Level Grinding

On the other side, Kazuto Kirigaya grabbed Asuna and said with a serious face, "You must know what's going on."

Asuna's face crumpled, and she muttered, "It's over."

Kazuto Kirigaya impatiently smacked the girl on the forehead and said with a serious face, "Pull yourself together. Our priority right now is to defeat Akihiko Kayaba and crush his scheme."

Asuna's eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at Kazuto Kirigaya with anticipation and asked curiously, "Do you have a way?"

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Kazuto Kirigaya let out a cold laugh. He could barely save himself, so what way could he have?

He said matter-of-factly, "Can't we just reach the hundredth floor?"

The light in Asuna's eyes extinguished, and she murmured again, "It's over."

Kazuto Kirigaya was speechless. He said to her, "Since things have already happened, why not look for a way to change them? What's the point of lamenting here? Besides, it's like this now, there's no need to care about your mother anymore."

With that, he forcefully pushed Asuna forward, saying as they walked, "Life is about looking forward. How can you always stay in one place?"

"Alright, alright, let go. I'll walk myself." Asuna pushed the boy's hand away and walked ahead, huffing angrily.

"Asuna, what's your level?" Kazuto Kirigaya asked as he walked beside her.

"Level 3." Asuna frowned. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Kazuto Kirigaya pondered for a moment and said to the girl, "Let's go fight the Man-eating Flowers."

Asuna's expression froze, and her steps halted. She said, "I'm only level three."

The implication was: why should she go to her death?

Kazuto Kirigaya said, "We can take them down if we fight together. It's absolutely no problem to pull and fight them one by one."

Asuna's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Kazuto Kirigaya. "Are you sure it's okay?"

Kazuto Kirigaya patted his chest, his face full of righteous indignation. "Absolutely no problem."

Asuna reluctantly agreed to his request after the boy's sweet-talking. He sent Asuna a party invitation, and after forming the party, experience would be shared proportionally based on damage contribution.

Along the way, they casually learned about some wolf-like creatures and led Asuna through a winding path to the entrance of the forest.

Exchanging a glance with Asuna, the boy strode in first, gripping his steel sword in his right hand and moving forward.

The dappled tree shade began to sway. A gust of Wind blew, stirring up the dry, yellow fallen leaves on the ground.

Kazuto Kirigaya surveyed his surroundings, occasionally unleashing quick kills on some small monsters, leaving Asuna no chance to act.

Watching the boy slaughtering everything in sight, Asuna fell silent.

Did I... not contribute anything at all?

After clearing out the grunts, they followed the narrow path and found their way back to the center of the valley.

The center of the valley was not as dense as when they first entered the forest. Sunlight shone directly down, illuminating them.

Kazuto Kirigaya walked up a slope and poked his head out to take a look.

It was indeed a gathering place for Man-eating Flowers.

The Man-eating Flowers around them stood in twos and threes, moving slowly and aimlessly.

Kazuto Kirigaya whispered to Asuna, "Later, I'll lure two or three Man-eating Flowers over. After I finish attacking, you make your move and finish them off directly."

Asuna nodded.

Seeing that Asuna understood his meaning, the boy took a deep breath. He casually picked up a stone from the ground and threw it with force.

The stone flashed with a sapphire glow. Kazuto Kirigaya scanned the surroundings, chose a Man-eating Flower that was relatively close, and after checking that there were no Man-eating Flowers with alluring fruits nearby, he threw it directly.

The stone moved very fast, carrying a whistling sound as it cut through the air, tracing a parabolic trajectory as it quickly smashed into the Man-eating Flower's head. The Man-eating Flower's HP dropped slightly.

In an instant, it and the two Man-eating Flowers beside it began to move.

The enemy detection mechanism activated, and they quickly approached Kazuto Kirigaya's direction.

The Man-eating Flowers were indeed Abnormal Species. Not only was their appearance frightening, but their posture when walking was also very peculiar.

Kazuto Kirigaya whispered, "I'm going in. Listen to my commands later."

Asuna nodded. Kazuto Kirigaya stood up, walked forward a distance, then lowered his center of gravity, gripping his steel sword tightly in his right hand. He unleashed the Sword God Style's Sword Draw Style.

He exhaled, and the sword body began to shimmer with a sapphire glow.

The muscles in his right arm bulged. He brought the sword to his waist.

Watching the approaching Man-eating Flowers, as they got closer, he suddenly drew his sword.

The sword body flashed with a cold, eerie light. The sword's momentum was swift as Thunder, incredibly fast.

In almost the blink of an eye, a hideous wound appeared on the chest of the foremost Man-eating Flower. Its HP rapidly decreased until it stopped in the red zone.

Green juice dripped slowly from the wound, falling onto the ground.

The two Man-eating Flowers behind it charged out. A blue glow emanated from Kazuto Kirigaya's body, and Magic Power began to envelop him. Instantly, immense power surged like a tide, flowing through Kazuto Kirigaya's limbs.

Kazuto Kirigaya kicked out, sending the closest Man-eating Flower flying three meters away. The sound of the Man-eating Flower hitting the ground echoed. Kazuto Kirigaya reversed his grip on the sword hilt with his left hand, switching from a one-handed sword to a two-handed sword, and another slash cut through the Man-eating Flower's bloated body.

The Man-eating Flower's HP, already low, was completely depleted.

"Asuna, switch!" Kazuto Kirigaya shouted loudly.

Asuna rushed out quickly, her rapier transforming into a swift stab aimed at the Man-eating Flower. Asuna's rapier pierced the vine that the Man-eating Flower extended towards Kazuto Kirigaya.

Rapiers were inherently designed for speed. While Asuna's attack didn't deal much damage to the Man-eating Flower, it successfully inflicted a stun.

A stun meant being unable to act after being hit.

This was SAO's way of controlling mobs and BOSSes. Once attacked by a Player, they would be unable to react in any way.

Of course, the so-called attack judgment had certain standards. Only Sword Skills and attacks that dealt effective damage were considered for the stun judgment.

Kazuto Kirigaya quickly took a breath. Although that last attack had great power, he also needed to adjust his breathing for a moment.

Her heart pounding fiercely, Asuna...

Kazuto Kirigaya shouted, "Switch!" He stepped forward, gripping his sword hilt with his right hand and thrusting it out swiftly.

This wasn't a Sword Skill, just a very simple thrust. However, even so, it was only slightly slower than Asuna's single-shot Sword Skill.

Asuna retreated, waiting for her Sword Skill's cooldown.

His sword plunged into its chest. Kazuto Kirigaya suddenly kicked it, sending it crashing to the ground.

The Man-eating Flower on the other side got up and charged towards Kazuto Kirigaya.

Asuna took a step forward, intercepting the last Man-eating Flower.

The Man-eating Flower was kicked down with immense force, its grotesque maw falling to the ground, sharp teeth writhing.

Kazuto Kirigaya felt a shiver run down his spine.

Without hesitation, he finished it off.

He thrust his sword three times, each stab piercing the enemy through and through. The Man-eating Flower's HP was depleted.

"Naoki, hurry up," Asuna's voice called out.

Uh, because the trial push and the smart push overlapped, I'll save up some drafts first. I'll continue with double updates after reaching 88,000 characters.