Saving Others in a Dire Battle

The two of them continued their task of hunting slimes.

After every hunt, Aster would challenge himself to extract the slime's core, but even after their 20th try, it still didn't succeed. "Damn, I know I'm close to getting it right," he cursed before wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Thankfully, there was some good news for them. Yesterday, hunting 20 slimes took them over an hour, but today, barely a quarter of that time has passed. Their hunting speed had risen manyfold!

"At this pace, we'll end up hunting the same amount of slimes as yesterday before lunch," Aster sighed before looking around.

Cassandra was a short distance away, already on the move, looking for their next target. Although she was also sweating, she was far from being tired. Rather, she was getting more and more excited, as she was experiencing firsthand her enhanced physical abilities from her level up.

"Finally!"

After another couple of hours, close to lunchtime, Aster finally succeeded in extracting an intact slime core.

He was surprised at first and thought it was just a fluke. But since he could still recall the sensation and there was the second slime they hunted, he quickly repeated it and managed to successfully extract another one.

"I did it. I figured out the correct combination!" Aster cheered before taking out his small notepad and jotting down notes.

Cassandra, by his side, smiled widely at him. "You did it! With this, we'll get more income for today~!"

Just the two cores were extracted just now, and the 60-something packs of mana powder they managed to collect through "failures" should be equivalent to their earnings yesterday!

Since it was already near midday and they were both quite spent and satisfied, they decided to just hunt one more pair before resting.

Thankfully, Cassandra found one immediately nearby. The two moved stealthily, getting accustomed to moving in the grasslands, and attacked the slimes at the same time. The rusted dagger and rusted sword both pierced their targets perfectly, taking the slime's life in one strike.

Without waiting for another second, Aster quickly replicated the temperature and duration he just recorded and, without fail, managed to extract the two cores intact. "That's four! We're rich!" He exclaimed before pocketing the cores.

"Well then, Cassy, let's..."

Just as Aster turned around about to offer his partner a rest and lunch, he noticed that she was standing stock still, her face covered in drops of cold sweat as her expression warped in fear.

"Cassy?" Aster asked, following her gaze.

And as soon as he did, he began to regret it.

About fifty meters away from them, resting amid tall grasses, was a gigantic wolf.

Its fur was white from the belly, turning brown midway to pitch black along the spine. Its orange eyes glowed with a fierce glint as it stared at the two as if looking at its soon-to-be lunch.

Aster froze in fear, similar to Cassy, but quickly snapped back to reality. Right, there was no way this wolf, the Field Boss of the first floor, the Dire Wolf, was any stronger than the giant snake he faced right when he came to this world.

"(Cassy... Take slow steps back.)"

Aster whispered as he took her hand before carefully backing off one step at a time. The wolf simply watched them move, its ears flicking around as if trying to listen closely. Its sizable ears could hear everything they were doing—their breathing, heartbeats, and even their footsteps.

Then its nose twitched as its mouth curled into what looked like a derisive smile. It could smell their sweat and... their fear.

At that moment, the Dire Wolf moved, lifting its large body roughly three meters in length and raising a loud howl.

*AWOOOOOOOO!*

"KUH!"

Aster quickly used his vacant hand to block his ears. However, despite that, he still felt like his eardrums would break! The howl was so powerful, it was unbelievable!

Even without looking closely, Aster knew what would happen next. He quickly turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs toward his partner. "CASSY RUN!"

The previous day, Aster avoided staying overnight in the plains because of this monster.

The Dire Wolf, being the Field Boss, was two levels higher than other monsters around, which was level 3 at most. In short, if they encountered this level 5 Dire Wolf right now with their levels at 2 and 1, respectively, then they were bound to die from it sooner or later.

Aster moved his legs as fast as he could, faster than he had ever tried before. Cassy, still being pulled by him, slowly recovered from the extreme fear she felt, gradually speeding up enough that she wasn't getting pulled but was running while matching Aster's pace.

However, as expected, their speed was way too slow when compared to the wolf; it jumped over them, blocking their path leading to the entrance!

"...!"

Seeing the wolf begin to swing its claws, Aster quickly slid to a stop before pushing Cassy away. As soon as he did, he raised his left arm, planning to block the attack.

*GASH!*

"ARGH!"

But of course, his flesh alone wasn't able to block such sharp claws; three wide gashes opened across his upper- and forearm, bleeding profusely. To make matters worse, it damaged his muscles, making it practically impossible to move the arm any longer.

"STAR!" Cassy shouted as she lifted her body up.

However, Aster waved his arm back, saying, "Don't come closer!"

He was wounded, yes, but it wasn't fatal, at least not yet. One more hit. He was confident he could still take one more hit before he couldn't move anymore. Just as he was thinking of a way to survive in their current situation, the Dire Wolf moved, pouncing forward with its large maw going for Aster's head.

"...!"

It's instant death if that hit him! Desperately, Aster took a big retreating step before jumping backward.

*SNAP!*

The large maw closed a few inches away from his nose, causing him to feel chills run across his back. However, the wolf wasn't done with its attack just yet. After the pounce failed, it stretched a paw forward and used the other paw to scratch toward Aster once more.

It happened so fast that he couldn't even turn his body to block!

The claw sent him flying away, bouncing off the dirt ground, and rolling along. The place where he landed was miraculously right where Cassy ran ahead of time.

"Priodis Sirreo Cura! Minor Heal!"

As soon as he came within range, she cast the only spell she could currently use, Minor Heal, closing Aster's wound in just a few seconds; however, those few seconds of stillness were fatal.

*SNAP!*

The Dire Wolf's head swept sideways, biting Cassy's body around the space between her waist and chest and lifting her high in the air.

"GHOGH!" As the fang went deep into her body, damaging her organs, Cassy ended up coughing blood.

Aster looked toward her, crying in panic, "Cassy, NO!"

That bite looked fatal no matter what angle he looked at; however, he quickly noticed that Cassy's lips were faintly moving... casting a spell while casually raising her hand and holding the rusty dagger.

"...!"

She hadn't given up on life just yet!

"MINOR HEAL!"

*STAB!*

Along with a bloody shout, Cassy swung her dagger, stabbing the wolf's eye.

The unexpected action, along with the stinging pain that assaulted its senses, sent the wolf into a frenzy. It rolled around in pain while Cassy ended up getting thrown a few meters away.

Aster moved fast, extending a hand forward and sharpening his senses. He hadn't been using his carved seal just for more money; he was training himself to use it in actual battle!

He focused all his nerves to the level that he thought was impossible before and commanded his Legacy Level Carved Seal.

"DUMB DOG!" Aster cried before watching as the rune began to glow. "TAKE THIS!"

A wave of cold air came from his hand and swept across the Field Boss's body before turning it into a gigantic ice sculpture, not giving it a chance to even run away.

Aster stared at it warily at first, but after a few seconds of not observing any movements, he finally heaved a long sigh.