Comprehensive Manga: The Master is not here today

Kirito was originally a little worried that he might suffer from insomnia after forcibly changing his work and rest time, which would affect his fighting status the next day.

However, in fact, despite resting four or five hours earlier than usual, he fell asleep almost at the speed of light the moment his head hit the pillow, and almost overslept the next day.

All in all, it was a pretty comfortable sleep. He stood up and stretched a lot, feeling full of energy.

Well, the status is back to full!

From this point of view, even though it doesn't show up on the surface, there is actually a lot of fatigue accumulated.

While reflecting in his mind, he sent a message to Fujimaru Ritsuka. After confirming the situation, he walked out of the room and met in the open space outside the house.

"Good morning!"

After greeting the two of them, he did not get the expected response. The two looked at him with strange expressions.

Finally, Asuna couldn't help but ask:

"Why are you dressed like this?"

Kirito who appeared in front of them put on a gray cloak, completely hiding his appearance. If not for that greeting, they would not have dared to recognize him.

Hearing this, Kirito replied with a deep look on his young face hidden under his cloak:

"Just to survive."

Since last night, other players have arrived at [Tolbana] one after another and started to challenge the maze area. Among them, there may be two girls' followers.

In order to prevent their fans from burning him to ashes out of jealousy, he prepared a cloak for himself early on.

"Is it so exaggerated?"

After hearing Kirito's reasons, both of them were a little bit dumbfounded, but seeing Kirito's serious look, Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and said:

"In that case, let's put on our cloaks."

Wouldn't it look even weirder if Kirito was the only one standing next to them wearing a hood?

"It helped a lot!"

While expressing his gratitude, Kirito quickly took out two gray cloaks of the same style from his backpack and handed them to them, making the two of them stunned for a moment.

"please!"

It seemed that the other party had already planned it, and even bought their share.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Kirito did have this plan from the beginning. Because rather than hiding his appearance, it would be better to directly address the root cause of the problem, right?

But because this was entirely his personal request, he was too embarrassed to take the initiative to trouble the two of them.

So after a while, a three-person team, covered by a cloak and slightly suspicious in the eyes of others, walked out of [Talbana] and headed towards the maze area.

Unlike the non-humanoid monsters in the wild area that only use monotonous attacks, after entering the maze area, humanoid monsters holding weapons and wearing equipment like players begin to appear.

For example, on the first floor, there should be various kobold monsters, and the floor BOSS is also a huge kobold named [Kobold Lord].

Although it stands to reason that the monsters on the first level are not capable of using sword skills, the specific situation is hard to say.

And even if you really don't know how to use sword skills, just being able to use weapons to attack and wear armor is already very troublesome.

Kirito recalled the information from the closed beta period, while raising his guard in his heart.

Soon, they met the first monster in the maze area, a level 5, unarmored kobold sentry holding a scimitar.

"!@#￥%..."

The next moment he saw them, the opponent's eyes glowed red and he screamed strangely and rushed towards them.

Based on their current levels and equipment, it should be easy to deal with the kobold sentry in front of them. It only requires one [Sword Skill].

With this thought in mind, Kirito reached out and grasped the [Sword of Tenacity] behind his back, preparing to attack.

However, the figure beside him moved faster than him.

It's Asuna.

The opponent had already drawn his weapon at some point, and the light blue special effect light from releasing the skill had already covered the rapier——

The next moment, a shining meteor penetrated the space in front of him.

No, to be precise, it was just the most basic single thrust sword skill [Linear Attack] with a rapier, but with the assistance of the [Race] skill and Asuna's own movements, the speed was astonishingly fast.

From the closed beta to now, he has seen other players and monsters use the same sword skills more than once.

But even so, he still couldn't see the blade of the rapier clearly. He could only capture the trajectory drawn in the air by the special light effects of the sword skill.

In the dim maze that lacked light, this pure white light reminded him of the real meteor he had seen in reality.

He also suddenly understood under this attack, and understood why Asuna was called the "Flashing Rapier User".

True to its name.

To them, Asuna's sword skills were dreamy and gorgeous, but to the kobold sentry, it was a fatal blow that took away his life.

Before the monster could react, Asuna's figure passed by it at super high speed.

At the moment of intersection, a bright red light effect appeared on its neck, and then it turned into fragments and dissipated in the air.

"Just keep going."

Their current level has reached the limit of the first level. Equipment enhancement can be upgraded by up to two levels. The next enhancement materials can only be dropped 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.

Not just for them, but for other players as well.

So they drove straight in, quickly clearing the monsters along the way, without encountering other players, traps or hidden rooms along the way. They just climbed up to the fifth level in one go.

After reaching the fifth level, the monsters on the floor changed from kobold sentries to level 5 kobold soldiers holding scimitars but with bronze breastplates on their bodies.

Although the changes in the monster don't seem to be big, except for the addition of a bronze breastplate. The monster that originally only required one basic [Sword Skill] to be defeated has now become one that requires one [Sword Skill] and a normal attack. solve.

But in fact, although there seems to be only one normal attack difference, the actual combat experience is completely different.

If he is still a solo player, from here on, his exploration progress will inevitably be slower than that of ordinary players in a team.

because--

"If a single monster appears next, Asuna will take the lead in attacking, Kirito will be responsible for damage and defense, and I will be responsible for supporting;"

"If there are multiple monsters gathered together, I will attack first, and Asuna and Kirito will provide support. Is that okay?"

After confirming the attack mode of the kobold soldiers, Fujimaru Ritsuka decisively began to assign their respective tasks, and Asuna responded decisively:

"clear!"

Kirito also nodded solemnly and said:

"I see."

So the three of them continued to move forward. Although the speed was inevitably slower than the first to fifth floors, it was still fast.

Most of the monsters encountered along the way were single monsters. After Asuna used [Linear Attack] to attack the monster, he then used normal attacks to make up for the damage.

Or he helps Asuna block the monster's following attack, and then Fujimaru Ritsuka delivers the final blow. The whole battle process is as simple and smooth as a multiple-choice question.

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

However, the premise of this gap is ‘tacit understanding between team players’, otherwise it may even become a situation of 1+1\u003c1.

Of course, most of the team players who can advance all the way here in today's SAO should be such a team.

The two-person team of Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna should be no exception.

However, after joining him as a temporary team member, the entire team was still able to show a high level of understanding, which he did not expect.

As for the key point——

Kirito silently looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka beside him, with an expression of amazement.

Regarding the setting of the skill grid, when I was looking through the information yesterday, I found that I had made a mistake. It was a new skill grid at level 5, and I made an emergency modification.

Let’s briefly talk about the modifications. Kirito’s skills have added [Weapon Defense].

Asuna has added [Mercedes] and [Cooking]

Fujimaru Ritsuka has added [Throwing Sword]

Kirito and Fujimaru Ritsuka both retained a blank skill grid.

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