Breathing Techniques in SAO

On December 2, 2022, a team finally discovered the room where the first floor boss was located.

They sent invitations to some higher-level players and planned to hold a boss raid meeting in Torbana.

At a small plaza, surrounded by stepped seating, about thirty to forty players were already seated.

A handsome young man with blue hair, wearing blue clothes and gray-black armor, with a shield on his back, walked to the center of the plaza and loudly said, "Hey—looks like most people have arrived."

He glanced around, smiled slightly, and addressed the surrounding players: "Thank you all for coming to the raid meeting today. My name is Diabel, and my profession… well, I consider myself a knight."

"No real profession system in SAO, right?"

"Haha, are you kidding?"

His casual joking made the surrounding players laugh, easing the heavy atmosphere.

Diabel himself smiled, but quickly composed himself and spoke seriously:

"Today, our team discovered the boss room at the very top of that tower."

As he spoke, he pointed toward the maze tower.

"Re… really?" came voices of doubt from around.

Diabel nodded gently, his expression serious as he said, "We must defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone still waiting in the starting town that this death game will end one day. This is our duty as those gathered here now, right? Everyone?"

His words were passionate and infectious, prompting the surrounding players to burst into applause and cheers.

"Then without further delay, let's start the boss strategy meeting now. Please form your teams first, because the floor boss isn't something ordinary teams can handle. We need to gather teams and form alliances," Diabel shouted loudly.

After he finished speaking, many people around began to form teams.

Only one boy, who had a youthful face, wore a blue shirt, and looked somewhat like a girl, seemed at a loss.

He looked around and realized everyone was teaming up except him, making him stand out awkwardly.

Not far from him, Tomioka Akimi was quietly chuckling while watching him.

Then he turned to Asuna and said, "I see someone I know. I'll go say hi."

After saying that, Akimi got up and walked over to the boy.

When he got close, he patted the boy on the shoulder and said, "Long time no see, Kirito."

Kirito was a bit stunned, then turned to look at Akimi .

"Ah, it's you," Kirito said softly.

"Looks like you're alone," Akimi smiled.

Kirito sighed softly, saying, "Well, it can't be helped, after all, I'm a solo player."

"Hehe, looking around like that, you really seem pitiful—like a little puppy that's been abandoned," Akimi joked.

Kirito gave a bitter smile and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, stop joking like that. I don't want to be alone in a situation like this either."

"Then, how about teaming up with me? But there's one more teammate—hope you don't mind?" Akimi invited Kirito.

"Eh? That's okay, I don't mind at all. Thank you so much," Kirito said happily.

"Just so you know, that teammate isn't very easy to get along with, but she's not a bad person. Her flaw is that she holds grudges and always gets revenge without delay. She's quite fierce overall..."

As he spoke, Akimi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He looked at Kirito and noticed Kirito was frantically giving him a warning look with his eyes, so he quickly changed the subject.

"But most of the time, she's beautiful, gentle, cute, confident, polite, and very strong. Having a teammate like her is my blessing."

Feeling the chill finally fade, Akimi let out a sigh of relief and glanced back slightly.

He found Asuna standing right behind him, smiling warmly—but her smile had a somewhat dangerous edge.

Seeing Asuna's slightly cold smile, Akimi quickly pulled Kirito over as a human shield.

"Ah… haha, A-Asuna, this is the person I was telling you about. His name's Kirito, he's pretty strong, and he's also a beta tester. I saw him alone, so I brought him into our team. That's okay, right?"

Asuna gave him a sideways glance and said, "You can make the decisions; I have no objections."

Then she looked at Kirito and said, "Eh! It's you!"

"W-what…? Asuna, you know Kirito?" Akimi asked.

"Yeah, when I was abandoned by my teammates and was about to die, he was the one who saved me," Asuna replied.

Kirito also realized, "Ah, it's you—the girl surrounded by captor mobs."

While they were talking, Diabel glanced around and said, "Alright, most teams should be formed by now, so—"

"Wait a moment!"

Before Diabel could finish, a guy wearing black chest armor with a head shaped like a brown cactus suddenly shouted.

He hopped down a few steps from the highest tier like a frog and walked over to Diabel, saying:

"My name's Kibaou. Before we fight the boss, I have something to say. Someone here must apologize to the two thousand players who died earlier!" He pointed at the crowd.

Diabel was stunned, then said, "Are the people you're referring to the beta testers?"

Kibaou shouted passionately, "Isn't that obvious?"

He paused for a moment, then continued: "Those who completed the beta test, on the very first day this damn game started, abandoned the newbies and disappeared. They hogged the best leveling spots and the easy quests, only caring about getting stronger themselves, ignoring others completely. There must be some of them here too!"

His words made Kirito tremble and become visibly flustered.

He shouted at the crowd, "Those who completed the beta test!"

"They must kneel and admit their mistakes, handing over the money and items they've hoarded!" Kibaou pointed at the surrounding players.

"Otherwise, as teammates, we can't trust our lives to them!"

He withdrew his hand, crossed his arms, and spoke fiercely.

Kirito trembled even more.

Just after Kibaou finished speaking, a deep voice suddenly echoed: "May I say something?"

A bald man emerged from the crowd.

He said his name was Agil.

Agil was tall and dark-skinned, clad in silver-white armor, with a two-handed axe strapped to his back.

Agil walked up to Kibaou , looked down at him, and said with great pressure:

"Mr. Kibaou , you mean that because there was no care from the original beta testers, many newbies died, and to take responsibility, they should apologize and compensate, right?"

Agil's towering presence cast a shadow over Kibaou , who swallowed hard and said meekly, "Y-Yes!"

"This guidebook, you've gotten it too, right? Since it was distributed for free at the item shop."

Agil pulled out a small brown notebook that looked like a journal, marked with an old mouse logo and the word 'Guide' written on it.

Kibaou forced himself to stay calm and said, "I got it, so what?"

Agil tapped a few times on the guidebook and raised his voice, "It was the original beta testers who distributed this."

He turned to the crowd, "Listen, anyone can get information, but many players still died. With those lessons learned, how we should challenge the boss—that's what we should be discussing now."

After Agil finished speaking, Kirito finally let out a sigh of relief in the crowd.

Then Agil looked back at Kibaou and stared at him silently.

Kibaou gritted his teeth, snorted in defiance, and sulked back into the crowd.

Agil followed suit.

Diabel saw this and laughed heartily, "Alright then, can we start again?"

He also took out the guidebook and said, "Actually, the latest guide already has information about the boss. According to the guide, the boss's name is Illfung The Kobold Lord, and it has a guard squad called the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"The boss's weapons are an axe and a small round shield. When its HP drops to the last red bar, it will switch to a curved sword, and its attack patterns will change accordingly."

The surrounding players murmured in admiration:

"I see."

"Awesome."

Diabel spoke slowly, "That concludes the strategy meeting. Lastly, regarding loot distribution — money will be automatically split evenly among all members, experience points go to the team that defeats the monster, and items belong to whoever obtains them. Any objections?"

"No objections."

"Sounds good."

After scanning the crowd again, Diabel put his hands on his hips and declared loudly, "Alright, we set off at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Meeting adjourned!"

That night, the players who attended the strategy meeting started a party in Tolbana, looking very cheerful.

Kibaou and Diabel even toasted with a cup of wine.

Kirito sat alone on a bench not far away.

Seeing this, Akimi immediately grabbed Asuna's hand and walked over to him.

As they approached, Kirito was just about to eat some black bread.

"Wow, Kirito, eating alone? Eating alone makes it hard to make friends," Akimi said in an exaggerated tone.

Kirito looked at him helplessly. "It's just black bread."

"Hehe, you must have done that quest, right? The one, you know, the very special one," Akimi rubbed his hands together.

"Hmm, you mean 'The Cow's Revenge'? I've done it," Kirito answered.

Akimi smiled, "Right, that one. Since you've done it, where's your quest reward…"

Kirito sighed, took out a small jar, and handed it to him. "Here, it's inside."

Akimi reached out and took the small jar, then proudly placed it in front of Asuna.

"This is something good, Asuna, you should try it."

"Huh? What is this?" Asuna asked, puzzled.

Then her slender finger tapped the jar, and a small glowing orb appeared on her fingertip.

"Spread it on the bread," Akimi said, mimicking the motion of spreading.

Asuna followed his instructions and spread the glowing orb onto the bread.

Pale yellow foamy bubbles appeared on the bread's surface.

"This… this is… cream?" Asuna said in surprise.

"Yeah." After spreading the cream on his own bread, Tomioka returned the jar to Kirito.

"This was the reward for a quest. That quest was pretty easy to do."

Kirito rolled his eyes at him and teased, "Of course it's not hard if you didn't do it."

Akimi ignored him and said to Asuna, "Give it a try."

Asuna nodded and took a bite of the bread with the cream.

After the first bite, she froze for a moment, then quickly gobbled down the bread in just a few bites.

"Mmm~ it's so delicious," Asuna made a happy little sound, then noticed Akimi was looking at her with a strange smile.

Blushing, she turned her head away.

Akimi chuckled lightly and said, "Well, from now on, just have Kirito do the quests if you want cream."

Kirito rolled his eyes again.

"Alright, it's getting late. We should find a place to rest," Akimi said.

"By the way, Kirito, where are you staying?"

Kirito replied, "There's a ranch on the east side of this town. There are cottages for rent at the edge of the ranch. That's where I'm staying. It's a bit more expensive than an inn, but you get unlimited free milk and a bathroom."

"Ba… bathroom! You mean a bathroom?" Asuna suddenly got excited and asked Kirito.

Kirito was startled. "Y-yeah, a bathroom. What's up?"

"Lead the way!" Asuna said enthusiastically.

Akimi looked at Asuna with some helplessness.

He understood how a girl with a bit of cleanliness obsession would long for a bathtub.

Watching Asuna urging Kirito to hurry up, he smiled and followed them.

---------------

Exclusive access : 20+ch on paetron

Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz