Chapter 277 : You look like shit!

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“Ciara, your body and energy control are good, but your mental strength is the real problem. I know it’s a trait many European players share because it was an area with mostly beginners, but it’s time to fix it. The dragon training will start with Sandeep, but the second phase will depend on you—and your weakness might seriously slow us down. Are you willing to join the training and overcome your flaws?” Sora laid out the situation and asked for her input.

She nodded several times but said nothing.

Sora smiled at the two players in front of him and added, “If you can keep up, I’ll help you develop multiple ultimate skills…”

Seeing their faces light up, he continued, “And if you manage to impress me, or even surprise me, I’ll give you 100,000 [Soul Pearls] and a glimpse beyond the world of ultimate skills!”

Noticing that the duo had been motivated, he began training them without wasting any time. Just a few dozen meters away, Tian Long watched them with a gaze full of warmth and gratitude.

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At dawn, Sora left the two players with the dragons and Daemon, who had volunteered to keep an eye on them and continue their training.

Accompanied by Netsu, Hiyoko, and Tian Long, he took off toward Toronto. They were quickly joined by Shade, Karl, and the other World Bosses a few kilometers from the territory of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Katarina, an eight-headed hydra who had taken on a humanoid form, was the first to speak after the greetings were exchanged.

"You've all got a new look, I see..." she said to the other World Bosses.

Her hair was long, multicolored and split in eight parts, with a braid for each color. Choosing a size similar to the others in the group, she wore only white shorts and a pink tank top.

"Of all the appearances you could have chosen, you went with that of low-ranking humans. Such poor taste, Katarina," said Klem, a mage with a unique appearance, before continuing, addressing the others, "And the four of you made similar choices, I see..."

Katarina laughed at his remark. "Have you looked at yourself? I don’t get why people from your species keep their original form when traveling between worlds instead of adapting. By the beauty standards of this world—and pretty much every known world—you look like shit! You're a pathetic blue cube!!"

Tian Long, also feeling targeted by Klem, didn’t stay silent and added, "You don’t know the saying? When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"

As Klem, the thirty-centimeter-tall blue cube, started fidgeting and changing colors, Sora interrupted the budding argument. "Fight on your own time. We're here for a raid."

Katarina, satisfied that Klem didn’t get the last word, quickly changed the subject and pointed to Enkidu and Gilgamesh with her finger. "Those two are the real deal! So what's the strategy?"

Sora, having already simulated the battle in his [Virtual World], turned to Karl and said, "The attack will revolve around Karl and Klem since they’re the ones who can deal the most damage. Katarina, you’ll tank Enkidu’s hits and buy time for Karl and Klem to deal damage. Minny, you’ll take care of the soldiers and distract the bosses if Katarina is struggling. Tian Long, Shade, you’ll support the four of them from the back. Shade, you’ll hinder the enemies and debuff them as much as possible, while Tian will amplify everyone’s skill effects. Mary, you’re in charge of replenishing the group’s energy and healing. Samo, you’ll manage the mental attacks and defense. I’ll do my best to keep everyone alive as long as possible."

Mary nodded. She was a World Boss known as the Undead Saintess, who had taken the appearance of a young mixed-race woman. She specialized in two completely opposite types of magic: undead magic and holy magic.

Samo had no reaction to Sora’s instructions and remained silent. He was the last World Boss Sora had recruited. From a race Sora would describe as close to the fairies of folklore, Samo specialized in mental strength. His human appearance was very masculine. He was bearded and had a muscular body. However, with two thin, translucent wings, he looked funny.

Seeing the nods from the others in the group, Sora concluded, "Now that everyone’s roles are clear, I wish you good luck! Give it your all!"

As the group’s energy spread from one to another like wildfire, a voice echoed around them.

"So you’ve assembled a team of World Bosses! You’ve been busy, little human..." Sora recognized Enkidu’s voice.

Before he could respond, another voice chimed in, "Where’s the kid? I don’t see him in your group. Don’t tell me he was too scared to face his old teachers..."

Sora understood who Gilgamesh was referring to and replied, "Sig... or Thousand, as you used to call him, is still training. He wanted to join the raid, but others need him more right now."

"A shame... I suppose he can always join you for your next raid attempts. This isn’t only your first try, after all." Gilgamesh joked.

Sora wasn’t surprised by the confidence Gilgamesh exuded.

‘Even after seeing our lineup, they’re not afraid. They know we’ve defeated the other World Bosses, but it doesn’t faze them at all... According to [Database] and my current analytical capacity, I can’t analyze more than fifty percent of those two. And even with the fifty percent I’ve managed to get, our group still struggles every time.’

Having fought alongside Minny, Tian Long, and the others many times, he had come to understand how they fought.

‘World Bosses have their powers locked at specific Soul Power thresholds. It’s only by tapping into their World Boss Cores that they reach higher tiers of strength. Without enough stored Soul Power, they can’t transform and reach their advanced phases during combat.’

Looking at Tian Long, he thought, ‘Tian recharged her Core by helping us fuse our skills and taking a cut, which she said would allow her to transform during the battle without issue. Minny’s Core is his planet, and he focused on feeding Lulu instead of storing Soul Power, meaning his first phase is stronger, but moving to phase two will cost him dearly…’

‘It’s even worse for the others... They’re barely stronger than yesterday, which means they didn’t progress as expected overnight. Though I don’t know why I even had expectations, knowing how hard they made World Boss progression.’

Unable to perfectly simulate the battle, Sora had still learned from the repeated failures in his simulations.

‘This fight is going to rely on Karl, Tian Long, and me…’ he thought.

As his thoughts settled, Sora signaled the group to enter the giants’ territory.

With his allies close behind, he was the first to enter the titans’ domain. The moment he did, he felt the atmosphere shift — like stepping into a sanctuary.

A deafening silence engulfed the group, and a crushing pressure fell upon them. They were face-to-face with an army of thousands of soldiers standing straight, glaring at them menacingly. Their bloodlust and aura impressed Sora, who felt an unexpected sense of respect for the army.

‘They’re low-level, but I still feel a pressure coming from them… It’s not offensive, but it’s affecting my mental defenses. The method is subtle, but the goal seems to be... to force my respect? What the hell?’

While Sora pondered the purpose of such a technique, Newtons whispered advice in his mind, “If they’re affecting you, it’s because they’re using a formation... Similar to the one we saw in the tower. You might want to destroy that quickly.”

'That wasn't in my simulations...' He thought.

Sora nodded and dispelled the skill’s effects. Just as he was about to shield the rest of the group, Samo, the fairy, waved a magic wand and released a light that canceled the mental manipulation and the pressure weighing on them.

Sora used that timing to activate one of his favorite skills:

[Supreme Skill: Virtual World, fourth effect, Virtual Bubble]

'If things go well, it'll be all good, but if things go wrong, I'll have another attempt without anyone risking anything! With this, we'll have an edge over them!' He thought, confident.

Once free, Minny was the first to move. He summoned seventy-two planets and used them to launch an assault on the army before them.

Seeing his army facing the threat of elemental bombardments and direct impacts from solid planets, Enkidu left his position and instantly appeared in front of Minny to deal with him.

As if rehearsed, Minny vanished from his spot and was replaced by Katarina, still in her human form, with perfect coordination.

‘Thankfully, their appearance doesn’t affect their power or skills,’ thought Sora, remembering how difficult it had been to defeat Katarina in her gigantic eight headed form during her raid.

Katarina took the Titan’s elbow strike head-on, and was sent flying. She didn't seem injured at all but as Enkidu prepared to target Minny again, she was too far to do anything.

Karl deciding to act, drew his sword and appeared behind Enkidu's neck.

Recalling countless simulations, Sora tensed, ‘This is one the moments where everything becomes messy…’

Betting on a certain outcome, Sora flew up to position himself above Karl and activated [Ignore] on Enkidu.

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