"W-what? What just happened here?" Caera blurted out in surprise at the gruesome sight in front of her eyes.
Huge bodies of 4-5 meter-tall wolves lay scattered on the ground, shredded into multiple pieces.
The scene was spine-chilling to the point not only Caera but even Jash had a hard time controlling himself.
The gray earth was marred crimson from fluids sprayed out of their bodies.
Gritting his teeth and clenching the grip on the hilt of his sword, Jash took a step forward, his feet sinking into the crimson pool beneath.
"Arghh," he grunted due to the uncomfortable sensation creeping up on his feet.
At the moment, he didn't even have the liberty to spare Caera a glance.
She couldn't bear it any longer and began to throw up uncontrollably at the macabre sight.
Nothing inside seemed alive anymore except for the twins and their maids, who immediately supported the vulnerable Caera.
Suddenly, Jash froze in his steps as the primal fear of death overwhelmed his senses, the surroundings seemingly playing with his mental state.
Despite the twins freezing Emma and Kesha moved with practice ease, indicating their experience, something the twins lacked.
However, Jash wore a determined expression as he dragged his other feet into the crimson pool and took slow deliberate steps.
"Young Master...!" Emma called out in worry, barely stopping herself from rushing in and forcefully bringing him back.
"It's fine," Jash gulped nervously, "We have to get used to such sights, and worse, if we are to become hunters."
His voice cracked with nervousness and the dimly lit, damp atmosphere of the cave didn't help with it either.
'She won't stop,' he thought despite his tense state, his senses tingling to detect any danger before it befell him.
Just when Emma was about to rebuke him, he signaled for her to stop.
Unable to refuse, she could only shut her mouth and channel her mana to save him at a moment's notice.
Their conversation echoed off the walls of the empty cave, reaching Caera.
She repeatedly coughed and tried to stop retching, but one glance was all it took for her mental barrier to collapse.
"It's fine, Young Miss. There's no need to push yourself further," Kesha consoled her.
Unfortunately, Caera only found them to be empty words. After all, Jash was going further and he had awakened a year later than her.
While Kesha's words were indeed the truth as most F-Rank hunters would've already fainted at the first sight, Caera couldn't believe them.
Gritting her teeth with great determination, she punched her thigh to distract her mind with pain, a tactic that works well to keep oneself awake.
Slowly, she got up and could control her urge to throw up.
Although it was a massive step forward, comparing herself to Jash, she felt no better.
"I'm the one who's supposed to protect and lead him, not the other way around..." she mumbled to herself, in an attempt to motivate herself.
The sight completely stunned the two maids, who were having a really hard time digesting the fact that the twins were still at F-Rank.
It was the rank where one could only be referred to as novices and being looked down upon by everyone.
Unbothered by what went behind his back, Jash reached the middle of the cave, where the crimson pool reached above his knees.
Even if he had gotten somewhat used to the uncomfortable sensation, it was difficult to move without being able to see the ground.
'Just why am I doing this?' he wondered with every step, unable to come up with any conclusive answer.
Was it to break past his limits or was it to make Caera break hers?
Maybe it was due to finding the hilt near that F-Rank wolf and the anomaly regarding this presumed wolf den.
In essence, he didn't even know what was driving him forward yet he continued to move until he froze on the spot.
'What the...?'
He found himself unable to even formulate proper thoughts at the moment, he was too astonished.
Curious of the reason he stopped, Caera approached to see what was ahead and saw monsters with big toothless jaws sucking on the carcasses.
It was too horrendous that she immediately averted her eyes.
These monsters were called Leeches, usually E-Rank. They had brown cylindrical slimy bodies.
They stayed hidden inside walls, caves, earth, trees, or anywhere inconspicuous, slumbering until the scent of blood attracted them.
However, many novice hunters had lost their lives underestimating these monsters who liked to stay hidden in the dark.
"Aren't we supposed to be in a F-Rank dungeon!?" Jash exclaimed in a controlled manner, cautious to not attract their attention.
His question wasn't addressed to anyone in particular, it was more so to vent his frustration.
"Young Master, this is an explorable type of dungeon where the dungeon boss is hidden and needs to be eliminated before reaching the reward room, if any. However, being a blue gate, one can leave it as they wish without clearing it all the way."
Emma explained patiently yet she too was puzzled due to the anomaly and instinctively felt this was the cause of her uneasy feeling.
"Whatever. Not like we have any other choice," Jash murmured as he unsheathed his sword, unsettling the trio.
Holding his sword, he channeled mana into his body and noted the distance between him and the trio, nodding to himself. 'It's enough room for me to fight.'
Caera wanted to help, but she just couldn't handle such sights and her fire magic might just burn the entire thing down.
Although that wouldn't be a bad thing, it would also prevent them from exploring the insides.
Emma stepped closer to Jsah while Kesha took it on herself to protect Caera as they looked at Jash charging forward.
Without alerting the carefree leeches, he immediately beheaded one, which didn't even react to his presence.
'That took a lot more strength than I expected,' noted Jash, making calculations whether to continue the fight or not.
The leeches remained unaware of the demise of one of their own until blue blood flowed from its neck as its dead body splashed into the pool.
The leeches had slimy brown bodies, making it harder to slash them as their secretory fluids made their skin as slippery as an eel.
They were small in size, roughly half a meter to a meter. They used their mouths to suck on tree barks, earth and anything, which helped them survive in their environment.
"Kiieeeeeeegggghhhhh," a creepy sound echoed through the cave as the enraged leaches slithered off their food, hiding inside the pool.
With his senses working full throttle, he heard the water's movement and felt the water current hitting his body, trying to gauge their position.
Despite their gross appearance, Caera composed herself and looked at her brother, who remained calm despite the numerous invisible leeches approaching.
Luckily, she didn't panic and instinctively used her fire magic but was stunned when she noticed Jash move his sword in a horizontal slash.
His mere action confuses her, leaving her wondering what he's planning until the figure of a leech approaching Jash scares the living daylights out of her.
'Jash!' she shouted internally, worried of any accidents, and chose to throw her dagger unhesitatingly, hoping it would cleave or impale the ambushing monster.