Breathing Techniques in SAO

In the farmhouse bathroom at the edge of the ranch, Asuna looked at the steaming bathtub with great satisfaction.

The only drawback was that the bathroom door couldn't be locked.

So Asuna asked Akimi to guard the door and warned him that if he dared to peek, he would be dead within a minute.

Akimi reluctantly accepted Asuna's request but felt quite displeased by her distrust in his character.

Asuna tapped a few buttons on her character panel, and her clothes instantly disappeared, revealing a shapely figure that sparked the imagination.

A faint blush appeared on her face, and she anxiously glanced toward the door again.

Seeing that Akimi was indeed not peeking, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Asuna slowly slid her body into the bathtub, which just barely covered her modestly sized curves.

As she entered the water, small splashes rippled on the surface.

The otherwise ultra-realistic NERvGear was surprisingly imperfect here—the splashes seemed to sparkle with shattered light.

It seemed that even the powerful NERvGear couldn't perfectly simulate the flow of water.

Asuna rested her arms on the edge of the tub, letting out a contented moan, fully relaxed and softened.

Although characters in the game didn't have a need to bathe, Asuna, who was slightly fastidious about cleanliness, simply couldn't accept going a whole month without washing.

Half an hour later, Asuna stepped out of the bathroom with a satisfied smile.

Seeing Akimi looking a bit sleepy, she apologized softly, "Sorry for making you guard for so long. You should go get some rest—tomorrow we still have to tackle the boss."

Akimi yawned and agreed, then headed toward his room.

Of course, the drowsiness was just an act— and he was a bit disappointed there was no sound of running water during the bath.

The night passed quickly, and at 10 a.m. the next day, the raid group members gathered to prepare for the first floor boss battle.

In front of the boss room, Diabel planted his sword into the ground and said seriously to everyone, "Listen up, I have only one sentence—win this!"

Everyone nodded firmly.

Among the crowd, Akimi quietly told Kirito and Asuna, "Ilfang is 3.6 meters tall, has 8,500 HP, and his attack power ranges from 80 to 160. His sword skill can reach up to 500, meaning if you get hit by the sword skill, it's an instant knockout. We have to be very careful."

"As for the sentinels, they're not worth mentioning—0.7 meters tall, 700 HP, and their sword skills only deal about 100 damage."

"Let's go!" Diabel said as he pushed open the boss room door.

With his words, the first-floor boss battle officially began.

Everyone cautiously approached the dark boss room.

When they reached the center, a "TheWorld"-like time-stop light circle swept across the room, and then the entire room lit up.

From the deepest part of the room, a massive figure charged forward with tremendous force, crashing down in front of the group.

It was the first-floor boss—Ilfang.

Ilfang had a terrifying dog-like head, wore no armor except for a helmet, held an axe in one hand and a shield in the other, and had a muscular, bulky body that sent chills down their spines.

Seeing Ilfang roar terrifyingly, many players felt their legs start to go numb and unresponsive.

As Ilfang landed in front of them, three glassy orb-like spheres flickering with electric arcs dropped to the ground, then suddenly transformed into three heavily armored dog-headed sentinels wielding long-handled axes.

Diabel raised his sword and shouted loudly, "Attack!"

Players and monsters charged at each other, and in an instant, the battle began.

"Team A, attack! Team B, hold the boss! Team C, stay on defense and be ready to switch!" Diabel commanded the assault with skill and order.

Seeing Ilfang's attack blocked and him entering a stiffened state, Diabel shouted, "Now's our chance!"

"One side fall back, the other prepare to ambush from the flank! Teams D, E, and F, don't let the sentinels get close!" Diabel shouted toward Akimi and the others.

Akimi and Kirito responded, "Understood!"

Then each charged forward to block a dog-headed sentinel.

"Water Breathing - First Form: Surface Slash!"

Akimi used his blade to parry the monster's axe, then quickly retreated, shouting, "Switch!"

Without paying further attention to the monster, he dashed toward Kirito's side.

Asuna used her rapier technique, "Linear Attack," stabbing the silver-white slender sword into a monster caught in its attack recovery.

The monster immediately shattered and died.

But another monster quickly respawned.

On the other side, seeing Akimi approaching, Kirito used a sword technique to deflect the monster's weapon and said, "Switch!"

"Water Breathing - Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"

The moment Kirito said "Switch," Akimi's Nichirin Blade surged with flowing water and sliced the monster cleanly in half.

Kirito then moved to Asuna's side to take down the other monster.

The three of them took turns coordinating seamlessly, quickly killing over ten monsters.

Meanwhile, under Diabel's command, the players surrounded Illfung in the center, working together to chip away at his HP.

Illfung's attacks were blocked one by one by the frontline shield bearers, causing little damage.

Soon, Illfung's health dropped to the last bar, and the HP display turned red.

He let out a roar that pushed back the surrounding raid players.

He took off his shield and threw it along with his axe.

After a brief flight, the axe and round shield smashed into a pillar at the edge of the room, embedding deeply.

Kibaou sneered upon seeing this: "Just like the intel said, the boss isn't that big of a deal."

Illfung reached behind him and grasped a weapon wrapped in cloth.

Seeing Illfung's health drop to the red zone, Diabel said to everyone, "Fall back a bit and surround the boss. I'll handle this!"

Everyone exchanged glances, but trusting Diabel, they followed his instructions.

After they stepped back slightly, Diabel raised his sword and charged at Illfung.

Placing his hand on the hilt, Illfung seemed to reveal a mocking smile.

Not far away, Kirito had just defeated a monster and saw Diabel charging alone toward Illfung.

He frowned, thinking: shouldn't we be surrounding the boss and cautiously testing its attack patterns now?

When Diabel reached Illfung, he unleashed a sword technique with a horizontal slash, but Illfung dodged by leaping high into the air.

While airborne, Illfung drew his weapon, and the cloth wrapped around it unfurled — revealing a sharp greatsword that glowed with sword technique energy.

This was clearly different from the intelligence they had received.

Seeing that the greatsword in Illfung's hand had clearly gone beyond the scope of a curved blade, Kirito's pupils contracted sharply.

"No! Scatter! Don't surround the boss!"

As a closed beta player, Kirito naturally knew what sword technique the greatsword would unleash in midair.

Illfung slammed the sword into the ground, sending out a wave of red energy.

The wave pushed all the nearby players away, instantly dropping their health to critical levels and paralyzing them.

At the center of the wave, Diabel was thrown high into the air, unable to move at all.

Kirito immediately dashed toward Diabel, trying to save him.

Illfung landed and charged at Kirito, slashing him fiercely with the greatsword and sending him flying.

No matter how fast Kirito sped up, he couldn't catch up.

"Ahhh—"

A desperate scream escaped Diabel's lips as he crashed to the ground.

Kirito finally reached him, gently lifting Diabel up, fumbling to take out a healing potion, hoping to give it to him.

"P–Promise me… y–you must… defeat the boss…" Diabel clutched Kirito's hand holding the healing potion, speaking in broken, faltering words—

His HP had already dropped to zero; he was only still visible due to the death animation's delayed effect, where the health bar slowly slid to empty instead of dying instantly.

After saying those words, Diabel's body dissolved into countless shards of light in Kirito's arms, leaving him stunned.

The paralyzed players watched the ferocious Illfang in growing panic—some even started thinking of fleeing.

Illfang charged toward Kirito again, raising his massive greatsword as he ran.

Akimi quickly rushed in from behind, bracing himself to block Illfang with all his strength.

"Hurry… snap out of it, Kirito! I can't hold him for long!"

Kirito silently raised his "Anneal Blade" and rushed forward to assist Akimi.

Summoning all his strength, Akimi forcefully pushed Illfang's blade aside, though the effort caused him to stagger back several steps.

"Switch!" he shouted.

Kirito immediately dashed forward, his "Anneal Blade" slicing a long gash across Illfang's waist.

Then, spinning his body, he used a sword skill to block Illfang's counterattack.

"Switch!"

"Water Breathing - Second Form : Water Wheel!"

His Nichirin Blade carved a water-traced arc in the air, striking Illfang's back and shaving off another chunk of his HP.

Illfang roared furiously, swatting Kirito away with a blow, then turned and brought his massive blade crashing down toward Akimi.

"Water Breathing - Sixth Form : Twisting Whirlpool!"

The spiraling water flow deflected Illfang's blade, causing it to slam into the ground with a heavy bang.

"Switch!"

As Akimi called out the switch, Asuna stepped onto Illfang's blade and ran up it, her rapier striking several precise blows to his head.

Then, flipping through the air, she landed behind Illfang and unleashed another series of attacks.

Kirito, who had just been knocked back, also dashed in to strike Illfang once more.

A bit farther away, the other raid participants couldn't help but exclaim, "A-Amazing!"

With his HP already in the critical zone, Illfang used a sword skill to knock both Akimi and Asuna flying.

Their HP dropped drastically, and the impact left them struggling on the ground, unable to move.

Illfang then launched another sword skill, bringing his massive blade down toward Kirito.

Kirito raised his sword above his head, holding off Illfang's attack.

But a player's strength could never truly match a boss's — Illfang's blade slowly pressed down, inching closer and closer.

Just as it was about to strike Kirito—

The surrounding players recovered.

Agil, coordinating with the others, launched an attack at Illfang's legs, successfully knocking the boss to the ground.

With his deep, booming voice, he shouted, "Leave the defense to us!"

"Yeah." Kirito nodded.

Illfang's HP had now dropped to its last sliver — even a single sword skill would be enough to defeat him.

Kirito and Akimi charged in from opposite directions, front and rear.

"Water Breathing - Tenth Form : Constant Flux!"

"Ha—ah!!"

Water gathered along the Nichirin Blade, gradually forming a coiling water dragon; the Anneal Blade shimmered with a bluish-green glow.

Both weapons struck Illfang at the same time, completely depleting its HP.

The two stood with their backs to the scattering light fragments that marked the fallen boss, slowly sheathing their swords.

The word "Congratulations" appeared in the room, announcing the victory of the first-floor boss raid.

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