Well, thanks PKMNB0Y and lightbox for taking over the summary/explanation.
What has been said is most of what you need to know

Anyway, it is by your choice whether you start at level 1 or somewhere between 1 and 10.
Since it is still the early stages of the game, level 1 can still work, since there would be those still afraid to have left the town of beginnings and such.

The choice is yours. Oh, by the way, lightbox and hailfire as well as regendorf. This has not been stated on the guidebook yet, that you start off with two skill slots and that at level 9 you get a third skill slot. Thinking that about every 8~9 levels at the moment to get another skill slot to equip at the same time. If you have evidence somewhere that the level you get a skill slot is different, go ahead and tell us. This was just simply based on Kirito's level and the number of skill slots he had at level 96 (12).