-241- No need to worry about defense

"Whoo."

After exhaling a breath slowly from his chest, Rozen's body gradually relaxed.

Although he said that, in reality, it was only Rozen's mind that relaxed. His body, on the other hand, remained stiff for a while before finally returning to its normal state.

This was due to the release of the sword skill.

In the world of SAO, although sword skills were powerful, they had cooldown times and a certain degree of stiffness associated with their use. After executing a sword skill, players would enter a state of immobility for a period of time due to the skill's stiffness, which was a common drawback of all sword skills. Moreover, higher-level sword skills had longer stiffness periods.

Coupled with the cooldown time, players couldn't continuously release sword skills, even if they were at a high level.

Of course, while the stiffness duration couldn't be eliminated, it could be shortened. Whether by increasing resistance through improving stats, obtaining relevant skills to reduce the duration, or getting equipment that reduce stiffness time, all were possible methods.

However, no matter how much stiffness time was reduced, some amount of it would still remain after using a sword skill. So, Rozen needed a bit of time to recover from stiffness and relax his body after using his sword skill to defeat the Little Nepenthes.

"Wu!"

At this moment, Rainbow Flower Butterfly flew over, spinning around Rozen's head, appearing quite joyful. It was unclear whether it was in a good mood due to the successful use of its paralysis powder or if it was proud of Rozen for defeating the monster.

"Boom!"

At the same time, in another direction, Kirito also took care of a Carnivorous Plant, causing it to shatter into polygonal fragments. He stood within the circle of debris, sheathing his small sword, and let out a breath, just like Rozen.

The two of them exchanged glances and soon, smiles appeared on their faces.

"Don't be lazy, keep going."

"You too."

Rozen and Kirito briefly exchanged words of encouragement before Rozen began to check his kill rewards by browsing through the windows that appeared before him.

It had to be said that the Little Nepenthes yielded rich experience points, nearly twice as much as the Level 1 Frenzy Boars. The dropped materials were of a type that could be sold to shops for a decent income, and even the money obtained from these kills was quite substantial.

"At this efficiency, you should be able to earn back the Cor we spent in about three hours."

Not to mention, they also gained a significant amount of experience points. It was truly a rewarding quest.

As a result, Rozen continued to venture deeper into the forest, searching for the second Little Nepenthes.

Kirito was doing the same, tightly gripping his one-handed sword and utilizing his searching skill to find isolated monsters.

Both of them roamed different corners of the forest, collecting experience points from the Carnivorous Plants.

Thanks to the assistance of Rainbow Flower Butterfly's paralysis powder and the higher attack power of the bronze sword, Rozen's hunting efficiency exceeded Kirito's. By the time Rozen defeated his tenth Little Nepenthes, Kirito had only taken care seven.

Then,

"Clang!"

As the tenth Little Nepenthes disintegrated into polygonal fragments before Rozen's eyes, a cheerful melody rang in his ears. Simultaneously, golden effect lights sparkled on his body.

A window appeared in front of Rozen.

"Congratulations, your level has increased."

After slaying numerous wild monsters and ten Little Nepenthes, Rozen's level finally advanced from 1 to 2.

"Gu!"

Rainbow Flower Butterfly immediately let out a pleasant cry.

"Congratulations."

Kirito also sent his congratulations from behind.

"You're close to leveling up too, right?"

Without even looking, Rozen asked this question and then waved his right hand to bring up the main menu, checking his current stats.

After leveling up, Rozen's HP limit increased, and he gained 3 attribute points, which he could freely allocate to Strength (Str) and Agility (Agi) to improve his strength.

Rozen then stroked his chin and turned to Kirito behind him, asking a question.

"Have the online information websites revealed the optimal attribute allocation for one-handed sword users?"

This question immediately earned Rozen an answer from Kirito.

"2 points in Strength! 1 point in Agility!"

Kirito's answer was quick and confident, indicating he had a deep impression of it. He truly was a gaming enthusiast.

However,

"This allocation is suitable for regular one-handed sword users!"

Kirito shouted while battling a Little Nepenthes, answering loudly.

"Because the biggest advantage of one-handed weapons is the ability to equip a shield in the other hand!"

Indeed, although players couldn't equip two different weapon types simultaneously, they could wield a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other, provided the weapon was a one-handed type, such as a one-handed sword or axe.

Under such circumstances, the best attribute allocation for a one-handed sword user was naturally 2 points in Strength and 1 point in Agility, with the role being a front-line fighter.

However, equipping a shield had a major drawback.

It increases the weight significantly.

And if weight increased, it naturally led to a decrease in speed.

So,

"If you don't want to lose your agility and adaptability in combat, give up the shield and focus on being a agility-type!"

Kirito shouted this out, launching a diagonal slash sword skill against the Carnivorous Plant that he had engaged. He was surrounded by the extended effect light of the skill, resembling a shooting star as he moved towards the monster.

After contemplating for a moment, Rozen immediately made a decision.

"Switch to agility-type?"

That wasn't really necessary.

Although Rozen wasn't the type to rely on brute force to defeat enemies, regardless of whether it was the familiar or blade throwing, they couldn't deliver decisive damage. The final blow had to come from Rozen himself.

In such circumstances, sacrificing the ability to equip heavy axe or hammer weapons was already a compromise. Sacrificing attack power further wasn't worth it.

Therefore, Rozen decided,

"2 points in Strength, 1 point in Agility."

This way, he could maintain his attack power while retaining a certain level of agility.

As for the shield, Rozen also decided to give it up.

As he had said earlier,

"As long as you don't get hit, there's no need to worry about defense."

Rozen turned his head to look in another direction.

There, a Little Nepenthes seemed to have been attracted by the sounds of battle and was approaching.

Seeing this scene, Rozen had only one thought.

"A perfect timing."

With that thought, Rozen lifted his bronze one-handed sword and slowly moved toward the approaching monster.

Then,

"Huh?"

Kirito, who was busy dealing with another Little Nepenthes and had a moment to spare, looked in Rozen's direction and was taken aback.

Because,

"There's a monster! Rozen, open your eyes quickly!"

At this very moment, Rozen, who was moving toward the Little Nepenthes, had closed his eyes.