"Kazuma sama! Kazuma sama!"

"Yes, I'm Kazuma,"

We turned around and saw Luna walking towards us in a hurry. Her expression is that of urgency and panic.

"Emergency mission! A team of newbie adventurer just left on a Goblin Subjugation mission, but a scout team just reported a Rookie Killer in the same area. Can you please help them? You're the only high class party present today,"

Rookie Killer?

Darkness stepped forward before I could say a word. "Alright, we'll head over there immediately," she said before turning towards me. "Let's go Kazuma, those adventurers are in trouble,"

Both Megumin and Aqua nodded in agreement. I decided to go with the flow and smiled confidently at Luna. "Mission accepted, where to Luna san?"

…

According to everyone, Rookie Killer is an intelligent feline beast that herds weak monsters to attract adventurers. I mean, this is quite scary because this bad boy actively hunts adventurers.

What's a monster like this doing near the beginner town?

This also proves my suspicion. Same as humans can get stronger by killing monster, monsters can get stronger by killing adventurers. That means this Rookie Hunter isn't a foe we can scoff at. It could be the monster equivalent of a veteran adventurer for all we know.

We soon made it near a cavern in the nearby hill. Darkness said that the lake near the hill is the place where a billion Eris bounty, the Kowloon Hydra, slept. Though it only wakes up once every decades.

Aqua peeked out from the bush and looked at the cavern at the foot of the hill. She looked around hastily before ducking down.

"Is this the place?" Aqua whispered.

A plume of fire shot out of the cavern followed by loud yelling sounds.

"Yeah, this is the place," I turned to everyone else. "Darkness follow me into the Cavern. You are going to bait the Rookie Killer as long as possible. Meanwhile, I'll try to get everyone out of there. Aqua, buff us with all spells you know and wait here. Megumin, get ready to blow up the Rookie Hunter."

Everyone gave me a thumb up and we went into action.

Darkness and I sprinted out of our hiding spot and straight into the cavern. It's dark and damp with a few stalagmite and stalactite protruding all over the place. The cavern was lit with torches giving a slightly orange feel in this cave.

A group of patrolling goblins noticed us and charged right at us. Some even already prepared a bow and arrow.

I brandished my sword and set it ablaze. It sliced through the nearest goblin and burns another one. Beside me, Darkness is bursting through the goblins like a battering ram.

The voices started to get louder and louder. The flashes of spells are visible on the distance.

"Fireball!" a blonde haired girl wearing a purple cape yelled. A ball of fire the size of a basketball shot out of her staff towards a monstrous feline creature. The beast dodged the fireball but apparently, it was just a diversion. "Adam, now!"

A warrior charged in from the sideline and went for a beheading strike. But the monster was faster and it struck the warrior away with a swipe of its claw. Three gaping wounds formed on his body and he crumpled away in the corner.

The mage turned towards the two wounded men behind her. One of them crouched down with one hand on his bow. A dark gaping wound on his stomach visible beneath his green cloak. The other lies motionless on the ground, a huge wound visible on his neck.

"No mana… Fuck it, my life force is fine," she muttered before raising her hand. "Fire-"

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I stood between her and the Rookie Killer, stopping her mid-spell.

Darkness leap straight at the Rookie Killer and tackled it to the other side of the cave. The monster tried wrestle the crusader away, a visible scratch mark visible on her armor, but she doesn't seem to be injured.

"Nice one Darkness!!!" I yelled before turning towards the mage. I grinned at her and made a badass pose. "Alright, we'll take it from here."

I went straight to the Rookie Killer and the Crusader with my fiery sword held high. My sword struck true to its sides and would've killed it if it didn't leap away at the last moment.

Now, I have no doubt that this bad boy can kill me in one hit. It's also stronger and faster than me. So I'm not fighting this thing without a proper back up.

"Darkness, can you stand up?"

"Y-yes… It was a bit rougher than I expected…" Darkness muttered while standing up from her position. "I'll cover you Kazuma, get ready!"

I nodded and looked back at Aqua and the rest. Everyone, including the newly resurrected vanguard are rushing out of the cave. I looked back at the Rookie Hunter and took a deep breath.

"Okay… Let's tire this thing out to give everyone time to escape…" I said with bated breath. "Then we'll blow it up,"

The Rookie Killer managed to pry its eyes away from Darkness and glared at me. It lunged at me but Darkness blocked it with her great sword.

I moved in to strike the rookie killer and managed a shallow strike at its neck. A large scorch mark visible on its neck. It tried to strike me, only for Darkness to once again block its strike.

We kept on this tactic, Darkness blocking and me attacking. We kept going for what felt like hours when in reality was just a few minutes. Until finally…

"Keep at it!"

Darkness grabbed both the beast front legs with her bare arms. I used this opportunity to land my most powerful downward beheading strike with my flaming sword with the last of my magic and strength.

With sizzling sound and an explosion of steamed blood, the Rookie Killer was beheaded and killed in an instant. I dropped straight beside it and sighed in relief.

"This is going to hurt like bitch tomorrow morning…" I muttered while staggering up from my position. I grabbed the Rookie Killer's head and turned to Darkness.

The Crusader smiled at me proudly before giving me a thumb up.

"Perfect Victory,"

I returned the gesture.

"Perfect Victory,"

---

When we made it outside, everyone else about to enter the cave. They took one look at us and sighed in relief.

"Sorry Megumin! I got a little carried away!" I exclaimed while tossing the Rookie Killer's head near the group. "We'll… we'll look for another chance to use your explosion."

Everyone looked at the Rookie Killer's head with wide eyes. They then turned towards me whose sword is slightly burnt with its flesh and blood. I waved at them kindly before dropping flat on my face.

So much for a cool exit…

"Are you alright?" a pair of soft hand helped rolled me onto my back. I looked up and saw the mage staring at me in concern. "You… you're really okay right? You're not going to die? You didn't use any forbidden skill that kills in a few days, right?"

I managed a weak chuckle. "I didn't, but I did use a technique that will probably get me bedridden for at least a day…" I sighed a little and managed to sit up.

Everyone else has already sat down around me. Megumin sat on my left, Aqua sat on my right while healing Darkness lying in front of her. In front of us sat the adventuring party we just saved.

The warrior, Adam, cleared his throat. "Now, I guess it goes without saying, but," he bowed in front of me. "Thank you so much for saving us…"

The rest of his team also did the same.

"Thank you,"

"You saved our lives,"

"Thank you, I promise I will repay it,"

I waved my hand dismissively. "It's okay, we're already getting paid once we return back to the guild," I told them. "By the way, I'm Kazuma, nice to meet you,"

"I am Aqua, an Archpriest,"

"I am Megumin, an Archwizard,"

"Darkness… Crusader,"

The warrior nodded a little.

"My name is Adam, a warrior,"

"Li-Linda, a Wizard,"

"Romeo, Archer,"

"The name's Felix, a Vanguard,"

I smiled a little at the sight of them. They looked like any other adventuring party out there. A well balanced team with a well balanced ability and status.

"By the way, Kazuma san, what's your job?" Adam asked in curiosity.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm just an adventurer, seriously,"

"Huh?" they all looked at me in disbelief. Linda was about to say something but Romeo beat her to it.

"Thank you for telling us, we're sorry for prying,"

"Eh? But he's obviously not an adventurer! That flame sword and that cyclone, that's not something an adventurer is capable of! I've heard of it before, it's a Runeknight skill isn't it? Or a Spellblader?"

Adam face palmed and lowered his head at me. "Sorry, Kazuma san…" he then turned towards Linda. "Linda, he's politely telling us that he's keeping his skills and job a secret. Don't pry any further,"

Huh, is the Adventurer job that rare around here?

"Really? I didn't notice…" Linda muttered. "Sorry, Kazuma san,"

I decided right then and there to keep the truth about my job a secret.

"It's okay," I looked at the mage and she wavered a little under my gaze. "Don't worry, I'm not mad,"

"No, it's not that…" Linda bit her lip and looked down. "I'm sorry for being stubborn. I should've escaped when I get the chance…"

"If you want to apologize, apologize to Megumin here. She's been waiting outside all day with her one hit kill spell," I told her.

Linda looked at Megumin. "I'm sorry, Megumin san…"

Megumin was oddly quiet when she answered her question.

"It's okay… I'm sorry too…"