-313- A new guild

And so, the strategy meeting for the boss of the 26th training area began.

Rozen led the members of the Crimson Wing, standing in the middle of all the players, and in front of the entire strategy team, he said this sentence:

"What are the results from the scouting?"

This is the question that needs to be asked before every strategy meeting.

Before embarking on the boss raid, it's customary to send a player scout team to gather information and then hold a meeting to assess all the risks. This is to ensure that not even a single player dies.

In the world of SAO, the most important thing is not levels or equipment, but information.

With information, you can find efficient training areas, acquire rare equipment, and even obtain valuable items. This has been confirmed by players in the closed beta.

Naturally, Rozen couldn't overlook the importance of information and immediately asked this question.

The person who answered was a solo player and also an acquaintance of Rozen's.

"The information has been mostly collected. Thanks to the efforts of the reconnaissance team, things have been a lot easier."

It was Argo, the information dealer, who spoke these words.

This mouse-like player had appeared without anyone noticing, hiding in a corner until now.

"This time's training area boss isn't a humanoid monster, so it won't use sword skills. But it has a very tricky characteristic. It secretes an adhesive substance all over its body. Once you get close, you'll be stuck in place. The only way to undo this is by using your own strength to tear the adhesive off. If your strength isn't enough, you'll have to remove your leg equipment; otherwise, you'll be stuck."

Argo confidently revealed all the information that others couldn't know.

"Besides that, this training area boss has high HP and is a tank type. Its defense is high, and its attack power is also impressive. But its speed is very slow. Its appearance is that of a three-meter-tall elephant. While it doesn't have high mobility, its trunk is long and can swing quickly. If you get hit accidentally, even tanks need to prepare to lose a third of their HP."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"High HP, high defense, and strong power, but lacking speed?"

Egil pondered while stroking his chin.

"Although it's troublesome to fight, it's much safer than other types of monsters."

Klein also shared his thoughts.

"As long as we're careful not to step on the adhesive and avoid getting hit by the trunk, there shouldn't be much danger."

Kirito nodded in agreement.

Among all types of monsters, players are most afraid of agile ones. Their accuracy decreases, and the risk of being attacked increases, making them very challenging.

On the contrary, this type with high HP and defense might take time to defeat, but at least it's not highly risky. With proper evasion and tactics, we can definitely wear it down.

Only Rozen wasn't surprised at all.

"I've said it before, the 26th floor won't be as dangerous as the 25th floor. The training area boss's difficulty won't be too high."

While saying this, Rozen took out a handful of pollen from his pouch, allowing two weightless rainbow butterflies, Saichou and Hanachou, to land on his arm and feed, seeming unconcerned.

"In that case, let's decide on the formation now."

Just as Rozen was about to say this, he was interrupted by Zahard.

"Hold on, Guild Leader Rozen," Zahard raised his hand and said, "While it sounds like the difficulty of this training area boss isn't high, let's not forget that our overall combat strength has decreased significantly. Is it really okay to challenge the boss with our current formation?"

Zahard's words immediately cast a heavy atmosphere over the entire strategy team.

The term "combat strength decrease" naturally referred to the departure of the "Aincrad Liberation Squad."

Its departure undoubtedly had a significant impact on the clearing group.

It's important to note that currently, even if we include all the player squads and solo players, the total number of members in the entire strategy team is only around a little over one hundred, almost two hundred at most.

However, the departure of the "Aincrad Liberation Squad" took away a total of fifty top players from the strategy team, leaving the current total at around one hundred and thirty players.

In other words, the departure of just one "Aincrad Liberation Squad" resulted in the clearing group losing nearly a third of its combat strength.

The impact of the battle against the floor 25 boss was that significant.

If it weren't for Rozen timely leading the clearing group players to arrive, the "Aincrad Liberation Squad" might not have disbanded; instead, they might have faced total annihilation.

Undoubtedly, without Rozen's intervention, the clearing group would have had to pay a hefty price to defeat such a fearsome floor boss.

Thinking of this, players couldn't help but feel apprehensive about facing the even higher-level floor 26 boss compared to the 25th floor boss. It was only natural.

Even if it wasn't a floor boss but rather the mini-boss of the training area, the sentiment remained the same.

"Even though Guild Leader Rozen has great abilities and can maintain an undefeated record, facing the training area boss of this sort isn't a trivial matter. Considering it's a high HP, high defense type, even if players are relatively safe, they'll still expend a considerable amount of energy in battle. Not only do they have to constantly watch their step, but they also need to be vigilant against the boss's trunk attacks. In this context, they have to balance dodging, positioning, and output. It might be fine for a short time, but if the battle drags on, players' fatigue will accumulate, and accidents might occur."

Zahard, as if wanting to counter Rozen, raised these questions one after another, naturally aiming to assert his own voice.

Rozen cast a glance at Zahard and asked, "So, Guild Leader Zahard, what would you suggest then?"

All the players present immediately turned their gaze toward Zahard.

Seeing this, Zakhad straightened his chest and spoke, "In my opinion, we can gather combat strength from the players on the lower floors, assembling more numbers before attempting the challenge. Even though those players might not be on par with the clearing group, since this boss is the high HP, high defense type, it shouldn't be too dangerous. They can focus on dealing damage, trying to shorten the time needed for the battle. That would be quite effective."

Upon hearing this, before others could react, Rozen chuckled.

"That's indeed a good idea," Rozen said with a smile, "Increasing the number of inexperienced and under-leveled players, having them all step on the adhesive substance before even engaging the boss, essentially making them living targets for the boss. That's truly a brilliant idea."

"That..." Zahard was momentarily speechless.

As Rozen mentioned, while increasing the number of strategy team members would undoubtedly boost output, decrease clearing time, and save energy and prevent accidents, increasing the number also raised the probability of players stepping on the adhesive substance.

At that point, the lower floor players might not only be of no help, but they could also become a burden. The clearing group would exhaust themselves just trying to rescue them, let alone actually focusing on the battle.

Zahard quickly said, "As long as we can find high-level players with sufficient combat experience, we can avoid..."

His words were less of a suggestion and more of a difficult-to-accept rebuttal and struggle.

However...

"That's correct," Rozen unexpectedly nodded.

"Indeed, we need combat strength from higher-level players with enough combat experience."

Rozen scanned all the players present before speaking up.

"Let me share some good news with you."

"Our clearing group is about to welcome new players."

"Or rather, I should say, a new guild."