Breathing Techniques in SAO

After the two returned to the inn, Akimi spoke up: "The huge profits that Nezha's group mentioned can't possibly come just from enhancement materials and fees. So, there's only one other possibility…"

"The enhanced weapons themselves," Kirito said.

"But how did Nezha manage to switch weapons right under our watch, without anyone noticing?" Asuna asked, puzzled.

"I don't know. I've been thinking about it for a long time but still have no clue," Akimi frowned.

"How about you, Kirito?"

Kirito also shook his head helplessly, then added, "And if they're swapping in substitutes, why do the substitutes break?"

"Tch, that's another problem."

After the three thought hard for a long time without results, Akimi decided to call in reinforcements.

He sent a message to SAO's biggest information broker — the rat, Argo.

After arranging to meet Argo the next morning, the three of them decided to slack off and rest, since they still had to take on the second-level field boss that afternoon.

The next day, Akimi, Kirito, and Asuna met with Argo at the inn.

Argo had shoulder-length dark blonde hair, and wore a deep brown leather cloak that covered her entire body.

Although she wasn't particularly short, she strangely gave off a petite impression.

Her face bore markings resembling mouse whiskers.

Overall, she looked like… a charming little girl?

"Hey~ Kiri-bou, Aki-bou, what's the rush calling big sis over for?"

Hearing Argo's voice, Akimi felt a bit annoyed—after all… Argo was a mischievous, gossip-loving troublemaker.

He wasn't really eager to ask Argo for help at first, because ever since Argo found out about Akimi and Kirito's over-the-top comments in the first-level boss room, she would tease them every time they met: "Well, well, if it isn't Aki-bou, way more impressive than an information broker!"

But in the end, there was no denying that Argo was really good with information—after all, she was the one who distributed that Aincrad guidebook.

"Argo, under what circumstances will an enhanced weapon break?"

"Hmm~ let me think…"

After a moment of thought, Argo said, "Ah, I remember now. There's no 'weapon destruction' penalty during weapon enhancement, so the only way for a weapon to break while being enhanced is…"

"Spit it out, stop teasing."

"Hehe~ Aki-bou, you're really impatient. Since you're so eager to know, big sis will reluctantly tell you—"

"If a weapon runs out of its allowed number of enhancement attempts and you keep trying to enhance it, it will break!" Argo said playfully.

"Thanks." Akimi said with no sincerity at all.

"Oh, don't be so quick to thank me," Argo laughed.

"Big sis won't give out freebies just because you're thankful. So… that'll be 200 Col."

"Of course, if you don't want to pay, you can go on a date with big sis once, and it's free. How about that?"

After Argo said this, she suddenly felt a strange pressure coming from Asuna's direction that made her a little nervous.

She glanced at Asuna, then at Akimi, teasing, "Oh my~ looks like Aa-chan is jealous."

Asuna's face suddenly flushed bright red. "W-What are you talking about? I-I'm not jealous at all!"

Argo's expression was playful, then she turned to Kirito and said, "Hmm, Kiri-bou, if you go on a date with me, it's free too."

Kirito's mouth twitched slightly as he took out some Col and handed it to Argo.

Akimi sighed and said, "Argo, I have another request. Please help me find information on Nezha's group. The price is negotiable."

"Hehe~ Since it's a request from you, Aki-bou, big sis will do her best. But just so you know, my business rule is 'the client's information can also be sold,' you know."

"Whatever." Originally, Akimi wanted to keep his info secret, but he knew Argo well enough to just give up.

"All right, Argo, cut me some slack," Kirito said.

"Hmm~ For Kiri-bou's sake, sure. After all, compared to business rules, I value my friendship with Kirito more."

"Okay, that's all. Goodbye." Then Akimi grabbed Asuna and walked away without looking back.

Dealing with this troublemaker was really exhausting.

"Wah~ Aki-bou is so heartless, using big sis and then running off without any responsibility~"

Akimi's fists clenched, but he didn't stop and actually walked faster.

Kirito realized what was happening and quietly followed.

Watching Akimi fleeing like he was running away, Argo giggled for a while, then left too.

In the afternoon, the three of them prepared their gear and headed out to tackle the second-level field boss.

When they arrived, there were already more than ten people gathered, divided into three groups.

One group was a six-person squad led by Kibaou, all marked with green symbols.

They glared fiercely at another squad on the opposite side marked with blue symbols.

That blue-marked squad also had six members, led by Lind— the player Kirito had labeled a beta tester.

He had dyed his hair blue and was wearing armor just like Diabel's.

Their squad and the Kibaou's squad stared intensely at each other.

There were also three others on the outskirts observing in OB mode, led by the one who looked like the leader of Nezha's group.

"Hmm… Asuna, I remember you came to scout the boss a couple of days ago. Do you know the name of that guy with the pointed helmet?"

"Let me think…" Asuna pondered briefly, then said, "I think his name is Orlando. He and those two suddenly barged into the strategy meeting."

"They said they want to join the raid, and according to them, 'although their levels don't match the top players, their weapons and gear are well enhanced.'"

"Orlando…" Akimi frowned.

"This name sounds kind of familiar…"

Kirito cleared up his doubt: "He's a paladin."

"Orlando is a knight under Charlemagne of the Frankish Kingdom, the invincible hero who wields the holy sword Durandal."

"I see, no wonder it sounds familiar… What about the other two?"

Asuna answered, "One calls himself Beowulf, and the other calls himself Cu Chulainn."

She paused, then added, "They're probably legendary heroes too. Beowulf and Cu Chulainn seem to be legendary heroes from English and Celtic mythology respectively."

"And they themselves said they're preparing to form a guild called 'Legendary Heroes.'"

"Hmm… let's ask Argo later," Akimi said, because the field boss was about to appear.

Field bosses usually spawn along the roads from the town to the dungeon area.

Their territories are surrounded by impassable rivers, high mountains, or other obstacles.

So, if the field boss isn't defeated, players can't enter the dungeon area.

This time, the raid location was in an oval-shaped basin about two hundred meters long and fifty meters wide.

Before long, the second-level field boss appeared — a giant bull named Bulbas Bull.

It had four horns, stood over four meters tall, and its body was covered with thick slabs of muscle.

"Tch, that meat looks really… I wonder if it would taste good cooked," Akimi joked.

Asuna rolled her eyes at him upon hearing that.

The battle began.

The front-line tanks from the teams led by the Kibaou and Lind started drawing aggro, both using their tank taunt skills.

Drawing aggro was the right move, but there was a problem: the two tanks were taunting from opposite directions at the same time.

This caused Bulbas's aggro to constantly switch between the two sides, and eventually, it launched an attack.

Bulbas's attack pattern was simple — it only charged forward, then turned around, and charged again.

After the tanks drew aggro, the others started dealing damage, but because the aggro kept jumping between the two directions, Bulbas ended up attacking wildly and without focus.

After dodging one of Bulbas's charges, Akimi frowned and said, "Who exactly is leading them? Having tanks pull aggro from two directions at once?"

"It seems neither Kibaou nor Lind wants to submit to the other," Asuna explained.

"The players who cleared the first floor have split into two groups. Both Kibaou and Lind believe they are the true successors of Diabel's will."

"No wonder Lind dyed his hair blue — he wants to get closer to Diabel's legacy. But they're a lot dumber than Diabel."

After a while, because the tanks didn't manage aggro well, Bulbas charged twice and knocked both of them flying.

Luckily, the terrain was flat and the ground soft, so they didn't die, but they were stunned.

Kibaou and Lind had no choice but to let their damage dealers take over while the tanks recovered their HP.

After hesitating for a long time on the sidelines, Orlando and the other two finally made up their minds and volunteered to take the boss's aggro.

Both team leaders agreed.

Once Orlando's trio took over, the fight became noticeably easier.

At least Bulbas's attacks were no longer erratic, swinging wildly in all directions.

Akimi found Bulbas a bit troublesome because its height made it difficult to hit its weak spot—the neck.

With no other choice, he resorted to using the Water Breathing technique to slowly scrape away at it.

After a long period of inefficient fighting, Bulbas was finally scraped to death.

Watching Kibaou and Lind hurriedly argue over the distribution of loot, Akimi and the others sighed and headed straight to the last town on the second floor—the town closest to the dungeon area—Talan Village.

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