He was also happy to discover that he still had his basic equipment in his Inventory; though he pouted over the loss of his steel shovel, steel cable, and steel fishing rod that he'd acquired towards the end of the testing period. Still, it could have been worse; he might have had to spend what little money he'd been allocated as a starting fund just to buy his basic tools. Instead, he could splurge a bit and purchase a couple of potions and a transport crystal to carry with him in case he lost track of time while out in the Dungeons (where log out functions were sometimes limited) and didn't have time to walk back to a safe zone to log out.
Pulling up the city map, he scanned the listing of shops in the area to find the nearest one that sold potions and crystals. Once he found what he was looking for, he sprinted there in the hopes of beating the other Players that intended to stock up using what money they had; Harry wrongly thinking that everyone started with the same amount of money as he had (unknown to Harry, a small fraction of what he had collected by the end of the Beta Test had been transferred over and added to the starting fund all Players were given) and that the other Beta Testers also had their original basic equipment to use. He was in luck; the non-Player character (NPC) running the store had no other customers and still had a full inventory of merchandise.
While Harry was shelling out several thousand Col (the currency used in SAO) within the game; his magic was reacting to Harry's immersion into the virtual reality environment (much as it had that first night he'd used the system). This time it drew upon the complex blood wards that had been set around the Dursley's home (for both his protection and theirs) and twisted them in response to Harry's mental proclamation that the fictional world he'd just entered was his one true home (the beta version had only been a temporary preview and therefore had not truly been seen as home; not like the full version was in Harry's mind).
It started by encasing his entire body in a protective shield that would prevent anyone from touching him and, more importantly, the shield would prevent anyone from removing the Nerve Gear from his head. Next, his magic expanded outwards while the blood wards tied to the house sent tendrils of magic inwards to lock his cupboard from both the inside and the outside; effectively sealing Harry into his closet and sealing the door shut. As the magic moved through the house, it acted upon the deepest wishes of both Harry and the Dursleys (specifically, his aunt); to be free of each other.
To that end, the magic removed all traces of Harry from the Dursleys' lives.
It even went so far as to completely remove any memories they had of Harry from the seven and a half years that he'd lived under their roof. When it finished, there was no evidence anywhere in the house or in the minds of its occupants that Harry had ever existed (bar a box of forgotten belongings tucked away in the attic); even his cupboard door had disappeared despite the fact that his cupboard remained beneath the stairs. The protective magics would remain active just long enough to wipe the mind of a batty old cat lady that sometimes watched Harry for the Dursleys (when she walked passed the house looking for the child two days later) before going dormant until the next time they were needed.
In the game, Harry (completely unaware of the changes taking place in the real world) placed his new purchases in his Inventory, thanked the NPC Clerk, and exited the store. It was time for him to find out just how much of his previous Skills remained. He took a moment to set the alarm built into the Player Menu to go off at six fifteen (which was two-fifteen in the game since the game clock was set to Tokyo Time) so he wouldn't be late starting breakfast. He then checked his map of the city again, in order to gain his bearings, before he headed towards the nearest exit so that he could enter the first floor Dungeon where he could scare up a couple of Monsters to test his trapping abilities on.
Stepping out onto the grasslands that surrounded Hajimari no Machi, Harry let a wide grin stretch across his face as his green eyes lit up in delight over the familiar and much loved sight of rolling hills and endless fields that filled his vision.
Letting out a whoop of excitement, Harry sprinted towards one of the less popular fields in order to get a little privacy and plenty of space to prevent random Players from falling victim to his traps. Harry quickly discovered that he could only sprint for a total of twenty-five yards at a time; meaning that he'd flash ahead in short bursts that left a streak of blurred color behind to mark his trajectory and then need to stop for five seconds to reset the move before he could do it again. It was just barely fifteen yards beyond the default distance, whereas during the Beta Test he'd managed to extend that distance up to one hundred yards and could smoothly transition into a new sprint with a single step that made his movements appear smooth and almost continuous.
Each successful sprint would add Experience Points to the Sprint Skill and bring him one step closer to regaining his former level of mastery in that Skill. He couldn't help but laugh out loud with each step as he felt the simulated wind rush passed his face. After a couple hundred yards, he flashed passed the two men he'd seen running through the town earlier but didn't bother to stop and say hello since it appeared they were busy facing a small group of Frenzy Boars. His loud laughter and blurred dash had drawn the attention of both men but he was long gone before they could fully register his presence.
Twenty minutes after leaving the town, Harry found a secluded corner of the field that was the perfect place to set up a couple of traps in order to determine his current mastery of the Trapping Skill. After a brief debate and a check of the time, Harry decided to test his snare building abilities first since digging a pit would be time consuming until his mastery Points reached the four hundred mark. He was a bit rusty on tying the knots needed to form the snare but after practicing for about fifteen minutes, he retrained his Avatar to make the appropriate movements and prompt the game to recognize the Trap. As an added bonus, he gained sixty Experience Points towards remastering that Skill as he set a total of six working snares in the immediate area.
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