Kirito's taunt was clumsy, but Seiya fell for it completely. After more than a decade of kendo training, he was genuinely curious about Kirito's in-game sword skills. Seiya accepted the challenge with a grin and gripped his one-handed sword.
Seeing Seiya agree, Kirito was elated. He quickly initiated a fair PvP match between them. In this mode, neither player would face a death penalty. The duel was set to three minutes, and the winner would be the one with more HP when the time ran out or if the other player's HP was depleted.
Klein, watching the sudden PK match, was incredibly excited. The duel between Seiya and Kirito was far more captivating than the monotonous monster grinding they were doing before. After all, these two weren't just any ordinary players! One was a "Beater" who had been in the beta, and the other was a kendo champion with a natural advantage in this game. Although they were both low-level, this was undoubtedly a clash of titans.
In SAO, most of the system's sword skills have prerequisites, such as a certain character level or proficiency with a specific weapon. At this point, Kirito didn't have access to many skills. However, he had nothing to complain about, as Seiya was completely clueless about the system's combat mechanics. Seiya might be able to create original skills based on his real-life kendo, but Kirito doubted that Seiya's current level and stats would allow him to pull off those advanced techniques.
Seiya might be strong, but he was still a rookie to the game. Kirito, on the other hand, had spent a whole month in the beta test—that was his key advantage.
With a push off the ground, a gust of wind surged behind Kirito's heels. The moment the countdown ended, his body shot towards Seiya.
Sprint—one of SAO's universal skills, allowing all classes to make a short-distance dash. Unlike his real-life persona, Kirito was a full-on aggressor in-game. As soon as the battle started, he launched a preemptive strike, intending to control the pace of the fight.
Kirito's speed with Sprint was comparable to a world-class sprinter. In just a few breaths, he was in front of Seiya. He was much faster than the Frenzy Boar they had fought earlier. He also used a clever skill chain to reduce the usual rigid after-effects of the Sprint skill. As he arrived in front of Seiya, he brought his one-handed sword down.
Slant—another basic SAO sword skill. Chained with Sprint, the attack's speed and power were greatly enhanced. If Kirito's opponent had been Klein, the headband-wearing guy might have been one-shotted.
But Seiya was no ordinary opponent.
A sound like a massive bell echoed through the field as Seiya blocked Kirito's attack with a horizontal block of his own. After using "Weapon Defense," a common SAO mechanic, to deflect the attack, Seiya twisted his sword and thrust it towards Kirito's head. Kirito tilted his head slightly, and the blade whizzed past his ear, cutting off a few strands of his black hair.
The two swords became blurs of light as they clashed in a lightning-fast close-quarters duel! Blades scraped against each other, sending out a flurry of sparks. Klein, watching from the sidelines, was completely stunned. As he watched Seiya and Kirito fight, he looked at his own flimsy longsword and felt as though he was playing a different game.
How was this possible? They were all low-level characters, and Seiya and Kirito were using the same basic skills like Slant, Thrust, and Vertical. But when they used them, the skills suddenly looked so incredibly advanced and powerful. The skills were the same, but the users made all the difference.
In the high-speed melee, Seiya and Kirito traded blows. Klein could see both their HP bars decreasing at a visible rate. From the damage they were taking, it was clear that Seiya was getting hit more often because he was still adapting to the game. He had to admit that Kirito's reaction speed in the game was insane.
In a real-life kendo match, a person's brain might react quickly, but the body might not be able to keep up. The human body has its limits. But in a full-dive virtual reality game, that wasn't an issue. As long as your mind reacted fast enough, your character would follow.
Due to Kirito's absurd reaction speed and reflexes, Seiya's attacks were constantly dodged and deflected. Because he hadn't fully adapted, his movements were rigid, and he was taking a lot of hits. However, what Seiya didn't realize was that while he was mentally cursing Kirito's reflexes, Kirito was inwardly cursing Seiya for being a monster.
With his superior reaction time and knowledge of the game, Kirito thought he would win easily. But he never expected Seiya to be so tenacious! Although he was taking far less damage, Kirito knew that every hit he took was a critical weak point attack! That scoundrel Seiya, knowing he was at a disadvantage, was using an "injure one to injure the other" strategy, trading minor hits for one solid weak point blow.
And Kirito was starting to notice something else: the longer the fight went on, the more fluid Seiya's movements became. That madman was adapting to the game during the fight!