16th of December, 2022, 3rd floor of Aincrad, << Forest of Wavering Mists >>.

The party cautiously made their way through the forest. Nautilus was leading, with Kirito right next to him. Asuna, Sinon, and Yuna were in the middle, while Drifter brought up the rear.

It was unknown when, but mist had started to pervade through the trees, surrounding them. Even their maps didn't show their position correctly.

"Eyes open, people. If this isn't the prelude to an ambush, I don't know what is."

Drifter's words proved to be prophetic. Not even five minutes later, he, Kirito, and Sinon all stopped at the exact same time. Exchanging glances, Drifter traded positions with the archer.

"Your << Searching >> caught that too, right?"

"Yep. Ten meters ahead, behind the tree."

"Not behind the tree, it is the tree. A << Treant Sapling >>. If it hadn't moved just now, << Searching >> wouldn't have found it."

As he spoke, Kirito readied his sword. << Treant Saplings >> were at the same time easy but difficult enemies to face. Easy because they stayed still most of the time, and their attack pattern consisted mainly of whipping moves from their branches. Difficult because when they walked, it was an extremely fast and deadly charge, and they could use their roots to restrict players' movement.

"All right, attack with everything you have. Nautilus, its vines will go around the shield, so don't bother defending too much, attack too. Sinon, try to hit its eyes and mouth if you can, it should be its weaknesses."

"Hm."

"Okay."

After giving out the general orders for the battle, Kirito was the first to rush towards the mob. The << Treant Sapling >> looked just like any other withering tree, until the swordsman entered its aggro range. Then, three holes opened up on its trunk, inside two of which ghoulish purple flames burned. The third and bigger hole had a ragged edge, eerily similar to a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Shreeeek!"

Coming alive, the tree let out an ear-piercing screech. The branches on both sides of it suddenly trembled and tied each other, creating two long, whip-like arms. Without warning, one of them lashed out at Kirito.

The swordsman tilted his body to the left, resting his sword over his right shoulder, and leaning forward. With a shout, he delivered a heavy one-handed overhead slash, leaving a deep cut on the monster's arm.

Nautilus followed on the wake of Kirito's << Slant >>, his own blade shining a pale blue as he swung it from the right to the left in a simple << Horizontal >>, hitting exactly on the same spot as Kirito. The wooden limb, which was already badly damaged, was now hanging on by a literal thread.

If left alone, the wound would soon regenerate and close, but of course Drifter wouldn't pass on such a wonderful chance. He used one of his quickest skills, << Snake Bite >>, one hand holding the back end of his spear, the other gripping the middle of the shaft, both facing opposite directions. With the support of the system, the solid body of his weapon seemed to turn flexible for a moment, soaring over Nautilus' shoulder to fully sever one of the << Treant Sapling's >> arms.

The monstrous tree shrieked, waving what was left of its limb. Drifter felt it hit his forearm, but it was just a chaotic flailing of its arms, and his health barely dipped.

Two arrows quickly found their way inside the << Treant Sapling's >> open mouth, one of them scoring a critical hit. After that intense round of attacks, the mob was already on its last legs, its health bar on the low end of red.

"Switch, Drifter!"

Without hesitation, Drifter spun to the side, leaving just enough space for Asuna to come bowling through, her rapier a blur. Amidst the flurry of normal blows, Drifter saw the flashing light of a << Linear >> and a << Sharp Hail >>, the former being a straight jab, and the later a 3-hit combo of frontal stabs, all aiming at different weak points of the mob. Only someone as dexterous and agile as Asuna could accomplish this feat so effortlessly.

The final blow left Asuna's << Wind Fleuret >> stuck deep inside the mob's gaping mouth for a second, before the << Treant Sapling >> burst into shards.

"That was... A lot easier than I thought it would be, if I'm being honest."

Yuna whistled. She had been using << Firemare >> to buff the party, but even if she had done nothing, all it would take would be two or three more hits to kill the mob.

"It was partially because we detected it before it could ambush us, but you are right, Yuna. I think we've been using floor bosses as a basis of comparison, which is why the treant seemed so weak."

"Good thing we followed Kirito's advice and went back to the 1st floor to get that << Wind Fleuret >> for Asuna too. I'm sure it made a difference against Asterius, but seeing it in action against a normal mob makes it a lot clearer how much stronger it is than your old rapier."

To that, Asuna just smiled happily, and stroked the handle of her new weapon. It was quite the beautiful piece of work, and much stronger too. It also meant a lot to her that the party had taken time off their busy schedule to go back to the 1st floor to get it, and then farmed << Windwasps >> on the 2nd for upgrade materials. Even if they said it was because that would make her stronger against the floor bosses, her gratitude didn't vanish.

"What 'bout drops?"

"Nothing of note. Some special logs, a << Vile Will-o-Whisp >> for that quest we accepted."

"Okay. Let's continue. I think the location of the primer quest of << Elf War >> isn't too far, and..."

"Awoooooo!"

A low-pitched howl suddenly interrupted Kirito, coming from somewhere in front of the party. Two other bone-chilling sounds cut the misty forest's air soon after, coming from behind them.

From the mist, three wolves with vibrant yellow manes appeared. The predators slowly circled the party, growling and snarling.

"Wolves again?! Doesn't Kayaba have any imagination?"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Those are not quite the same as the ones on the 1st floor, Yuna. They are << Roaring Wolves >>. They are much faster and stronger."

As if to prove what the swordsman was saying, one of the beasts pounced at the party, targeting Sinon. Before its sharp claws reached the archer, however, a round shield blocked their path. Three long lines were carved on the equipment, its durability instantly reduced by 20 points, but Nautilus managed to use a << Counterforce >> to bash the mob away, hacking at it with his blade at the same time. The << Roaring Wolf >> whined, and halted its attack. Nautilus grinned.

"So are we."

"Heh!"

Sinon snorted in amusement, while Asuna, Yuna, and Kirito chuckled. Drifter also had to smile. A somewhat badass Nautilus was not something he ever expected to see.

"Awooo!"

"Grrr!"

This time, all three << Roaring Wolves >> lunged at the same time. Their AI seemed to be much more developed than the << Treant Sapling >>, and they had even used one of them to unleash a probing attack.

Dragging his speartip on the ground, and then abruptly swinging it upwards in a half-moon shape, Drifter hit the wolf closest to him with a << Vertical >>. Back to back with him, Sinon shot another point-blank with an arrow, causing the creature to whimper in pain.

But neither of the mobs stopped. Changing his hold on his spear, Drifter used the blunt end to smash the << Roaring Wolf >> in front of him on the snout. Then, sliding his hand over the weapon's shaft, he made a 270 degrees turn, delivering a devastating blow to the wolf's ribs. This time, the mob was sent reeling back in agony.

Behind him, Sinon had stored away her bow in favor of her dagger. Even after she had gotten her deeply desired << Grafted Horn Bow >>, she hadn't slacked off on her << Dagger >> mastery, exactly for situations like this. While Nautilus held the << Roaring Wolf >> at bay, Sinon repeatedly jabbed at it with normal attacks and << Canines >>. The 'bleed' effect from the skill was also sapping away at the mob's health, slowly but surely.

As for the third wolf, Kirito and Asuna were dealing with it without breaking a sweat. If the mob wasn't trying to eat them, Drifter might feel pity, because what the duo was doing to it could classify as bullying.

Even as he threw a quick glance over his shoulder at them, Drifter saw Asuna repealing the wolf with a flurry of blows. Kirito was backing her up by using wide slashes and the occasional << Sting >> to control the mob.

Back to Drifter, one would think he was at a disadvantage for having to deal with a << Roaring Wolf >> alone - after all Yuna could only buff the party, but not directly fight - but that was not at all true. Of the entire group, he was the best suited to solo a mob like the wolf. Due to his longer reach, the beast couldn't make full use of its agility, and was constantly pushed around.

Though the name of the game was Sword Art Online, there obviously had to be more kinds of weapons, otherwise it would be too boring. Besides, a party without variety wouldn't be able to beat the game.

Without a doubt, the sword was the king of all weapons in SAO. Whether it was the normal one-handed sword, the intimidating greatsword, the nimble rapier, the long katana, the sharp blade, or any other, swords dominated SAO.

But each type of weapon had its strong points and weaknesses. In Drifter's humble opinion, no sword could beat his spear when it came to controlling the battlefield. The longer reach allowed him to keep enemies away while hurting them, killing them without ever getting too close. With a spear in hand, even fighting a crowd was no impossible feat.

Of course, the disadvantage of the spear was that all its lethality was concentrated on the spearhead. Once enemies managed to get past it, Drifter's combat effectiveness dropped a lot. Which was why the << Roaring Wolf >> couldn't be allowed to get close.

"Awoooooo!"

"Awoooooooo!"

Two wolves howled, the one Drifter was fighting, and the one Kirito and Asuna were taking care of. Their health had fallen to 50% at the same time.

When the two << Roaring Wolves >> retreated and started howling, that actually gave the party time to take a breather. They focused on the last beast, who was fighting Sinon and Nautilus. Unfortunately, that one also ran away after its health dropped to half. It was when the third wolf howled that Drifter started seeing a pattern, and he didn't like it.

"Kirito, do you know what they are doing?"

"N-No. There was nothing like this in the beta."

"Stay sharp them, I have a bad feeling about..."

"Awooooooooo!"

A repeat from when the << Roaring Wolves >> first appeared moments earlier, more howls came out of the mist, but this time Drifter was pretty sure he saw them spawning. All six of them.

"Great, more dogs. Ugh..."

Sinon groaned sarcastically, perfectly reflecting the mood of the party. The << Roaring Wolves >> weren't exactly hard to deal with, but if all of them called two more whenever their health fell to the halfway mark, it wouldn't take much longer for the party to be overwhelmed.

"Kirito..."

"We are breaking through in that direction! Kill the wounded mob and abandon the fight!"

The black-haired boy gave the orders with decisiveness and swiftness, quickly finding the weakest link in the wolf pack, and choosing to run in that direction. Unlike real wolves, as long as they broke the encirclement and left their aggro range, the << Roaring Wolves >> would leave them alone.

Having laid out the plan, Kirito was the first to dash towards the mob. It was the wolf Drifter had fought earlier, which was already down to 50% of its health.

The first attack to reach the mob wasn't Kirito's, however, but an arrow shot from Sinon's bow, striking the wolf right in the forehead. Thank the gods that bows and other throwable weapons weren't restricted by the system limitation of not being able to change equipment mid-battle.

The wolf whined in pain, but it was useless. Kirito's sword had already arrived by the time it recovered, leaving a deep gash on its neck, and scoring a critical hit. Asuna followed up almost immediately with a << Parallel Sting >>, her rapier shooting forward twice, leaving two identical puncture wounds on either side of the << Roaring Wolf's >> chest, and killing it.

Meanwhile, Drifter and Nautilus were responsible for keeping the other mobs at bay while Kirito and Asuna spearheaded their escape. They did that by using wide area of effect skills, such as Nautilus' << Horizontal Arc >> and << Serration Wave >>, a single-hit sweeping strike, and Drifter's << Tidal Sequence >>, a series of three wide horizontal swipes, meant to push enemies away instead of hurting them.

Finally, after killing two more << Roaring Wolves >>, and being chased for a few hundred meters, the mobs abandoned the chase. That would never happen in reality, but here the monsters were governed by their aggro range.

"Uff... Hey, did you notice it?"

"You too, Asuna?"

"Hum? What are you talking about?"

Drifter put away his spear while taking out some lotus bread they had brought in Zumfut, the kind that slowly regenerated health. They had potions, but those were expensive and better set aside for emergencies.

"The three wolves we fought first called others when their HP fell below a certain level, but the new dogs didn't, even when we killed one of them."

"I see. So each << Roaring Wolf >> can summon two others, but those are like special reinforcements, they can't do the same."

"Correct. Sinon, think you can type all that and send it to the little rat? Argo should be willing to pay a lot for that."

"Okay."

Now aware that they wouldn't be overwhelmed by a never-ending stream of mobs, the party was much more carefree when they found << Roaring Wolves >> in their path, only avoiding them if they were in packs of four or more. It was like that that, two hours later, the sound of metal clashing and sword fighting came from the trees ahead of them. Kirito perked up, excited.

"Finally! The << Elf War >> campaign starts here!"