Chapter 368: -363- The unavoidable limit
————"Lizardman Lord."
This is a mini-boss located in the 74th-floor labyrinth area.
The 74th-floor labyrinth area is filled with humanoid monsters equipped with weapons, shields, and armor, such as lizardmen and skeleton warriors. They often wander alone in the maze-like tower, making them challenging opponents.
By this floor, even regular enemies require a considerable effort to defeat. Even strong players like Kirito and Asuna, when facing the monsters on the 74th floor, need to exert their full strength to ensure victory.
Of course, this assessment assumes Kirito's not using his "Dual Blades" skill.
But even without using "Dual Blades," Kirito can't handle more than two of these monsters simultaneously on this floor.
As a result, after reaching the 74th floor, the difficulty has risen to a relatively high level.
Rozen wasn't concerned about this aspect.
After two whole years, Rozen's level had reached an astonishing 99, and he was getting closer to the coveted level 100. Even Saichou and Hanachou had both reached level 99, just one step away from level 100.
However, reaching level 100 required an immense amount of experience points, and hunting regular enemies might not be enough. Rozen had been keeping an eye out for mini-bosses recently.
With Saichou and Hanachou assisting and his "Mind's Eye" skill, coupled with the strength of "Azure Abyss," Rozen continued to explore the labyrinth on the 74th floor with his usual efficiency, undeterred by the powerful monsters present on this level.
By the way, after almost half a year, Rozen's "Azure Abyss," which was initially considered a crystal sword suitable for the current floor's strength, had been enhanced to a staggering +70.
This achievement was enough to astonish even Kirito.
"My 'Elucidator' is only at +48."
This level of enhancement was already remarkable.
To put it into perspective, Kirito's "Elucidator" had been enhanced only 50 times at most, and even with the success rate increased to the maximum, it should have reached +30 at most. Achieving +48 was nothing short of a miracle.
Rozen's ability to enhance "Azure Abyss" to +70 was truly incredible. It was doubtful if there was a second weapon in all of SAO that had been enhanced to this level.
But Rozen managed to gather the necessary materials for 70 enhancements through his exceptional wealth. He also obtained a rare item from a LA reward during a boss raid that guaranteed a 100% enhancement success rate, allowing him to push "Azure Abyss" to this level of power.
Rozen continued to exhibit highly efficient hunting results, far surpassing other players. This could largely be attributed to Saichou and Hanachou.
Without these two familiars' debuff abilities, even with his "Mind's Eye," Rozen wouldn't be able to hunt with such high efficiency, as the monsters would remain unimpaired targets. However...
"Gu!"
"Gu!"
Saichou and Hanachou let out frustrated cries as they continuously released various negative status abilities in the form of phosphorescent powder onto the mini-boss known as the "Lizardman Lord," attempting to turn it into an impaired target.
"Grr!"
However, faced with Saichou and Hanachou's negative status abilities, the Lizardman Tyrant, while not entirely immune to the various negative statuses, had an extremely short duration for their effects, lasting only a few seconds.
If this had been in the past, only floor bosses would have displayed such resistance and endurance against Saichou and Hanachou's negative status abilities. But now, even against mini-bosses in the labyrinth area, their abilities seemed to be wearing thin. Rozen observed this scene closely, confirming that his two familiars had reached their limits.
Originally, familiars were meant to serve as auxiliary support.
Although Rainbow Butterflies are extremely rare creatures with only seven of them on the entire server, their rarity doesn't necessarily mean they should continuously exhibit such amazing crowd control abilities.
After some calculations, Rozen reluctantly confirmed, "I'm afraid that by the time we reach the 80th floor, Saichou and Hanachou's abilities will be completely ineffective against floor bosses."
By then, the frontline battles would likely become more perilous. For a long time, one of the reasons Rozen could maintain an impeccable record was the astonishing crowd control abilities of Saichou and Hanachou, which significantly reduced the threat posed by floor bosses.
Most players in the clearing group had a similar experience: when they were almost hit by a rampaging floor boss, the two rainbow butterflies would circle overhead, sprinkling phosphorescent powder, causing the boss to be afflicted with various negative status effects, rendering it unable to launch effective attacks.
Once Saichou and Hanachou lost their effectiveness, floor boss battles would become much riskier.
Even though Rozen had mentally prepared for this scenario, when the time came, he couldn't help but feel extremely frustrated.
"This is a limitation in the game's design, and there's no way to break through it from a gameplay perspective."
If there were a way to break through this limitation, the game designers wouldn't have set it in the first place.
"In other words, if it's just system-based skills, there's no way to surpass this limit."
The only hope lay in external system skills like Rozen's "Mind's Eye," which could potentially extend the limits of Saichou and Hanachou.
Unfortunately, if it was Rozen's own skills, that would be one thing, but how could he make in-game familiars acquire external system skills?
"Grr!"
The roar of the Lizardman Tyrant interrupted Rozen's thoughts, irritating him.
"So noisy!"
Rozen drew his crystal sword from his waist.
The crystal sword, enhanced to +70, now shimmered even more brilliantly, gradually emitting a beautiful and dazzling light. Its already exquisite appearance became even more stunning.
"Clang!"
The effect of a sword skill appeared on the crystal sword's blade, adding a touch of elegance to its beauty.
With this radiant blade, Rozen stomped on the ground and charged forward.
...
"Boom!"
Three minutes later, the massive body of the Lizardman Tyrant froze blue and burst apart.
"Gu..."
"Gu..."
Saichou and Hanachou, however, seemed somewhat disheartened, as if they faintly sensed that they were becoming less effective.
"Don't think too much, you both did very well."
Rozen gently stroked his two adorable familiars, smiling.
"Let's head back for today."
Upon hearing this, Saichou and Hanachou perked up a bit and made cheerful sounds.
With that, Rozen sheathed his crystal sword and, accompanied by his two familiars, left the labyrinth area.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone