I read the SAO progressive manga to write this chapter. A whole arc unused in the anime. The place where the Martial Arts Skill originated. Basically, the MAS is the skill that allows one to use sword skills with their punches and kicks.

Wol5fe: One of the reasons I wrote this was because I thought no one did anything like it before. I've also been considering moving towards something similar to your "Where The Blades Fall" story, but I'm uncertain whether or not I want to stretch this story out to one hundred chapters or not. I might do it in another story, but I'll wait until I get to that floor.

...

Every game has that one task that everyone hates. This quest is that task.

The only reason I'm going for this quest now, is because it's going to be nearly impossible to do later when quest, when starts spawning Trembling Oxen nonstop. They hit you with enough damage to instantly kill you.

And they've already started spawning. Which means someones trying to break the rock right know. The quest requires us to break a rock in half. Without using our weapons, that is. And one of them already sees me. Not good.

I used my sprint skill. I leveled it up a lot on the first floor. Enough to speed across long distances. But I'm not sure if it's enough to out run the Ox behind me.

I sped up the hill and stopped. "What are you running from?" Another player asked. Wait a minute! I know that voice. That's Vulcan! The guy I saw in the tutorial area. He looks almost the same as before. Wait another minute! I let him attack those innocent players! They might be dead IRL!

"Trembling Ox. One hit kills players." I answered. The Ox ran up the hill and stopped. I watched it turn to me almost in slow motion. This feels overdramatic.

In the Beta, the Trembling Oxen weren't this persistant. But, they had their tracking range increased, so they'll follow you halfway across the floor. I've seen it happen once.

The Ox charged at me. I leaped out of the way. If I can get it to hit one of the rocks, it should get stunned similarly to when it hits walls. I ran towards a boulder and leap off it. My jump skill carried me high enough to land on top of the Ox. I grabbed onto and more or less started riding it.

It's only attacks are the charging and a ground stomp in front of it. The Trembling Ox can't hit me unless I fall off. It's probably going to change targets. "Vulcan! Get behind a rock!" I shouted. Vulcan ran behind the rock the Old Master was sitting on.

There's something called the Shield and Spear paradox. It's named after a story about a spear and shield a merchant was selling. The spear could pierce any shield, and the shield could not be pierced. The person buying the two asked what would happen if the spear were to strike the spear. The merchant had no answer.

In this case, the rock is the shield, and Ox is the spear. When the two crashed, they both destroyed each others HP. Neither survived. I fell off the Ox and landed on my back, but the pain is nothing compared to being fall off of the real deal.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Vulcan asked. I didn't pick those skills up in game. "My grandparents own a farm. Because my dad is usually busy, he'd send me there during the summer." I think this is the first time anything I learned there helped me in a game.

A scimitar was held over my head. Got his weapons back already? "How did you know my name?" He asked. Threatened, more accurately. "I saw you on the first floor." I answered.

I've been wondering. "You look the same as then." I noted. "That's because I modeled my character after myself." Vulcan replied, sheathing his sword. He went through alot of work to make himself. Has to be less annoying than some other players created models. "And then Kayaba finished it for you." I noted.

"The worst part about that, is noticing every detail I got wrong." Vulcan laughed. Detail? "I haven't noticed any differences." I noted. "It's the little touches that I noticed that annoy me the most." He answered. "Yeah, that has to suck." I laughed. "Almost as much as waiting for the rock to respawn so I can do this again." I am going to have so much fun with that.

"We could party up, and find one faster." Vulcan suggested. I haven't been in a party since... "Sure. We did complete the quest together." Why did I say that? "It's the least I can do. It wouldn't be fair to let you do it again on you own." Vulcan drew his sword and ran off to find another Ox.