After taking care of their first group of wolves with immaculate coordination, the twins progressed further inside, trying to locate the boss monster.
No matter what, the iron-rich smell of blood along with its presence on Jash's skin made him uncomfortable as he was in the lead.
While Caera did have an easier time than him, she too didn't want to spend any more time fighting and killing than necessary.
Her soft heart didn't really sit well with all of her actions, but it was the only way to live in this world, which made her feel helpless.
Unaware of it, Jash complimented, "That dagger had good timing."
Caera gave an awkward smile to Jash, wondering why he didn't feel an aversion to such sights, "Thanks..."
"...Can we get this over with quickly, though?" she urged him, in hopes that he would stop fighting every group they encountered.
Looking at her uncomfortable posture and her eyes dodging the sight of the lifeless bodies, Jash sighed.
"Hmm. Our team work has improved manifold, so there's not much of a need to fight strays anymore," he acquiesced while handing her the dagger she'd thrown.
Unsurprisingly, her arrows had reduced in number as several of her quivers had emptied out. She had only brought 160 arrows.
"How many arrows do you have now?" Jash inquired as he navigated his way deeper into the forest.
"37 F-grade arrows and 3 enchanted ones for the boss," responded Caera, her eyes on the surroundings as she remained vigilant.
Meanwhile, the two observing the twins were dumbfounded at this point.
It started with awe, amazement, and pride at their masters' achievements until it turned to surprise, shock, and finally, astonishment.
"Kes, do you think it makes sense for two first-timers to navigate this well in a forest-type dungeon?" Emma blurted out her thoughts to her younger sister.
"...Not really," Kesha replied after a moment of hesitation. "But if you observe closely, it is Young Master Jash who is navigating easily while Young Miss Caera is just following behind him."
Emma nodded, her eyes focused on the twins as she had already been stopped by Kesha when she tried to jump in during their first fight against the three wolves.
"Kes, do you think they can clear it?" Emma asked curiously. She really wanted to see if that were the case.
"Can you stop calling me Kes? Also, who knows. Maybe they will," replied Kesha, even though she found her older sister to be annoying.
Their duty wasn't to wonder, but to protect.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Emma rolled her eyes and seemed to agree as she suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, Kes! Look!"
"When will you stop..." Kesha muttered under her breath and focused on the scene and her calm expression moped into a solemn one.
Jash had stopped walking and Caera did the same, observing him. But that wasn't all she did.
She immediately took cover and aimed her bow at the place Jash was staring at, nocking an arrow without pause.
Their smooth movement and coordination implied great improvement in fighting together as if they were seasoned veterans.
Since they had become accustomed to fighting together, Jash had decided to directly aim for the boss, but he found something else.
Moving a bush in front of him, he eyed the small clearing where a wolf lay on the ground and 7 other wolves remained around it.
'F-Rank wolf!' He noted immediately due to its bigger size and the rest of the wolves seemingly subservient to it.
Without peeking for another second, he backed away briskly. 'I hope it didn't sense me yet.'
Alas, it was a pipe dream.
—Awooo!
The moment he backstepped, the F-Rank wolf opened its eyes and howled for its minions to go kill him.
It had sensed the blood of its kin on the human and wanted to feast on his meat to get its dead kin's revenge.
The 7 wolves too seemed affected by the howl and repeated after their leader.
—Awooooooooooooooooo!
However, not all of them followed as two of them charged towards him from the front, but he easily retreated to a safe position, accelerating his steps.
Just as the wolves were about to collide, an arrow whooshed past Jash and struck one wolf's snout.
It howled in agony from the pain as its companion looked back at it before growling in rage.
—Grrrr!
The other wolf tried nearing Jash, but he was already one step ahead. The sound of the claw and metal colliding echoed instead of blood spattering.
—Clang!
Even before it could claw towards him, he had aimed his sword in such a way that it halted the claw, stopping it before it could even gain any momentum.
—Psst!
'Not again!' he grumbled inwardly, hearing the arrow fly past his ear into the wolf's head, incapacitating it right then.
—Shing!
Despite his revulsion, Jash drew his sword at the retreating wolf, severing its head from its body and relieving it of its agony.
However, he didn't spare a single second to check either wolf's body and without any hesitation, he dashed towards Caera.
"Hurry! 6 more! 1 F-Rank!" he shouted at Caera, who had already placed her bow back into her storage ring and was gripping her staff.
She didn't even spare him a glance and continued to cast the spell, wind gathering around her staff as she aimed it at the clearing.
5 wolves appeared from inside, growling and howling at the sight of their bloodied kin, one on its way to death while the other was already dead.
Seeing their brutal way of killing, the five wolves only got more enraged yet their instincts warned them of danger as they warily pranced forward.
Meanwhile, Jash wasn't calm at all. Although he found the previous fights quite boring and tiresome, he really didn't wish for a real life-and-death challenge.
'What's with this shit! I don't remember signing up for blood-pumping adventures! Where's my simple life!?'
Cursing inside, he still remained vigilant and used mana around his entire body to strengthen them, keeping an eye on the clearing where the lone F-Rank wolf remained, muttering to himself, "Anytime now..."
"E-Rank Spell: Wind Blade!"
Hearing Caera's spell name, he instantaneously sprung into action.
Taking the slumping form of Caera into his arms, he ran in the opposite direction, causing the wolves to rush, but that was their last mistake.
—Swoosh!
With the sound of wind, numerous wind blades attacked the unguarded wolves, leaving behind deep gashes on their body.
One of the five got heavily injured as it was leading them and died on the spot while the other four only suffered flesh wounds.
Stubbornly resisting as they followed their Alpha's commands, they followed the trails left behind by the twins.
Unfortunately, they failed to realize their movements became sluggish the more they ran. They remained oblivious to the numerous small cuts on their bodies, ignoring them until they succumbed to their injuries, whimpering on the ground.
By the time the lone survivor, the F-Rank wolf arrived, the four had already died, enraging it to its core as it started hunting crazily.
At the same time, Jash finally stopped running after his pace dropped, panting for breath. "Haa... Haa... Haa... Haa..."
He stopped using mana to strengthen himself as he slumped to the ground, but not before raising Caera.
It was an instinct—an urge—to protect her as her older brother. It wasn't something that could be explained.