Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 09

Alicization Beginning (アリシゼーション・ビギニング) is the 9th book in the Sword Art Online Light Novel series, published on February 10, 2012.

Summary
Using a new FullDive machine called the Soul Translator, Kirito entered Underworld as a child without his real world memories. There, he and his friends Alice Zuberg and Eugeo embarked on an adventure, which ended with Alice accidentally violating the Taboo Index, with disastrous consequences. Six years later, Kirito awoke within Underworld with his real world memories. This time, Eugeo and Kirito left their village on a quest to return Alice to her hometown.

Part 1
Eugeo and Kirito, two eleven-year-old boys living in a settlement at the northern edge of the «Human Empire» called Rulid Village, were assigned the lifelong task of chopping a giant, durable tree—known as the «Gigas Cedar»—using the «Dragon Bone Axe», in order to allow the villagers to expand their fields and pastures. Several generations and more than three hundred years of chopping diligently with the axe had left a one-mel-deep gash in the tree, with three more mels and around nine centuries' worth of chopping remaining. When the two boys finished their quota for the morning, the village chief's daughter Alice, who had been studying the Sacred Arts at the Rulid church, brought them homemade lunch. After discussing possible ways to prolong the «Life» of their food, the children decided to spend the next rest day searching for ice in the forbidden «Mountain Range at the Edge».

Part 2
On the following rest day, the three children gathered at the edge of the village and departed towards the mountains. En route, Eugeo pondered on their futures, as well as their past before being assigned to his «Sacred Task». At that moment, Kirito asserted his belief that they could choose to be guards if they managed to fell the «Gigas Cedar» — an idea that Eugeo rejected as impossible. Eventually, the three children reached the cave at the mountain pass; to their surprise, the trip lasted significantly less time than anticipated. As they explored further and further into the dark cave, the air grew considerably colder, making their breath visible. Moments later, the three children arrived at a large chamber, within which they were greeted by the sight of hulking white bones of a fallen dragon. The trio soon realized that the dragon had been killed with a sword.

Part 3
While speculating on the cause of the dragon's death, Kirito pulled a sword, known as the «Blue Rose Sword» in the village's legends, from the dragon's remains. However, due to the sword's weight and their unwillingness to rob the dragon's grave, the children instead returned to their original goal of gathering ice. After filling Alice's basket with it, the three of them attempted to leave the cave and return to the village. However, as they took the wrong path, the children instead arrived to the entrance to the Dark Territory, the land of the devil races. Looking up into the blood-red sky, Alice, Eugeo, and Kirito witnessed a mid-air battle between a white Integrity Knight on the back of a dragon, and one of the Dark Knights. When the Integrity Knight mortally wounded the Dark Knight and the latter fell to the ground just in front of the three children, Alice subconsciously attempted to come to the dying knight's aid but tripped along the way, accidentally touching the soil of the Dark Territory with her hand.

Part 4
The next day, an Integrity Knight descended on Rulid Village, announcing to the village and its chief that Alice had broken a Taboo and was to be taken away for interrogation and execution as punishment for her crime. Having seen the dragon flying overhead at the Gigas Cedar, Eugeo and Kirito rushed back to the village, where the latter was restrained by the other villagers when he attempted to attack the knight with his axe in an attempt to free Alice, while the former stood frozen, unable to defy the rules. Ignoring the commotion, the Integrity Knight finished tying Alice to his dragon and ascended into the sky, vanishing into the distance.

Part 1
On June 29, 2026, Asada Shino (Sinon) met with Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito) at the «Dicey Café», where the two discussed about the aftermath of the «Death Gun» murders, as well as the recently-held fourth Bullet of Bullets, the winner of which seemed to be able to predict the patterns of veteran players in an uncanny way. While assessing that an unusual playstyle might be able to overcome the player, the girl felt a chill as she recalled the time she was ambushed during the tournament by the player and he whispered to her in English that her soul would taste sweet. Assuming a falsely cheery tone upon recovering from her recollection, Shino invited Kazuto to participate in the next tournament, reminding him of her help with Excalibur to help persuade him. As they continued their conversation, Kazuto realised that Shino had also invited another person and quickly checked his phone, which displayed a red dot on a map moving towards their location. The dot's arrival at the café coincided with the entrance of Yuuki Asuna.

Part 2
Seeing Asuna's casual interactions with Shino, Kazuto became curious to know when the two of them had got to be that close, becoming upset when he discovered that Shino had spent a night at Asuna's house, while he himself had never visited her house even once. When the topic turned to the app on Kazuto's phone, Shino learnt that Asuna's version was capable of displaying Kazuto's body temperature and heart rate, transmitted by a sensor implanted under his skin as a result of his part-time job. Thus, Shino questioned him further about his job, which led to Kazuto explaining that he was involved in the testing of a new Brain Machine Interface (BMI), overseen by a company called «Rath». Following a detailed explanation on the concept of «Fluctuating Lights» («Fluctlights»), the fundamental principle of the new technology that was based on the theory of quantum brain dynamics, the boy noted that he had been unable to differentiate the world created with this new technology from the real world.

Part 3
Comparing a FullDive with the Soul Translator to the state of dreaming, Kazuto explained the concept of Fluctlight Acceleration (FLA), a function of the Soul Translator that amplified the user's perception of time by interacting with the Fluctlight's thought-clock, thus allowing the user to experience a longer Dive in the same amount of time. After Kazuto asserted his intention to halt his participation in the project as his finals were about to begin, Asuna noticed that it was nearly six o'clock, thus prompting the group to finish their conversation and leave the café. As they departed, Shino stopped abruptly as she sensed a prying gaze directed at them but was unable to locate its source, until it suddenly vanished.

Interlude I
After taking the train to Setagaya, Asuna and Kazuto walked to the former's home while holding hands. Asuna's thoughts drifted to the events of the 55th Floor of Aincrad in Sword Art Online, in which Kirito was nearly killed by her bodyguard Kuradeel near the Labyrinth, and to the memory of them holding hands while watching the collapse of the floating castle. She was shaken from her thoughts when Kazuto stopped abruptly and told her of his plans to go to America to study. He invited Asuna to come with him, which she accepted, out of her desire to stay by his side. Asuna asked more questions on the research of Kazuto's part-time job, and Kazuto replied that the STL was most likely developed to try to understand the nature of human consciousness, adding that the machine was, in some ways, "an extension of [Kayaba Akihiko's] ideas." Asuna wondered if Kayaba might still be alive somewhere in cyberspace, and Kazuto added that the machine Kayaba used to commit suicide and replicate his own consciousness was a primitive version of the STL, which destroyed his brain in the process of copying it. They had reached the small park near Asuna's house where they typically parted ways when a jogger approached them, asking for directions to the station. However, Kazuto recalled that the same man had been watching them outside the café and realized they had been followed. When he demanded that the man identify himself, the man, his demeanor now changed to aggression, provided a single clue that led Kazuto to identify him as Kanamoto Atsushi (Johnny Black), a member of «Laughing Coffin», as well as one of the murderers behind the Death Gun incident. Seething with pent-up hatred against Kazuto, Atsushi produced a syringe filled with succinylcholine from within his jacket. Kazuto ordered Asuna to get help while he tried to defend himself against Atsushi. As Asuna ran away from them, Atsushi and Kazuto stabbed each other: Kazuto was stabbed in the shoulder by the syringe, while he managed to drive the point of his umbrella deep into Atsushi's thigh. Asuna immediately rushed back and called an ambulance, which arrived on the scene promptly. The paramedics tried using atropine to counter the effects of the succinylcholine to spike his heart rate, but his respirations began to fail, and his heartbeat began to slow. As the paramedics worked to massage his heart, Asuna glanced at the readout on her phone and watched as Kirito's pulse fell to zero.

Part 1
Kirito awoke in the heart of a forest, unable to recall what had happened after he and Asuna reached the park; he found he was wearing unusual clothes that seemed taken from a fantasy game. Thinking that he might be in a virtual world, he tried to log out, but was unable to open any in-game windows. After numerous conjectures, Kirito guessed that he was in Underworld and attempted to call the operator, Higa Takeru, by yelling at the sky for him to stop the Dive, but nobody responded. Kirito then decided to find a source of water to quench his thirst and, following the sound of flowing water, found a crystal-clear stream. Refreshed, he heard a chopping sound and walked towards it, abruptly witnessing an brief vision of two boys and a girl walking by the riverside under the setting sun of midsummer. Struck deeply by the scene, he wondered if it was a memory of long-passed days he had forgotten.

Part 2
As fast as it had appeared, the scene disappeared. But Kirito had a nostalgic feeling of his childhood memories, even though he had never had any recollections in the Underworld. He turned to the forest where the sound of chopping was heard. It was repeated fifty times with a low-sounding count, followed by a three-minute break. Kirito reached a clearing, where he saw a large tree, no less than four meters in diameter. A boy was standing next to it with an axe in his hand. Kirito, still in a daze and confusion, decided to ask the boy some questions, and started with the question on how to log out, but the boy did not understand his question. Determining that there was no way to escape, he asked for a place to stay, considering it to be the next best question in his current situation. The boy answered that the village was not far off, but asked Kirito to wait if he wanted to be accompanied. Kirito decided to wait, to the boy's delight. The boy offered Kirito a round-shaped bread, which was supposed to be half of his meager lunch, and, realising that he had not named himself, introduced himself as Eugeo. Eugeo gave some bread to Kirito, and checked the Life on the bread. Seeing this action, Kirito confirmed in his mind that this was indeed a virtual world. With a bite of the bread that was extremely hard, Kirito commented that someone should bring a boxed lunch. Eugeo replied that the person who had usually brought a boxed lunch everyday had been taken away by an Integrity Knight six years ago, but he still believed that she was still alive. Now done with lunch, Eugeo explained that his «Sacred Task» was to cut down the giant tree. Kirito tried to cut the tree, and after a few attempts, he managed to land a cut. By the time they finished, dusk had arrived, and they headed back to the village.

Part 3
At the village, Selka, a girl learning the Sacred Arts from Sister Azariya, explained the rules of the village to Kirito, and he went to sleep with many unanswered questions. The next day, Selka persistently nudged Kirito up for the morning prayer. After church worship and breakfast, he met up with Eugeo to continue the «Sacred Task». At noon, they talked about the Sacred Arts and epidemics that took twenty residents three years ago. Kirito then began cutting, but a strong feeling through his mind makes him ask Eugeo if there were anything harder than the axe. Eugeo replied that the Divine Instruments were the only things harder. Eugeo then brought out the «Blue Rose Sword». The swordsman wielded the heavy sword with intent to cut the tree with it. They went back to the tree, but because Kirito's Object Control Authority (OC Authority) was not high enough to properly use the sword, he could not activate any skills with it and missed hitting the designated area of the tree, thus the tree's Life fell by only one point. The two then decided to use the axe instead to finish the day.

Back at the church, Kirito took a bath. Once finished, he went to his room, where Selka awaited him. Kirito asked Selka about her sister Alice, and she responded to the best she could, while being upset that her Sacred Arts were not as good as her sister’s. Kirito told her that no matter what, she was amazing. Soon, the bell chimed nine and, just before she left, Selka asked Kirito if he knew why Alice had been apprehended. After Selka was told that Alice had transgressed against the Taboo Index by touching the soil of the Dark Territory, Selka left for the night, leaving Kirito in his room alone, pondering about Alice’s appearance. A bright golden light flashed before his eyes as he fell asleep.

Part 4
The next morning, while Kirito was washing his face, Sister Azariya approached and told him that Selka was missing. Knowing that he bore responsibility for her disappearance by informing her why her older sister had been taken away, Kirito left with Eugeo to search for Selka. They arrived at the «Mountain Range at the Edge» and heard a young girl screaming from inside the cave. Kirito and Eugeo ran inside, and discovered a group of goblins. Kirito decided to charge all of them head on as the group of goblins decided to kill them. Within the first attack, Kirito and Eugeo took down four goblins. In another instant, Kirito confronted the leader of the goblins, «Lizard Killer Ugachi» while Eugeo went to deal with the other goblins. Although Kirito's first two blocks had failed, he used his «Sword Skill», «Sharp Nail», effectively breaching the goblin’s defense. However, due to his subsequent carelessness, he received a cut, the extreme pain of which paralyzed him. When Ugachi lifted his machete to kill Kirito, Eugeo came in and knocked Ugachi back, but was easily counterattacked and had his stomach sliced open by Ugachi's sword. In a flash, Kirito recalled some of his memories from his first time in Underworld, which gave him the strength to kill Ugachi. Afterwards, Kirito freed Selka and took her to Eugeo, who was heavily injured. Due to Kirito's insistence, she used a highly dangerous Sacred Art to transfer some of Kirito's Life to Eugeo. Before losing his consciousness, Kirito heard a voice, claiming that it awaited the two boys at the top of Central Cathedral, and giving him overwhelming energy.

Part 5
Two days later, Kirito and Eugeo returned to their job of chopping the «Gigas Cedar» and to their surprised, they discovered that the axe felt amazingly light. They reached the halfway mark much earlier this day and Kirito, having noticed an increase in his Object Control Authority after the fight with the goblins, decided to bring out the beautiful sword out again. This time, Kirito successfully activated «Horizontal» against the tree. Seeing the skill, Eugeo expressed interest in learning Sword Skills. Kirito taught Eugeo the basic Sword Skills that he used and the latter would practice extensively on the «Gigas Cedar». Within five days, the «Gigas Cedar» was cut down. Gasupht Zuberg, the village leader, announced a celebration for the fall of the tree. At the climax, he allowed Eugeo to choose his next «Sacred Task». After some deliberation, Eugeo chose to be a swordsman. However, the current Rulid Village guard, Jink, thought that it was unfair for Eugeo to leave before him, so it was decided for the two of them to duel to see which one of them was stronger and should be the first to leave. Eugeo, using a skill he learnt on his own, «Slant», easily defeated Jink in the duel by striking his sword. The celebration continued for the rest of the whole day until the bell chimed ten.

Part 6
The next day, Garitta awaited for Kirito and Eugeo along the path towards the fallen tree. Before the two boys left to Zakkaria, the elder gave them a branch of the Gigas Cedar as a gift. Garitta then told the two to visit a man named Sadore so that he could craft the branch into a sword. The two thanked Garitta, and both walked towards the path to finding Alice, on a path they would not be coming back from for a long time.

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Volumen 9 Sword Art Online (Ранобе, Том 9)