Sword God Style: Sword Draw Style

Sword God Style—Sword Draw Style

But he didn't dwell on it. The forest wasn't entirely peaceful, either; there were still some bugs along the way that he couldn't identify.

Perhaps out of some sense of humanitarian concern, the bugs, being arthropods, hadn't been made particularly ugly. On the contrary, they'd been given a cute, stylized look.

At least Asuna hadn't screamed and run away at the sight of them.

The bugs weren't strong. They were the sort of thing you could swat dead without a second thought. As they reached the middle of the valley, the tall trees grew sparse, revealing the bare rocks beneath them.

This was Man-eating Flower territory, which counted as a high-level resource area for monsters. There were several kinds of unusual monsters here.

The Man-eating Flowers weren't densely packed, but their level was still fairly high. Taking on more than three at once was as good as a death sentence.

Of course, that was for a beginner like Asuna.

As for Kazuto Kirigaya, you'd have to take the last of his HP before he went down.

Huge stems and thick roots sprawled across the ground.

[Man-eating Flower]

[level:4]

A few lines of small text appeared above its head.

The Man-eating Flower had a huge maw, and some of them had a bright red fruit growing on top.

The Man-eating Flowers weren't difficult opponents, but when Kazuto Kirigaya saw the red fruit, he had a bad feeling.

He'd watched Sword Art Online before, but it had been a long time ago. Although his soul had undergone a transformation, his memories were still a little hazy.

But they were still in the testing phase, anyway. With that in mind, he said to Asuna, "Asuna, go attack the one with the bright fruit on its head."

Asuna nodded and went forward to fight a Man-eating Flower with a fruit on its head.

Then, with a bang, the fruit burst, and a cloud of pink mist spread through the air. The surrounding Man-eating Flowers began closing in rapidly, like sharks that had caught the scent of blood.

"So that's how it works. It draws in the monsters," Kazuto Kirigaya murmured, nodding to himself.

Asuna's expression turned spectacular. She glared at Kazuto Kirigaya. "You set me up!"

Kazuto Kirigaya grabbed Asuna and ran, pulling her behind him.

As they ran, Asuna gave Kazuto Kirigaya a hard pinch.

The pain nearly made Kazuto Kirigaya let go. Faced with an angry Asuna, he gave an awkward smile. "How can you say I set you up? Look, we got away, and you didn't even lose a level."

"Hmph." Asuna snorted, her expression cold.

Kazuto Kirigaya hurried to placate her. "It was just trial and error. Trial and error is necessary."

Asuna snorted. "Next time, don't use me for trial and error. If you want to test something, do it yourself."

Roa quickly nodded. "All right, all right. I'll do it myself next time."

Only then did Asuna let him off the hook.

After they left the Man-eating Flowers' aggro range, they waited another fifteen minutes before sneaking back in.

The Man-eating Flowers that had gathered together had dispersed. Only three or four were scattered near the center.

Roa breathed out and said seriously to Asuna, "I'll clear out the monsters."

Asuna hesitated. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"No problem. Trust me."

A beginner's iron sword appeared in Roa's hand. He quietly circled behind a Man-eating Flower and landed a backstab with ease.

Unfortunately, Roa's attack couldn't take down the Man-eating Flower, which had a lot of HP. The three nearby flowers lunged straight at him.

Roa gripped his longsword and took a deep breath. He leaned forward, stepped out with his right foot, and swung his sword in a mighty arc. A cold gleam flashed as a tremendous slash struck the Man-eating Flower's body.

The first Man-eating Flower Roa had ambushed ran out of HP and vanished in a flash of blue light.

The other two Man-eating Flowers quickly closed in. Roa retreated, and a deep blue glow flashed across his sword. It was the sign of a Sword Skill activating.

Basic Sword Skill: Slanting Slash—single slanting slash.

His posture corrected itself, and his movements quickened. An indescribable force guided Kazuto Kirigaya.

Kazuto Kirigaya's eyes lit up. So this is the system's assistance?

His body grew light. Kazuto Kirigaya thrust out his sword, his figure appearing like a phantom at the Man-eating Flower's right side as he slashed diagonally upward with his iron sword.

After the slash, he swiftly switched Sword Skills. Another deep blue glow flickered along the blade.

Chain Skill: Horizontal Slash—single horizontal slash. Taking advantage of the Man-eating Flower's brief stagger, he struck again at once. A cold gleam flashed as the slash cut into the flower once more.

The Man-eating Flower's HP dropped rapidly, but it still hadn't reached zero.

There was nothing he could do about that. Kazuto Kirigaya hadn't upgraded his weapon and was still carrying the iron sword he'd gotten when he first left Beginner Village.

The other Man-eating Flower closed in, its huge maw lunging toward Kazuto Kirigaya. Forced to retreat, he gripped his sword again with his right hand.

This time, I should be able to do it.

He was beginning to understand how the system judged Sword Skills.

SAO had the world's most realistic physics engine. In theory, if a sword technique could be performed in real life, there was no reason it couldn't be performed in the game. But why hadn't the system recognized his first attempt? The only explanation was that his movements hadn't been perfect.

Sword Skills didn't have to be limited to the techniques stored in the system. Was the Sword God Style not a Sword Skill? Of course it was. A brilliant gleam flashed in Kazuto Kirigaya's golden eyes as he moved swiftly, dodging and weaving. The benefits of training regularly in the real world were becoming clear: not only were his basic attributes higher than other people's, but he had near-perfect control of his body.

He lowered the iron sword beside his waist, gripped its hilt with his right hand, and assumed an Iai stance.

Sword God Style—Sword Draw Style.

The Sword God Style was all about killing with a single strike. That meant every move had to be decisive.

A breeze passed. The sword had already left its sheath.

Blue light flashed again and again until the blade was completely enveloped in a brilliant azure glow.

A tremendous crescent-shaped slash swept through the air. The Man-eating Flower was split in two, and its HP dropped straight to zero.

[System Notification]

[You have learned a new Sword Skill]

[???]

[Build momentum, then draw your sword]

[Effect: Increases with the time spent building momentum; damage can reach up to 500% of a basic sword attack]

[Cooldown: 10s]

Kazuto Kirigaya wore an expression that said he'd known it all along.

It looked like he'd been right. Now he had a path to follow as he explored further.

This Sword Skill was pretty good. It was fast, and with enough time to build momentum, it could easily kill some weaker monsters in one hit. He could also cancel the windup depending on the situation.

More importantly, this was only a level-one skill. And the original owner of his body knew this sword style, too. If he copied the entire Sword God Style into the game and used the system's assistance to improve his proficiency, the original owner would surely be glad to see it.

Asuna stood nearby, staring in astonishment as the boy took on three enemies at once.

His movements were smooth and fluid, like those of a battle-hardened warrior.

He wore a simple, coarse shirt. His golden hair was bright and silky, and his face was handsome.

Somehow, he looked just like a legendary adventurer setting out on a quest—even if this hero hadn't yet made it out of Beginner Village, even if he'd just pulled a small trick on her, and even if he had a rather nasty personality.