[quote=@RoflsMazoy]
Hey, I'm just stalking you all but I'd like to point out something

If you're having trouble with swinging the invisible sword, you should probably remember that the motions of your sword skills are guided by the system so you don't really have to swing it yourself

Sword skills weren't in the original Alfheim but they were re-added in the new Alfheim online
[/quote]

Even so, the guiding system won't prevent a weapon skill from "whiffing" since they can be activated without a target in range. Examples: When Klein tries out his sword skill in the first episode of SAO, and when Kirito tests his dual sword skill in front of Lisbeth. So without proper knowledge of the weapon's dimensions and attack range, "whiffing" is definitely possible.

From a RPing perspective, the added difficulty is so that Athena isn't given a super-fecking-awesome weapon right off the bat. She has to work for it.