Nasuverse Throne of Heroes Online, the OTHER FSNxSAO Cross - Discussion and Ideas

[Prince Charon]

Interesting.

 

[Mu-sensei]

I`m back to this idea, toying with the classes powers and skills.

Remember Toushin's (Shinji Matou) PKing streak before the announcement? Well, this was part of it.

The [Wild Boar]’s eyes glowed orange, and he charged the red clad Samurai, who was knocked on his backside. I shook my head in exasperation.

“One-hundred kilos of boar at 30 kilometers per hour, and you try to stop it with your sword.” I commented off-handedly.

I don’t know if it was attracted by sound of my voice or if it was because Klein was down, but the thing turned its attention to me, and instead of meeting it head on, I sidestepped, and brought my blade down.

A light trail marked the blade trajectory, showing that the [Strike Art] was successfully activated, hitting the beast on its neck, spraying a bright red mist and knocking the creature’s head on the dirt.

“See, it’s not that difficult. Grip your weapon tightly in any ready position, and try to swing your weapon by the Angles that show up in your HUD. You’ll know when you do it right, because there will be less resistance before your strike connect, and you’ll feel the blade speeding up by itself.” I explained once more, dismissing the results window from defeating the Boar.

“Ok, How does the system know what is a ready position anyways?” I blinked. Good Question. “Does the NerveGear read your mind or something like that?”

“Technically speaking, it kind of does that, else your avatar wouldn’t move. But I think they programmed some basic martial arts information in-” I was flung sideways into the dirt, before my gaming reflexes kicked in, allowing a quick recovery, and I noticed the one responsible for the blast.

Simple robe tied by a length of rope on the waist, long wavy hair and a book floating in front of him. A [Caster] class player, and judging by the laughter, it wasn’t an accident.

He threw a second spell, but this time I evaded. A quick glance at my [Health Indicator], a tridimensional asterisk shaped icon, showed moderate damage to my left shoulder, and light damage to the head. The [Rage Meter], a [Berserker] themed variation of the [Special Bar] of fighting games filled a little over the middle.

The [Caster] attacked again, a hail of ice blades rising from the ground, and I was caught by surprise expecting another direct strike. A [Heavy Damage to the Legs] message showed for a second, and I thanked the game gods for the [Battle Continuation] skill that prevented any penalties from it.

I dashed forward, and brought the two-handed-blade on the lightning spell that he shot next, which didn’t help attenuating the damage at all. But I reached him, and the blade in my hands cut his arm off with barely any resistance…

He panicked, and I smirked at him. ‘Backing off now?’ I turned the downwards motion into a horizontal one, but he was backing down.

‘Tch, too shallow.’ A kick hit his knees with a satisfying crunch, and served as a springboard to a spinning slash that lopped the head off. I hit him a few more times before my arms grew heavy again…

[Caster defeated!
100 experience points acquired]

I blinked at the message, and then looked at the body in front of me. Or rather, the minced meat looking… thing that had the [Caster Remains] label attached to it. Good grief, if the guy was a real person… Bah, I’m thinking too much, he probably felt the equivalent of a paper cut anyway. And looking back at it, it felt good. I felt like I could do anything, and the guy was one annoying bug-

“Man, you’re scary when you fight seriously, you know that?” Klein, the [Saber] that asked for help earlier, interrupted that train of thought, asking from what he probably thought it was a safe distance.

“Well, I hope you learned something from that.” I waved it off, trying my best to not think too deeply of it, and just file it for later experiment. Play it cool like a [Main Character].
“Don’t PK on strong people?” He asked cluelessly. “Or should it be: When you see the other guy’s eyes glowing red, run like the blazes.”

Ugh. Did my eyes really turned red like a cheap vampire knock-off? “Let’s go with ‘Don’t start a fight unless you know what you’re doing.’ And leave it at that.”

Lightning coursed through my body, though I only felt a light pinprick, and I heard the mad [Caster] laugh again. Persistent Idiot. My asterisk shaped [HP indicator] showed moderate damage to the torso, and the [Rage Meter] around it jumped from the lowering middle to full at once. Instead of trying to suppress it, I decided to try and pay attention on how it worked. So, embracing the madness, my vision turned red, literally, and I advanced towards the guy, intent into hammering into his hard head that I wasn’t a good PvP target. Or bashing him into mush, whichever came first. The rush came again, like having one too many of those energy drinks and then going to play fast-paced fighting games with your heart hammering in your ears and feeling like everything is in slow-motion. I crossed the distance before I knew it, and my blade sung through the air, aiming to his neck again. I was also roaring.

But it met something in the way, a metallic sound and a shockwave, as a milky glass dented in. He spoke something, but I didn’t understood, I just wanted to see him dead.
Attacked from the other side, but the same shield stopped me again. “Die!” I planted my foot and swung with all my weight, and the resulting breaking sound brought a smile to my face.

…

It was like something possessed the guy. I’d get mad at someone trying to kill me twice in a roll to, but that wasn’t just angry. The two-handed blade was in his hand in a flash, and he crossed the distance to the book wielding guy in a low dash, swinging it up. There was a barrier between them, and the blade made a grinding noise, one, two times, before he opened a gash in the spell with a mighty roar. A second strike opened the hole further, and he took a blast to the face for his troubles, the blade lashed again, horizontally, one handed this time, and it was followed by his hand.

It grabbed the magic user by the front of his cloak, and slammed him against his own barrier, twice, no three- five times before he dispelled it, finishing the guy with by cutting him in the middle. The next three strikes were unnecessary, but I think he was venting his frustration.

…

[Caster defeated!
100 experience points acquired]

I looked at the [Caster Remain’s] and the evaporating red mist that passed for blood here. Then it clicked.

[Mad Enhancement], The [Berserker] Class trademark. Wow. I was expecting a [Battle Buff] or a [Limit Breaker] sort of thing. But instead, they took full advantage of the NervGear capabilities of Inputing and Outputing signals directly into the brain to… Put me into a trance? Well, there was the rush, the empowering feeling, and a sort of haze. It felt like someone turned [analog TV effect] on and tinted it red, and turned the soundtrack volume up to eleven in a bad mix of metal and nonsense screaming. And I couldn’t, or rather I didn’t want to stop and all that was in my head was the ways I could hurt the guy…

I think is the first game I ever played that going berserker meant real Berserking. “-oi, Kirito!” Oh, yeah, Klein. I’m getting sidetracked here.

“Did you get all five [Ivory Pieces]?” I asked him.

“Yup!”

“Then let’s get out of here, before that guy comes back.”

He followed me silently back into the city, and I couldn’t decide if he was put out or impressed by my brutal [Overkill] of the mage.

To be fair, they were all playing stereotypical characters of their classes, namely [Berserker: Strength C, Endurance D, Agility D, Mana E, Luck E, Mad Enhancement B, Battle Continuation C, Mental Pollution C, Monstrous Strength C][Caster: Strength E, Endurance E, Agility C, Mana A, Luck B, Item Creation B, Library of Stored Knowledge B, Territory Creation B] And Kirito not only had the experience, but Toushin hadn't set his Territory or made any items.

Btw, [Mad Enhancement] works like a adrenaline rush combined with aggression increase and a suppression of moral limiters against hurting others. So real berserking.

does it work?

 

[Solaris]

I always thought this idea was interesting.

The mechanics seem to work, although I'm kind of leery on the the suppression of moral limiters though. A large enough spike of anger and aggression should be enough I think, and maybe a kind of handicap towards higher thought processes so the fighting is more instinctual?Not sure.

Anyway I didn't really feel the berserking in this scene, though that was probably due to most of the raging kind of being glossed over in my opinion.

Do want to see more though.

 

[Mu-sensei]

The Moral Limiters its relative to cutting of the hesitation. A Berserker doesn't differentiate between warrior, woman and child. Of course, [Mad Enhancement] ranges from E to A, so said benefits also vary accordingly.

Also, Fixed the above Snip, to show more of the berserking.

 

[happerry]

I like it. It's a good way to handle berserkering in my opinion.

 

[Mu-sensei]

I was thinking: How could Kayaba make the survivor's powers work once they were back? I did had a way to work their physical attributes, but not their more mystical abilities. They this came to me:

A Throne of Heroes Online Interlude (Draft)

Mystery. The other name they called magecraft. The less its known, the less is understood about one, the more powerful it is.

Or so they thought.

He was a heretic. In goals, because the association didn't care about humanity as a whole. But also in his methods.

As every new technology, the first Nervegears were handmade, large and crude devices. They had parts repurposed from other common devices, like portable computers, medical equipment and other electronics, except for a single chip. That chip, which was more of a mystic code than a piece of technology, was an experiment on its own.

I was determined in my goal, I wanted to prove to the world that humanity could flourish again, that we could have legends, we could be strong despite the advancing times and comfortable environment…

That doesn't mean I wasn't a magus at heart.

I did had the innate curiosity, the desire to poke and prod magic till I found the whys and hows, until I understood the powers I manipulated…

Being able to mass produce Nervegears would be a welcome bonus too.

Mystery couldn't bring me to that point.

Knowledge could.

I had a theory.

Alaya, the mass conscious brought forth by the ever expanding numbers of humanity and its desire to survive, was a force on par with Gaia, the consciousness of the planet. That power was provided by none else than the humanity itself, or rather, the near unanimous desire to survive present in every sane and healthy human being. There's no proven reason or even an experiment that tried to manipulate humanity's beliefs into powering something else.

The first Nervegear experiment was a success. So was the second, and all the following ones.

I had made an announcement concerning the device and its capabilities, and selected a hundred individuals from various areas to test the first devices, and devoted myself and a select team of maguses (including my faithful apprentice) to produce the necessary illusion inducing circuits of the first 200 pieces over a period a little over a year.

Those were distributed to select parties around the world, along with specific, dedicated software, for testing and publicity purposes. Once I had set fire to the press, I released generic information concerning the operation of the device, and waited a little more.

Then I released a ten thousand batch on Japan. All mass produced nervegears, without a drop of magic on them, although the arrays were present.

The experiment was a success. All worked perfectly.

Mass belief is a power on its own. It could make people fight better, of convince them to sacrifice themselves, or work towards a cause. If all humanity fuelled Alaya, a specific community could also fuel a small spell too.

Another batch was released, and my creation spread around the world.

Strangely enough, these Nervegears didn't work at the expected capacity.

They worked even better.

As it turns out, it wasn't the mystery. Unanimity was the power behind magic.

If no one knew, it was the unanimity on the ignorance.

If everyone knew, and assumed it worked, then it did. It was a proven fact after all.

The closer you were to the unanimity, the more powerful your spell got.

I was tempted to try and release another device, and claim even better performance, in a smaller package. Instead, I released another batch, with the same array.

Then I released Throne of Heroes Online Beta, for a select few, a thousand players.

I claimed flawless immersion, state of the art graphics and sound, with the never seem before touch and smell interaction.

They bought it, they passed it on.

They believed it.

As every practitioner of the illusory arts knows, the more you believe the illusion, the more powerful it gets.

As every user of technology and their mother knows, technology fails. Or so they believed it.

And by believing it, they made it so.

Don't laugh at me. Empirical evidence roared its ugly head more than once, and a magecraft imposed illusion based on software somehow had bugs based on the testers shared perception, and such bugs somehow affected the code.

I never said common belief was always a beneficial thing.

Still the beta was a success.

People awaited the official launch, and the more Nervegars I sold, more Nervegears I had to sell.

I steeled myself.

For a hero to arise there has to be a villain, a threat. For a story to turn into a legend there has to be something at stake.

The larger the threat, the more powerful the villain is, the more famous and widespread the tale gets, and the more satisfying is the end.

I was to be the villain. No, I was to be the mastermind. The villains were known monsters and legends, so that my chosen could measure against then, or their 'fake' versions and find their place.

But I couldn't count on them to manage it alone. I had only planned for around ten thousand candidates after all…

Their beliefs would never be enough to empower the new generation Nervegears sold along the Throne of Heroes copies, so that those could temper their very souls into steel made ones, and by doing so, forged their bodies in the same way.

No, to do so I had to use another of the weapons at my disposal: Mass media control.

Instead of making Throne of heroes online into a closed world, I turned it into a glass house.

Anyone with internet access could watch their chosen players and their struggles, victories and their tales. And by doing so, the so called heroes, would only grow more powerful.

Legends were forged, stories were passed forward and engraved into memories.

At first most of my watching base was formed by the families of the imprisoned players. Then, game aficionados, and then sympathizers. Then, once the game progressed enough, so did the publicity…

Every time there was a boss raid, nearly all channels of TV stopped to show it. Throne of Heroes, my world, was a national sensation, then a world-wide one, and the names of its stars were equally famous.

The Black Monster.

The Meteor Princess.

The Unlimited Armory.

The Shadow Mistress.

The Red Samurai.

The Crimson Huntress.

The Fairy Princess.

The Dragon Tamer.

And so, so many others.

People talked about them, people cheered them on… but above all that, people believed them.

They believed their strength, they believed their power, their cunning, and associated them to their abilities.

By doing so, by believing that the survivors of my 'game' could do the impossible, they enable those kids to do so.

Not without reason, mind you. I had worked hard to adapt the Homunculi production and adjustment methods to allow the modification of human beings.

My heroes were already stronger, faster and more durable, than a normal human could even hope to be, and had training to use those capabilities to its fullest.

But without mass belief, only a few of them, those blessed with natural magic circuits, would be able to manifest their trademark techniques…

And that wouldn't do.

But instead, by making them heroes, and making the world believe in them, I enabled them to be more.

I could almost hear the cries of outrage from the magic association, and I even thought they would launch an extermination attempt against my kids.

Attempt, mind you, and a suicidal one while at that.

Enforcers could give them a fight, and even kill a few of them, especially if they were caught alone. I had accounted for that, incentivizing parties and team work. People do grow closer in harsh times, and when the options are learn to work together or die…

Some of those could be killed by Enforcer teams, but there was little chance that it would be a one-sided wipeout. And after the first casualties, the other would wise up.

But the association was strangely quiet.

And that made me apprehensive. Uncertain that even my countermeasures would be enough.

So, from my throne on the dark side of the moon, I watched them, even after my objective was fulfilled, even after a tenth of those nearly twelve thousand kids grew into an army of legends, some even more well-known than those of old, futilely denied their existences, and struggled to go back to their lives, when they could be so much more…

It was frustrating. Very much so.

I hope I made ToHO!Kayaba's worth of his mastermind title. Some ideas came from other fics and works, but I believe they could work in the Nasuverse.

by the way, Kayaba's mother was the heiress of her lineage, specializing in life manipulation, formalcraft and the study of the soul (yes, her family tried to stole the third from the Einzberns once and participated on the grail war, and no, it didn't end well, as one would expect... the survivor had to change his name, and stay on Japan, and also lost his family's crest and notes), and his father was a first generation magus that dabbled with technology and tried to fuse it on his wife's style.

Also I posted this other draft elsewhere, but forgot to put it here, sorry.

We were in trouble.

Aya was injured on her leg, Sakura had taking a few hits as well, and I had nearly lost one arm when we crossed the gate of the palace.

And this place was so unreasonably large! It wasn’t a dungeon, or a labyrinth, and we could even tear down the thin walls easily if we wanted, but without knowing where the damned King was, it was useless. All we could find were guards.

“No guards in this walkway.” Ayame backed and closed the door quietly. “I think it leads to another Garden though. I hate this quest.”
“Say that to Chi.” I quipped back quietly. Another shadow passed on the other side of the wall, clearly armored, and we piled ourselves in the darkest corner of the room.

“Say Archer, how come you remember the name of every NPC we talk too?”

“Not all of them… I just think is better than calling him ‘that blacksmith’ or ‘guardsmen’ or ‘captain’.”

“He has a point.” Sakura agreed with me in that quiet, shy way of hers.

“…the Yang’s haven’t paid their tributes this year either? What are you doing here then?! Fix that your imbecile!” Two unknown voices, one harsh, the other submissive could be heard on the outside, nearing our room.

“Bingo!” Ayame snapped up so fast I could hear her joints popping. I still managed to hold her.

“Sshhh!” I covered her mouth. There were many heavy steps. Three? Four? Either way, he is guarded.

“How do we do this?” Sakura spoke, already readying an arrow on her bow. Aya tensed too, and I released her mouth.

“The King is probably a boss on his own. Take the guards, so they don’t interfere or call reinforcements, and then come to help me?” It wasn’t supposed to be a question but the girls glared made it so.

“You always take the heavier risks…”

“I’ll be ok. Remember what Chi said? This blade is the perfect counter to the one the King has.” I gripped the White Chinese blade tightly. The shadows passed in front of the door.

We jumped into action.

Sakura disregarded my idea completely, and shot straight into the fancier looking of the warriors, a green dressed fellow carrying a black blade much like mine at his waist, and Ayame released a small cluster of arrows at once, forcing them into the defensive.

The first guard came with a spear, but I threw myself to the side, and stepped on the door frame and threw myself low, the blade cutting in the horizontal trajectory with some resistance of the armor, but dispatching the nearest guard in a single, critical hit.

One down-

I was roughly thrown into the floor, by a shoulder tackle of a sword wielding warrior, and he sidestepped an arrow in a fluid, unstopping motion, before attempting to cut me while I was down.

Rolling away, and back into my feet, and threw a decorative vase at him, at the cost of excruciating pain of my right arm, before bringing my left, blade wielding hand down at his head.

The blade however, missed, tracing a weird trajectory before embedding itself on the floor at his side, and I had to put my already mangled arm in the way of a strike that would had surely decapitated me otherwise.

Why? I made sure to cut at the proper angle, but it was like the blade was dragged to the side mid strike!

Evading another stab I felt the strange pull again, and saw a blur incoming from my wounded right, before my blade was dragged in the path of her black counterpart.

The two swords felt like they were glued together, and Aya took the other sword user to get him off my back. The King struck again, faster than my eye could follow, but my blade once more was pulled in path of his.

They were attracting each other! That’s what Chi meant by this blade being the only hope against the king’s sword!

The boss pulled his blade and struck again, and I not only let my sword interpose his, but also pulled with my own strength, stopping the hit in a shower of sparks.

He was still stronger, and I was slowly being pushed against the wall…

With a mighty heave, he struck again, and again, and again, as if discovering the same thing I had, that both blades always sought each other, and I couldn’t let my advantage!

He struck again, and in that small gap where he pulled back and his blade didn’t responded, I used my mangled right to pull an arrow from my quiver.

He struck again, and once more I blocked. My arm shook with effort to keep him at bay, my knees bent a little against my will, and I almost fell on then, but I persisted.

I heard Aya shout, and Sakura cought and moan in pain, and despite the pain in my right, I struck.

The arrowhead pierced his throat upwards, and he stumbled back clutching it, and trying to staunch the bleeding. Both blades were still stuck together, but I stepped on the black one he had released in his panic and pulled the white one. Now knowing of their mutual attraction, I swung it, awkwardly, in a way to use the pull to add to my waning strength, and downwards at his right shoulder. It stuck to the armor, unable to draw blood, and the guy started to get up, on his last legs, but very much alive.

“Down!” I ducked on reflex alone, and Ayame’s hand passed over my head, wielding the black one, and severing the King’s head in a fluid motion until the two blades met each other again.

Did She noticed the blades attraction?

“What the hell?! They’re stuck!” She complained loudly, unknowingly answering my question, and I laughed awkwardly, letting my tired body hit the floor.

“Yep. It seems they tend to do that. It’s quite annoying.” I looked around, and caught Sakura clutching her stomach and looking pained, but very much alive.

“I’ll kill that boy dead.” Ayame growled, and even if I tended to disagree I was very much tempted. He was just an NPC after all.

 

[Prince Charon]

Interesting. I like the explanation for how it can work, though i do wonder why the Enforcers aren't doing anything, yet.

I'm sufficiently tired that I'm having difficulty matching names to titles:

The Black Monster: Kirito

The Meteor Princess: Asuna

The Unlimited Armory: Shirou

The Shadow Mistress: Sakura

The Red Samurai: ?

The Crimson Huntress: ?

The Fairy Princess: Ilya?

The Dragon Tamer: Silica?

 

[Leidolf]

Klein is the red samurai, I think.

 

[Mu-sensei]

The Black Monster: Kirito

The Meteor Princess: Asuna

The Unlimited Armory: Shirou, actually Archer (his Nickname)

The Shadow Mistress: Sakura

The Red Samurai: Klein

The Crimson Huntress: Ayame (Ayako)

The Fairy Princess: Leafa, (Suguha that is a Caster/Saber Dual Class very adept at flying and a delicate appearance, hence her nickname.)

The Dragon Tamer: Silica

 

[Wing101]

Awesome Idea and nice snip. I hope your close to starting this for real soon.

By the way this is a bit late but while I like your leveling system and think that it works I feel that Kirito should atleast have 1 10 in SAO he was one of the Best of the Best and it was said that he was stronger definitely stronger than Asuna and once managed to beat her easily.

I can understand that due to the difference in Setting he won't be the best but atleast a 10 Berserker or maybe a higher level in Assasin due to the fact that his a Solo to show that he really is one of The Best.

 

[Mu-sensei]

As I said on that post, that system still has inconsistencies needing to be hammered out. In those examples however, Kirito is both stronger and weaker than Asuna, as he'd be more versatile and have a better selection of skills (something that benefits Solo playing) while Asuna is a speed focused Lancer, thus the fastest character around, but her lower level and class focus makes her more dependent of a group.

In any case that is only an idea, and the system is hardly the focus of a story. There's more to being stronger than numbers too.

 

[Wing101]

True that does make sense with Kirito being a Solo.

Edit: By the way Mu once you start for real can we make Side Stories using our own character. Also in your story is THO online available on Japan or the entire world?

 

[Mu-sensei]

Sidestories are ok.

As for out of Japan...no, but for a reason: Showing it to the whole world makes sense for the NerveGear, as it improves its working. Showing TOhO out of Japan at first is Enforcer bait. Kayaba would know better.

 

[Wing101]

Sidestories are ok.

As for out of Japan...no, but for a reason: Showing it to the whole world makes sense for the NerveGear, as it improves its working. Showing TOhO out of Japan at first is Enforcer bait. Kayaba would know better.

Figured as much still can be worked with.

By the way since side stories are ok is it okay to have my characters become one of the kings.

Also is it possible for more than one char to have a Level 10 in a given class.

Reading the beta snips and how system work gave an idea of a Rider 10 team whose mounts can combine to become a Mecha.

Edit: Just thought of something Since THO seems to start way before HGW started have decided whether your going involve Tohno Shiki yet? He would be an excellent King for Assasins.

 

[Mu-sensei]

Yeah, Shiki Tohno would be a Killer Assassin. Pun intended. Ryougi is more of a Saber/Assassin person.

Well, being level ten makes you a legendary figure for as long as you last (remember, dying makes you restart at lvl0/1). There could be more than on, but the guy must have to do something really remarkable (think of it like an A++ or EX attribute), also, remember, just because a team clears the game, doesn't means other do get out. Everyone has to get out on their own. That is what I meant by every ToHO player being around Enforcer-level combatant, or at least capable of surviving.

 

[Wing101]

Sweet so I can have a 3 man team of lv.10 Riders without having to worry about any problem it might cause in your story.

Oh hey taught of this but can a Caster class create Homunculos or Familiars in game to create his own party or personnal Army. Granted even if it works it probably means that if a homonculos or the familiar dies they can't be revived.

 

[Mu-sensei]

Sweet so I can have a 3 man team of lv.10 Riders without having to worry about any problem it might cause in your story.

Now I have to disagree. If their mechs combined are legendary, then they're level 8-9 (still a FEAT), and once combined they're 10. Rides are considered monsters (as in a creature on their own), so they have levels too, but at the same time, they're Noble Phantasms, so they have a Rank. Silica has a DRAGON (a Quetzalcoatl bloodline to be precise) and its a Rank A+ NP. Technological pieces can be very strong, but their concept is still more mundane (thus common), so they'd be a B-B+ or A- Rank.

For comparison effect, lets say Shirou has a B Rank NP that activates on Long Range Snipes. Sinnon has a B- NP of similar effect, but restricted to certain conditions, because she uses a Rifle (its general belief that its easier to snipe with a rifle than a bow).

Keep in mind that Noble Phantasms are force multipliers by default. So they work with basis on their user's powers. The trick is archieve a balance where both have reasonable power combined, while their powers by itself (especially the player's) are still significant.

Oh hey taught of this but can a Caster class create Homunculos or Familiars in game to create his own party or personnal Army. Granted even if it works it probably means that if a homonculos or the familiar dies they can't be revived.

A very good Caster might be able to fill a party with decent strength soldiers, or a raid with low-level mooks, but they are expensive on reagents and as you expect, can't be revived (the system does give a roll to know if part of your reagents can be recycled though).

Remember, the goal of the game is to train, but also to show people incredible heroes. Flashy magic does get bonuses on meta level, because its eye-catching, so the game adjusts to offer benefits accordingly.

 

[Wing101]

Hmm okay then that works too my 3 characters have a 9 on their Primary Class which is a Saber,Caster and Archer. They each 9 as a Rider and 10 when combining. Also even though they all have Mecha it isn't mundane I'm going to have my Caster grind his Item Creation and get a Noble Phantasm which helps in creating or making equipment for his Team and their Mecha. So the Mecha will be more of a Magi-tech that can combine into a Super Robot.

Also the mecha is humanoid which uses a sword, guns and magic as his main weapons since the mecha serves as a Force Multiplier specifically for the skills they honed when they first started THO.

 

[Wandering Airhead]

This setting just asks for a few crossover guests.

Dunno if anyone read The Painted Man (by Peter Brett)? Not particularly well known, but it just came to my mind, and doesn't want to let go. The basic setting in a book, is that a guy rediscovered a lost art of runic magic and painted them on his own flesh to fight with monsters, and as a result he get some traits of the monsters. The particulars are inconsequential.

But a Berserker class hero, who paints runes on his own body? I can totally see someone like that here. He just doesn't seem to match preferences of any characters from either fandom.

But I was always more of a mage kind of player, so let me make my own contribution like this:

He rolled frantically to the side. A blur of a blade passed, what must have been half an inch over his head, while another tore at the ground where he stood but a moment ago.

His trusted book floated along with him, always within arms reach. The useless thing. Frantically he called out the first spell that came to mind. A mighty burst of pressured air stroke the beast before him, and pushed him back almost throwing him to the ground in the heap. The only thing that saved him was reflexes honed by many repetitions of this specific maneuver. Jumping back along with the force of wind carried him several feet back, buying so much needed breathing space and time to think. When he landed lightly on his feet the annoying book was still in the same relative position to him, ready to help him unleash torrents of arcane might. Yeah, at least that’s what it seemed like at first. The goddamn book was one of the main reasons he decided to play the [Caster] class, a decision he was regretting more and more with every passing day.

The idea was simple. As every player familiar with RPG genre knew, playing mage was simple. Pick the best damage dealing skill you can find, max it as far as you can, equip appropriate boosting items, and done! You had a satisfaction of nuking out masses of creatures with a single wide range spell, terrifying mobs simply melting in face of your arcane powers. That was how it was supposed to be. Only in hyper-realistic setting of TOHO it didn’t work like that.

Because here your opponents weren’t a slow moving mobs of creatures, with joined intelligence of a rotten apple pie. No, if you walked a few miles from the newbie areas, what you found instead were a monster like a Naga Queen he now faced, a towering snake-like creature that could rise eight or nine feet above the ground on its massive tail, and was capable of moving with speed and agility you were barely able to track with your eyes, much less your body. A monster designed to pose a threat to super powered warriors with goddamned speed and reflexes! A monsters that laughed in your face while simply circling around your mighty fire storms, and knocking aside hails of ice projectiles. And suddenly instead of looking in satisfaction as monstrous carcasses are rent to shreds by your might, you learn first hand that the goddamned floating book was not designed to parry six-feet long massive blades.

He would know, he learned the lesson first hand…

A sound of death slithering towards him with a snake-like movement tore him from his musings. Oh no, arcane storms just didn’t cut it here. With a last longing thought he prepared another burst of air. Oh how he hated kiting!

Just a small inspired snippet. I didn't even gave a name to the guy, cos its more about the feelings. I don't like Shinji, but being mercilessly slaughtered by single attacks doesn't seem like so much fun.

 

[Mu-sensei]

But a Berserker class hero, who paints runes on his own body? I can totally see someone like that here. He just doesn't seem to match preferences of any characters from either fandom.

Yeah, definitely an interesting Idea, and not on my ideas for any chars.

Spoiler

Acquiring monster traits however is going o be Kirito's thing. He'd eventually be able to pull a GleamEyes transformation, only not so large. The key skills for that are Monstrous Strength and Shapeshift. First is a Berserker Class, the latter isn't.

Snip of awesome potential

Definitely a future [Saber/Caster] Material.

Only in hyper-realistic setting of TOHO it didn’t work like that.

Kayaba: Of course it doesn't. The objective is to teach players to fight, not let them practice mass slaughter.

Just a small inspired snippet. I didn't even gave a name to the guy, cos its more about the feelings. I don't like Shinji, but being mercilessly slaughtered by single attacks doesn't seem like so much fun.

Well, in an unexpected combat, Casters are at brutal disadvantage. With a little time to prepare, however, they can tip things to their favor immensely. Mana and Health regeneration of Territory Creation, reinforcements in the form of Familiar Creation, armed with the products of their Item Creation... You name it.Very few Pure Casters favor direct combat.

 

[Wandering Airhead]

Man, and now those comment just stuck to my mind, and gained an actual identity. Well let me apologize for taking liberties with the setting where it had not been specified, but I had to get it out of my stream before it grew.

If you ever write this story, you have my blessing to use the following character(s) as OC or not, however you see fit. Maybe my ideas will help you resolve some of those problems, or rise questions you didnt yet thought of:

Anyway here goes the rest, and hopefully the end for the snippet:

He stopped on the small cliff, and took a moment to enjoy the cool breeze. He smiled as a stray thought came to his mind. The thing about hyper-realistic game setting? He hated it, that first three months or so, loathed it even. Trapped as a [Caster] class player, he soon discovered that playing a mage-like hero did not involve spamming great AOE nuke spells and watching the effects. It was actually one of the first lessons he learned. Learned in this very spot actually, he mused, looking down, where in the alley lay a spawn point for several Naga Queen type mobs.

But the thing was, it had its upsides as well. The breeze for one. The sun, then wind, the sound of water from the nearby stream. It was all so detailed, so real… As if he was back in Japan, on that field trip he had with his dad, when he was a boy. A small frown crossed his face, and he quickly banished the thought. It might have as well been ages ago, in a different world. In a different life.

A questioning purring sound came from his left. Actually the purr did not sound questioning at all, the intent was from the telepathic link, but human brain was all about adaptation, and after you got used to it, you sort of ceased to notice the thing. It became second nature.

He moved his right arm to scratch the creature behind the ear, and the purr quickly changed tone, to one of contentment. The little critter was Chio, a ferret. Yeah, you heard correctly, a ferret. Or rather what passed for a ferret in TOHO. Normal ferrets didn’t quite reach the size of your leg. At least he thought so, he wasn’t an expert.

The black, and not actually so little a critter run down his back and stopped on the ground next to him, standing on its back paws and sniffing the air. It liked to nest one of his shoulders, and by now he was so used to it he barely noticed anymore. Having supernatural strength didn’t hurt as well. Although nothing quite on a level of [Berserker], each class enjoyed a certain boost to physical stats, enough to make a difference when compared to normal human.

But enough of that. There were monsters waiting for slaughter. The long staff weighted reassuringly in his right arm. Few casters used staffs of any kind. It didn’t quite offer any significant magic boosts, and mages didn’t enjoy proficiency benefits for any sort of weapons. But TOHO was still a game. A brilliant hyper-realistic game, but a game nonetheless. And every system had its loopholes.

He wasn’t a genius, nor even a particularly bright fellow, but reality was a harsh mistress. And when you were fighting with your own life on the line? After your second death, and hearing about more and more unlucky guys who didn’t make it, yeah, turns out the necessity is a mother of invention. And this particular invention was source of his second greatest pride, all the more so because he created it with his own hands.

Staffs were somewhat inadequate, it was a universally agreed fact. But there was another weapon that also had a long shaft. And coincidentally it was used by the hero class with highest agility. The [Lancer]. Ok, so the multi-classing wasn’t his idea. He actually found about it from the front-liners. And yes, using multi-classing as [Caster] to boost ones physical stats wasn’t his idea either, the Fairy Princess was there first. But the idea to game the system, by using item creating to embed twin short blades around the focus and turn it into a lance class weapon – that was all him. Adding blades to a long shaft with the goal of making a weapon, as it turned out, was enough for the system to recognize the resulting item as a spear. And on top of that it still enjoyed all the benefits of a minor spell focus. All that was left was to invest some Points into [Lancer] class and you suddenly had a staff that you could use proficiently in combat.

Granted not proficiently enough to kill stuff with it, but certainly enough so that he could actually parry attacks instead of only dodging them. An ability to actually block a sword going to meet your skull, was something you came to appreciate

That was when a shrill cry tore him away from his thoughts.

***

Iwajima Nagase, in real world an ordinary high-school girl, and now a not-unordinary [Archer] class player of Throne of Heroes Online, was coming to the conclusion that it was just one of those days. It all started the very morning, when still half asleep she tried to go to meet with a few other lower-midline players for a ride, only to take the wrong turn and get lost in a maze of smaller streets. By the time she woke up enough to find her way back to the meeting place, the party managed to find another player to fill her place and already depart.

Noire-san was going to give her a chewing for that one, she just knew it. She could already hear his rant in her mind, going on and on about the importance of showing up on time.

Dismayed she just grabbed her bow and decided to went some stress by playing solo on one of the less dangerous areas. And it actually seemed to help. The picturesque landscapes of more newbie oriented areas, and a sunny weather however unreal it all was, had a calming effect to it. That was until she run out of arrows. Three minutes into the fighting, while attacked by some sort of overgrown bear-thing, she found herself running from a newbie area with a tail between her legs. But there was no shame to it, right? Just a strategic retreat…

Oh, just who was she trying to fool, anyway. After that she just couldn’t get into it. She ended up going from one spawn area to another, taking on progressively stronger mobs, just to see just how far she could get on her own.

Not that far it turned out. It wasn’t long before she ended up at the current location. A diminutive valley between some highlands, one of the better spots for grinding Naga Queen. Several of the towering four-armed man-snake hybrids armed with wickedly curved blades wandered about on the bank of the small stream. Spaced just enough so that attracting attention of one of them didn’t pull other along with it. The things were fast, but had little in the way of armor, and easily fell when fought in a team. Team consisting of actual melee fighters taking the thing head on while she could concentrate and go along with a system assist to help her correct her aim against the distance, wind and all other minor factors that made the little pointer following her line of sight more of an optional guideline than an actual aiming tool.

The problem was that this time around there were no other players to help keep the agro off of her, and the agile beasts were much harder to hit while moving.

Still she had it under control, or so she fought, as she took aim and shot a long distance shot to pull the next creature. With the system assist helping her to choose the right angle, the curved trajectory of the projectile led it gracefully right to the Naga’s left shoulder. She made a little cheer as the wounded extremity fell limply to the side, one blade falling from the numbed hand. It must have struck a joint. She smiled, but it wasn’t time for celebrating just yet. Taking measured steps back she readied her bow for another shot against a now rapidly closing target. And then another.

Focused as she was on following the gentle nudges of system assist, she almost missed the baleful hiss coming from her left flank. Eyes wide, she turned her head just in time to see another of the snake-creature easily towering over her by at least two feet, with two blades raised for the coming strike. A desperate roll was all that saved her from death. Even so one of the blades struck her leg eliciting an instinctive cry from her lips.

Nagase backpedalled as fast as she could, but the wounded limb slowed her down even more than she expected. A quick glance to the corner of her display showed a bright red mark in the crystal, signaling a major leg injury.

Fuck! Just fuck! I’m not gonna die here, she cried in her mind, blocking one of the blades with her bow. With an almost acrobatic grace, only partly slowed down by her leg, she stepped out of the way of the beast. But the false bravado crumbled like paper when the Naga she pulled earlier joined the fray. And suddenly there was no more time for thinking, only frantic blocking and desperately trying to backpedal from the mobs. But with her leg injured, and lack of experience in close ranged fighting it was all she could do to stay alive.

And then just as another one of the blades lowered for an uppercut she could see no way of dodging, the creature recoiled suddenly with an angry hiss, while its head was assaulted by a black blur of what looked like… Wait, is that a weasel?

The random though was completely lost on her when a buzzing ball pulsing with fiery aura zoomed right over her head to explode in flames, knocking another one of the snake-hybrids off its tail.
“You alright?” a slightly rasped voice asked. Turning to her right she saw a tall man with a mess of light brown hair on his head. He was dressed in flowing white robes, but for his torso, where an elaborate breastplate covered the most vulnerable areas of his avatar. And wait, was that a book floating in read of his free hand? Was he a [Caster] or a [Lancer] then?! She opened her lips to say something, but before any sort of coherent reply formed in her mind, he pushed her out of the way.

“Watch out” he cried, as he swung his spear, parrying two sword strikes at once. “Fall back! I’ll take care of this.” and she scrambled to wordlessly do just that. She could thank the guy later, now she just wanted to get the hell out of here. When a moment later a long incantation came from the direction of the man, the image finally clicked with the title, and she fled with the renewed vigor. She knew what was going to happen next…

***

Everyone who thinks that a ferret does not constitute a good familiar for a close-range fighter never saw one in action. The agile rodent could reach incredible speeds in TOHO, and zoom among attacks like no ones business. Add to that the boost coming from being a [Casters] familiar, and not perfect monster AI, who refused to let go of carried weapons, and the result is a black blur running up the snake body and painfully distracting the creature which has no way to cope with it, once It slipped past its weapons.

Well it didn’t always work, there were all sorts of creatures which could casually shrug of the critters efforts, but among these lower level mobs, it was the ultimate distraction, and incidentally just what he needed, as he incanted a simple fireball to stop the second attacker from harming the girl.

“You alright?” he asked stopping by her side but a second later. He may not have been as quick as a fool blown [Lancer], but with some clever use of spell effects, he could give an average [Saber] a run for his money. The girl looked up dizzily, and tried to say something, but instead of waiting for her to say something he turned back to the distracted mobs and took a stance.

A third Naga Queen was now quickly closing in, as agro slowly building up from a nearby battle finally passed the threshold. The girl had a lot of luck that he was in the area. He swung his staff-spear to expertly batter away a two sword attack from now a little charred snake-mob. He may have fallen here once back in the first month of the game, but he learned a lot since, and his level was now actually higher than what the players started with in their first life.

“Fall back! I’ll take care of this, “ he shouted behind his back, as he slowly lured the monsters where he wanted them, casting an occasional quick spell to get them in-line.

The thing about hyper-realistic game setting? Yes it turned out it actually had its own merits. True, you couldn’t just stand, spam nukes and see everything perish in your path. But when your options are limited by little more than your imagination – there will always be a way for a sufficiently obstinate and thick-headed kind of guy.

And if there was one thing he was, it was stubborn. And after dying three full times perfecting the skill he now possessed, he was finally ready. Going along with the system assist as it helped him to focus arcane energies through his foci, the artificial senses telling him everything he needed to know, he started the incantation for his single greatest accomplishment, his one true [Noble Phantasm].

When the first lightning struck the ground, the three monsters were all lured to a single spot, and distracted enough by minor illusions, that by the time their AI responded to the danger it was already too late. One after another a hundred lightings struck the now helpless creatures, literally cooking them alive. And Tiren the Stormcaller allowed himself one satisfied smile.

***

Almost half a year after its release, the players of Throne of Heroes Online could now be roughly sorted among few basic categories. The most prominent of those were the fabled clearers, with high level, best available gear and singular focus towards clearing the game, they were the shining stars of TOHO, discovering new areas and challenging the unknown quests. With names like Asuna the Meteor Princess, or Archer the Unlimited Armor, live feeds and youtube videos of their fights were watched by millions.

On the other side of the spectrum, were the newbies only now slowly leaving the safety zones to start their own adventures.

But in between those groups, more and more clearly a new group could be seen. The mid-liners, staying behind the front lines in already cleared areas, competing among themselves to uncover all that which the front-line missed while rushing forward. Those are the players who died more than once in their quest for power, or who simple started to late. And among those too, some names were gathering more attention than others, those who stood at the front of second tide, and those who could push ahead on their own, with no party to back them up. People like Stormcaller, or Painted Man, who were slowly gaining fame equal or greater than that of some front-liners.

In hindsight it seems I ended up forgetting to mention the Territory Creation benefits. I intended to go with mana regeneration, as Casters with a low initial Vitality would gain little benefit from Health regeneration, while the ability to spam low-cost spells without worrying about power deficit seems like something deserving merit for a close-range magic combatant.

The familiar choice is actually more for the purpose of comedy relief, than not. It was just a first thing that came to mind. On the other hand, unless I'm missing something, it actually could sort of work out.

 

[Mu-sensei]

Well, not all casters have territory creation, just like not all sabers have riding. Also, I thought of that bear first!

Joking.

You just forgot / didn't know a few details:

1 pain absorption decreases the longer the game goes.

2 every player has to get out on his own. There's no 'clearing' the game, but rather, escaping the game.

 

[Wandering Airhead]

2 every player has to get out on his own. There's no 'clearing' the game, but rather, escaping the game.

Yeah, I did remember that, the term clearers was just to go with original SAO terms. And while everyone has to get out on his/her own, the merit of knowing what you get yourself into versus plunging into the unknown should not be underestimated in a game where the stake is your life.

Unless of course the content of the game is subject to change as the, with new epic quests appearing as the old ones are completed. The idea doesn't sound bad to me.

The bit about pain absorption going down was not mentioned before, but then with the rush of adrenaline, the dulled pain from even major injury may pass unnoticed until the time you calm yourself. Then again is adrenaline rush even emulated? Yeah, there are a lot of things to decide when creating a concept for a full-immersion game.

I also seem to forgot about the system assist disappearing once 'one conquer his power', but then those are middle-level characters, far from discovering everything there is to know in the game.

After I stopped to think, the idea about a staff as a spell-focus does not seem to fit well into Nasuverse as well, but I just went with the flow there. The other thing I went with the flow about was - how exactly does item creation work, and how does it differ from crafting? Is there even a crafting system in TOHO.

Some more food for thought:

Noble phantasms. You mentioned they need be unlocked. That would suggest some sort of quest. Then is there a predefined set of noble phantasms? I would guess not. But if so, then how does the game determine the actual nature of the phantasm and its power? How does balancing it all works? Those are ideas that, with some finesse, can get glossed over in an actual story, if you don't want to explain it all, but its good to have a mental model of its working.

You mentioned distributing points to improve a players stats with specific thresholds to mark the actual stat grades. But there should be some weight added, so that a lancer will actually have an easier time boosting agility, while caster trying to put point in strength does not suddenly end up with an A grade.

More on the world setting: how does the game world actually look like. It was not mentioned. Is this some sort of castle? A giant continent? A series of smaller areas joined by some sort of warp gates (or magic portals, or whatever else). Are the monsters inspired by real world legends, or is it more of a random thing, with inspiration taken from pop-culture and whatever ones brain can come up with.

I would personally go with the first approach. Raising real heroes seems like something to be done with real challenges, whether from the magic world out there now, or from the legends from the age of gods.

Finally the outside world. I believe it was mentioned before but not addressed yet. What is stopping enforcers from just slaying everyone while they are immersed in the game (other than author's convenience that is ). I can accept that the players that actually do get out, with the joined belief of millions of people giving them support may actually be a match for enforcers (even in many vs 1 scenario). But that depends on them having time to actually become the legends/celebrities. If Enforcers arrive early before the whole things grow out of proportion, there should be no stopping them.

What originally stopped the event from taking place in FRO is the secret. The magical lore is only uncovered to those trapped in the game, while all contact with the outside world is suppressed. Here you have an opposite approach. The whole thing is specifically designed to maximise exposure. And while magi are not really interested in the culture of common people, something this big would leak out sooner rather than later. And someone would probably take interest.

End even if you can somehow internally justify them not taking the interest, the readers of the fic, concerned with that issue will keep expecting things to go wrong on that front, and their suspension of disbelief has its limits.

Something that could be potenatially done is preventing the actual in-game terms to leak to the outside world. Without class names so closly linked to the actual grail war, the whole thing could potentially be overlooked as something of no concern to the magi. There are problems with that of course. Some publicity and information needed to appear before the game lunched for instance. Also if dead apostoles and other mondern creatures start to pop up as they really are, it would again gather unwanted attention.

Other stray thought - is Kayaba a known figure in clock tower / magi community in general? Should his name get linked to the event? How does this play out?

And the final thought. Ok, so the people joined belief, the ananimity can make the game work, where it really should not. I can accept that. I can accept that players becomming celebrities, end up building their legends, and boosting their in-game strenght (wouldn't that somehow affect the game stats? would players notice something going strange?).
The problem starts once they leave the game. The unanimity belied in their strength was directed to their characters. To Kirito the Black Monster, not Kirigaya Kazuto, the random high school student. Well that is the minor obstacle, the names are probably common knowlege. Bigger problem I see is that the legend is build around a players character, the actual in game hero with skills and powers possible to occur INSIDE the game. Once they get back to the actual world, the legend build around them plummets down. Or rather the legend of the Black Monster is still alive, but people belief does not include Kirigaya Kazuto the high schooler being able to summon those powers in the outside world.

People could expect him and believe him capable of weapon combat with great skill, but them believing him actually capable of realising a noble phantasm in the real world? Not unless they see it first, and even then, the more distant and down-to-earth believers will take it as a CG. The unaniumous belief in Black Monster the legend turns into partial belief of Kirigaya Kazuto the high-schooler. If more and more people of the game escape and keep pulling the miracles in the real world, that belief can come back, but tha requires the first ones to do the deed first.

And of course the magic in nasuverse depends greatly upon the mage himself believing himself capable of the mystery he is invoking. An averge player would not expect himself capable of replicating an in-game magic in real world.

I'm not saying the thing cannot happen. I'm saying that it needs some good rationalisation for the readers to accept it.
Well there is also the other way. TOHO is after all an experiment and experiments can fail -_-

 

[Mu-sensei]

Noble phantasms. You mentioned they need be unlocked. That would suggest some sort of quest. Then is there a predefined set of noble phantasms? I would guess not. But if so, then how does the game determine the actual nature of the phantasm and its power? How does balancing it all works? Those are ideas that, with some finesse, can get glossed over in an actual story, if you don't want to explain it all, but its good to have a mental model of its working.

Think of a quest that would make a feat (lets say, Asuna's Linear) or item legendary, or they're sometimes given after particularly strong boss fights.

You mentioned distributing points to improve a players stats with specific thresholds to mark the actual stat grades. But there should be some weight added, so that a lancer will actually have an easier time boosting agility, while caster trying to put point in strength does not suddenly end up with an A grade.

True, I need to think better on that, but that makes sense.

More on the world setting: how does the game world actually look like. It was not mentioned. Is this some sort of castle? A giant continent? A series of smaller areas joined by some sort of warp gates (or magic portals, or whatever else). Are the monsters inspired by real world legends, or is it more of a random thing, with inspiration taken from pop-culture and whatever ones brain can come up with.

I would personally go with the first approach. Raising real heroes seems like something to be done with real challenges, whether from the magic world out there now, or from the legends from the age of gods.

Starting city in the middle, four main quests at each cardinal point. South takes from Greek-Roman myths and then you back in time, until the first legends of humanity, North takes you through the Norse and Arthurian legends, East takes you to eastern ones, and west brings you to new-world and then modern times.

Finally the outside world. I believe it was mentioned before but not addressed yet. What is stopping enforcers from just slaying everyone while they are immersed in the game (other than author's convenience that is ). I can accept that the players that actually do get out, with the joined belief of millions of people giving them support may actually be a match for enforcers (even in many vs 1 scenario). But that depends on them having time to actually become the legends/celebrities. If Enforcers arrive early before the whole things grow out of proportion, there should be no stopping them.

What originally stopped the event from taking place in FRO is the secret. The magical lore is only uncovered to those trapped in the game, while all contact with the outside world is suppressed. Here you have an opposite approach. The whole thing is specifically designed to maximise exposure. And while magi are not really interested in the culture of common people, something this big would leak out sooner rather than later. And someone would probably take interest.

End even if you can somehow internally justify them not taking the interest, the readers of the fic, concerned with that issue will keep expecting things to go wrong on that front, and their suspension of disbelief has its limits.

Something that could be potenatially done is preventing the actual in-game terms to leak to the outside world. Without class names so closly linked to the actual grail war, the whole thing could potentially be overlooked as something of no concern to the magi. There are problems with that of course. Some publicity and information needed to appear before the game lunched for instance. Also if dead apostoles and other mondern creatures start to pop up as they really are, it would again gather unwanted attention.

That is a bit more complicated, but consider it this way: Why would clocktower pursuit every fantasy writer or movie director that releases an accurate piece of media? Sure, they're divulging magecraft to a certain extent, but the way they're doing it doesn't make people believe. Much the opposite, in fact: If you saw someone reciting Negima's latinic incantations, you're probably disregard it as a fanatic, right? Same here. Kayaba is using general magecraft knowledge in his game, as well as more exotic pieces of historic lore? Fine, no one would believe it as anything but a game. The fact that it makes people disregard some of the more exotically dressed enforcers as Co-Players or Live Actors (it must have something to do with that CG thing, as normal people doesn't know necromancy) or something equally idiotic is a unexpected, but welcome plus.

Other stray thought - is Kayaba a known figure in clock tower / magi community in general? Should his name get linked to the event? How does this play out?

Well, a little research and his name would pop up. CT thinks he is an obnoxious, arrogant brat, that is using the 'hidden right on people's noses' approach.

And the final thought. Ok, so the people joined belief, the ananimity can make the game work, where it really should not. I can accept that. I can accept that players becomming celebrities, end up building their legends, and boosting their in-game strenght (wouldn't that somehow affect the game stats? would players notice something going strange?).
The problem starts once they leave the game. The unanimity belied in their strength was directed to their characters. To Kirito the Black Monster, not Kirigaya Kazuto, the random high school student. Well that is the minor obstacle, the names are probably common knowlege. Bigger problem I see is that the legend is build around a players character, the actual in game hero with skills and powers possible to occur INSIDE the game. Once they get back to the actual world, the legend build around them plummets down. Or rather the legend of the Black Monster is still alive, but people belief does not include Kirigaya Kazuto the high schooler being able to summon those powers in the outside world.

People could expect him and believe him capable of weapon combat with great skill, but them believing him actually capable of realising a noble phantasm in the real world? Not unless they see it first, and even then, the more distant and down-to-earth believers will take it as a CG. The unaniumous belief in Black Monster the legend turns into partial belief of Kirigaya Kazuto the high-schooler. If more and more people of the game escape and keep pulling the miracles in the real world, that belief can come back, but tha requires the first ones to do the deed first.

And of course the magic in nasuverse depends greatly upon the mage himself believing himself capable of the mystery he is invoking. An averge player would not expect himself capable of replicating an in-game magic in real world.

I'm not saying the thing cannot happen. I'm saying that it needs some good rationalisation for the readers to accept it.
Well there is also the other way. TOHO is after all an experiment and experiments can fail -_-

That I answer with this piece:

I’m not good with mornings. Before ToHO, I used my Kendo training to give me focus and kickstart my body to start a new day, and later, In-game, I tended to get in the great majority of wake up late, stay awake ‘till late, because it was easier to find parties that way.

Now, I’m suffering the effects from that.

It didn’t help that the first month after we awoke were nothing but medical exams and interviews, from police investigators, and a few for the media. I feel so embarrassed to know people could see us in game! I have fans! How I’m supposed to react to that!? But anyways, once those tests ended, and we were deemed healthy, we were out of confinement (why did they even quarantined us? Did they think we were going to snap, go out and kill people like some freak?) supposed to return to our normal schedules.

For me, that means school.

I got up, had my appointment with the porcelain seat and washed my face on auto-pilot, following with a quick change into my uniform and breakfast.

My mother was saying something about a weird delivery, and brother was saying he wanted to keep it, but they weren’t talking to me so I didn’t pay any attention.

I had stayed ‘wake ‘till 2 am downloading some new movies that came while I was in ToHO, and making a last time check on my stuff. I was nervous. Can you blame me?

So I had to drag my feet to class, three hours before I was used to get up. How would I wish I could teleport IRL. Or fly, that was an appropriate, no, even better substitute at times. And it was fun.

“Sugu, the light.” I looked at the red light and stepped back into the sidewalk. ‘Yeah, we have cars here. Can’t cross on the red.’ “Thanks Oni-chan.”

“You’re nervous.” It must be really obvious. Oni-chan isn’t the most perceptive guy around, only that Archer guy can be worse, and if he noticed…

“Hey, aren’t those kids…” I blushed. “Pst! You’re too loud!” “They can’t hear us from here.” Yes, I can. “Ok, I was just nervous. I mean, she looks like The Fairy.” “I’m more nervous about the Black Monster.” Monster!? I looked around in alarm. False alarm. What are they thinking? There are no monst-

The Light turned green, and I walked forward doing my best to ignore their nonsensical talk. They could at least have the grace to whisper, instead they were talking loud enough to be heard above the engines and general noise-

The screeching of tires screamed loud enough to dwarf everything, and I snapped in the direction of the sound to see a car trying its best to stop before ramming me.

I didn’t think, for I had no time to. I kicked the ground, and spun myself to roll over the hood of the vehicle and minimize the damage.

…

It was like watching a trainwreck in slow motion.

Suguha was half awake since earlier, something was bothering her ever since we came home three days ago. To make matters worse, some impolite couple decided to gossip above recommended volumes for discretion, and my sister dashed forward as soon as the light turned green.

Then an idiot-driven car decided barely red was still green, and hadn’t time to break at the small student on the crosswalk.

Then world stopped making sense.

Suguha acted in what was probably instinct (as much as tried to protect her, she was still a high level player from the frontlines, and that required above-average reflexes), and kicked the pavement to jump and roll with the blow.

Instead she flew over the car and hit her back on the traffic light case, reflexively holding on it with her left arm while the right clutched her probably aching ribs.

Her eyes met mine, surprised, confused and embarrassed, and she swung herself under the bar and into the vertical pole, sliding to the ground.

I was checking over her before I knew it.

“I’m alright oni-chan! Seriously, I haven’t broken anything!”

Of course, her inhuman stunt had everyone surrounding us, asking questions about how she did that and if I could turn into the Black Beast (Why I’m not surprised they showed that on TV?), and if Suguha could fly or teleport…
It turns out, she could. Teleport I mean. It wasn’t as convenient as to leave us at school, but even getting on the top of the convenience store across the street and out of the crowd was good.

“What is going to happen with us, oni-chan?”

…

School was boring.

Sure, Keiko didn’t expect it to be as exciting as flying on Pina or exploring a ruin, but she didn’t remembering it being this boring. Worst of it, she was scheduled for after-school remedial classes due to her three-year stay at ToHO.
At least she could move around at P.E. even if it was limited at running laps around the school field.

“Ayano-san.” She looked at teacher, who motioned her to take the third stripe and another girl her age, she couldn’t remember the name of, to take the last one.

“Ready.” One of the girls bend down to start, she simply looked at the field, more than a little annoyed.

“Set.” What are the others doing at a time like this? How are Sinnon, Leafa and Tiger-san doing?

“GO!” She dashed. Her body responded well, even if not as well as in game, but well, no way she’d have that speed and strength here.

It would be nice not be on the end of the pack though.

Where are everyone? She looked behind, to see the others at a more moderate pace. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid! You’re not supposed to run everything like it is the 100m dash! You’re supposed to hear the teacher when she says what the exercises are!’

She didn’t relent though. Her legs burned a bit in exertion, but she pushed forward, as fast as she could. The teacher came in sight, and hit the stopwatch as she crossed, for the first time, in the first place.

“No way…”

“Impossible!” Haha! Take that! I’m not the last one anymore! I outran the Divine Bull of Anu, so you guys are small fry! I’ll never be last at P.E. again!

“Ayano-chan… Would you mind running again?” The teacher was looking at her with a strange expression.

“OK.” The little girl walked back at the starting line, a different set of girls against her in their starting places.
The teacher counted again, and she took a deep breath. ‘You can do it again!’ she cheered on herself.

“Go!” She shot, imagining herself like one of Sinnon’s bullets, no restraint, no real though and no thinking other than ‘reach first place’ on her mind.

She crossed the finish line, and it was her teacher’s legs that gave in, although hers were burning uncomfortably.

“No way… No freaking way.”

She fidgeted. ‘Did I do anything wrong?’

“Ayano, you just ran 400m under 27 seconds!”

“That is good… right?” ‘I’m not in trouble, I hope.’

“Good? GOOD?! NO!” The teacher held her shoulders in a light grip. “That wasn’t just good. That was FANTASTIC! Like, Olimpic record fantastic! NO, scratch that! You’re even better than Olimpic Record, I think it was a little over 43 seconds.”

Silica, no Ayano Keiko looked downright confused. “What?” She looked at the track, and her resting classmates, her mind processing what she have just heard.

She wasn’t just the first on her race, or the fastest of her class. No, if her teachers was to be believed, she have just broken the world record in a thousand pieces, than turned it into dust for good measure.

A stray thought crossed her mind: Suguha was as fast as her, and she couldn’t hold a candle to Asuna’s speed.

…

Kirigaya Kazuto, no Kirito, looked at the toolshed of his house, and picked a monkey wrench almost absentmindedly.

He hadn’t given much thought to things once he came back, as other concerns presented themselves daily. Medical examinations, their impromptu quarantine on an isolated location, the regularization of his marriage with Asuna, or the fact that the things that happened at ToHO were common knowledge, or rather a popular entertainment.

But now that he thought of it, he couldn’t remember exerting himself recently. His school backpack weight was almost negligible, he didn’t remember getting tired since he left the game, and hasn’t been sick ever since (although with the amount of things those doctors stabbed in or out his veins, he doubted he would ever get a common flu again).

Sure, he scratched his lack of tiredness with the fact that his body rested for almost three years non-stop (come to think of it, he knew he shouldn’t be that healthy when he got out, but he and all the others he knew of were completely fit), and his strength from his senses being unused to the normal scales of weight measurements. Balance, and reflexes were a matter of training, so those were easily explainable by the years of life-threatening experiences in virtual reality.

He couldn’t still shake the feeling that his life wouldn’t get back to what it was before his ‘out-of-body experience’ as Klein put it.
This was it. The first test. The first confirmation he needed to prove whatever happened earlier this morning was an isolated event, a freak accident.

He held each extremity of the monkey wrench in each hand, and...

Folded the metal like it was a piece of electric wire, or particularly large paper clip.

He picked his bicycle, and called his sister and mother. “Sugu, Oka-san, I’m going for a walk!”

“Onii-chan! I’m going too!” His sister barreled through the door, a small bag in her hands. She eyed the modern art piece he had made from the wrench curiously, but said nothing, quietly sitting at the back of the bike.

He didn’t pushed his rhythm, instead he made sure to go at a lazy, slow pace that betrayed his erratic thoughts. “Onii-chan?”

“Yes, Sugu?” Hearing his sisters troubles would be better than brooding on his, he decided.

“I can do magic.”

“You… I… Nevermind.” He fumbled with his words for a bit. “I thought so. What have you tried to do?”

He could hear her shrug, or rather, the shifting of her clothing caused by it. Another thing he chalked to whatever happened to their bodies after the game. “I hope you haven’t tried anything that could set our house on fire…”

“I haven’t!” She punched him lightly (Maybe, he didn’t remember her strength rank, and his endurance was B++. Better make sure she doesn’t go punching people in the shoulder lest she hospitalize someone by accident) and continued: “I don’t even use this kind of magic anyway. I specialize on Wind and use a bit of Shapeshifting.”

“I knew about the wind, but Shapeshifting?” The only other person who used such an obscure skill was Argo, and Kirito couldn’t picture her teaching it to her… for free anyways.

“I can turn into a bird. I used before I learned that spell to fly.”

“Oh. That’s useful.” The duo arrived at the place they were looking for, a place where was safe to use a few of their more destructive skills.

“An abandoned building?” Suguha looked incredulously.

“Cliché, I know, but I couldn’t think of a better place.” He dismounted the bicycle, and picked it up, vaulting over the two meter fence as it was less than a quarter of that height.

Setting his transportation down, he looked around for people, and finding no one, turned to his sister.

She was muttering something on a corner. “Sugu?” No response. Was she doing any magic?

He left her for her own devices and found a closed of room. “Here goes.” He though better and stopped. Stripping down to his underclothes, he focused for less than an instant.

The familiar pain of shifting muscles and bone manifested, only worse, and the, creature, for it didn’t looked like a human at that moment fell to its knees, and its body grew, furred, clawed, toothed and horned. Still growling deeply in pain, he got up, and his head hit the ceiling.

“Works, huh.” It was half way speech, half way growl, and much slower than the usual, no, the speed was the same as when he used it without the mad enhancement. The pain however, was worse. Not unbearable, but worse.

“Onii-chan?” He tuned to Suguha, who was openly gaping at his dark form in fear. He could literally smell her tension and adrenaline.

“I’m calm, Sugu.” Speaking like this was a pain. “‘ll turn back, turn away.” She didn’t, opting to leave the room altogether. She hasn’t gone far, just waiting at the side of the door.

“Ack, this hurts.” He complained. Once dressed he walked to the door, to see her form still waiting for him. “I was just testing my Monstrous Strength Sugu. I’m not crazy enough to use Mad Enhancement with you or anyone else nearby.”

She glared. “You should be sane enough to avoid Mad Enhancement at all!”

 

[Wandering Airhead]

That is a bit more complicated, but consider it this way: Why would clocktower pursuit every fantasy writer or movie director that releases an accurate piece of media? Sure, they're divulging magecraft to a certain extent, but the way they're doing it doesn't make people believe. Much the opposite, in fact: If you saw someone reciting Negima's latinic incantations, you're probably disregard it as a fanatic, right? Same here. Kayaba is using general magecraft knowledge in his game, as well as more exotic pieces of historic lore? Fine, no one would believe it as anything but a game. The fact that it makes people disregard some of the more exotically dressed enforcers as Co-Players or Live Actors (it must have something to do with that CG thing, as normal people doesn't know necromancy) or something equally idiotic is a unexpected, but welcome plus.

This sounds, to be insufficient. You are picturing them to see us as we see ourselves, in other words you are applying our thinking to them. The problem is, I just don't see them looking about it that way.

They live in a culture focused on secrecy, they literally live, breath and dream secrecy. From their perspective the knowledge about magecraft is unknown in the real world. Or at least so rare as to not be there at all. And suddenly they discover a breach, and not just a little thing, like some guy claiming to have seen this or that, but a large-scale spectacle that uses the exact setting of a grail War. A red alert burst inside my mind if I try to picture how an average enforcer seeing this. An average enforcer that is used to dealing with small scale outbreaks, sometimes as big as a small city. But half the world? That's the whole new level of challenge.

So lets imagine the thought process continue. The guy calms down from the first moment of shock. Rationalizing kicks in. Grail war is an old tradition, and small parts of it leaked out over time, and maybe someone did discover an old text about the subject (side note - check the literary registers for missing items). Ok, it's just an entertinement [I doubt the guy would be able to rationalize like that, he would most likely not understand the outside world stance about entertainment], no-one's gonna believe that. Great. It's not such a big deal. We could maybe just ignore it? Right? Nothing bad is going to come out of it, surely? Of course it won't. Then he goes to sleep, with modicum of internal balance, but with cold sweat on his forehead. And the next day he goes abuout and try to look into that Kayaba Akihito guy. Surely nothing will come out of it. Just a freak accident, yeah? But just for the peace of mind, lets do this thing.

And when some time later he finds the very same name as a registered magus. I imagine all sort of different alarm bells will go on ringing in his head. Ones he can't rationalize and ignore. This didn't sound like a particularly paranoid enforcer. I could certainly imagine a more paranoid one.

I’m not good with mornings. Before ToHO, I used my Kendo training to give me focus and kickstart my body to start a new day, and later, In-game, I tended to get in the great majority of wake up late, stay awake ‘till late, because it was easier to find parties that way. (...)

I like the snippet. It's nice to real, although you might want to work on that first part. Till the very end I was sure the first scene was Kirito's narrative. And I had a hard time determining who said what. The rest was alright though.

This does indeed pose a way to go about it. With this setting, I can see it going that way, true. But still there is a missing piece to it all. There is no actual explanation on how. I guess it didn't really fit the snippet, for the characters didn't quite know what was going on as well. But when the fic is going the people will want to know.

Just exactly how is it that the bodies grow along with the in-game characters. How the unanimous belief in their in-game capabilities can affect their real-world bodies. So I wonder how the actual mechanism works for that to happen.

And while I can sorta, kinda see the connotation for the athletic capabilities, I would expect magic to be much more diminished, if nor outright impossible. For most of the believers will not believe the freed players to be able to replicate the feats outside of the game. It doesn't make the obvious kind of sense, and thus an explanation should be there.