"What's wrong, Sakuya-san?"
The player beside her asked, noticing her sudden silence. Seeing that she had momentarily blanked out, Sakuya's cheeks flushed slightly, but she quickly composed herself. Shaking her head and replied, "…Nothing. I was just a bit disappointed that Leafa didn't join this boss fight."
The player beside Sakuya nodded, sensing nothing unusual. "I see. Well, we can't really force her if she didn't want to join, right?"
"...Yeah, I don't want our relationship to be strained." Even though she said that naturally, Sakuya's attention remained completely fixed on Shido.
What the player and her comrades didn't know was that she had been completely drawn towards Shidow.
The moment she laid her eyes on him, Sakuya felt her heart thump uncontrollably. She immediately realized that she was captivated by Shido's handsome face.
While it might seem a little quick, love at first sight could indeed happen and in this case, appearance played a major role. After all, while looks aren't the only factor in love, they do significantly influence initial attraction, drawing both parties closer to each other.
And that was exactly how Sakuya felt. While it wasn't really love at first sight, she was certain she had taken a strong liking to this mysterious young man as he was very much her type.
Still, she worried for Shido's safety and wanted to stop him. At the same time, their plan was important, putting her in a dilemma. As Sakuya hesitated, Shido suddenly drew his sword from his back and began walking confidently toward the Field Boss.
As Shido began to make his move, all the players in the vicinity turned their attention toward him.
The moment he stepped into the Field Boss's detection range, it began to awaken. Slowly, it lifted its curled up body, revealing its colossal form and an massive amount of HP, stacked across six bar of HP gauges.
With the Field Boss revealing its true form, its name appeared alongside its towering HP.
<
Just as its name suggest, it was a very formidable monster.
ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
The Field Boss unfurled its massive wings, so wide they could almost block out the sun if it were above the ground and let out a thunderous, intimidating roar.
"It has started."
Eugene who was watching stared with a serious expression and wanted to see how Shido would escape from the Field Boss.
Yes, escape.
The idea of Shido standing a chance against the Field Boss didn't cross his mind at all.
However, just as everyone thought that Shido would immediately be killed. Something completely unexpected thing happened that their eyes nearly popped out and their jaws dropped to the ground, since…
As the Field Boss roared toward him, Shido's expression remained completely blank. Then, in an instant, he vanished the moment he took a step.
"Fast!" 2x
Eugene and Sakuya exclaimed at the same time, shock as they couldn't catch Shido's figure at all because of his incredibly fast speed. Yet the next moment, an even more astonishing sight unfolded as they saw Shido suddenly appeared above the Field Boss.
His sword glowed with a brilliant purple light as he thrust it into the dragon's back causing a massive explosion to erupt, slamming the Field Boss so forcefully into the ground that the cave floor cracked and molten lava burst from the fissures below.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!!!
Though Shido had only used a normal sword skill, he had combined it with <
If Shido decided to use the same move two more times then he could easily defeat the Field Boss in no time. However, he deliberately held back since he was curious to see how the two groups of players nearby would react.
...
"Impossible..."
"W-What just happened? How the hell did he manage to empty two bars of HP of the Field Boss?!"
"N-No way... How could such a strong player even exist?"
Everyone stood dumbfounded, staring at the immense damage Shido had dealt. Even Eugene was left speechless, unable to hide his astonishment at just how powerful Shido truly was.
Eugene hadn't expected that the newbie he had looked down on would actually be this strong. His eyes flickered for a moment as he reassessed Shido, and acknowledging him as one of the strongest ALO players.
He took a deep breath, briefly wondering if he could achieve the same damage using his OSS, but ultimately shook his head. He knew he couldn't match that level of destruction alone.
Because of this, Eugene's perception of Shido shifted, he now recognized him as a player at the very top. Still, he reasoned that such a powerful attack must have its limits. It could probably only be used once a day or even once a week, given the long cooldown that a skill of that magnitude would surely require.
Eugene's assumptions seemed even more solid as he watched Shido hold back, refraining from using the devastating skill again. Instead, Shido began fighting the Field Boss with normal attacks.
Yet, if Eugene knew that Shido deliberately didn't use that skill again because he was probing them, instead of his assumption, his jaw would likely have hit the floor.
However, Eugene was still speechless as even though Shido didn't use the same skill again, he could still continue to deal damage at an astonishing rate, steadily chipping away at the Field Boss's HP.
"…Where did this monster come from?" Eugene muttered under his breath, still in disbelief.
As he wondered where Shido suddenly pop up from since he didn't know someone as strong as him. He suddenly heard his comrades talking which made him furious.
"C-Cheating! He must be cheating!"
"…Yeah, that's the only explanation for the insane damage he just dealt."
Their voices trailed off abruptly when Eugene sharply reprimanded them, his anger evident as he shouted, silencing them immediately.
"Shut up! This is ALfheim Online! Even though some troubles happened because of the recent scandal, it isn't to the point where they would allow a cheat in this game!"
Eugene huffed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. As a warrior, he refused to let such accusations be thrown at another strong fighter. His subordinates gradually realized how absurd their thoughts had been, they knew the game's security was tight, but Shido's attack had simply been too overpowered to believe.
Even though Shido and Eugene were on opposing sides, Eugene still respected his strength. Hearing his subordinates dismiss a display of pure skill as cheating made his blood boil with anger.
Still, some of them nodded, trying to rationalize how Shido could deal such an immense amount of damage.
A smart looking Salamander player rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "Hmm… this player might have a skill that boosts his damage, and if he combined it with an OSS, it could result in an attack this strong."
Eugene and Kagemune, having overheard this, shared the same thought.
Kagemune nodded and said, "Yes, that's a very likely possibility. Especially since his speed is so fast that our eyes can't track him. If, by any chance, he has an 8-hit combo OSS like Gene-san and used it at the same spot while combining it with his skill that boosts his strength, then this kind of damage could very well be possible."
"Right?!" The player who had suggested the theory beamed with pride.
Eugene remained silent, though he recognized that Kagemune's explanation seemed plausible. Unfortunately for them, despite their creative guesses, they were still wrong.