Floor 46
December 24 – Year 2
Bladescape stood up. The front line was Floor 49, but she was on Floor 46 at the Ant Hill, barely into December the 24th, alone, grinding XP. The rest of the guild was sleeping, or should be, but soon, they would be doing various things, preparing for the festivities. Most were helping AFCK bake, Diemond decorate, or staying out of their erratic and eccentric ways.
They finally had their headquarters furnished. It had cost them a lot, but they paid for a designer that met Diemond’s standards. Now, the rest of the guild was preparing it for the Christmas Party tomorrow afternoon that would debut it. All of Fuurinkazan had already accepted the invitation. Agil was also going to be stopping in as well. Argo was a maybe, which was no surprise.
Bladescape wasn’t there right now for a reason though. Floor 25 was logistically harder than the previous floors. Floor 50 was going to be even worse. Bladescape was going to be the highest level, fastest fighter, strongest player she could be for the nightmare that was to come. The rest of the Wondercolts had been working hard and gaining levels at an astounding rate, thanks to Knightstar. They were all among the top players in the Assault Team.
That wasn’t enough for Bladescape. They had been trapped in here for over a year. In that year, they hadn’t even gotten to Floor 50, halfway to the goal. In that year, over 2000 players had died; too many by suicide and way too many because they went past their safety margin.
Floor 46 had the hottest grinding spot. A part of the map had caves and canyons, where ants filed out of several ant hills. They gave good XP, had low defense and hit points, but they did have a strong attack. You had to stay alert, especially when training in the middle of the night for hours. Because it was so popular, they had a rule limiting them to an hour per party before they had to go back to the end of the line.
Bladescape switched out with the Black Swordsman, Kirito, and entered the canyon. Only a few players were doing this solo, even at night. It wasn’t hard to do solo. At least not for Bladescape and the few other players like Kirito. The canyons prevented the ants from flanking the players too much.
The next ant came dutifully along and Bladescape unleashed a powerful single hit sword skill, Rapture. The strike had a low delay with high reward. It only made sense as she moved into the higher levels to provide almost a Sword Skill reset. Low cost skills with high power to offset the big difference in stats from the start.
The hour flew by and she switched out. A yawning party of six was next in line. Bladescape ate a cupcake AFCK had made and drank some water before setting an alarm for 90 minutes. It would give her some rest before she was up again.
Bladescape kept it up until mid morning on the 25th. Every few hours she was back in, grinding away and not backing down. The closer to the 25th it got, the less players there were. Bladescape got two solid hours in for her last go because no one was there to switch out. All of the missed sleep proved to be a worthy exchange as she hit level 68. A nice Christmas gift to herself.
Mishe was decorated nicely for the holidays. The NPCs did almost all the work. However, the festivities on the outside of their guild headquarters had been done by the Wondercolts. Diemond had done wonderful work on the decorations.
Bladescape opened the doors and sighed contently as she felt the warmth. Both the warmth of the air and the room. Mishe was cold to put them in the spirit. Again, Diemond had decorated the inside nicely. Much of the usual blue and gold had been switched out for red, green, and gold.
Bladescape stepped into the decorated guild hall and stopped. The temporary holiday set up had meant moving furniture from upstairs to the guild hall to make a nice lounge area for the time not around the dinner table. It was more accessible for food, drink, and a larger social set up. Diemond had even gotten a hold of a fir tree and decorated it, including boxes with presents. Their guests had also already arrived. Fuurinkazan was spread out among the chairs and Agil was also present. Bladescape glanced at her clock and saw she was the one who was late.
“Oops,” Bladescape said, unsure what else to do. Her sword was still visible on her back. Everything she was wearing was battle gear.
“Darling,” Diemond said from where she sat. “In front of your room is a little gift from me." Diemond waved her on gingerly with her fingertips. "Go up and change.”
“Right,” Bladescape chuckled. “I’ll be right back.”
The package outside her door was wrapped nicely in Sunset Shimmer's red and orange, and it had a bow that was the obvious work of Rarity. Bladescape opened the door and stepped inside, tossing the box onto the desk in front of her window. As soon as the door was closed she manipulated her menu and stripped her clothes off. She was just in her basic undergarments the game gave her to keep her modesty. She couldn’t take those off, but it was still exposing. However, Bladescape enjoyed the feeling of virtual near nakedness after the long hours wearing the same battle gear. Especially after sleeping in it.
Bladescape put the armor onto her armor stand to air it out. It didn’t need it, but she enjoyed doing it. It made her feel at ease. The same with hanging up her sword on the wall. She was safe, home, and she didn’t have to leap up and go anywhere. These were the moments she needed in between the long hours slaving away in the field. They always had a dangerous risk, even to the relatively safe leveling she had been doing against the ants.
Bladescape opened the package and found a dress. A dress that was Rarity’s take on her. In a few clicks it was on her body and she took a spin in front of her mirror. It was definitely her. It was a teal dress similar to the one she wore at the crystal ball at the end of Camp Everfree. It was less of a ball gown like that one and was styled more like a relaxed cocktail dress. It was a beautiful dress appropriate for this holiday occasion.
It took nothing for her to do her hair up and pin it with the fancy pin Rarity had provided. The package also had a set of earrings and necklace. They all were her sun symbol, the same one she always wore in real life. The symbol she was aching to wear again, but had set aside for the betterment of the guild. Her friends needed unity; they needed the Wondercolt horse head. They didn't need her sun symbol, but part of her needed the foundation and strength the horse symbol that her friends also wore gave her.
And yet, the jewelry felt extraordinarily good to wear. It felt right. She felt like her, and right now, that was okay. It was Christmas!
Bladescape did another turn in front of the mirror and determined that she was ready. Getting fancy in Sword Art Online was very easy. It was nice, but it did take away some of the charm, and it was a little anticlimactic. Clicking was rather boring.
Downstairs, she was immediately greeted by Klein. “Wow, you look smokin, Babe.” He was holding a mostly drained wine glass in his right hand as he sat, slouched in a chair.
Bladescape rolled her eyes and sat down with the others. Which was the seat over from Klein. Diemond gave her a glass of wine. Alcohol in Sword Art Online was for flavor and atmosphere. There was no way to get drunk. Still, the Wondercolts tended to avoid drinking it outside of special occasions. Boss battle victories were special enough, and Christmas certainly was.
“Where you back at the ant hill?” Klein asked.
“Yeah,” Bladescape sighed. “It was worth it though.”
“Dang. You and Kirito.”
“He left last night, before the evening got too late. I was shocked by that.”
“He went after Nicholas the Renegade, the Flag Mob. He got him too, solo. I’m surprised you girls didn’t. And guys.”
“We get it,” Kiefer shrugged. Rarity had made him a stunning suit that was festive and dashing. Joltron’s was just as dashing and unique as Kiefer’s. “Joltron and I are getting used to answering the general call. It is as it is. Joltron, Lessa, and I are the newcomers. Which is probably outdated because its been a year since Blade saved the three of us.
“Anyway, the seven of them are such good friends in real life, they just call the group girls so they don’t have to say every name. It's so ingrained into habit for them, we got swept up into the whole thing.”
Joltron chuckled. “We got used to being the girl guild. Chick guild, not cool. Girl guild, that’s fine. Its nine girls, two guys, that heavily tips us into the girl guild territory. And there are perks.” Joltron halted Klein. “Not those perks. Perks like these suits. I will never get a suit this nice in the real world.”
“Oh I can redo that I.R.L. easily,” Diemond interjected. “And I gladly will.”
“Perfect point right there,” Joltron grinned. “Amazing food by an expert baker and cook. And a whole lot more. These girls are amazing players and people. So I do not mind being in the girl guild.”
The conversation turned lighter after that. The talk about the game fizzled out pretty quick though. Life was more than just the year in here. Stories of the craziest things they had ever done began flowing. Not all of them had good stories.
“Craziest thing I have ever done was trying to take over my school,” Bladescape said. “We will leave it there. But that is how I became friends with the others. Well, not Knightstar, she joined us later.”
Knightstar immediately followed up. “I tried to take over their school too, during a ‘friendly’ inter-school competition. That’s when I ended up switching schools, because they were amazing girls who helped me recover from my mistakes.”
“Saved a movie,” Thunderborne said before they got sidetracked into the stories about them saving CHS. “Like, saved a big time movie production from going under because of a jealous niece who sabotaged it. And then I got to make my own cameo appearances in it!”
“That was all of us,” Bladescape chuckled. “We all did that.”
Thunderborne huffed, annoyed she didn’t get to reap all of the focus for the movie story.
“Well,” Diemond said. “You have seen some of my work, but outside here I am even better. And the craziest thing I have ever done was that I was the lead designer for a parade. A parade that was way behind schedule for its costumes and! The overseer who hired me kidnapped my friends and I had to save them, and still make sure the parade went off perfectly.”
“We do a lot of weird things,” Backbreaker explained. “We saved a summer camp from a money hungry hound who wanted to turn it from a summer camp into spa resort. It got even more interesting, quick. But that also makes it mighty difficult to explain.”
“We won a battle of the bands,” Doombunny added. “And against a really evil band of girls who just wanted everyone to be angry and unkind. They were real meanies.”
“It was a weird year,” Bladescape chuckled. “A really weird year for a group of high schoolers. We haven’t had time to do anything as crazy or stupid as you guys have pitched.”
“DINNER TIME!!!” AFCK screamed excitedly as she bounded into the room. She was covered in flour.
“Wow,” Agil said. “I have never gotten that dirty cooking in here before. I don’t even know if I have gotten that dirty cooking in the real world. And I own a cafe!”
“Dirty?” AFCK asked, looking at herself. “If you mean the flour, I didn’t get dirty from cooking, this is how I always cook. Flour isn’t optional attire, silly!”
“And that is why you don’t ask AFCK the same question,” Thunderborne poked. “But let’s eat!”
“YAY!” AFCK bounced. “Also, Argo just arrived.”
AFCK ripped opened the guild hall doors that connected to the greeting chamber. Other players could enter the greeting chamber, but they had to be let in further by a guild member. Argo’s hand was up since she was just about to knock when the doors were thrown open.
“Did you all know I was here, or was it just her?” Argo asked, referencing AFCK.
“Just her,” Diemond chuckled. “You will get used it.”
“I hope not to,” Argo stated as she stepped inside. “But nice set up here. You guys bought prime real estate.”
“We moved the furniture from the second floor to here for the party,” Diemond explained. “We never would have found the decorator without your help. She was divine.”
“I’m glad she held up to your standards,” Argo winked.
“Diemond,” Bladescape said standing up. “Why don't you show our guests to the dining room. We will go help AFCK bring everything over."
AFCK had outdone herself. Besides several types of meats and poultry, none of which existed in real life, she had fish, a vegetable stew, a few pasta dishes, multiple sides, and the pies were cooling off. AFCK had somehow mastered keeping food warm longer than it was supposed to keep.
The wine and ale stock was steadily going down as they neared the end of the feast. They had cleaned the table off well, ensuring there would be no left overs to eat later. The guys in Fuurinkazan could really put it away. They could go toe to toe with Astro, Thunderborne, and Backbreaker. Agil was also a strong competitor for that.
“I have never had such good food in the game before,” Klein praised. The rest of Fuurinkazan mirrored his statement.
“Man, that was way better than last Christmas,” Agil added. “I really must give compliments to the chef.”
“Awwwww,” AFCK sighed both thankfully and sadly. “But thanking the chef usually means goodbyes.”
“I do need to go,” Argo said, standing up. “My life doesn’t stop. Many of the players are still active today.”
“Wait,” Diemond said, jumping up happily. “I wanted to give our guests something.” Diemond opened her window and a set of small boxes popped into her arms. “I just started a new skill, jewelry making. Don’t feel bad, I have a lot of extra ones laying around right now. But these were the best. We can’t possibly use them all, so I wanted to share the love.
“I don’t know what you already have, so if you can’t use it, sell it. I won’t be hurt. I just enjoy giving my heart and being generous to all who can use it!”
“Wow,” Agil said holding up a ring. “This enchantment is quit good for a new skill. I typically don’t wear any jewelry, opting to sell the pieces instead. I run a business after all. But this, I will keep this for personal use. Thanks Diemond.”
“Dang,” was all Argo said, picking up her necklace. It was a swirl of gold and silver holding a blue gem in the center. “This is really good. Especially for a new skill.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Klein stammered. “Absolutely unbelievable. This upgrades one of my rings by a good amount. I didn’t even know you could make enhancing jewelry. This game really does have an unlimited set of skills.”
“Several players are near, if not maxed, in the skill,” Argo dryly stated. “It has been a year already.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Bladescape said, standing up.
Argo had been ready for a while. She still didn’t like crowds, despite having dealt with half the guilds and major players at some point. She was no stranger to Agil or Klein. She was a well known hermit of sorts.
“Thanks for coming,” Bladescape said as she showed her out.
“Thanks for having me. This was a lot better than last year. I was eating half stale bread in the field as I worked to figure something out on Floor 4.”
After showing Argo out, Bladescape discovered the party had shifted back to the guild hall. It was nice having guests over, and it was a holiday. They all had earned a break. The morning would bring the death game back into focus.
Eventually, Diemond showed Agil out, who was the last guest to leave. It had gotten late. He was definitely missing his wife this Christmas. Despite the shop and all he had to do, he delayed leaving and heading back to an empty home, and the memories of a wife and another missed Christmas.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Diemond told the Wondercolts. “You didn’t think I would just give you those outfits, do you? The presents under the trees are not just for decoration. Although, I admit, many of the box sizes will be deceiving. I chose the sizes for the atmosphere.”
Joltron, Kiefer, Lessa, and Astro all got necklaces with finely etched gemstones that had their own symbols, just like the Wondercolts. The Wondercolts also got their own, but they were nearly exact copies of the geodes they had back in the real world. Each necklace boosted their personal stats, as close to how they were in the real world. The girls were given: Strength for Backbreaker, Speed for Thunderborne, Skill Delay reduction for Bladescape, Defense for Doombunny, Critical Attack for Diemond, Health for Knightstar, and Agility for AFCK. Their non magical friends got: Defense for Kiefer with a katana on his, Critical Attack for Astro with a soccer ball on hers, Strength for Joltron with a shield on his, and Attack for Lessa with crossed swords on hers.
A round of cheers went up and Backbreaker picked up her almost empty wine glass. “A toast to such an amazing and generous friend. One who keeps us alive and gives us her all!”
The toast was the last one of the night. It had gotten really late. It was going to be a 9am start for them. A bit late, but a good start time.
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 68 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 60 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 63 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 65 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts
AFCK (PP): Lvl 63 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon
Diemond (R): Lvl 62 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 60 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal
Astro (PS): Lvl 63 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry
Kiefer: Lvl 60 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts
Lessa: Lvl 60 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search
Joltron: Lvl 60 – One handed Axe – Heavy Shield – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Metal Refining – Blunt Weapon Forging – One Handed Weapon Creation – Two Handed Weapon Creation
Merry Christmas everyone, and have a happy New Year!
You know... I figure that the Wondercolts were either Juniors or Seniors in High School, so by the time they get out of SAO they should legally be young adults. In a weird way, I'm almost hoping for an eventual Sunset/Klein ship...
Just, you know, a couple years down the road after they get out of the game, and after Klein has a chance to buy Sunset a drink IRL...
9999427
Sunset and Klein would be a fun ship. And well, Klein continues to play in New Aincrad and ALO. So there is time.
9999434
There is that. I also think they compliment eachother in a weird way, incidental color coordination notwithstanding. He's easygoing while she's driven, but they both have a better grasp of the seriousness of the SAO situation than most, and a greater empathetic wisdom and care for their comrades (guildmates or otherwise) than can be honestly said for most of the other guild leaders out there (unfortunately).
Also, I think it would be hilarious to see his reaction to finding out the girl he's been dating is actually a unicorn from magic pony land when he finds out.
9999542
Hahaha. Finding that out would be awesome for a Klein reaction. Shipping Klein and Sunset would be fun, but Klein is always, loudly, complaining about not getting the girl. Or meeting girls in game. Lol.
Also, he has a good drive, despite his goofy, aloofly cool side. Or else he would not be in the assault team.
Blade throwing? I'm guessing this is throwing knives and not how Zabuza introduced himself, right?
9999661
Blade Throwing basically is all throwing knives, or a ninja star with is several knives together. Throwing Picks are also a form of "knife" to be thrown, with the knife edge being the pick's head. But otherwise, there is nothing else to throw or launch. You don't even have javalines or a skill to throw spears. No bows either.
Also, no idea who Zabuza is. lol
9999594
Hence why I said "a couple years down the road". Not sure of his level of involvement after Fairy Dance, but it could always be an "After Series" thing, since from what I can tell, most of the Post SAO arcs happen within only a couple of years of the game being cleared.
Also, while I understand that Klein is driven in his own way, he does it in a much more easygoing way, while Sunset's personality tends to be much more direct and forceful.
9999668
Heh, Zabuza is from Naruto. His primary weapon was a very large sword, and he was introduced by tossing the thing, nearly killing the main characters.
9999675
It would be a very fun pairing. I am highly interested in developing several other arcs, maybe for GGO and ALO/New Aincrad. So, who knows. Either Way, Klein will be around in this series.
9999707
Never seen that show. Sorry. lol
The only question I have for this chapter is that shouldn't these gifts be reversed? "Defense for Doombunny, Critical Attack for Diemond" Ya know, what with Rarity's power IRL being a diamond shield and being a tank in the game. And though Flutters IRL power wouldn't match, crit chance is always good on rogue types.
This was a fun chapter, a bit bittersweet considering their circumstances, but fun. It shows that even in such a bad spot that people can come together and celebrate what they do have, as well as reminisce on fond memories.
I wonder what's happened while the girls have been trapped in the game, how much magical stuff has appeared
10000128
I went defense to bolster Diemond's overall ability to play as a tank. Doombunny is purely a damage dealer so expanding her critical attack percentage is important. I think I had Doom as having defense at one point, but obviously I flipped it. In the end, while powerful, they were a single booster stat. Each player gets 2 ring slots, 2 earring slots, and a necklace. They can either be accent pieces, or they can boost a stat. So there is plenty to go around. Less for Doombunny since she already has the Beast Tamer's Charms.
It was fun to write. I enjoyed it. I got to really dive into the life of the game, not just the boss battles. I'm happy it lined up with Christmas. I realized that it did 3 weeks ago and containing my excitement was extremely hard. I didn't want to spill the beans a few weeks ahead.
10000136
Good question. I have not thought one bit about that. Lol. It would be fun to see a backup team of Flash Sentry, Big Mac, Snips, Snails, Bulk Biceps, Micro Chips, and Sandlewood gain some sort of backup power and deal with those problems.
10000320
Or it could be the principal Sisters got worried and contacted Princess Twilight on the first sign of magical trouble, even if it meant going through the portal themselves, unless they know about and could get their hands on the Communication Journal. Granted, I would have expected them to do the same as soon as it was learned Sunset and her friends were trapped in SAO, and Princess Twilight would be worrying herself sick over the two years they're stuck there. Otoh, I also wouldn't put it past PPTS to devise some sort of magical means of fending off the worst of the muscular atrophy, even if it meant bringing even More magic into the human world from Equestria.
10000320
merry christmas
10000397
There are a lot of options. I personally like the idea of a backup team. PPTS could help set it up, and the journal would certainly be found as law enforcement, friends, and family members tried to solve how to get her out. But I doubt their pony pairs could balance both worlds.
Someone hasn't explored her menus.
9999434
I still say heresy!
10000791
Haha. Heresy can be fun. And yes, I am playing it safe that they can't take off the base layer undergarments. As far as I know, they can't do any more. Same with most games.
10000936
Kirito and Asuna did do more when they married in game, no? Not saying this story's going to touch that point, but it was part of the main one as far as I remember. Or was that only accessible by legal adults? The original happening in japan does change things on that front, so it'd change it some for them if you changed that too.
On that heresy, no, never! SciTwi should stake her claim, Bacon Horse should not be spirited away!
10000962
I don't know if they could actually do anything in game. It's never discussed. The most we see them is pop their clothes off to basic underwear. We don't even see different types of undergarments. Just plain white ones.
Wait, are you saying you ship Sci Twi and Sunset?
10000936
10000962
It's never explicitly stated but it is heavily implied that there exists a way to do it. There is apparently an option to disable something called the Ethics Code (I've also heard it called the Moral Code) in the player menu and it's assumed that doing this allows players to engage in more adult activities.
I've actually been playing through Hollow Realization and there is this humorous conversation between Kirito, Asuna and Yui where Yui mentions that she's found an option in the player menu to disable the ethics code and she's curious about what it does. Kirito and Asuna quickly discourage her from trying it herself so she asks them if they've ever done it to which they both awkwardly deny ever having done it.
10000974
Hahahaha! That is awesome. But I'm keeping this T rated. I'll avoid that. No need anyway.
10000971
Yes. Rarity'd be quite an excellent alternative too.
10000974
10000983
Agree that it's not needed, undoubtedly. I'd have to get the story again to check for it though, It seems the author himself confirmed they "pushed the button" at the end of chapter 16 of the light novel. I'm ALMOST sure there was a rather dark part about one of the players that didn't work on clearing the game (most of them didn't if I'm not mistaken) worked as a prostitute. Might be mistaken on that part. But I'm 99% sure it was an Asuna's adult guildmate that told her about the Moral Code.
It's not relevant to the story, but it does change heavily how adults would interact in it, specially considering they're basically at a war for survival and how people behave in such situations is rather well documented.
But tackling that part in a more serious matter would require a mature story, and not only for the intimate parts of it.
10001015
Tackling that would remove most of the fun from the story. The focus would move there, not so much battle and adventure.
10001022
Absolutely fair. Fridge logic with SAO is a and a half.
10000318
If that's what you intended then you need to edit, because currently Doom has the defense booster and Diemond the crit one.
10001138
However I published it as, is what I wanted. I played with some of their boosters in a few edits. Dash was easy, so was AJ and Sunset. I wanted each of them Main 7 to have different ones, so as long as they are not sharing with another, that is how I decided it should be. Lol
10000721
Probably not, but they could still possibly be brought on in a consultancy capacity. The big thing the girls have over any potential "Backup" team, besides experience and the paranormal heavyweight status they get from their being element bearers and their geodes, is Sunset's knowledge of and ability to recognize magical phenomena. A backup team could possibly handle smaller issues, such as those that cropped up in the various shorts, on their own, but anything more serious than that, they're going to need Something to even the playing field.
10000936
10001015
Chapter 16.5. I skimmed over it when I was reading through that part of the copy of the light novel I have after I figured out what was going to happen, but the bits I did pick up gave me the impression that the interaction was quite... explicit and as true to life as a VR-Dive game could get...
As has been said, though, not relevant to the story in and of itself. Mentioning that the option is there in passing without actually diving into explicitly mature content probably wouldn't warent an increase in rating, but it could just as well be that none of the girls ever find out about that particular option... Heck, Kirito didn't until about two and a half weeks before the game was cleared, and that was only because Asuna told him.
10001655
Yeah, I'm pretty sure as long as you don't get too explicit you can get away with a T rating while still referencing sex. Not that you need too, even the main series doesn't go much farther than showing girls in their underwear. The mention of such an option mostly just exists for the comedic effect.
10001655
10001744
A side team would have those issues, but maybe Twi could come up with some contraption that would work to identify them. Or do some magic on Flash Sentry so he could tell. I half want to write a series of shorts that cover magic stuff while they happened as they were stuck in SAO.
Too much gold to work with all around. lol. Also, I just found that interaction about the moral code. It is awesome! I know some of you don't have the books.
Chapter 16.5 - 001
I waved my arms desperately and tried to explain before Asuna could ready another blow.
"I'm sorry! It was my fault! I-I mean, besides...can you even do...that? In SAO...?"
She finally dropped out of her fighting stance, but the look of burning rage and exasperation on her face did not change.
"Y-you didn't know?"
"I didn't know..."
She proceeded in a small voice, her face suddenly shifting from anger to embarrassment.
"...If you...dig deep in the options...there's a 'Moral Code Removal' setting."
I had no idea. There certainly wasn't anything like that in the beta, nor in the manual. This was a very unexpected way to pay the price for not caring about anything but fighting while I was in SAO.
But this revelation led to another suspicion. Before my better sense could intervene, I spoke it out loud.
"Does that mean...you've done this befo-"
Her fist exploded in my face again.
"O-of course I haven't! I found out about it from someone in the guild!" Heathcliff probably
I hastily prostrated myself and apologized over and over. it took several minutes to defuse the situation.
END SCENE
10001655
Fair point, although the girls are considerably more social. They're normal teenagers and not some sort of child super soldier that can work practically all their time towards leveling and farming. I severely doubt a fashionista and gossip such as Rarity wouldn't have heard it from one of her clients, or that SciTwi wouldn't have gone through the entirety of the menus to check every single avenue of possible advantage.
Huh, now that I think about it it'd be completely impossible for her not to know it at the very least. And with some one and a half years gone by already all the girls would've learnt from her. They're friends, they're social, they TALK to each other. And that's one hell of a juicy gossip.
Now, if they'd do anything about it outside of their alone time in their own bedrooms is a question this story wouldn't focus on. I do think the drama and psychological impact of the SAO situation could be more relevant in this story - for they're not Kirito and he's frankly terrifying when you think about it -, but that's the author's choice in making it more about the adventure. A perfectly valid one at that.
It would be quite interesting to see a more serious sequel with them dealing with the aftermath though. There's A LOT of traumas and issues they'll inevitably have to deal with when it's all over that you can't quite breach in a teen story in any significant depth.
It doesn't have to be negative though. If anything it'd be a chance to show how their friendship would be a cornerstone of their healing and growth in an super positive way.
Edit:
10001744
I wouldn't say comedic. It can be used so, but if you chose to treat the story and the characters in a more complete way considering they're humans in a stressful situation for many months it becomes crucial for the SAO society to actually function.
10001782
Maybe as a side story/standalone piece. That sounds like a whole lot of shenanigans, which, while funny, honestly wouldn't really fit in well with the themes and ideas you seem to be going for in this story.
10002036
Oh, it totally would be a side piece, not integrated into EQG:SAO - Aincrad at all.
10001864
And yes, SAO was made to be a real world, though virtual, it was supposed to be real in every way it could be once it was turned into a death game. It wasn't about death, it was about perception of reality. It is their new reality.
And yes, more trauma is coming. More "reality" is coming, that isn't focused on battle. As well as trauma. Episodes 23, 27, and 29. And 28 shows some as well. The late 40s and early 50s chapters will be good ones. And the late 30s and mid 40s are "A day in the life of [insert character]" so that you will get to see things from that Wondercolts' view.
But balancing a T story with trauma, I keep thinking if I should add the drama tag. Its an adventure story, not focused on drama. I always take drama differently.
10002425
I'm a firm believer in not including tags that aren't relevant for the majority of the story. For example, a story should not include a Celestia tag when she only shows up every once in a while and otherwise plays no major role in the story. A character making an occasional appearance does not warrant a character tag and a story that has Adventure elements but is mostly just a comedy does not warrant an Adventure tag.
10002425
Interesting, I'm anxious to see how it'll go.
On the tag, it depends on how relevant, important and frequent it is. Currently it does have some parts of it, specially when Fluttershy and SciTwi have their stress breakdowns in the boss fights. If they start dealing more with it then it'd warrant the tag, sometimes even a single moment in the entire story would make it qualify if it's "dramatic" enough.
10002557
10002624
I agree, if it is rare, then don't use the tag. Especially character tags. I just want my story to be as accurately tagged as possible. If you think the story crosses to the drama tag, let me know and I'll double check. The tagging can be extremely vague, but I don't want people to end up disliking a story because it got to "dramatic" and they wanted only adventure. But at some point, adventure has to have drama or it is boring. Lol.
Plus, I know the later chapters and where the story goes.
That’s not true. In Sword Art Online episode 10 “Crimson Bloodlust” between 18:36 and 19:50 Asuna misunderstands Kirito as wanting sex and undresses down to her underwear. The implication is that she left that much on for him to take off. If it were not possible to have sex in Aincrad, she would not have stripped down this far.
I doubt that because Agil runs a bar in Aincrad as well as Elfheim; he could not profit if the drinking was for taste and role playing only.
She can't take them off because the game won't let her or because she doesn't want too?
Best Christmas ever
10062979
There have been a few convos about it. Book 1, Chapter 16. Buried deep in the menu is the ability to turn off the moral code. That would allow "adult activities" and let her remove those clothes, but it also removes a lot of essential safeguards. Not a lot of players find out about it because it is buried that deep. As messed up as SAO is, the addition after the Beta shows that it was designed as part of living a full, real life in Aincrad. At the same time, it recognized that not all players would want that, and that a large number of players were under 18, so it was hidden to protect them.
The Wondercolts do not know about it.
Congrats girls!
Yikes!
Thata girl!
Good thinking Sunset.
Now I'm interested what it looks like!
Even if they're trapped in a game, they can still find the time to be their old selves.
Were*
Wait, so does this story take place before the events of Spring Breakdown!?!?
Of course.
Spending Christmas alone is never easy, my grandmother just experienced it herself just recently as she lives alone now since my grandfather passed away back in February. But, she fortunately spent time with some friends and is still happy, even after my family lost my grandfather to covid back in February.
Talk about excellent Christmas presents from Diemond!
11463494
I didn't have this version well worked out with the timeline for some of the extra stuff. EQG has a lot of shorts and little bits that are hard to pin down in the timeline. They have the classic problem of being high school seniors for 4+ years.