'These security devices will surely be helpful,' mused Jash, knowing the importance they held in every hunting team's life-and-death situation.
Since dungeons were unpredictable spaces, anything could happen inside to the point that a dungeon which seemed stable today could explode tomorrow. Explode being just another term for dungeon breaks.
Hence, being naive or careless could result in death in an instant. Sera, as their doting mother, didn't want any such accidents to befall them.
If preventing her children from experiencing and fighting in such environments didn't stifle their growth, she would never risk sending them into the dungeon.
However, the world was such where weak people couldn't even live freely.
Moving on, Jash had his entire focus in front of him as he stepped closer to the gate with Caera next to him and Emma and Kesha right behind them.
As soon as they stepped into the gate, they disappeared into thin air, invisible to the outsiders, who became vigilant and surrounded the perimeter.
Upon entering, they found themselves in a place resembling lush mountain paths, with multiple trees in sight.
But the twins were feeling disoriented from the teleportation and took some time to recover before noticing the moist atmosphere around them.
Emma and Kesha stayed close to them, determined to protect the twins. They had long become accustomed to the feeling of disorientation from the teleportation due to their experience with dungeons.
"A forest?" Jash mumbled in disbelief.
Caera clicked her tongue and scoffed, "Obviously!"
Ignoring her, Jash turned to face the sisters guarding them, "Uhm, can you two stop being so sensitive? I think we can get by on our own."
"Yeah, don't intervene unless our life is in danger, which by the way won't happen," added Caera, not bothering to even look at them, her eyes were fixed on the forest entry.
Both Emma and Kesha were A-rank Hunters and could save the twins anytime in the F-Rank Dungeon.
Despite this, they hesitated for a few seconds before relenting to their request and nodded. They took a few steps back and stopped emitting their A-rank pressure.
"Alright, let's go!" Caera announced before walking into one of the entry points.
"Haa," Jash facepalmed as he muttered, "Just why is she so hasty?"
Without any other choice, Jash followed behind her, only to find her hiding behind a tree, observing a gray wolf ahead of them.
'It should be G-rank, right?' guessed Jash, observing the wolf, which looked different from the wolves he had memories of.
It looked far more ferocious than one would expect of a wolf, its snout easily being 3 meters above the ground.
'Damn, this guy is around the same height as Caera and me combined,' observed Jash before he turned to look at Caera.
Although it was one of the weakest monsters, being at G-Rank, it was still dangerous for a recently awakened hunter.
Looking at her wielding a bow and aiming at the wolf prowling in the grass, he was both dumbfounded and astonished.
The sight was enough to make him almost curse out loud, but he somehow managed to stop himself in time.
'Just when did she get that bow's acknowledgement?' wondered Jash, recalling the bow given by Ziva's mother, Evelia, to Caera at their birthday banquet.
The memory inadvertently made him look at his strapped daggers, 'Well, I too received something I can use.'
Contrary to their playful banter, Ziva did give his gift—a pair of daggers, to be precise.
It was a thoughtful gift, considering they would at least serve as emergency self-defense, irrespective of the path Jash walked upon awakening.
—Whoosh!
The sound of air being split brought Jash back to the present as he couldn't help but click his tongue, looking at the arrow heading for the wolf's head.
"...And it's dead."
Unlike typical bows, Caera used a much better one, making the speed of her fired arrows faster and more precise, giving the unprepared wolf no time to even dodge.
"Caera, don't do that again. It won't work with the smell of blood already in the air," he suggested in a low voice, walking closer to the dead wolf.
Unfortunately, he failed to take into account that it was Caera's first kill. Even though it was just a monster, it wasn't a pleasant experience.
Nor was that the case for Emma and Kesh, who were surprised to see the calm state of Jash as he headed towards the corpse.
"J-just s-stop!" Caera shouted, her voice trembling like her hands.
"Hmm?" Confused, Jash stopped and turned around to find Caera struggling since a few seconds as her breathing turned ragged, with Kesha helping her.
"Young Master, you should leave the wolf's body. The hunters outside will collect it," implored Emma with a strange expression on her face.
'Oh shit! I messed up, didn't I?' Jash cursed inside, the realization of his mistake dawning heavily on him.
Acting calm in the face of a monster's corpse was something even some veterans had a tough time with, let alone a newly awakened kid.
With no way for him to get out of this mess, he just let it be and awkwardly said, "Uhm, I-I will be back in a while."
Out of sheer embarrassment at his stupid mistake, Jash dashed away without waiting for any reply.
Not like he had to care about his safety or not as Emma immediately followed him from a distance where she could intervene should anything happen.
As he continued to run, his focus didn't wane from his surroundings but he summoned mana inside his body, allowing the bracelet to absorb it.
The nano-armor ended up covering his body up to his neck in small, matte black scales from inside his clothes, not interfering with any other armor a hunter might be wearing.
Less than a minute since he activated his nano-armor, his eyes narrowed. 'On my right!'
Suddenly, he jumped to his left, rolling on the grass and a wolf pounced at his previous location, leaving deep gashes on the grassy ground.
It seemed the wolf had sensed him and wanted to make him its food, howling in rage.
—Awoooo!
"Heh! As if I care!" He mumbled to himself before unsheathing his sword and jumped to his right.
—Bam!
The wolf once again missed Jash who easily dodged the attack.
Naturally, the wolf became wary and growled at him, showing his killing intent. The wolf never sensed the observing Emma whose eyes turned cold as her stealth skills were too high.
"Come again!" Jash shouted, unaware of Emma's change.
Seeing his provocation work with the wolf charging towards him, he moved his right foot behind his left and waited for the wolf to jump on him again.
He easily evaded the pouncing wolf, but he used his feet to slide to the right side of the wolf and unhesitantly swung his sword in an upward thrust.
—Swishh!
—Thud!
The sword pierced through the wolf's stomach as gravity did the rest of the work, passing through the spine of the wolf, killing it instantly.
Unfortunately, its body was too heavy for Jash, and he ultimately lost his grip on the sword handle when blood sprayed out on his face from the cut.
He moved aside as the wolf's lifeless body slumped down and gazed at its dead body, trying to feel something.
Yet...
'Why? Why don't I feel anything? Just WHY!?'