Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

The next moment, a dazzling meteor streaked across the space in front of him.

No, to be precise, it was just a basic single thrust sword technique with a rapier called "Linear Attack," but with the help of the "Gallop" skill and Asuna's own movements, the speed was astonishing.

Since the closed beta, he has seen other players and monsters use the same sword technique more than once.

Even so, he still couldn't see the blade of the rapier clearly; he could only catch the trajectory of the light effects unique to sword techniques as they were drawn in the air.

In the dimly lit labyrinth, the dazzling pure white light reminded him of a real shooting star he had seen in reality.

He suddenly realized from this attack why Asuna was called the "Rapier Wielder of Flash".

True to its name.

To them, Asuna's swordsmanship was dreamlike and dazzling, but to the kobold sentinels, it was a fatal blow that took their lives.

Before the monster could react, Asuna's figure passed it at an incredible speed.

In the instant of their collision, a bright red light effect appeared on its neck, indicating it had been struck, and then it shattered into fragments and dissipated into the air.

"Just keep going."

Their current level has reached the limit of the first level, and their equipment can be upgraded by a maximum of two more levels. The upgrade materials can only be obtained from monsters on the second level.

Therefore, even though they are in a maze area, the monsters on the lower floors should not pose much of a threat to them under normal circumstances.

This applies not only to them, but also to other players.

Therefore, they marched straight ahead, quickly clearing out the monsters along the way. They did not encounter any other players, nor did they encounter any traps or hidden rooms. In this way, they climbed directly to the fifth tier in one go.

Once you reach level 5, the monsters inside the floor change from kobold sentinels to kobold soldiers who are also level 5, wielding scimitars, but now wearing bronze breastplates.

Although the monster's changes don't seem significant—it just has an added bronze breastplate—it has gone from being a monster that could be defeated with a single basic sword skill to one that requires both a sword skill and a normal attack to defeat.

However, what may seem like just a difference of one normal attack can result in a completely different combat experience.

If he is still a solo player, from this point onwards, his exploration progress will inevitably be slower than that of ordinary players in a group.

because--

"If the next monster is a single enemy, Asuna will initiate the attack, Kirito will handle the damage and defense, and I will provide support."

"If it's a group of monsters, I'll attack first, and Asuna and Kirito will provide support. Is that alright?"

After confirming the kobold soldiers' attack patterns, Fujimaru Ritsuka decisively began assigning tasks, and Asuna promptly responded:

"understand!"

Kirito nodded solemnly and said:

"I see."

So the three of them continued forward, and although their speed was inevitably slower than when they were on the first to fifth floors, it was still considered fast.

Most of the monsters they encountered along the way were single monsters. After Asuna used [Linear Attack] to engage the monster, he immediately followed up with normal attacks to deal damage.

Or perhaps he blocked the monster's follow-up attack for Asuna, and then Fujimaru Ritsuka finished off the last blow; the entire battle was as simple and smooth as making a choice between two options.

This is the biggest difference between solo players and team players in the maze area.

However, this gap is based on the premise of 'good teamwork between players'; otherwise, it may even become a case of 1+1<1.

Of course, most of the teams that have made it this far in SAO are probably like this.

Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna's duo should be no exception.

However, even after he joined as a temporary member, the team still managed to demonstrate an exceptional level of teamwork, which surprised him somewhat.

As for the key point—

Kirito glanced silently at Fujimaru Ritsuka beside him, his expression filled with awe.

I realized I had misremembered the skill slot system when I was looking through the information yesterday. It was supposed to be that a new skill slot is added at level 5, so I quickly made a correction.

Here's a brief summary of the changes: Kirito's skills now include [Weapon Defense].

Asuna has gained new [Mercedes-Benz] and [Cooking] skills.

Fujimaru Ritsuka has a new [Sword Throwing] skill.

Kirito and Fujimaru Ritsuka each have one empty skill slot.

I'm so sorry for making such a basic mistake!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 152, Tenth Floor: Leisure and Rescue

152.

2023-12-01

Kirito had already prepared himself for the team to need some time to gel after he joined.

However, after encountering and defeating the three kobold soldiers, they successfully adapted to the rhythm of the three-man teamwork, which went surprisingly smoothly.

More importantly, although he has not yet seen Fujimaru Ritsuka perform in a way that would earn her the title of "unrivaled," he has discovered her as an excellent commander and supporter.

Within the maze area, in addition to the monsters that openly roam the paths, there are also ambush monsters that hide in various ways in the blind spots of the player's vision.

When players unknowingly walk up to these monsters, these nasty creatures will suddenly jump out and immediately attack them.

If players don't react quickly, they could easily find themselves in a very dangerous situation.

In their three-person team, whenever this situation arises, Fujimaru Ritsuka is able to use the [Sword Throwing] skill to hit the monster immediately, attracting its aggro and providing him and Asuna with extra reaction time.

This behavior not only greatly increased his and Asuna's margin for error in battle, but also reduced the mental stress caused by the need to be extra vigilant against surprise attacks on monsters.

If he were alone, he would have to proceed cautiously and with extreme tension.

Furthermore, even in the face of such an unexpected situation, Fujimaru Ritsuka was still able to calmly and collectedly issue combat orders to them, methodically eliminating the crisis step by step.

This calm and composed command strategy was what surprised him the most.

If he hadn't already known that Fujimaru Ritsuka had mostly played single-player games, he would have assumed she was the leader of a large guild in some MMO game.

It's even possible that the other party is a leader of an organization in real life.

It was this combination of factors that allowed them to maintain a relatively safe state while also advancing at a fairly fast pace.

After reaching the fifth level, they began to encounter other players. Unless the other player was in danger, they would silently pass by and continue towards their goal.

The ultimate goal of all players on the front lines is undoubtedly to reach level 20, find the BOSS room, and defeat the first-level BOSS to prove to others that they can indeed pass the game on their own.

However, their immediate goal is to reach levels ten through fifteen.

According to information provided by Kirito during the closed beta, monsters of level 10 and above will drop weapon enhancement materials of levels +5 and +6, which are also the enhancement limits that can be reached in the first level.

Under normal game conditions, their current state is more than enough to challenge the first-floor boss, but considering the current situation, it would be better to strengthen themselves to the limit before attempting the challenge.

So they decided to slow down after reaching the tenth level, and slowly advance while farming enhancement materials.

Since the location of the passageways in the public beta has changed from that during the closed beta, they can only patiently search for them.

Aside from the first five stages going relatively smoothly, things became more complicated from the fifth stage onwards. It took them a whole morning to make it all the way to the eighth stage.

Based on their current pace, it should only take them three days to explore to level 20 and find the BOSS's room.

Including the time spent farming enhancement materials, four or five days should be more than enough, and then—

"Anyway, let's eat first!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka's cheerful words interrupted his thoughts.

At the same time, he felt a pang of hunger in his stomach; it was a little past noon, lunchtime.

The three of them found a safe spot and began to rest and eat.

After sitting cross-legged, Kirito eagerly pulled out a piece of black bread and the yogurt cream he had received after completing the "Cow's Counterattack" quest last night from his backpack.

The two ingredients can be simply combined to make a delicious cream bread, enough to satisfy his appetite.

"Oh, right, Ritsuka, Asuna, you guys..."

Want it?

Just as he was about to ask that question, he looked up and saw that Asuna had not only taken out the same black bread and butter as him, but also sandwiches and orange juice that he had never seen before, and he immediately fell silent.

Oh, right, Asuna also learned the [Cooking] skill.

"Thank you, Asuna, I'm starting!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka happily picked up a sandwich and began to devour it, while giving Asuna a thumbs-up and mumbling her praise:

"Mmm—delicious!"

"Thank you. Eat slowly, don't choke."

Asuna gave her a warning while thoughtfully placing a glass of orange juice beside her, as gentle as a Yamato Nadeshiko.

After doing all this, she looked at Kirito and smiled:

"Kirito, would you like to try some? Sandwiches and orange juice, I have extra here."

Then, she said with some regret:

"Unfortunately, there aren't many ingredients that can be collected on the first floor, so this is all we can do for now."

This level?

While other players are still munching on black bread in the maze, here they can enjoy cream bread, sandwiches, and orange juice, and you say that's 'just this much'?!

Regarding Asuna's Versailles speech, all he could say was—

"Thank you, then I won't be polite!"

Taking a bite of a sandwich, sipping orange juice, and having a cream bread for dessert—it's heaven!

Really fragrant.

Kirito thought to himself with a smug satisfaction.

Teaming up with Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna was definitely the best decision he made after entering this game!

After finishing their exceptionally lavish lunch, the three rested briefly in the safe zone before continuing their advance.

After some time, the three of them finally made it to the tenth level.