Chapter Sixteen

I stared up at the house, my hands covered in ogre blood.

Monsters don't bleed in Sword Art Online, so I guess that just a fun side effect of accepting the quest.

And after killing 36 ogres, I had finally earned my house.

This is all mine.

I looked around at my new home. Trees surrounded the house, and I could hear a nearby river. There was a big piece of grassland behind the brick cottage where I could practice honing my skills.

I smiled, happy with my decision to get this place. The wolves took off excitedly into the woods, ready to explore, while I moved to take a look at the house.

Inside, there was a clean kitchen and a massive dining room. There were 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. And, as I continued to explore, I could tell this house was meant for a party or a family.

The next couple of months, I fell into an easy routine of doing quests and making my house more suitable for me. This also helped my level raise, and by the end of the second week, I had gained 8 more levels.

My routine was disrupted however, when I recieved a message informing me that the boss had been found for the lowest floor.

I immediately disregarded everything and packed up my stuff, heading down to join the guilds already there. I was worried, however, when I arrived with my wolves to only find 3 parties of 5. Nowhere near enough to fight a boss.

"Where is everybody else?" I asked.

"Nobody else is scheduled to come for another week."

I frowned. This was unusual. Normally, everybody was here and ready to fight the day after receiving a boss message.

"Apparently there has been some complications with the Knights of the Blood Oath." A girl explained, "Everybody is interested in it. Apparently the second-in-command and some newbie is fighting against the leader, or something. I'm not sure, but it sounds bad."

I frowned. The Knights of the Blood Oath never fought internally. It was the most organized guild in the game. But if Asuna was fighting against them, something must have been more important.

I shook my head, "What is the outlook on this boss?"

"He's called the Dark Wolf Lord. He's basically a massive wolf who can summon regular wolves to fight on his side."

I looked down at Kuro and Gurē. The Dark Wolf Lord, eh? It was silly to wait another week to have the others come help. That was time we could have finished this boss off and started exploring the next floor.

That was even more time still that prolonged this game. I sighed, turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" The girl asked, frowning and reaching her hand out as if to stop me.

"I am going to go get some quests done instead of sitting around here, waiting for something to happen."

With that, I turned, leaving the parties. I walked to the nearest town, my wolves staying close by me.

I couldn't help but wonder about the Knights of the Blood Oath. What was so important that Asuna was willing to go against her own guild? And who was this newbie that was fighting with her? Was he/she the reason behind the fighting?

I shook my head. I couldn't be thinking about his right now. None of this would matter if this boss couldn't get defeated.

But the question was how? How could I find a bunch of organized people who would be willing to fight tomorrow?

The idea of gathering an army just by myself within a day was incredibly stupid.

I wasn't even completely sure why I wanted to fight this boss as soon as possible anyway. Something about the idea of him just seemed to draw me in. The Dark Wolf Lord.

I looked down at my own wolves, smiling at them.

I had been through a lot with them at my side. I don't know how long I would have survived without them. I remember thinking what a stupid outfit this was when I first won it, but now I can't think of a time without it.

This outfit brought Kuro and Gurē to me. It made people start calling me "The Red Wolf" just as Kirito was called "The Black Swordsman."

I reached up to play with my red hair. The Red Wolf.

I giggled at the silliness of the name. When they first started calling me that, after the first boss battle, I could hardly believe I was someone different enough to deserve a title.

But I guess, with Kuro and Gurē at my side, I was.

I looked down at my uniform.

"It's makes wolves know I'm not the enemy." I said out loud.

I gasped, stopping in my tracks. My wolves looked back at me, curiously.

"That's it!"

"Kuro! Gurē! I figured it out! I can raise an army in a day!"

I turned around, racing towards the woods.

I was going to raise an army of wolves.

I paused again. People didn't trust wolves. They barely tolerated Kuro and Gurē, how was I going to get them to fight alongside hundreds of them?

I couldn't.

I frowned. I couldn't get people to fight alongside them. This left only one option.

I was going to face this boss alone.

With my mind made up, I made my way towards the woods once more, preparing myself for what was to come.