Chapter 13

[Bulbous Bow]

[Lv: 20]

What level was Sharia on? Lv 14.

The experience gained from mobs as you start grinding levels gets larger and larger.

Anyone who has played an MMORPG or a grind-heavy game would already know this.

Fighting a field boss alone at his level is foolish. Yet, there are degrees to this foolishness.

[Sword Mastery Proficiency (Lv 5): 101/1000000]

"Guard Break"

[Block Counter (Lv 4): 12839/100000]

As the charging [Bulbous Bow] approached, Sharia took a defensive stance, holding his «Centennial Blade» in a slanted position.

When the twelve-foot-tall [Bulbous Bow] crashed its mighty head into Sharia's sword, it staggered backward.

Unlike the monsters on the first floor, the [Bulbous Bow] wasn't immediately stunned.

Sharia had already taken this into account.

"Expect the unexpected."

He had now taken those words to heart as he was sent flying back by the bull's upward head motion.

Kirito, watching from the sidelines, suddenly jerked as the bull switched its target to the poor black swordsman.

"Geh! Sharia, damn you!"

He cursed but still gripped his sword, jumping out of the way as the bull rammed itself into the towering small trees.

"Oi, oi, it's not good to curse people, blackie."

Sharia landed on the ground, dusting off his clothes that had leaves and twigs stuck on them, as he had been tossed onto the trees.

"Who are you calling blackie?!"

Despite the swordsman retorting back, Kirito joined Sharia's side, gripping his sword tightly.

He knew better than anyone else.

"It's coming again!"

As Kirito's voice trailed off, Sharia brought him back to reality.

Just as he readied his sword, Sharia stepped in front of him, pointing his longsword at the charging ox.

"I'll block that damn bull. You sneak up on it from behind."

The raging ox's legs alone were taller than both players; however, when it charged, it always lowered its head.

Sharia was aiming for that.

"You sure?"

"Doubt me not, blackie."

"Tsk. Alright, fine!" Kirito clicked his tongue as he hid behind Sharia, as if both of them already knew what to do without communicating.

Sharia would aggro the raging ox while Kirito would slowly chip away at its HP.

Thus, Sharia, with his ridiculous counter and block skills, had to constantly be positioned in front of the field boss—a dangerous position.

"Bullmrrrroooh!!"

The raging-ox field boss let out a loud cry as it charged once again.

Sharia had already been hit by this attack once and could naturally dodge it.

But no!

There's no fun in that, he thought.

Removing the «Steel Longsword» from his inventory, he crossed both swords in an "X" shape.

The raging ox clashed with Sharia again.

The moment Kirito felt the impact, he immediately dashed away from Sharia circling to the rear of the raging ox, preparing his favourite, «Vertical».

«Vertical Sequence».

Kirito executed a diagonal slash from bottom-left to top-right, hitting one of the raging ox's back legs.

Since the ox towered over them, they both had to find a chance to finish it.

They both knew its main weakness was its forehead. Both were well aware of this.

"Mmoooooh!!!!"

"I've already seen that move, mother****er!"

The raging ox raised its head again, but this time Sharia jumped back. Simultaneously, as the bull raised its head….

….Kirito had jumped onto the back of the towering raging ox, with Sharia running towards it from underneath, aiming for its throat.

A coordinated attack!

However——!

"Nngh-moooooooh!!!!!!!!"

Another ferocious roar was let out by the bull as it also raised its front limbs upward.

"Dammit! Kirito!"

Sharia shouted as he stopped jumping back, raising his head to call for the other swordsman.

Kirito gritted his teeth.

He was mid-air, but using his one-handed sword, he pushed against the rising back of the ox, propelling himself sideways and falling to the ground.

Fortunately, a soft patch of grass was where Kirito fell.

Seeing this, Sharia heaved a sigh of relief before—

"—Sharia! Watch out."

Kirito called out to Sharia, who blinked, only to see the raging ox charging at him.

"Ngh."

Luckily. Sharia jumped away just in time as the ox once again crashed into the trees behind him.

"Okay, maybe I've been too lax."

After pushing himself out of danger, Sharia inserted his sword into the ground, cracking his fists.

"You sure? Like I said, maybe we should just wait—"

"—No! My valuable exp, I can't let it be split among many people."

This was one thing Sharia was greedy about.

His sweet exp—sure, he could give out materials and the rest, but how could he do so for his exp?

Kirito looked at Sharia exasperatedly but didn't push it.

"This time, attack like your life is on the line. I'll cover you."

With a dead-serious tone, Sharia refocused on the field boss.

After this, he planned on taking a two-day or more long days vacation.

Hence, he had to clear this "by any means necessary."

Tap! Tap! Tap!

'This guy!' Dashing toward the ox was now Sharia. Instead of waiting for the ox to charge at him…

….Why not the other way around?

For the third time, the ox lowered its head as it began charging at Sharia.

Both the ox and Sharia continued their charge until they were only a step away from the ox crashing into him.

However, Sharia maneuvered his body away, using his left hand to hold his sword handle in a reverse grip.

He struck the jaws of the bull, dealing a critical strike with an unorthodox use of [Direct Thrust].

"Mmoooooh!!!!"

The ox let out a wild howl again.

But as Sharia had said, "attack like your life is on the line." Kirito took those words too seriously.

At the rear of the field boss.

He reached deep into his inventory, pulling out a «Steel Longsword».

Kirito jerked his hand, holding the «Steel Longsword» back, then jerked it forward, letting the sword fly.

Its destination? The anus.

SHLUCK!

The sword plunged deep into the already howling ox.

It was hit almost simultaneously at a dangerous part of its body. But did they relent after doing this?

No.

[Bulbous Bow]

[Lv: 20]

[HP: 45%]

With a critical hit from Sharia and a weak-spot hit from Kirito, they had finally brought the ox's health below 45%.

It wouldn't make sense to Sharia to stop attacking now.

The boss was currently in its vulnerable state, so it only made sense to continue the offensive.

"Kirito, together again!"

The raging ox heard those words, but two blades were still lodged in it.

One in its rear, making it hard to move its hind legs, and one in its jaw.

"Get rekt! Kayaba Akihiko!"

This could be considered one of the flaws of this game.

Because Kayaba was such a perfectionist, most traits were replicated to resemble the real worlds.

[I checked the manga, and yes, the Bulbous Bow does have a rear side.]

This means, down to its core program, it mimics that of a bull; then this should count too, right?

This time, Sharia prepared a sword skill he hadn't used much [Cross Arc].

Simultaneously, Sharia, from beneath the bull, jumped with an overhead slash but didn't fully execute the overhead slash.

From there, he twirled, slicing the throat of the ox.

"Mnnn.....!"

The ox couldn't let out a howl any longer as its jaws had been dislocated.

Once again, the bull raised its head; however, Kirito was already waiting. "Finish it, blackie!"

Using the back of the bull as a foothold, Kirito had already jumped into the air.

Immediately after Sharia executed his [Cross Arc], Kirito descended with a [Thrust] of his own, striking the head of the Bulbous Bow.

"Mngoo.....!"

Its voice trailed off as it slowly fell limp onto the ground.

The Bulbous Bow, the only field boss on the second floor of Aincrad, exploded into a small mountain of polygonal shards.

Kirito landed on the ground, heaving a sigh before collapsing onto the ground.

"It shouldn't have been this easy, right?"

He muttered. As a tester, even he hadn't attempted something as reckless as this as a low-leveled player.

Even so, this is something that would have certainly taken a long time with only two people, no less.

He looked over at Sharia, who also sat on the floor, heaving a tired sigh. "Hn? What's up?"

"N-no. I'm only thinking about how we beat it that quickly."

He looked over at Sharia, who also sat on the floor, heaving a tired sigh. "Hn? What's up?"

"N-no. I'm just thinking about how we beat it that quickly."

Hearing his words, Sharia paused, putting his hand on his chin as if mulling it over.

"Let's see... most of my attacks always hit as critical hits."

Sharia, with a nonchalant tone finished that line with a smile on his face.

However, the tester hearing this. Kirito's face contorted with a cringe-worthy exasperation.

"H-how's that possible!? What kind of cheats are you using?"

"Hey, hey! Why're you accusing me of cheating? It's simply my innate skill. The reason you can't do it is that you have a skill issue."

Sharia retorted, taking Kirito aback with each word.

"A-ah..." He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Was it really a skill issue? He wondered.

"Anyway, I let you have the Last Attack and I'm here for its me—...."

Sharia paused, his face taking on a thoughtful expression as he then continued his words.

"Materials, yes, the cow's materials."

After finishing his words, he looked at Kirito, who only looked at him in confusion.

"Anyways." Sharia immediately changed the subject as he got up from the ground, taking up his sword and plunging it into the ground.

Kirito tilted his head again as he saw Sharia do this. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just writing."

"Writing?"

Kirito watched as Sharia created several characters on the ground, his face slowly changing to one of cringe and exasperation.

[SHARIA WAS HERE!]

Those were the words he wrote on the ground.

"Oi. Why're you looking at me like that?"

"No, is there a reason for this?"

"Can't I do as I want?"

"...."