Chapter 686 (1/2)

Chapter 686: 686

Aincrad, 74th Floor, the labyrinth area…

On a stairway somewhere deep in the labyrinth, a player with chestnut-colored hair exchanged attacks with a skeleton knight . The sound of parries and blocks echoed in this battlefield .

Not far away, Wu Yan observed as Asuna attacked the skeleton monster like a nimble b.u.t.terfly . He nodded with satisfaction, he praised her with his eyes .

There are two primary attributes in SAO: Strength and agility

Each player is given the choice to allocate points to the attribute of their choice upon level up . Players can choose to balance strength with agility or specialize in one attribute .

However, there are other parameters and modifiers in the status of a player . For example, there are resistance attributes like poison resistance . Otherwise, Wu Yan wouldn’t be dizzy from looking at the literal wall of text and figures in his user interface .

The two primary attributes decide the future path of the player . There are also no items that can reverse the choices made so each decision should be made with careful considerations . For instance, Wu Yan added almost all his attribute points to Strength . His ridiculous speed came mostly from his equipment . Meanwhile, Asuna placed all her points into agility .

Agility-specialized fighters or speedsters can fight better against monsters because they can dodge and attack quickly in fights . The downside for specializing in agility is the inability to quickly kill monsters . But, this didn’t apply to Asuna .

Her attack speed is way ahead of the average player . She can unleash attacks so fast it’s hard to keep up with a normal vision . Her average attack per second is between 12 – 20 . Her attack is about average but she more than made up for it with speed . Moreover, she enhanced her attack through her equipment so her attack can pile up to deal a ton of damage .

With a stable output of damage and the agility to deal quickly attack or retreat, she might not be able to take on a boss on her own but she’s more than enough to deal with any monster that might block her path . With Wu Yan’s high standard, her ability pa.s.sed in his books .

She pushed the monster away with skill and she turned around to yell at Wu Yan .

“Yan, switch!”

Using another heavy-hitting skill, she used her rapier s.h.i.+ning with pink light to stab the monster on its s.h.i.+eld .

Clang

The force from the ensuing impact staggered the monster . Asuna was also stunned from this exchange .

A figure streaked by and the figure slipped behind the monster .

Bam

Almost blinded by the sword skill light coming from Wu Yan, she narrowed her eyes . When she recovered, the monster was already flying away . It shattered into data fragments in the sky .

Asuna’s mouth turned into an ‘o’-shape .

Wu Yan quickly scanned the drops from the monster and he noticed Asuna’s expression .

“You looked like you saw a ghost…”

Asuna noticed her present look and she grabbed Wu Yan by his collar . Her bold move came as a surprise to Wu Yan .

“Just now, was that a double-heavy strike?”

Wu Yan blinked in confusion, he tilted his head .

“Yeah, something wrong?”

“What do you mean something wrong? What the h.e.l.l was that?”

Asuna’s face turned vicious .

“Why didn’t you enter Post-motion?”

Post-motion is the rigid state players enter after executing a skill . The higher the level of skill, the longer the duration of this rigid state .

This is the reason why the Switch in SAO is very important . Letting a teammate tap in after executing a skill can attract the aggro of the monster and buy time for the player to recover .

Cooldown is also a point of consideration . A player can’t use the same skill in an instant, that’s just impossible .

Wu Yan did just that, he unleashed the same skill twice .

Cooldown time can be reduced with strength but not to the point of 0-second cooldown which could theoretically allow the player to unleash consecutive skills . Also, Post-motion means a player has to stop after a skill, making consecutive skills even more impossible .

How? Just how did Wu Yan avoid Post-motion and use his skills twice in a row .