Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

The reason for choosing this area to level up is twofold: firstly, the experience points provided by the [Wind Wasp] are relatively high, and secondly, the material it drops, [Wind Wasp's Poison Sting], can increase the success rate of weapon enhancement.

Aside from being a bit troublesome to do, it kills two birds with one stone.

The Wind Wasp is a bee-shaped monster with a black body and green stripes. It is about 50 centimeters long and would be the world's largest insect if it appeared in the real world. It has a strong visual impact.

However, among the monsters that inhabit Aincrad, he is classified as the smallest monster.

It has two attack methods: one is to bite with its huge jaws, and the other is to use terrifying poison needles on its buttocks that are comparable to ice spikes.

After Kirito explained the monster's attack patterns, the two girls nodded in understanding, and then Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and said:

"Let's get used to fighting each other first, and then we can start grinding monsters."

"Yes, got it."

Asuna nodded as if it were a normal occurrence, but Kirito felt something was off and couldn't help but ask:

"Um, I know about getting used to combat, but what do you mean by 'officially grinding monsters'?"

As a veteran MMO game player, this was the first time he had heard this term. Could it be that there is a distinction between formal and informal monster hunting?

Generally speaking, after getting used to combat, isn't it just normal monster grinding? What else is there?

Hearing Kirito's question, Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled mysteriously:

"Speaking of which, this seems to be Kirito's first time grinding monsters with us in the leveling area. It's okay, you'll understand once you see it for yourself."

"Ok."

Kirito could only nod, suppressing his curiosity for the time being, and began the battle after selecting a [Wind Wasp].

Fortunately, although the monsters had become a bit more cunning, their attack patterns remained unchanged. Relying on his memories of fighting them during the closed beta, Kirito regained his familiar feeling after defeating the two monsters.

So he paused for a moment and looked at Asuna and Fujimaru Ritsuka, who were fighting on the side not far away.

He was initially worried that the two girls might be afraid of such a huge insect, but his worries were clearly unfounded.

Asuna nimbly dodged the monster's attacks, then countered with the skill [Linear Attack] three times in a row, easily eliminating one of the monsters. Her movements were light and precise, just like a real elf.

Fujimaru Ritsuka's side was even more relaxed.

Thanks to the high sharpness enhancement on her weapon and the damage bonus from the [Insight] skill when hitting weak points, she can take down a monster instantly with just a single skill and a normal attack.

However, being able to accurately hit the opponent's weak point twice in a row, he couldn't help but admire the opponent's precision and superb skills.

In team mode, teammates will share the experience equally, so it's generally difficult to achieve the same monster-killing efficiency as him alone. However, if he teams up with Asuna and Fujimaru Ritsuka, he doesn't have to worry about this problem at all.

He was shocked to discover that, in terms of individual monster-killing speed, he seemed to be the slowest of the three.

Oh no, I've become the one who drags everyone down?!

Just as a strong sense of crisis was rising in his heart, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna had almost adapted.

Then, Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded to the two of them and said:

"Then let's get started."

Honestly, I feel like my comment section is so quiet, even though my grades aren't bad...

Am I really playing a single-player game? (Lost in thought)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 172: Unbelievable Monster Farming and Enhancement Failure

172.

2023-12-12

To reiterate, SAO is a game primarily focused on sword skills. It lacks wide-range magic and overly flashy abilities, placing greater emphasis on skill compared to other MMOs.

Therefore, the monsters in SAO are stronger than those in typical MMO games, and are also fewer in number and more scattered.

Most of the time, the battles between players and monsters are one-on-one or multiple-on-one. If you accidentally attract multiple monsters, it is a relatively dangerous situation in SAO.

however--

Kirito stared in disbelief as Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly sprinted forward, her spear flashing as she precisely struck each of the [Wind Wasps] along her path, inflicting weak point damage and reducing the monsters' health to 70%.

In just a moment, she lured four monsters to follow closely behind her. She continued running forward, and when the four monsters were almost side by side, Asuna finally moved.

"Drink!"

With a sharp shout, Asuna, her rapier brimming with skill effects, shot through the four monsters standing side by side like a meteor!

This is not the basic sword technique [Linear Attack], but a higher-level dash technique [Meteor]!

This attack reduced the monsters' health to only 20%.

At the same time, the high damage Asuna dealt caused the monsters to shift their aggro and turn to attack her.

"Switch!"

But by then, Fujimaru Ritsuka had already turned around, and with a sweep of her spear, she wiped out all four monsters with remaining health.

"This"

Kirito was dumbfounded when he saw this.

No way, you guys play games like this?!

Although grouping monsters together to kill is common in the MMO games he played before, this is SAO, which has become a death game!

His values ​​were slightly challenged.

After the quick battle, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Kirito and asked with a smile:

"Kirito-kun, you should have understood the demonstration just now, right?"

"Ah, well, that's about right."

He came to his senses and smiled wryly, realizing what had happened:

"Do you also grind monsters like this in the wilderness on the first floor? No wonder you were able to rush to the front of all the players so quickly."

Two people and four monsters, the entire battle only took slightly longer than it would have taken him to defeat one monster by himself.

In other words, the two of them were almost twice as efficient at killing monsters as he was!

It's absolutely terrifying.

But isn't this method too dangerous?

He had barely entertained such a thought when he quickly dismissed it.

No, although there is some danger, it hasn't reached that point yet.

The attack power of monsters in the wild is not as strong as that of monsters in the maze area. Although being attacked by four monsters at the same time is somewhat dangerous, as long as you are not surrounded and your retreat is not blocked, it is still within a controllable range.

The logic behind this monster-slaying mode isn't particularly complex.

First, Fujimaru Ritsuka initiates the attack to lure the monsters, then Asuna unleashes a powerful attack that deals damage while refreshing the monsters' aggro value. Finally, Fujimaru Ritsuka takes advantage of the gap in the monsters' aggro shift to deliver the final blow.

The original battle strategy between players and monsters has been transformed into a simple "my turn, my turn, my turn" mode in this system.

A brilliant strategy.

However, although it sounds simple, a closer look reveals that this mode is not something every player team can use.

It needs to meet several conditions—

First, the player must ensure that every attack hits all the monsters as much as possible. Only in this way can all the monsters that have been attracted be eliminated at once. Otherwise, the surviving monsters may launch an attack, disrupting the entire rhythm.

Since there are very few wide-range sword skills in SAO, it not only requires each player to have superb skills, but it is also best to be able to lure monsters into specific positions like Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Secondly, each player's attack power must be high enough to minimize the number of attacks and reduce the chance of mistakes.

This is also for the sake of overall efficiency.

The optimal solution is undoubtedly to follow the pattern of Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna, which involves three attacks and one shift of aggro throughout the entire sequence.

If the number of attacks increases further, considering the extended time and increased risk, it becomes somewhat counterproductive.

This is probably why Fujimaru Ritsuka chose the [Insight] skill and the weapon enhancement path that focuses on full sharpness.

As he quickly analyzed the situation internally, Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled at him:

"Kirito, follow behind Asuna for a bit to get used to the rhythm. Once you're familiar with it, you should be able to lure two or three more monsters."

"I see."

Kirito nodded, suddenly feeling a bit of pressure.

He is not only a veteran player of MMO games, but also a closed beta player of SAO. If his performance drags down the two new female players, it would be a huge embarrassment.

Having teammates who are all too outstanding can sometimes be a problem.

He sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, Kirito didn't embarrass himself in the end and quickly adapted to the monster-slaying rhythm of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others.

With an unimaginable monster-killing efficiency, the three of them leveled up to level 13 in a single day and collected enough enhancement materials for all three of them.

As evening fell, the three returned to Urubas, intending to have their weapons upgraded by the blacksmith.

However, just as the three of them stepped into the city gate, a hoarse wail reached their ears.

"How...how is this possible?!"

"It was originally a +4 level! Damn it, you piece of trash blacksmith!!!"

The commotion successfully drew the attention of the three people.

They turned their gaze toward the source of the sound and saw a blacksmith's stall. A player was wildly waving his one-handed sword, looking devastated, and shouting insults at the blacksmith. A number of players were watching the commotion from the sidelines.

The person enduring the insults was a petite male player wearing a rustic brown apron. He lowered his eyes and silently endured the abuse, looking troubled.

After listening for a while, the three finally understood what had happened.

It turned out that the male player had asked the blacksmith to enhance his weapon, but unexpectedly, he failed four times in a row, causing the weapon's level, which was originally +4, to drop to zero.

More importantly, the opponent's weapon was the same [Tough Sword] as Kirito's, which only had a maximum of eight enhancements. Four enhancements followed by four failures meant that the opponent's weapon was completely destroyed.

"That's really bad luck."

Kirito sighed, though he could understand the other person's feelings.