Chapter 1: The Fateful Dive

Logan Taylor, ever the broke-ass gamer he was, was waiting in line for a game's new release. His dad was a nice-ass dude, so he gave Logan just enough birthday money for a used NerveGear and a new copy of Sword Art Online. (The fact that it's a used NerveGear is important, remember that.) The previous owner only had it for a few hours before posting it online. They said something about it was off but that it would probably run programs fine.

The NerveGear is a new Virtual Reality Headset, one of the first of its kind, created by Akihiko Kayaba, as is Sword Art Online.

4 hours later, Logan was laying on his bed, seconds from beginning his first dive. He glanced at his old-ass laptop before syncing his NerveGear with the endless library of metal music stored on it. At least he would have sick tasty jams to listen to while he played. "Link start."

The first few minutes of the game were spent creating his avatar. He made himself look similar to himself, except he upped his height a LOT. (A/N: I'm only 5'5" and a half, so insecurities are shared here) His username? Drax. Drax152. (It's my gaming name on literally everything) Afterwards, he spent a bit of time exploring. It took him a few tries to figure it out with a random shitty sword how skills worked, but using the sword felt...off. It felt too light, there was no heft to it. He wanted heft. And that's how he found himself holding a double-sided ax, thanks to really nice beta testers giving out beginner versions of various types of weapons. There was even a halberd in their collection, but just the one...which is why it was in his inventory.

He spent the rest of what the game should've been, practicing what he called "ax skills" instead of sword skills. He liked these much much better. The next thing he knew, he was teleported back into the Town of Beginnings, his ax still firmly grasped in both hands. He rose an eyebrow, straightening himself and storing it in his inventory for later.

6 minutes later, he was now really damn short at 5'5" and he looked like his real-life self, plus he was stuck in a literal death game. Akihiko Kayaba, the psycho that everyone now knows him to be, created an entirely virtual game, exploiting the features and functions of the NerveGear itself to create a game that couldn't be escaped from, unless you cleared all the floors or died. If you die in Sword Art Online, the NerveGear fries the brain, using the microwaves used to transmit signals. He hated being this short, so he crossed his arms and fumed, a dark-haired dude and red-haired scruffy dude stood nearby, the black-haired guy significantly calmer than the redhead dude who wanted his damn pizza.

Sword Art Online, in its true form, was on.

Several months later, he had an actually decent ax for his level, though his halberd was still beginner. The beginner halberd was still powerful as hell though, and it was no surprise to Drax that it was the only one on the first floor. He was lucky his music still worked, and he had some good shit to grind exp and gold to. He wasn't able to come across good armor yet, but he was content with a decent set of leather armor and a short black cloak for now. He sat down in the amphitheater, listening to the plan for the boss raid a swordsman commander, Diabel, and a couple others put together. He perked up slightly when accusations about beta testers came about from an orange haired little shit who was even shorter than Drax, Kibaou. He stood up at the exact same time as Agil, an older dark skinned man with a completely bald head locking eyes with a 17 year old, white-ass motherfucker kid with wannabe Thor hair. Funnily enough, they both had something to say to defend the beta testers. Drax let Agil go, pulling out his own handbook when Agil mentioned it to support Agil's point. Immediately following, he began speaking. "Not only did they issue the handbooks, but they also had a literally free item shop for beginner armor and weapons." He reached into his inventory to produce both his halberd and his ax. "My ax, I farmed for myself, but this halberd was the only one the beta testers had. I'm lucky I swiped it when I did, because it's absolutely broken." The last half of his sentence was under his breath. "Beta testers are trying. Accusing them of withholding information isn't just rude, it's also very false." He sat back down, the orange haired dickhead grumpily flopping back down in his seat shortly after. The blue-haired commander dude told everybody to form groups, and obviously Drax gravitated to Agil, but he thought better of it. "Agil, I would immediately team up with you. But, I think it would be severely unbalanced for both of us heavy-hitters to be on one team. I'm gonna go distribute myself to a smaller team."

And that's how he found out what "switching" was, at the same time that he met Kirito and Asuna. Asuna didn't really talk very much. Kirito on the other hand, seemed to know quite a bit, which meant he was probably a beta tester. Of course, Drax didn't give a shit if he was a beta tester or Kayaba himself. As long as he pulled his weight "I know I said I'd join your guys's team, but good lord I stand out like a sore thumb. You're both really quick sword fighters, and here I have two double-handed weapons that are slow as hell. It's kind of a problem." The fix Kirito proposed sounded good, however. Since Drax was likely to have the highest damage output, confirmed upon comparing each other's sword skills and weapons, Kirito would set up the switch, and Asuna would stick with her rapier a few times before Drax would come charging in for the kill. They practiced it once or twice, finding good rhythm and got their timing good before they were sure they would do well in the boss raid.

As Drax thought, they did perfectly fine in the first half. Then, all went to hell when Diabel's information turned out wrong. The boss was supposed to change to a nodachi at some point when his health dropped. Instead if a nodachi, however, he drew oout a talwar, a completely different weapon with, likely, a completely different damage output and attack rate. Drax clearly heard Kirito yell for Diabel to stop, but it was already too late. Diabel wouldn't accept the healing potion Kirito offered, digitizing into little computer flakes. Kirito's anger took hold and he charged at the boss. Coincidentally, so did Drax, but Drax was only pissed because when Diabel refused the potion and died as a result, it made it look like Kirito didn't try to help save his life and instead that he might have even killed him. The SAO menu popped up in front of him suddenly.

[Berzerker passive ability unlocked. Your proficiency with two-handed and heavy weapons, combined with rage, can turn you into an unstoppable force, if you use it right. If you fight while enraged, your attack speed will increase sharply, and therefore your damage output. Additionally, you get to choose one Berzerker Art from the following list. Unfortunately, when in Berzerker rage, you take significantly more damage.]

Drax all but ignored it in his rage, but he tapped the screen to get it out of his face, tapping the first weapon art in the list.

[Hammer and Chisel selected! If you strike a weapon currently lodged inside your opponent with a heavy weapon, your critical attack bonus is doubled and added onto the first attack. If both weapons are heavy, two-handed, or both, your second weapon's damage is dealt as well. A second heavy art cannot be stacked onto this Berzerker Art.]

Drax charged forward, his rage subsiding just enough for him to actually see his new weapon art, and then his rage returned, accompanied now by a palpable killing intent aimed at the boss. He reached into his inventory, producing his halberd. The skill never said a heavy art couldn't be used BEFORE it, so Drax grinned sinisterly. "Polearm skill! Armor-Piercing Launch!" His halberd soared into the air, glowing a bright red, before it lodged itself into the boss, at the same time that Kirito started his own onslaught. Drax ran forward, his ax in his hands, before he launched himself off the back of a random dude's back and into the air, the flat side of his ax's head, glowing bright blue and his lodged halberd glowing purple, slamming into the butt of his halberd. "Berzerker Art! Hammer and Chisel!" He was ashamed to admit, but yelling his attack skills was weirdly satisfying. He single-handedly lopped off half the boss's current health bar with that one series of attacks. Hanging onto his still lodged halberd, Drax jammed one end of his ax head into the boss's chest, launching himself upward, dragging it up and through the collar-bone and yanking out his halberd with a backflip as he launched. His descent was marked by a skill as well. "Halberd Skill! Charging Cleave!" As he fell, he enacted the skill, his fall speeding up significantly, as the chopping side of his halberd passed into the boss's skull and helmet. Drax's move actually created the beginning of a hole in the center of the boss, his halberd glowing a bright green. He fell into that hole/crater, digging it deeper and deeper, until he hit the ground, carving a complete hole through the boss at the same time that Kirito dragged his sword across the boss's whole side. It was like Drax had cored a pineapple, and Kirito was cutting off a ring of it. According to SAO rules, reward priority went from whoever got the final hit, to the person who scored the highest damage, and then on down the line according to damage totals. Kirito technically got the final hit with his sword drag, so he got his edge-lord cloak. Drax, on the other hand, got his own reward.

[Highest damage output reward earned! Death Charger Harness obtained! A harness and accompanying hide and leather accents, all made from assorted black-furred wolves, hellhounds, and hellboars. Your defense increases sharply, but no penalty on speed is enacted. Berzerker skills activate faster, and you can wield two-handed weapons in one hand as if they were one-handed instead. This does not apply if it has the reach attribute. The perceived weight of these weapons remain the same, but your ability to one-handedly wield them is now comfortable and useable. Your most powerful Berzerker Arts now make your weapons glow black, no matter many weapons are involved in the used Berzerker Art.]

Drax was still in shock over his winnings, not to mention the amount of money he earned. He shrugged, suddenly tuning in to what was being said about Kirito. Just before Kirito was about to pull a an Edgelord move, that literally anyone could predict coming from this motherfucker, Drax scoffed. "So, you're gonna come up to the guy who tried to warn Diabel not to engage the boss, tried to heal Diabel with a healing potion, and dealt the final blow with a flurry of sword blows that I could unfortunately only hear, and accuse him of killing the guy he blatantly tried to save?" He equipped his harness armor now, his massive great-ax resting like it weighed nothing on his shoulder. "That's just stupid, bro. You should get your eyes and ears checked." What Drax hadn't expected from the armor, was that there wasn't anything under the harness over his chest, so the muscle that his very very high strength stat created is obvious, in his shredded abs and chiseled pecs. That's all you can see though, his arms and legs covered by black fur, thick black hide, and tanned hellboar leather for gauntlets and boots. His new helmet was less helmet, and more crest, a dire-wolf skull perched, closed, on his head with black fur attached to the back to cascade on top of his long blonde ponytail that was suddenly in a braided style.

Kirito's edgy laughter bit was halted, and the shouting mob calmed the fuck down at Drax's logic. Most of them all proceeded to go home with whatever they had earned, while Drax, Kirito, Asuna, and, surprisingly, Agil stuck around for a few seconds. Kirito left quickly, however, deciding to go solo, but not without a kinda hypocritical warning to Asuna to accept an invitation into a guild. Drax, Agil, and Asuna talked for a small amount of time, before Drax decided to stick around Agil for a bit. Guys who use axes together, stick together, after all.

A/N: Dayum. More than 2000 words. Dassa record I think. WOO. That was really comfortable, so I might have several chapters be this length, but don't expect that to be the norm.