Chapter 18

After walking through the Shavel Tiger’s territory for several hours, we finally reached its nest.

“Is this really the Shavel Tiger’s nest?”

“Yes. Inside that cave, there should be a Shavel Tiger and a herb gatherer.”

I pointed to the cave visible through the bushes.

It had been a while since I last tracked prey, but my hunter’s tracking skills hadn’t rusted, as we managed to find the nest before sunset.

“Still, it’s surprising we didn’t get attacked by any other Shavel Tigers on the way here, which let us arrive early!”

“Well, I guess so.”

I casually agreed with Mari.

However, Karina beside me quietly denied Mari’s words.

“No. It wasn’t luck that we weren’t attacked. We just took the path where we wouldn’t be attacked.”

As expected of a veteran adventurer, she’s sharp.

It wasn’t like I was trying to hide it, so it didn’t matter.

“With that level of skill, why do you even bother being an adventurer? With your abilities, you could’ve lived as the best hunter, no problem.”

“There’s something I want to do. And being an adventurer is the best way to achieve it.”

“Something you want to do…?”

“That is… Wait.”

Just as Karina was about to answer, a Shavel Tiger emerged from the cave.

Grrrrrr…

The Shavel Tiger sniffed the air, wary of something, and soon spotted us, growling in our direction.

As expected, it noticed us by scent once we got this close.

Honestly, it was lucky we hadn’t been detected until now.

“Oh no, we’ve been spotted! They’re making the first move!”

“I-I’ll cover you with my bow!”

“No, that won’t be necessary!”

Karina dashed out faster than Mari could draw her bowstring.

The Shavel Tiger’s extermination rank varies by individual, but on average, it’s an upper-tier magical beast of the same rank.

Considering that the appropriate rank for exterminating a magical beast is determined by a party of four adventurers of the same rank, one Shavel Tiger is roughly equivalent to the combat power of four adventurers of the same rank.

Hunting such a beast alone is reckless.

But Karina’s level was beyond ordinary.

Karina pulled out a battle axe from her back, one that didn’t look easy to wield even for a tall woman.

Her reaction was swift.

Karina swung the axe, which looked like it weighed at least 10kg, as if it were weightless.

“Aura…!”

As Mari said, Karina’s battle axe not only moved swiftly, but a faint blue aura also formed on the blade.

The Shavel Tiger, seemingly caught off guard by Karina’s sudden assault, tried to block her battle axe with its fangs, sharp as well-forged blades.

Clang!

Despite the axe and fangs colliding, a metallic clash echoed through the forest.

The Shavel Tiger managed to avoid having its skull crushed thanks to its desperate defense, but the cost was far from small.

The fangs of the Shavel Tiger, known to be harder than metal and unbreakable by ordinary means, were shattered.

Well, with that appearance, mating is out of the question.

Grrrgh!

The beast let out a panicked sound, as if it hadn’t expected its fangs to break, but soon roared furiously and charged at Karina.

The Shavel Tiger, now recognizing Karina as an enemy rather than prey, dodged her next swing by abruptly lowering its body, making her battle axe miss its head by a hair’s breadth.

“Ahhh! Karina!”

“Don’t worry.”

If Karina were the type to struggle against a single Shavel Tiger, she wouldn’t have brought us along to show how dangerous adventuring can be.

The Shavel Tiger’s fangs were close to tearing into Karina’s side, but her expression remained unchanged.

She probably left an opening on purpose to warn us about the dangers of adventuring.

Just before the Shavel Tiger’s fangs reached her side.

Karina dropped her battle axe and, with lightning speed, drew a small hand axe from her waist.

Thwack!

A flash of blue light and two overlapping strikes.

That was the end.

The Shavel Tiger’s head was crushed by the hand axe, leaving it dead with only a hand’s breadth from Karina’s side.

.

.

.

“Karina! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Karina had taken down the Shavel Tiger in the blink of an eye.

“First, we need to check if the herb gatherer is alive.”

“Kurt! How can you not say a single word of concern after Karina just had such a close call!?”

Well, since she wasn’t actually in danger…

“No, Kurt is right. Rescuing the target comes first. Their life might be in danger.”

“See? I told you.”

“Ugh…”

Leaving Mari, who seemed to have something to say, we entered the cave.

The cave wasn’t very large, and we soon found the herb gatherer unconscious in a corner.

“Are you okay!? What do we do!? There’s no response!”

“Don’t panic. They’re just unconscious. They’re still breathing.”

The herb gatherer’s clothes were torn here and there, but there didn’t seem to be any life-threatening injuries.

Honestly, I thought the chances of survival were fifty-fifty…

“To think they’re really alive… Really… What a relief.”

“Karina, are you crying?”

“*Ahem*! Who’s crying!? More importantly, we took down one Shavel Tiger, but we’re still in their territory. Other Shavel Tigers might notice the commotion and approach, so we need to get the herb gatherer out of here quickly.”

Karina’s eyes were red, but she denied crying.

Her axe-wielding skills are unmistakably those of a warrior, but in moments like these, she’s all girly.

But Karina’s warning was a bit late.

No, actually, the warning wasn’t late.

That guy had been hiding in a corner of the cave, waiting for an opportunity.

“Karina! Dodge!”

Grrrgh!

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Clang!

As soon as I shouted a warning, Karina quickly understood and swung her hand axe at the Shavel Tiger charging at her.

The Shavel Tiger, which had attempted a sneak attack, was smaller than the one guarding the cave entrance and couldn’t withstand Karina’s hand axe, getting knocked back.

“That’s…!”

“A female.”

I thought the herb gatherer was safe because mating season hadn’t started yet, but it seems we were just in time.

It was a close call.

If we had been any later, we might have witnessed some adult content or a mukbang.

Neither of us wanted to see that, so it’s a good thing we weren’t late.

The female Shavel Tiger, realizing her sneak attack had failed and she was now being counterattacked, tried to flee without hesitation, unlike the male.

“Ah! The Shavel Tiger is running away!”

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But before the female could fully escape the cave, Karina’s thrown hand axe struck its side.

Squawk…!

Karina couldn’t imbue her thrown weapons with aura, so it wasn’t a fatal blow, but the wound was clearly critical.

The Shavel Tiger staggered towards the cave entrance but collapsed before it could see the sunset.

With a final, drawn-out roar, it stopped breathing.

“Phew. Now that we’ve taken care of the monsters hiding in the cave, we just need to take the herb gatherer and leave.”

“Kurt, help me carry the herb gatherer.”

“No. It’s too early to celebrate.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

Grrroooar!

Grrroooar!

But Mari’s words were cut short.

The fierce roars of magical beasts echoed through the forest from all directions.

“What’s going on? What’s happening…?”

“Those are the roars of male Shavel Tigers.”

“What!?”

“They heard the female Shavel Tiger’s death cry. They’ll be here soon.”

Shavel Tigers usually live solitary lives and don’t form packs.

But there’s an exception during mating season when something happens to a female.

During mating season, if a female Shavel Tiger is harmed, the males will form a pack and attack, even if the enemy is stronger than them.

Thinking about it now, these guys are more like black bulls than tigers.

“Damn it! We don’t have time for this! Hurry and carry the herb gatherer out! We need to move quickly!”

“Yes, yes!”

Karina’s judgment was swift, and she immediately retrieved the hand axe stuck in the Shavel Tiger’s side and exited the cave.

But once outside, Karina froze in place.

“Karina? Why did you stop…?”

“This is…”

What greeted us outside the cave was a pack of Shavel Tigers surrounding the entrance.

Grrrr…

The beasts, seeing their two fallen comrades at the cave entrance, exuded a murderous aura towards us.

“Ugh… With this many, we might be able to… Mari, can you cover me? And Kurt, take the herb gatherer back into the cave. I’ll give you a signal when it’s over…”

Even in this situation, Karina, true to her veteran adventurer status, quickly tried to come up with an effective strategy, but her words were cut short by the appearance of the last Shavel Tiger.

The last one to appear was a massive Shavel Tiger, about 1.5 times larger than the others.

While Shavel Tiger fangs are usually as long as short swords, this one’s fangs were almost as long as long swords.

Fangs as long as a five-year-old child’s height.

And what was even more peculiar was its pure white fur, unlike the others.

“That, that monster is…?”

“An Awakening Species…”

An Awakening Species, also known as a Named monster, is a magical beast that has undergone a second mutation due to external factors.

Considering that the extermination rank of an Awakening Species is at least one rank higher than its original species, the white-furred Shavel Tiger before us was at least a Silver Rank monster, requiring four Silver Rank adventurers to handle.

An Awakening Species appearing in a situation where even a pack of regular Shavel Tigers, equivalent to Bronze Rank, was already overwhelming.

This was a variable even I hadn’t anticipated.

Until now, Karina had taken the lead, making it awkward for me to step in, but now it’s time for me to act.

Another hunter’s rule.

The skills and abilities learned as a hunter should not be used against humans.

That’s why I hesitated to use my full strength until now, even though it would have easily resolved the situation.

Using force against humans is a bit ambiguous, isn’t it?

But against monsters, there’s no need to hesitate anymore.

Just as I was about to pull out something useful from my backpack, Karina spoke.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect things to turn out like this. This is entirely my fault for misjudging the mission’s difficulty.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle those monsters…”

“Kurt.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I misjudged you. I thought you were too weak and inexperienced to be an adventurer, but I was wrong. When you return to the Adventurer Guild, tell the receptionist that I’ve approved your adventurer qualifications.”

“What are you saying…?”

“I’ll hold them off as long as I can. Take the herb gatherer and run!”

With that, Karina shielded us and infused her battle axe with aura.

Seriously.

I was planning to repay her once the misunderstanding was cleared.

Well, since she’s risking her life for us, I’ll let it slide this time.

.

.

.

‘To think I’d face an Awakening Species here.’

Karina began to regret taking on this mission with a light heart, thinking she could handle it.

‘I thought I hadn’t let my guard down since becoming an adventurer. Maybe I’ve become overconfident without realizing it.’

Crack.

Since becoming an adventurer, she had always been prepared for death.

But what troubled Karina now wasn’t the danger to her own life, but the fact that she had brought a rookie along on the mission.

She had brought them to show how dangerous adventuring could be, but instead, she had exposed them to danger.

This wasn’t what she had intended.

‘If only I had listened to the child’s insistence during the guild’s screening instead of dismissing it as childish stubbornness… Now, there’s no time to apologize. No, at the very least, I’ll ensure the boy escapes safely, even if it costs me my life.’

Just as she resolved to face death and infused her battle axe with aura, Kurt’s voice came from behind her.

“Karina.”

“Run! I can’t guarantee how long I can hold off an Awakening Species!”

“Why did you want to become an adventurer? I want to travel the world and eat delicious food.”

“What…?”

At my words, Karina, forgetting she was facing a pack of Shavel Tigers, unconsciously turned around.

But what she saw was a skewer wrapped in deep blue flying through the air.

Like a small meteor with a tail, the skewer left a trail of deep blue aura as it flew.

Crack!

Crack!

The sight was so surreal that the Shavel Tiger’s screams, which came a beat later, felt distant.

Before she knew it, Kurt was in the midst of the Shavel Tigers, hunting them with a glowing blue skewer.

“What’s going on…!”

Karina reflexively tried to tell Kurt to run, but she fell silent as she watched the Shavel Tigers fall, spraying blood with each swing of the skewer.

Holding a skewer thinner than a branch, Kurt hunted the Shavel Tigers like a war god from legends, a sight that felt unreal.

Yes. This was no longer a fight.

It was like releasing a wolf into a rabbit hutch.

This was a one-sided hunt.

By the time half the Shavel Tigers had been pierced and slashed by the skewer, the Awakening Species Shavel Tiger finally took action.

Its speed was on a completely different level from the magical beasts Karina and Kurt had hunted so far.

A speed so fast that even Karina, watching from a distance, almost missed its movement.

“Danger!”

Just as the Awakening Species Shavel Tiger seemed about to bite Kurt’s head off, Kurt disappeared from the spot.

“Who’s in danger?”

“Huh, how…?”

As Karina, not understanding the situation, alternated between looking at where the Awakening Species had been and Kurt, who had returned to her side.

The Awakening Species, frozen mid-pounce, slowly collapsed.

And as it fell, the skewer Kurt had been holding was now piercing its head from under its jaw to the top of its skull.

“Phew. Now that I think about it, ever since the Basilisk, these guys have all gone crazy during mating season. Poor Lizardmen, who can’t even get a girl, must be miserable.”

Kurt muttered to himself, oblivious to Karina’s strange gaze.

---