Breathing Techniques in SAO

The time was December 14, 2022. It was the 38th day since Tomioka Akimi and the others entered SAO.

The players had finally finished exploring the dungeon tower and found the boss room on the second floor.

After a strategy meeting discussion, the team members to tackle the boss were decided.

This time, 48 people participated in the raid, more than the number involved in the first-floor raid.

Among them, three squads totaling 18 people were led by Diabel's team member—Lind.

They named their team "Dragon Knights," claiming to have inherited Diabel's will.

Whether they truly inherited his will, Akimi did not know.

But at least the leader's appearance seemed to be inherited—Lind had put on the same outfit as Diabel, changed his hairstyle to the same style as Diabel's, and even dyed his hair from yellowish-brown to the same blue as Diabel's.

Hmm—It seemed that Lind had completely transformed into Diabel's image.

Another 18 people were led by Kibaou, who named their team the "Aincrad Liberation Squad."

Interestingly, they also claimed to have inherited Diabel's will.

The remaining members included the tall dark-skinned Agil and his three muscular demon friends, Akimi's group of three, and five "Legendary Heroes."

The total number of participants reached the system limit.

While checking their equipment and consumables in the safe zone in front of the boss room, it was obvious that the members of the "Legendary Heroes" were somewhat uneasy—probably because of Nezha's sudden disappearance.

The overall commander for this boss raid was Lind.

To secure this position, he had argued with Kibaou for a long time.

After nearly two hours of fruitless debate, they seemed to have used some means to settle who would take the role of commander.

As Akimi and Kirito prepared their supplies and glanced around anxiously, Asuna sighed with her hands on her hips.

"You two stop looking around aimlessly. We might be in some trouble now."

Hearing Asuna's words, Akimi and Kirito widened their eyes in confusion and looked at her blankly.

"W-what's… going on?" the two said in unison.

Asuna sighed again, sounding a bit weary.

"Have you forgotten that Lind said before he wanted to form a combined squad? Right now, Lind and Kibaou each have three teams, the 'Legendary Heroes' have one team, and Agil has one team — that's already eight teams."

"Eh? Is that so…"

This was indeed a tricky problem, because the SAO combined squad limit was eight teams, and players not in the same team couldn't see each other's HP.

This made it very difficult to accurately time monster aggro, and when facing high-damage bosses, accidents could easily happen.

In contrast, once formed into a team, the team leaders could collectively monitor HP and communication was much easier.

Given the current situation, aside from Agil's team, the other squads were mostly unwilling to let Akimi's group of three join.

Just as Akimi was about to discuss with Agil, the tall dark-skinned Agil himself walked over to greet them: "Long time no see, you three."

Akimi was a bit surprised that Agil took the initiative to greet them, but he quickly recovered and said, "Hmm… Agil, since the number of teams has reached the limit — Kirito and I don't mind. Can Asuna join your team?"

"Haha." Agil laughed heartily and patted Akimi on the shoulder.

"No problem. I actually came over because I saw your situation. You three come together."

Hearing Agil's words, Kirito asked with some concern, "By the way, won't our situation cause trouble?"

"Hm? You mean those nicknames Lind called you?" Agil touched his bald head and said, "'Beater' and 'Cheater,' right? Actually, it doesn't matter much."

He shrugged with open hands and said, "Honestly, only a small number of people use those nicknames for you. Most people around me just call you 'Black Kid' and 'Young Master.'"

"Ah?! Th-that's… not right…"

"Haha… Young Master…"

The two of them were taken aback, while Asuna laughed heartily.

Hearing Asuna's laughter, Akimi felt a bit embarrassed and gently patted her head, saying, "Alright, stop laughing."

Asuna rolled her eyes at him and then thanked Agil.

Agil waved his hand casually and said, "Alright, we'll take care of the tanking. You three just focus on dealing damage."

Then he sent them a team invitation.

Not long after they joined Agil's team, Lind and Kibaou walked up to the front of the BOSS room.

Lind raised his voice, "Alright, the time is almost up. Let me introduce myself — I am Lind, chosen as the leader of this raid…"

Before he finished speaking, Kibaou interrupted, "Chosen? It was just a coin toss — pure luck."

Lind gave Kibaou a sharp glare but said nothing, instead continuing, "It is thanks to everyone's hard work that we've reached the BOSS room in just ten days."

"Next, let everyone work together. We will definitely defeat the BOSS. Alright, let's proceed to the third floor today."

After he finished speaking, his team members started cheering, while Kibaou's team looked on coldly.

However, Lind really did have a presence similar to Diabel's just now.

"Okay, now let's assign tasks. Teams A, B, and C will be handled by our Dragon Knights; teams D, E, and F will be assigned to Kibaou's Aincrad Liberation Squad; the 'Legendary Heroes' are team G, and team H…"

He paused here, and the smile on his face disappeared the moment he made eye contact with Akimi and the others, but he quickly forced a smile again, though it looked much more forced than before.

"Hmm, team H will be responsible for the remaining people. As for the division of labor… teams A to F will handle the BOSS, while teams G and H in charge of the Boss guards."

Akimi and the others had anticipated this and were not surprised by the assignment.

But not far away, Orlando suddenly said:

"Can we wait a moment?"

Immediately, everyone's attention shifted to them.

Orlando calmly said, "We came here for the BOSS; we don't want to be responsible for the BOSS guards."

His words stirred unrest among Lind's and Kibaou's teams.

"What's that guy so full of himself for?"

"He's just a newcomer, why is his attitude so arrogant?"

"As expected," Kirito said quietly, "It looks like Orlando and his group want to get through the BOSS and catch up in level."

Orlando's team, thanks to Nezha's presence, had gear that was basically maxed out in enhancements, but their levels were still a bit low.

Defeating the BOSS would grant a huge amount of experience points, which are distributed proportionally based on the damage dealt to the BOSS and damage taken.

If they wanted to level up quickly, getting a share of the BOSS experience was definitely necessary, so naturally, Orlando and his team wouldn't give up on that opportunity.

Seeing Orlando and his group's equipment shining with obvious enhancement glows, Lind remained silent for a long moment before stiffly saying, "Fine… then G team will also join the group responsible for the BOSS."

His voice was full of unwillingness, almost gritting his teeth.

After a pause, he added, "The intel says the BOSS only has one guard and it won't respawn. Won't it be a bit tough for H team to handle that alone?"

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