Miracle Summoner

Of course, that wasn't Rozen's limit.

It was obvious to anyone: among the seven original sword skills, the fifth one was already a ten-hit combo. How could the sixth and seventh be weaker?

Moreover, considering the level of Rozen's OSS (Original Sword Skill), if the first five skills consisted of 2-hit, 4-hit, 6-hit, 8-hit, and 10-hit combos respectively, then wouldn't the last two skills be 12-hit and 14-hit combos?

That would be an absolutely terrifying sword skill.

Remember, back when Kirito had the unique skill "Dual Blades," the advanced sword skills of that ability only went up to 16-hit combos, with the ultimate sword skill reaching an unprecedented 27-hit combo. That might seem far more terrifying than Rozen's original sword skills, but don't forget that those were combos performed with two swords. If split evenly, each sword only delivered about 14 hits.

For the "One-Handed Sword" skill, the most advanced sword skill capped at 10 hits. No one could surpass this number of hits. Kirito's "Dual Blades" was a unique skill that far surpassed the standard weapon skills and could only be acquired by one person in SAO. Comparing that to regular skills was simply pointless.

Currently, Kirito had long since lost the unique skill "Dual Blades," and its exclusive OSS was now only a 7-hit combo.

That said, perhaps as a reward for players who went through the trouble of creating OSS, original sword skills tended to exhibit extraordinary power against both players and monsters. Compared to standard sword skills of the same level, they were generally much stronger. Combined with the performance and effects of the skills themselves, it was no surprise that Kirito's "Seven Deadly Sins," despite being only a 7-hit combo, was more powerful than the "One-Handed Sword"'s 10-hit skill "Nova Ascension." It had now become Kirito's strongest sword skill without question.

Under such circumstances, the fact that Rozen created a total of seven sword skills, with the fourth one already being an 8-hit combo stronger than Kirito's "Seven Deadly Sins," and the fifth being an authentic 10-hit combo, left everyone astounded at the prospect of two even more powerful skills.

This led many players to express their skepticism:

"Is there really a total of seven original sword skills?"

"Sure, the Magus is strong, but considering how difficult OSS is to create, creating five sword skills is already insane, especially with one being a 10-hit combo. How could he possibly create two even stronger skills?"

"Even the Magus wouldn't be able to pull that off, would he?"

"Unless the Magus demonstrates those skills, I won't believe it."

This was the prevailing sentiment.

Rozen's claim of having seven original sword skills was something only he and the players of "Crimson Wing" had spread around. Yet no one had ever seen the sixth or seventh sword skills.

In the last All-World Martial Arts Tournament, Rozen had demonstrated five sword skills. But by the time he reached the fifth, "Alioth," an authentic 10-hit combo, no one could match him. Even Kirito lost to "Alioth," and the Floor 24 Boss was also defeated by it. Rozen simply hadn't had the opportunity to use "Mizar" or "Alkaid."

As a result, the claim that Rozen had seven original sword skills had never been verified. Even players within "Crimson Wing" and Rozen's close companions often asked him about it, only to be met with his enigmatic smile.

"If you want to know, work hard in the next tournament and force me to use my final two sword skills," Rozen would tease.

Rozen refused to disclose them, instead leaving them as a goal to motivate others.

Thus, although everyone was incredibly curious, they eventually stopped asking. Even Asuna stubbornly declared that she would one day force Rozen to reveal the truth in a duel. As a result, even Asuna didn't know anything about Rozen's final two original sword skills.

However...

"They shouldn't be weaker than an 11-hit combo, right?"

Leafa stated this enthusiastically.

Everyone seemed to think so, which was why they couldn't help but react speechlessly to Rozen's earlier words.

The general consensus was that Rozen's final two sword skills were likely 12-hit and 14-hit combos, as rumored online.

If that were true, the so-called 11-hit combo would certainly not be the highest hit count among OSS or standard sword skills.

Seeing everyone's natural assumption, Rozen could only rub his nose awkwardly.

In truth, their speculation wasn't entirely accurate.

Indeed, Rozen's sixth sword skill, "Mizar," was a 12-hit combo. However, his seventh and final skill, "Alkaid," was a 13-hit combo rather than 14.

But this wasn't because Rozen couldn't create a sword skill with more hits.

By combining the techniques of various master swordsmen and advanced systems, Rozen initially created only one sword skill during the OSS development phase.

That sword skill had a hit count far exceeding Kirito's ultimate "Dual Blades" skill, which was a 27-hit combo. Rozen's creation was an unbelievable 55-hit combo.

Rozen's original OSS was actually a 55-hit combo!

However, after creating such a mind-boggling skill, Rozen, feeling it was far too outrageous, decided to delete it. He then split it into seven distinct sword skills.

From "Dubhe" to "Alkaid," Rozen's "Big Dipper Seven Stars" sword skills consisted of 2-hit, 4-hit, 6-hit, 8-hit, 10-hit, 12-hit, and 13-hit combos, which perfectly added up to 55 hits.

This was evident from the names Rozen chose for these sword skills.

After all, everyone knew that the Big Dipper ultimately pointed to one star: the North Star.

Hence, the OSS that Rozen originally created was the unparalleled 55-hit combo skill "Polaris."

Of course, since Rozen had split "Polaris" into "Big Dipper," and since using sword skills in succession resulted in downtime due to aftereffects, unless Rozen re-created "Polaris" and registered it as an OSS, it would likely never appear in ALfheim Online.

Naturally, this limitation didn't apply in reality. Rozen could freely use "Polaris" there, as well as any individual skill from "Big Dipper."

If not for considerations of power, speed, and flexibility, Rozen could theoretically create an infinite-hit combo. But after taking various factors into account, he ultimately created the strongest and most suitable 55-hit combo.

None of this was known to anyone else, and whether Rozen would ever reveal this was uncertain.

After all, Rozen was still a Magus, and simply creating such sword skills was impressive enough. He might not rely on them forever.

With that in mind, it was better for these facts to remain unknown.

A 55-hit combo was far too shocking, and the current "Big Dipper" was already sufficient for Rozen.

At least, no one, not even Kirito, had forced Rozen to use anything beyond a 10-hit combo. Let alone a 55-hit one.

Considering all this, Rozen was genuinely intrigued that there was now a player who had created an 11-hit combo OSS.

"What's that player's name?"

Rozen turned to Kirito and asked.

In response...

"I did see their name in the duel window, but their nickname is much more famous," Kirito replied.

"People call them Absolute Sword(Zekken)."