Behind the Volupta Grand Casino lies a sprawling stable—this is the Monster Stable jointly owned by the Nactoy Family and the Korloy Family, where all the monsters belonging to the two families are raised.
This stable is about twenty meters behind the casino and can be reached directly via the narrow paths on either side of the casino.
After passing through the path, you'll see the main gate of the Monster Stable—a four-meter-high black gate made of cast iron, looking extremely sturdy.
Right now, Akimi and Kirito are standing in front of this gate, debating whether they should go in.
They're unsure whether sneaking inside would be considered a crime by the system if they were caught.
"Let's check it out. We might find some crucial intel," Akimi said, rubbing his chin.
"As long as we're careful, we shouldn't be discovered. If we're not discovered, it shouldn't count as a crime—right?"
Kirito nodded after thinking it over.
He hadn't visited this place during the beta test, so he was quite curious about what was inside.
However, looking at the four-meter-high iron gate and the surrounding walls, he frowned.
"At that height… it looks like we can't jump over it."
Given their current stats, jumping over the gate was definitely impossible.
There was also nothing nearby they could climb on, so it seemed like they had no way in.
"Wanna try 'Wall Run'? At this height, even if we fall, we won't really get hurt," Akimi said, patting the wall.
The "Wall Run" he mentioned wasn't a system-recognized skill but rather an "unofficial skill" that players had figured out through experimentation.
This so-called "Wall Run" doesn't require any special technique—just enough Strength and Agility stats, and good timing with the sprint.
That way, you could run a few steps on the wall, although not too many.
(Kirito once tried using this to escape the dragon's nest with Lisbeth.)
Before Kirito could respond, Akimi had already taken a running stance.
After taking a deep breath, he sprinted toward the wall.
He managed to take five steps on the vertical wall, then stretched out his arm to grab the top and pulled himself up.
Kirito's mouth twitched—Why did this guy act so suddenly?!
But he didn't hesitate either.
He mimicked Akimi's actions, but since his Agility stat was lower, he could only manage four steps up the wall.
In the end, Akimi gave him a hand and pulled him up.
After observing the surroundings, they both quietly dropped down the other side, trying to be as silent as possible.
What greeted them was an open courtyard about the same size as the casino.
In the middle of the plaza stood three horse-drawn carriages, though no horses were harnessed to them.
Each carriage had a large iron cage about three meters in length, width, and height—likely for transporting monsters.
On both the left and right sides of the entrance were stables built along the wall.
Only the left stable currently had horses—three of them, each with different-colored coats, quietly munching on hay from their troughs.
To the north of the plaza stood a building made of gray-black stone, with two gray doors spaced about ten meters apart.
The door on the left bore a red dragon emblem, while the one on the right had a black lily emblem.
These symbols most likely represented the Nactoy and Korloy families, respectively.
"Hmm… which one should we go into?" Kirito asked, scratching his head.
Looking at the two doors, Akimi seemed a bit stumped as well—he had no idea which door led to which family.
Akimi said uncertainly, "Should we… flip a coin?"
Kirito stared at him. "Are you serious?"
The two of them looked at each other in silence.
In the end, they randomly picked one and entered the door with the red dragon emblem.
To their surprise, the door swung open with a simple push—it wasn't even locked.
Inside was a courtyard of about 200 square meters.
On both the left and right sides were rooms that, through the windows, appeared to be dusty storage spaces.
Directly ahead was an open doorway.
Walking through it, they found a spiral staircase descending downward, dimly lit by a few oil lamps.
As they moved down, the temperature gradually dropped.
The air grew thick with the smells of hay, monsters, and feces.
At the bottom was a space resembling an ancient dungeon.
Carved into the surrounding stone walls were multiple cells, each about five square meters in size, with thick iron bars at the front.
Various monsters were locked inside these cells, though many were now empty.
In the fifth cell on the right side, the vertical bars had been replaced with a fine iron mesh.
The creature inside was a monster called the Argent Serpent—a snake-like beast roughly the size of a toy poodle.
However, Akimi and Kirito didn't pay it much attention.
After all, snake-type monsters were common in SAO, and it wasn't unusual for them to be used in arena battles.
Just then, a furious roar echoed from deep within the dungeon:
"...You idiot! Behave yourself!"
The shout boomed through the entire area, startling the two of them.
They quietly crept toward the source of the voice—the seventh cell on the right.
Cautiously, Akimi and Kirito peeked around the corner, just enough to see inside.
There were two male NPCs inside, both facing away from the cell entrance.
In front of them was a red-brown furred dog-like monster lying on the ground—it was that ochre wild hound from earlier.
But now, several patches of its fur had faded into a silvery gray, likely its original color.
The hound lay on a few clumps of sparse, filthy hay, baring its teeth at the two NPCs and growling in that low, threatening tone typical of beasts.
But the threat had no effect—the two NPCs showed no signs of fear.
A thick iron chain, as wide as a baby's wrist, was fastened around the hound's neck.
The other end was tightly secured to an iron ring embedded in the wall.
The two NPCs were burly, with muscular arms exposed.
They wore dark red coats and leather vests, and thick gloves on their hands.
Underneath the yellow name indicators—marking them as NPCs—was the label:
Handler of the Korloy Family
One of them raised the whip in his hand and snarled viciously:
"You idiot! If you don't behave, I'll show you just how this thing feels!"
The wild hound stepped back two paces when it saw the whip, but its eyes still locked onto the NPC with a ferocious, man-eating glare.
The other NPC beside him spoke impatiently, "Hurry up! If we don't apply the dye soon, it'll dry out again. It wasn't fully dry even yesterday."
He was holding a clay jar in his arms, from which a pungent, sickly-sweet smell faintly wafted.
It was the exact same scent as the dye they had found on the iron cage in the arena yesterday—only now it was many times stronger.
This was clearly the dye meant for the wild hound.
The NPC holding the whip swung it a few times through the air, his voice tinged with irritation.
"What, do you want to bother Lord Bardun to cast the spell again?"
"But weren't we supposed to dispose of it after today's match?"
"Yeah… If we keep this up, those Nactoy fools are bound to notice eventually."
"Then let's try something else. Using that secret art isn't cheap... Let's just beat it until it can't move, apply the dye, and then give it a recovery potion. That should work," the NPC with the jar said through gritted teeth.
"…Fine."
The whip-wielding NPC then raised his arm and lashed out at the wild hound.
With a sharp "crack!", the hound let out a piercing yelp and began to thrash violently.
Its HP, already low, dropped to below half.
"Crack! Crack!"
Two more strikes.
The hound struggled even more desperately.
The iron chain around its neck kept pulling taut and going slack again, creating a grating, unpleasant sound.
The hound's mouth let out a heart-wrenching, painful howl.
Kirito looked like he was about to do something, but Akimi reacted quickly and grabbed his arm, shaking his head.
After several more lashes, the dry patches of dye on the hound's body began to flake off.
Like a chain reaction, the dye crumbled piece by piece.
The creature's name changed from "Rusty Ly" to "Storm Ly," the Storm Hound.
---------------
Exclusive access : 120+ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz