Chương 165: Chapter 165 - Looking Up

The strategy meeting for the 26th floor boss raid was the darkest Drifter had ever seen. And with reason.

Sure, the frontliners had picked themselves back up and were putting on a brave front, clearing the 26th floor in just 9 days. They had shown that the Assault Team wouldn't bend nor break. But this was still right after the 25th Massacre, and there were a lot of empty spaces around the room.

"87 frontliners. That is not a lot."

"It's what we have. We've beaten floor bosses with less."

"None as important as this one, though, Dragon Knight."

Drifter looked at the man speaking. Ambros, leader of a small 9-men guild. A bit mercurial and quick to anger, but a good frontliner.

He had been part of the Assault Team since the 6th floor. He knew what he was talking about. Drifter still disagreed.

"The only important floor is always the highest one, Ambros. Don't disrespect what we lost by ranking them."

The swordsman looked like he wanted to argue, but stopped himself. He was about the same age as Drifter, but they were all so much older.

"Anyway..."

Shivata coughed loudly, breaking Drifter and Ambros' silent stare down before it could turn into something else.

"...We should worry about finding out more about the boss before anything else."

"My second-in-command is right. The Rat found a lot of information about this floor boss, but a scouting party still needs to be sent."

For once, Lind didn't immediately volunteer his guild to do it. Neither did Orlando or Klein jump at the chance.

All the higher-ups of the Assault Team looked at each other and then away awkwardly. They weren't afraid, per se. But there was a definite feeling of dread over taking on this responsibility.

The Aincrad Liberation Squad had been the scouting party for the 25th floor, and look at what happened. They were all thinking something along those lines. Not that anyone expected someone to follow in Kibaou's footsteps, especially so soon after the disaster, but fear wasn't logical.

"Reaver's Requiem will do it."

Drifter raised his hand before the silence could stretch for too long. By his side, Kirito and Asuna didn't give any indication of surprise other than a slight twitching of their eyes. Drifter had run it through them beforehand.

Lind, Orlando, Klein, Ambros, all the guild leaders and vice guild leaders turned to Drifter. Nobody asked if he was sure, because that was a stupid question. Eventually, Lind nodded.

"Good. You will do it right. How many are you taking?"

Drifter's expression eased. He hadn't really expected anyone to fight him on this, but the possibility was always there. Scouting the boss was no small responsibility.

"Standard. Three parties."

Orlando frowned.

"Just three? Isn't that too little? Especially after-"

Drifter shook his head.

"The issue wasn't the number of people back then, Orlando. 3 parties has always been more than enough for scouting. Bringing too many... I don't want to be tempted."

Drifter had no fear of admitting that. He didn't think he would give in to the lust for glory. But then again, he didn't think Kibaou would either, for all his faults, and look where that had gotten them. 78 new names crossed off the Monument of Life.

"Still..."

"Look, we will have the rest of the guild on standby. But scouting is important. We can't just throw it out the window because we are apprehensive. It will cost us more in the long run if we do that."

The players exchanged glances, and silent words were spoken. Eventually Lind nodded.

"Okay. We trust you, Drifter. And Reaver's Requiem. But you won't blame us if we have a Corridor Crystal primed and ready."

"I would be disappointed if you didn't."

Drifter smiled, and Lind answered with a tentative upturn of his lips. Then the Dragon Knight splayed his plans on the table.

"I guess we'll finally get to see what those new Unique Skills are all about."

Drifter's smile grew.

"I guess you will."

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The scouting raid of the 26th floor was probably the most watched boss fight ever, both by SAO players and everyone else. Coming on the heels of the 25th Massacre and Unique Skills, plus Reaver's Requiem's change of leadership, no one wanted to miss it.

That was how pretty much the entire world watched Drifter lead 15 of Reaver's Requiem's finest into the boss room.

Considering the size of their guild, 3 parties' worth of players was pretty much all of them. They only left Keita, Sachi, and Tetsuo behind, seeing as they weren't frontliners.

Drifter, Yuna, Nautilus, Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, Silica, Vallerk, Ran, Yuuki, Liz, Kizmel, Agil, Shigio, Wolv, and Griselda marched powerfully into the boss' chambers. The floor boss was quite clearly curled up in the middle of the sandy room, so they didn't fear an ambush.

It was a fox. Reddish-brown fur, pointy ears, and a fluffy tail wrapped around its body as it slept. Just like a normal fox, except for the minor detail of it being the size of a garbage truck.

Ah, and of course, for the fact that every now and then its body would flash with ghastly blue light, and its skeleton would become visible for a split second.

"Everybody remembers the plan, right? Then let's do this!"

Vallerk, Nautilus, Liz, Kizmel, and Shigio charged first, just as the boss, named Flame Wisp Ruler, woke and got up.

With a snarl, the boss swiped at the shield-bearers with its claws. The attack was probably meant to smack all of them away, but Nautilus stomped the ground and dashed ahead.

His little shield seemed impossibly small in front of the Flame Wisp Ruler's giant paw and scythe-like claws, but the Indomitable Knight glowed with the power of Indomitable Might, and didn't move an inch when the paw smashed into him with a deafening bang.

Unique Skill or not, the attack still took out a good portion of Nautilus' HP. But the ash-haired player held strong, and pushed back against the paw with a grunt, once again achieving a seemingly impossible feat in throwing the boss back a couple meters.

Vallerk and the others chose this moment to charge in, locking the Flame Wisp Ruler down with a series of stunning skills.

It wouldn't last for long, but this was a scouting mission, not a full raid. What they had to do was uncover as many skills and patterns from the boss as they could.

Thanks to the clearers' exploration, and Argo's effort of compiling the information, the Reavers already knew a little of what to expect from the first phase of the boss, but it didn't hurt to be through.

This was the perfect chance to test their Unique Skills, however, and after seeing what Nautilus' Indomitable Might could do to the boss, the other Reavers were more than a little eager.

Drifter himself was one of the first there, switching with Liz so she could get her breath back, and maybe try out her Volcano Forge in a boss battle setting.

His weapon changing into a lance at a thought, Drifter charged the Flame Wisp Ruler, running it through the side. When he tore the weapon out, it was a halberd, which he promptly used to slice into the boss' flank.

Probably the best thing about Infinite Spear was that the weapon changes didn't share a cooldown with normal skills. In fact, Drifter had yet to find they had any cooldown at all.

A Vertical cut a large gash on the boss' body, and it turned to Drifter, trying to bite his head off. The spearmaster used Infinite Spear to turn the halberd to a staff, and Edge Vaulting to jump over the closing jaws and away from the Flame Wisp Ruler.

"Switch!"

The call was unnecessary, as Drifter was already ducking and stepping back to let Asuna take his place.

Even after 3 days of experimenting, testing, and a lot of practice duels, Drifter was still amazed by the sheer speed of the fencer's attacks after acquiring Mirage Burst. Seeing her rapier stab two dozen times in a matter of seconds was like watching a meteor shower, such was the glow of the weapon.

Asuna must have scored several critical hits under the influence of her Unique Skill, because the Flame Wisp Ruler cried out in pain and rage, and turned to her.

It never saw Kirito and Yuuki coming up behind its back. It definitely felt it though. Four swords hacking away at its hind legs must have hurt.

Hearing the pained growl from the monster as Kirito and Yuuki utilized their newly discovered ability to use two swords to very effectively cut down the boss' health, Drifter not for the first time wondered if the digital creations felt actual pain. Probably yes. Kayaba was through like that.

It wasn't a nice thought. Because it inevitably led Drifter to think that, if Kayaba really wanted SAO to be realistic, then he could make the players feel real pain too.

He never voiced that horrifying thought, not even to Yuna.

Anyway, this was not the time to go down that dark path. Drifter did take a moment to admire Kirito and Yuuki's usage of Dual Blades, however.

It was a sight to behold. Unlike Asuna, their swords didn't move lightning quick, but they seemed to have a mind of its own.

Sometimes they flowed smoothly like water, others they cut sharply like scissors. It was a beautiful chaos.

Still, now that they were in an actual battle - and not a duel or the slaughter that it was against normal mobs - Drifter could spot some differences between the two.

Kirito's black swords - Liz's handicrafts - fell quick and heavy on the boss. Drifter could almost feel the impact himself.

Yuuki, on the other hand, was using two purple swords - also courtesy of their blacksmith - which flashed about, leaving 3 wounds for every 2 of Kirito's. Her cuts were shallower, but no less deadly for it.

Both were incredible to see in action. But the other Reavers weren't too far behind, even without Unique Skills. After all, they had climbed this far relying on nothing but their own abilities and each other. Any skill, no matter how powerful, was only a bonus to what they already were.

This was a life Drifter could never have imagined before. 3 years ago, he would have scoffed if someone told him this was where he would be in a few years.

But now, if he somehow went back in time to just before SAO began? Drifter thought he would still buy a NerveGear and dive in. He could never abandon his family.

From Yuna and Nautilus to Argo and Akari, to Keita and Sasha, Orlando and Klein, Shivata and Liten, even Lind. For them, he would jump back into Sword Art Online without a second thought.

Many would call him crazy. And they would be right. But he wasn't just Ogawa Itsuki, the poor university student with an aversion to instant noodles. Not anymore.

He was Broken Spear Drifter, guild leader of Reaver's Requiem, retainer of the Unique Skill Infinite Spear, Aincrad's grandmaster of the spear. A frontliner. And like all frontliners, he was a little crazy. A little lost.

A little shattered and broken and beaten down.

How else could he charge a spectral fox big enough to swallow him in one bite? And switching places with a thirteen-year-old with the skills of a veteran knife-fighter while he did so, to top it off.

But he was also a little stronger than he was before. A little taller, but not in height. A little sharper. A little more.

Broken Spear Drifter was just as much a part of him as Ogawa Itsuki. You couldn't separate the two anymore.

And that was okay. That was good. Great even. Because no one in Aincrad was still the same as they were before. They were all different. A little less and a little more. And Drifter fit right in.

"Alright, that is enough! Vallerk, Nautilus, Kizmel, cover for us! Everyone else, fall back per party!"

Once they emptied the first HP gauge of the boss, Drifter judged that the battle was becoming too risky, and ordered the retreat.

The Flame Wisp Ruler had turned more aggressive and grown a second tail, as well as getting a different attack pattern, all of which were valuable pieces of information that would need to be taken in consideration when strategizing for the real raid.

It was tempting to push their luck a little bit more and try to get the boss down to another phase, just to gather more intel. But that was a trap scouting parties had fallen into before, and it never ended well. Knowing when to stop was key.

"Good work today, everybody!"

As soon as the last players - Vallerk, Kizmel, and Nautilus - stepped out of the boss room, the Flame Wisp Ruler growled softly and went back to its resting spot in the middle. Almost instantly, it's one-and-a-half depleted HP bars refilled.

Drifter watched with attentive eyes everyone take out a Teleport Crystal and go back to the safe zone. Then he did the same with a satisfied smile.

Today's scouting raid had served more purposes than just finding out information about the boss. It also helped Drifter see the Unique Skills in an actually pitched battle, and to find out their weaknesses and downsides.

Quite obviously, none of them had managed to fully incorporate their new skills into their fighting style yet. And that caused not only a decrease in their combat power, but on their unit cohesion and teamwork as a whole.

Still, the overall was a net positive, at least in Drifter's opinion. The Reavers, and, consequently, the Assault Team, had gotten much stronger with the addition of the Unique Skills. Not enough to cover the gap left behind by ALS' fall, but they were slowly getting there.

For the first time in a while, things were looking up for the players.