Traveler Of The Multiverse

Discord Link ~ discord.gg/smAesXp

***

Suoh Mihono's father was the CEO of Suoh Steelworks last year until he met with an unfortunate accident.

With her father being dead, Suoh Mihono inherited her father's company, Suoh Steelworks.

Unluckily, the woman inherited the company during an economic crisis. Suoh Steelworks took the brunt of the crisis, making her company plummet.

Even when the crisis was over, the company continued to fall due to lack of funds.

In just a single year, Mihono was under immense stress and could hardly sleep soundly anymore. She didn't have a single day to rest ever since her father's death.

Despite the fact that her company continued to fall, Mihono looked for various ways to bring her company back to the top. She went to Kengan Matches to look for something, or someone, that can help her reach that goal.

In one specific Kengan Match, Mihono felt her body tremble upon laying eyes on a young face smiling. She felt attracted to that young boy that was fighting.

She shook her head to snap out of the small moment of trance and noticed that the boy would win. She was able to see that the young man was leagues above the person he was fighting against.

Her eyes brightened as she realized that the way she can get her company to rise once more, was to get that young man on her side.

Before approaching the young boy however, she approached the man that walked around with him.

"Hello, my name is Suoh Mihono of Suoh Steelworks."

Mihono stretched her hand and looked at Kayaba with a kind smile and dark bags under her eyes. Her hair was also messy and not combed, even her make-up wasn't put on correctly.

"Akihiko Kayaba. How can I help you?" asked Kayaba, shaking back Mihono's hand.

"It's about your fighter..."

…

Lucky for Mihono, that day was Sora's last Kengan Match, so she was able to get Sora easily.

"My company is on the brink of going bankrupt and being closed," said Mihono, lowering her head in dejection. "I may not have much to pay you right now, but I hope you can help me!"

Sora looked at Mihono, quietly observing the college girl's body and every action.

Nodding slowly, Sora sat up and said, "I can do it, but you will have to listen to every demand I have."

Mihono's expression brightened up hearing Sora's first words, but after hearing the rest, Mihono's face turned weird. Gritting her teeth, Mihono was ready to sacrifice her own body to keep the company afloat.

With a mixture of being sad and blushing, Mihono agreed to Sora's request.

"You also need to know that Argus is still wishing to continue their deal with you. They have mentioned that they will continue to pay you until you no longer wish to work for Argus," said Mihono as she lifted her head and looked at Sora with a small smile.

"Sounds like something Kayaba and Rinko might have down," muttered Sora.

"Then come back here until the first Kengan Match, I still have some things to attend to," said Sora as he stood up and informally asked Mihono to leave. "I will give you some ideas to help your company stay afloat without having to use the money gained from Kengan Matches. Give me your phone number so that I can send them to you."

Mihono listened to Sora and gave her phone number to Sora. She didn't know if Sora could really help her or not, but she had to give him a chance.

After exchanging numbers, Sora sent off Mihono and returned to teaching Baki.

He didn't have to worry much about wooing this woman, as long as he helped her, she would naturally 'open' herself for him. He didn't need to read her to see that, he could easily understand that from the way she looked at him when she first saw him when he opened the door.

…

18 days passed in the blink of an eye.

Sora had helped Mihono a lot with the Kengan Matches and began teaching her how to lead her company. He gave her many tips and started letting her work on her own slowly.

Besides that, Baki had grown splendidly in strength and skill. Baki had already reached Grand Master in just the 2 short months he was teaching him.

Baki's strength received an explosive growth because of a breathing technique he had taught him. The technique would nurture the potential within Baki and slowly let it flourish. It was like Baki's potential used to be a seed and eventually it started to become a tree.

Today, Sora was at Argus testing out Sword Art Online for what may be the last time until the beta testing and launch.

The level cap was still in play, but the monsters had become more terrifying and more troublesome.

Although they weren't a problem to deal with, they just took longer than usual. But it's not something that Sora minds in particular.

The NPCs and monsters of Sword Art Online had gained life. No longer could they be called lines of code or machines, or anything like that. They could now be called living beings, although they resembled more ghosts since they were now existing but had no 'real' bodies.

The breathing technique Sora had imparted to Baki was one of the highest grades. Why do I mention this? Because these breathing techniques can be learnt in-game.

Although only mid-tier and lower could be learnt.

The breathing techniques give the players a passive buff and also allows them to control their movements more precisely. The higher the grade, the better the effects of a breathing technique.

In dojos and other areas where players can train, as well as dungeons rewards and high-leveled quests, players can gain these breathing techniques.

Whilst they practice the breathing techniques, their real bodies are affected and they can slowly grow stronger.

The game had two modes for almost anything in the game. It had an automatic and a manual function.

Using blacksmithing as an example, a player can use the automatic option and just tap the metal 10 times before the item is finally created. The level of the blacksmithing skill would determine the strength of the sword. The end product would always come out as a set grade that is depended on by the level of the Blacksmith skill.

For the manual mode, the end product can be whichever grade depending on how well the metal was hammered. If it was poorly hammered, the weapon will come out weaker than an automatic mode weapon. If the weapon was hammered with great skill, the weapon will come out better and stronger.

The level of the Blacksmith skill will only affect the damage of the weapon and minor buffs. Sometimes the weapon is randomly strengthened as well, the attribute strengthened being random and free.

"Link Start!"

Sora's vision was assaulted by many colors before he was finally sent into the 55th floor he was last on.

In 18 days, Sora had progressed a lot.

Despite starting over from the first floor ever since the monsters and NPCs were granted life, Sora still made rapid progress.

If the leveling system was up, Sora would have taken WAY longer than just a simple 18 days. Fighting from floor one to floor 55 would have taken him almost a whole year, maybe 14 months.

Since the boss monsters are already extremely strong despite being level 1, once they gain their levels back, it would take Sora a while to gain levels and then fight the beasts that had risen in level. By then, the attacks of the monsters would have increased in lethality and power.

Just as Sora left the room he was in when he appeared back in Sword Art Online, a beautiful and voluptuous nun greeted him.

"Good morning Heaven, it's good to see you so happy."

The nun's voice was so sweet and mellow, soothing Sora's heart with just a few words. She had a beautiful smile on her face and her eyes were squinting with delight as she looked at Sora's handsome face.

"Good morning Sister," said Sora, flashing a smile at the nun.

Smiling back at Sora, the nun said, "I hope you come back safely from your adventures. It would be a shame to lose such a nice~ and kind gentleman like you."

"Nothing could happen to me in this place. I'm strong, but I will take your words to heart."

Sora left the nun's house before heading straight to the dungeon, dodging all the monsters.

Today, Sora was going to be fighting the boss monsters of floor 55 all the way to the 60th floor. After that, Sora would be trying out the Blacksmithing and Tailoring functions of Sword Art Online.

Appearing before the door that leads to the 55th floor's boss, Sora pushed the door before entering the floor with amazement.

It made him slightly disappointed in the fact that the common monsters will receive a shuffle, changing them from where they spawn. Meaning the Dire Wolves and Frenzied Boars will end up appearing at a different floor in the beta and launch.

Kayaba did it like this because he didn't want Sora to remember everything. Even the locations of many things will be shuffled around their floors, like the labyrinth and the boss lair.

The Boss monsters will also end up going with a mild makeover, their appearance and methods of attack being different.

After opening the door, Sora's eyes met with a 12 meter tall giant holding onto a big halberd that had a very sharp one edge blade at it's tip. The monster wore medieval armor over it's thick and white fur that stuck out in the gaps of the armor.

[Lvl. 1]

[Daylight Arc Knight]

Bringing out two long swords, Sora brandished them against the knight.

With a heavy step, Sora got into stance and pointed the swords at the Daylight Arc Knight.

Roar!

With a loud tiger roar, the knight ran at Sora and swung down it's heavy halberd at Sora, hoping to slice him down. His steps were quick and his presence rather suffocating.

Shrugging off the knight's presence, Sora met the knight's halberd with his left sword. The sword in his hand moved as if it had come to life, slithering through the air before stopping before the halberd, making it stop.

The knight was quick to act as it pulled back it's halberd before thrusting forward at Sora. Only to be stopped by the sword on Sora's right hand which felt as if it had struck a mountain.

-1,000!

The Daylight Arc Knight lost a lot of health from the recoil of attacking Sora. Unlike the sword in Sora's left hand which the knight felt like it was striking something soft and cushioning, it felt like it had struck something sturdy and immovable with Sora's right sword.

The Daylight Arc Knight jumped back and looked at Sora warily before dashing again with stronger might than before.

Sora smirked and dashed forward as well using a skill.

Sunrise Tearing Tempest!

Like a violet wind from a hurricane, Sora made quick work of the knight as he struck it harshly.

One sword was agile and fast whilst the other was heavy and strong.

102% Proficiency!

The knight was quickly losing under Sora's barrage of attacks, making it fall back into the wall. Anguish covered it's face as it struggled to deal with Sora's strikes.

Roar!

Roaring to the sky one last time in bitterness, the Daylight Arc Knight finally fell to the floor. It's eyes staring holes into Sora, anger welling up within the knight's eyes as it begrudgingly fell over and disappeared into many lights.

"This boss was much easier to deal with than the previous boss monsters," murmured Sora as he collected the rewards and headed for the next floors.

Once Sora arrived at the 60th floor and defeated the boss monster there, he jumped back down to the 55th floor where the beautiful nun was at.

Sora headed straight to a blacksmithy and pulled out the materials he got from the 5 boss monsters. With two crystals, 1 metal, and 2 types of leather, Sora got down to making some stuff.

Using up one of the crystals for a sword, Sora used the rest to create some boots, a violet leathered fur coat, a small chest plate, and with the remaining crystal, Sora made a pair of gauntlets.

The crystal gauntlets were slim and looked like average leather gloves. They boasted a lot of defensive and offensive power, making them perfect for those who fight without weapons.

Although the stuff was pretty useless to Sora since this was his last day in Sword Art Online.

Since the nun was real however, Sora would see her again when the game launches.

"I will go out on a journey and will not be back until after a long time," said Sora as he carried the stuff he created. He passed them over to the nun and flashed her a smile.

"I wish you the safest of travels. Return safe," said the nun with a sad look. "There will always be a place for you here."