain workarounds for quests... that is what is going to give me the advantage I need."

"And to do that you need to study." Reiji said, the realization at last dawning upon him.

"In a nutshell, yeah." Cayden said, turning back to his desk. "Don't worry though, I'll be out of here first thing in the morning. All the studying in the world won't help me if I don't go out there and work at it."

[Cayden 0]

True to his word Cayden was up just before dawn. He dressed quietly and after a deep, long breath entered into his inventory and selected the gear that had dropped for him a few days earlier.

Oathbreaker... how appropriate. He said with a sigh, turning the blade once over in his hand before sheathing it across the small of his back and taking one last glance in the mirror. He barely recognized himself, after spending six months in the browns and beige's of civilian clothing it was jarring to see himself dressed in the white vest and the grey leggings that had been part of his starter outfit. He looked like a fighter, albeit a bit of a beginner.

"Sorry dad." He spoke softly to his own reflection. Even as a VR representation, the resemblance between himself and his father had always been uncanny, apart from the goatee anyways. "Looks like I'm going to break that oath after all."

Not for the first time he considered if the sword was some sort of message from the system, making his way downstairs as he did so. After a few hours spent asking around the day before he'd received no evidence that anyone else had found a blade with the same name. But was it too arrogant of him to wonder if Kayaba Akihiko, or one of his henchmen or programs had left the blade specifically for him. Or was he just ascribing agency to coincidence?

[Cayden 0]

"Good Luck!" The sudden cacophony of voices nearly bowled him over in fright as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Had he not been lost in thought he'd have heard the murmurs, or perhaps the patter of little feet running around the common living space

"You guys!" He said with little confidence and even less sense, one hand still holding his chest as though he were afraid of a coming heart attack. The children didn't care about his sudden frailty however, and the dozen of them mobbed him with hugs, cheers and good wishes, the simple weight of them forcing him back against a wall as he gave thanks to each in turn.

At the rear of the crowd stood Reiji and Anastacia beneath a glitter covered banner with a host of messages ranging from 'good luck!' to 'do your best!'. The young man was grinning ear to ear, clearly doing his best to be the confident new man of the house, while Anastacia merely struggled to hold back her tears.

It took several minutes for him to say his goodbyes to each of his young wards. To some the goodbye was tear-filled and frightening, others saw it as an adventure and begged to come with even as he gave them the same advice, to stay there, to concentrate on their studies and get ready for their return to reality.

[Cayden 0]

When at last he emerged from the throng Reiji was waiting to meet him, his hand outstretched for a handshake Cayden was more than glad to give. No words passed between them, everything that needed to be said had already been said on that moonlit night days ago. He had a job to do, and after a steady look into Cayden's eyes, Reiji nodded and stepped aside, corraling the remaining kids into the kitchen so the two of them could 'have a moment.'

"Anastacia..." Cayden started, only to be set nearly aflame in his blushing as the kids 'oohed and ahhed' behind him. A harsh glance was all it took to set them running, and after a hard swallow he started again. "Ana-"

"Don't. Okay?" She said, lifting a finger to press it to his lips before he could get past the first word of the speech he'd prepared to give her. "Just don't die. And come back to us often as you can. I'll take care of them, and we'll all meet up for ice cream or something when we get home for real. Alright?"

"I... yeah. Okay." He said softly, stepping up against her to wrap his arms around the smaller girl's shoulders. "Thank you Anastacia. I wouldn't have made it this far if not for you and the kids. Thank you and good luck."

[Cayden 0]

"Okay... Kobalds... Kobalds." Cayden murmured under his breath as he tapped at his menu options. He'd updated his map info to the most recent version only yesterday, and if the info he'd purchased was to be believed they should have been right.... "There!"

He'd never been so happy to see a mob before.

The «Kobald» was one of the centerpieces of his early game strategy. As a humanoid type monster the field «Kobald» was capable of using weapons, and more importantly, sword skills.

The lizard like creature stood a touch over six feet, though it lost nearly a foot of that due to its primal slouch. It was armed but unarmored, a wickedly curved blade gleaming in one hand as it stalked around the open field near the entrance to the floor's first dungeon.

«Kobald's» were the perfect enemy for a variety of reasons, their loot drops, their Col rewards but it was their ability to wield weapons and sword skills that most interested him. The typical enemy type of Floor One, and while simple to bring down, even in numbers, such beasts didn't give him what he needed most, practical experience in sword fighting.

With the possible exception of the Floor Bosses, the most threatening creatures in «SAO» were not monsters at all, but players and players universally used some form of Sword Skill in their combat style. Thus battles against Kobald's would level him up quickly, while at the same time providing combat experience that couldn't be directly measured in numbered statistics, information that might very well save his life.

[Cayden 0]

"Hey! Over here!" It wasn't the best strategy for pulling a monster that he'd ever used, but without access to even a simple ranged weapon his options were limited.

A few more undignified shouts and footsteps closer finally got the creature's attention, and Cayden reached back to take a hold of his blade, brandishing the dark grey metal before him as the creature charged with ferocious speed.

A curved blade. It'll probably start with «Reaver», which means I should go left and down and then... Cayden finished the thought with a motion, his sword glowing to a nearly white hue as the enemy's weapon burned with orange light, the two of them crossing over one another in their first exchange.

«Kobald»: 5/5 HP -4

«Cayden»: 9/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

"Gotcha!" Cayden cheered in delight, his «Uppercut» had nearly taken the thing cleanly in two with a single blow, polygons streaming from the wound even as the both of them recovered. Clearly all of his studying and preparation for this had paid off.

Which didn't mean he shouldn't be wary of course. The mob's beady eyes were following him as he put some space between them, the pair circling one another under the hot sun, blades at the ready. It would be wary about attacking him recklessly with such low health, but that didn't mean it wasn't ready to cut him to ribbons if he was not careful, its blade flashing in the sunlight as it came down in a curved arc.

«Kobald»: 1/5 HP

«Cayden»: 9/9 HP -3

[Cayden 0]

"[censored]!" The sun glinting off the blade struck at his eyes, no doubt an intentional tactic as the Kobald pressed the attack. That single blow had taken nearly a third of his HP, and the monster would no doubt be happy to take the remaining two thirds in an instant.

"That is what I get for being so cocky." Cayden mused aloud, wondering just how much the AI construct was programmed to understand of his language. Its fanged face, filled with rage rather than bemusement or delight at its successful blow suggested that it wasn't much. It pressed the attack as he debated, and Cayden sought once again to dodge away from its Sword Skill, though he retaliated with a basic, unassisted swing.

«Kobald»: 1/5 HP -3 DEFEATED

«Cayden»: 9/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

Result

-------------------------------

Exp - 25

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Col - 0

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Items - 0

-------------------------------

Confirm

"Well that could have gone better." Cayden remarked with a soft sigh, reaching down to touch his shoulder where the wound had been. The physical mark on his body had already faded by the time he'd finished reading the violet status alert that had informed him of his usual Exp and other rewards for defeating the monster. "Could have gone worse too, I suppose."

The visible wound was gone, but the damage to his HP wasn't going anywhere just yet. It'd take quite some time with his current rate of regeneration to recover from the significant damage he'd already recieved, and he couldn't stay here to recover it if he planned to sit and wait.

Two thirds. I should be able to take at least one more, right? The strength of the enemy's attack had been unusual after all, a lucky break that had it landing flush against him. With his usual stats he should be able to bring these things down with relative ease.

[Cayden 0]

"Eh.. Who Dares Wins."

It wasn't hard to find his next target. The lizard like creatures still had a rather small Aggro bubble, and owing to their status as the outer guardians of the dungeon their distribution made it easy to encounter them one at a time, rather than risking the two's or three's at a time that field battles with things like «Frenzied Boars» sometimes provoked.

This one was standing a few hundred feet from the mouth of the dungeon proper, its back to the wall and none of its fellows within at least a hundred feet if not more. In short it was the perfect target, and Cayden eagerly charged it his blade ablaze with his newest sword skill «Piercing Dive», his first real charging attack.

«Kobald»: 5/5 HP

«Cayden»: 6/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

Evidently he needed more practice with it. The fierce glow that had adorned his blade sputtered, then died moments before his attack pierced the hide of his target. The sudden slow down made it an easy dodge for the «Kobald» who dodged contemptuously to one side.

Worse yet, it seized the opening its evasion had presented, its weapon upraised and gripped with both hands. It was an unusual attack for the mob that weilded a traditionally one handed weapon, but Cayden knew exactly what it was intended as. «Coup De Grace» an incredibly deadly skill considering his existing damage and off balance position!

«Kobald»: 5/5 HP

«Cayden»: 6/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

[censored]! Cayden acted without thinking, his whole body thrown to the right at the very instant the «recovery» for his attack was over. He could taste the smell of ozone as the fiery blade raked across where his body had been only a split second earlier, an attack that would have ended his burgeoning career in a heartbeat.

Is this what happened to dad? The thought came unbidden as Cayden readied his blade once more and bounded back to his feet, circling around the mob to avoid having his own back pinned against the stone of the dungeon's foundation. If my HP reaches zero... no! I can't allow that!

"I won't allow you to!" He cried nonsensically at the creature, tossing his blade from one hand to the other and as he started to dash in one direction only to activate «Horizontal» in the opposite direction, hoping the follow through would dodge its attack and land a powerful blow.

«Kobald»: 5/5 HP -2

«Cayden»: 6/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

A wave of satisfaction swelled up within Cayden, but was bottled up nearly as quickly. The attack had worked exactly as intended, save that the additional dodge had somewhat lowered the impact of the blow. Despite that he'd made a sizable dent in the «Kobald's» HP.

It wasn't enough however, and the two traded blows, swords clashing off one another without activated skills or abilities. It was already the longest battle he'd yet fought in Sword Art Online, and with each attempt being met by an equally skilled parry it was likely to continue for some time, despite the growing weariness in his limbs.

«Kobald»: 3/5 HP

«Cayden»: 6/9 HP -1

[Cayden 0]

After a few more rounds it quickly became apparent that Cayden was on the losing end of their exchanges. The «Kobald» was a relatively weak monster in the grand scheme of «SAO» but at the moment it simply had both a better constitution stat and more skill with unassisted fighting than he did.

I got greedy. Cayden admitted to himself, knocking away the most recent blow in the mob's relentless series of attacks. Despair struggled to rear itself within his mind once again, yet only the most animalistic impulses could get through to him now, Cayden's mind too occupied with the weight of his own blade, with the power of his opponent's swings to think of anything but laying into the creature with a move that had proved successful «Uppercut!»

«Kobald»: 3/5 HP -2

«Cayden»: 4/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

Clearly «Sword Arts» were the key to defeating this these beasts, as evidenced by the way the «Kobald» stumbled backward, polygon's bleeding out of another serious wound. He had the advantage once again judging by the greatly reduced red bar that detailed the meager amount of HP the mob had remaining.

Yet they were a double edged power. Even while the beast reeled away from the blow that had nearly slain it, its weapons were already lashing out, glowing with power of their own. Managing the «recovery» time was the key, but would he be able to do so in time!

«Kobald»: 1/5 HP

«Cayden»: 4/9 HP

[Cayden 0]

Yes! I can do this. It is just all about timing. Cayden grinned with renewed confidence, pivoting on one foot to avoid the clumsy counter attack that had been directed his way. The «Kobald» stumbled past him, growling and shrieking insults in its own language.

"Let's do this again sometime." Cayden taunted in reply, wondering again if the creature could understand him. Certainly it was impossible to tell whether the look of shock on its face had more to do with his words, or with the white flare of his blade as he returned the creature's favor from earlier with a powerful skill «Execute».

«Kobald»: 1/5 HP -3 DEFEATED

«Cayden»: 4/9 HP