About eight weeks had passed.

Winter had ended and the days were getting warmer and longer. The world around them was blossoming and becoming green. Kazuma and Darkness has not wasted time. They'd taken on lots of missions, and every one of them was successfully completed without significant injury. They had racked up loads of xp and cash, taking out low level monsters. The pattern was always the same, Darkness would be the target and draw them out to attack her. Kazuma would be vanished somewhere close by and begin sniping them. If the monster was especially strong or had a really thick hide he would take them out using Backstab or Darkness would cave their heads in. (Darkness actually didn't fight as much as she should have. She preferred to stand there and be mauled. She usually only got serious if Kazuma entered close combat. On those occasions though Darkness could become very serious and very lethal.)

For a time Kazuma had been a little concerned about putting Darkness in danger like this. But he soon came to realize that she was almost indestructible. Even on those rare occasions when her armor was damaged she would not have a scratch. After missions she would often complain about the lack of suffering even as she was swamped by enemies. Kazuma now had complete faith that his partner could survive being hit by an asteroid.

Since he was the one who did the majority of the killing he was now level twenty. He had picked up Freezing, Swordsmanship, Two Handed Fighting, and Far Seeing. He still had five slots he was keeping available until he could meet Chris again. He really trusted her and wanted to talk to her about thief skills. Darkness was only level fourteen. Her skill points had been used to acquired Supreme Parry. Kazuma had really, really, really tried to convince her to put them into an offensive skill. Even swordsmanship would have been okay, though he would have suggested either Punching or Unarmed Combat. Darkness though insisted that her duty as a crusader was to defend others and in order to do this she needed to be as tough as possible. He could appreciate her defensive strength better than anyone, but damnit there were limits! The concept of min maxing didn't exist in this world.

Still, no one in the guild saw Darkness as a joke anymore. With all their successful missions and all their kills both he and his partner were getting fierce reputations. Their party was viewed as one of the strongest operating out of Axel. Kazuma had even had a few low level people approach him about joining. Kazuma always shut them down. They were always in the single digits and wouldn't be able to contribute much. After all the crap he'd gone though, there was no way in hell he was letting some newbie ride on his and Darkness's coat tails.

While he missed Chris and wished she would come by the guild hall some time he was glad that the blue haired idiot and her tool were never there. Apparently they were traveling all across the kingdom fighting dragons and other powerful monsters. People were really starting to say that Mitsurugi might be the 'One.' That he might kill the Devil King and save the world. There were also rumors of a beautiful and wise archpriestess who travelled with him with almost godlike healing and turning powers. Kazuma could only assume that Aqua had been dumped and replaced as there was absolutely no way these rumors could be describing the lazy, whiney, blue haired moron.

Whenever he heard rumors about her or her tool he would always feel annoyed and upset. It just didn't make sense to him how they could be so successful and admired when they were such rotten people. In general though, Kazuma really liked his life. He had plenty of money, lived in a comfortable cottage, had plenty of friends within the guild, and got along really well with Darkness. Best of all he really loved being an adventurer. It was fun! Going out, facing danger, earning treasure, being the hero, it really was all the things he'd played games to try and feel.

Today was no different from most. He and Darkness were on a quest. A lake near Axel had become polluted and filled with alligators. With the weather warming up they were becoming more active. The guild was offering 20,000 eris per kill. The two of them went to the lake and waited on a nearby hill where Kazuma would have a clear line of sight.

The problem was nothing appeared.

They wasted most of the morning, but no alligators came out of the lake. "Well this sucks," Kazuma was absent mindedly flipping one of his daggers in the air and catching it. "I hate lazy monsters who won't even come out to get killed. Kind of rude if you think about it."

"Kazuma."

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."

"I have an idea!" Darkness reached into her backpack and pulled out a clay jar with an angry monster on it. "You never let me use this, but don't you think now would be a good time to try it?"

He was not surprised to see her excited at the idea of being attacked by a horde of alligators. "Would that even do any good? They're underwater. It's not like they'll be able to smell it even if you do put it on."

"If that's true then there's nothing to lose by trying it is there?"

Kazuma thought about it and really couldn't dispute her logic. It worried him when things Darkness said made sense. He looked about. They were on a small hill about a hundred yards from the brackish and slimy lake. The land was pretty barren. There was no way there were any other monsters hiding nearby, and their vantage point let him see for a couple miles in every direction. And just standing around wasn't accomplishing anything. He didn't want to head back come sunset having accomplished nothing, just to tramp back out here to do it all again tomorrow.

He sighed and shrugged. "Fine, but don't go overboard. Use just a little okay?"

"Understood!" She quickly screwed off the top and then splashed some right in her face. The liquid was like greyish water and didn't stain. But the second the jar was opened it stank of rotten meat and eggs. It was foul!

Kazuma covered his nose and yelled at her. "Oy! I said use a little!"

"I did. It was just one splash."

"I meant a drop or two! You didn't-" Kazuma cut off as his Detect Enemy ability suddenly went crazy. He picked up around thirty enemies in the lake starting to head for them. "Oh crap!"

"Does your being angry mean it's working? It does, doesn't it?!"

"There are like thirty of them coming! Don't look so happy! Vanish." Kazuma grabbed his bow and nocked an arrow.

The alligators were huge! They had to be ten to twenty feet long. They swam out of the water and climbed onto dry land. All of them made straight for the hilltop where he and Darnkness were. They had all been in the lake where they could not possible have smelled the rancid concoction. There had to be some sort of magical element to it that effected all monsters in a given range, even if they weren't able to physically smell it. In any case Kazuma didn't have time to waste.

"Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!"

Luckily, the alligators weren't fast. They moved at what was a brisk walking pace. Also, the ones in front were getting in the way of the ones behind. So Kazuma had plenty of time to shoot them before they could cover the distance to the hilltop.

But there was a problem.

Their hides were thick, and his arrows were bouncing off. The only weak spots were the eyes. When hit one there the monster would convulse and drop. Using Snipe his luck effectively made him a marksman, but even he could not hit an eye at such a distance on every shot. By the time he ran out of arrows he'd gotten ten though, and they were about halfway across with fifty more yards to go. As he was desperately trying to kill gators with his bow Darkness was calling to them.

"I'm not afraid of you! Come beasts try and have your way with me! I'll resist no matter what horrors you try and inflict! I am not scared in the least!"

"Stop encouraging the alligators!" Kazuma tossed his bow and now empty quiver aside and hurriedly opened up his backpack. He pulled out five clay jars marked with flames. He was going to have to go back to Wiz's shop to get more. He'd used this trick a lot.

"Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!" His ability worked on jars just as well as on throwing knives. He hit five different gators that were spread out. He saw the contents of the jar splash not only over them but on their neighbors too. Perfect. "Flame Arrow! Flame Arrow! Flame Arrow!"

Three times a marble sized ball of fire materialized in his had and then shot out to hit a different target. Each time it struck, not only the alligator hit, but those who'd also been splashed with kerosene burst into flame. The fires caught and spread, burning hot. Fifteen of the throng twisted about trying to somehow put out the flames before giving up and burning to death. That left five to continue climbing up the hill. Despite seeing all their companions getting killed these last five never hesitated. They were completely focused on reaching Darkness and the source of the stink.

Kazuma grabbed his throwing knives. He had lots of experience with his ability and knew that the closer he was to a target and the slower it moved the deadlier he became. He stood in front of Darkness with no fear. "Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!"

He got every single one right in the eye. With that it was over. Kazuma could breathe again, which he regretted as he could notice the stink more clearly now that he was no longer fighting for his life. He reappeared and turned to his partner. She finally stopped her insane yells and looked at all the dead and charred gators.

"Is it over? None of them even reached me. How disappointing."

Kazuma promptly walked over and smacked her on top of the head as hard as he could. "Take a bath, you stink to high heaven!"

Hearing him say that she gasped and hugged herself.

XXX

They returned to the guild and split 600,000 eris. With the gators now gone the guild would make an even greater effort to find someone to purify the lake. That wasn't Kazuma's worry though. Having gotten their reward, the two of them sat down to a nice meal of deep fried alligator meat. It tasted a little like toad. As they ate they had a conversation.

"We need to fight stronger monsters."

"No," Kazuma answered immediately. This was not a new discussion between them. Darkness always wanted to fight more dangerous monsters. The more insanely powerful the better. "We're not that strong yet. I've seen what happens when a party faces something that's too much for them to handle."

"But the monsters we fight now aren't even a challenge! Today's mission was hardly exciting at all."

He narrowed his eyes. "Do I need to slap you right here in the middle of the guild hall?"

Her cheeks reddened. "W… Why are you always so savage when we talk about this?"

He shrugged. "Stupidity brings out the worst in me."

She gave a gasp before settling down to continue. "W… We are a strong party now. I've heard a few people complaining that we're taking jobs away from weaker teams that need them."

Kazuma frowned. "Yeah, I've been hearing a little of that too. Nothing serious, but a couple people making jokes about us going to hunt goblins because we're bored. Luna had kind of hinted that the guild would like us to take care of more difficult jobs."

Darkness gave an eager nod. "It only makes sense for the stronger parties to deal with problems that are closer to their level. They shouldn't waste time with monsters that are no threat at all."

He felt the urge to smack her again. "You think thirty alligators are no big deal?"

"Kazuma, you killed all thirty and got all the experience for them. Did you gain a level?"

He blinked. In all the excitement he'd forgotten about that. "No, I didn't."

"About how far are you from level twenty-one?"

He had to pull his card out to check. "Hmmm, I'm only about a third of the way there."

"The higher your level the more xp that is required to progress. If we keep focusing on weak foes it will take you longer and longer to make progress. Do you really want to keep going on missions without gaining anything from them?"

Kazuma sat back and thought about it. He'd freaked out at suddenly being attacked by thirty alligators. It had certainly seemed dangerous at the time. But looking at it in hindsight, he dealt with all of them without a single one ever getting close enough to snap its jaws in his face. If things had somehow gone worse they could have easily run away. In retrospect, had it actually been easy?

In an RPG the fun of it was to constantly explore new areas and face stronger enemies while reaping greater rewards. Did they really need to keep grinding goblins and skeletons? The one time he'd faced a truly powerful monster it had been the worst day of his life. He'd just naturally wanted to stick to low level safe missions, that was only common sense when it was real life and one mistake could end you. When Darkness tried to argue for fighting more dangerous monsters it was easy to ignore her demands as the ravings of a crazy masochist. But did she maybe have a point? Luna seemed relatively sane and she was suggesting the same thing. Were he and Darkness rally supposed to just grind low level monsters forever?

"Kazuma?"

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."

"You haven't said anything in a while. What are you thinking?"

"Hmmm, well, I suppose we can at least consider something a little more challenging."

"Wonderful! There's a black dragon who demands sacrifices of innocent maidens. I'll go in as a sacrifice and distract him. Then as he begins chewing on me you can rush in and-"

Bam!

She winced at him hitting her on the top of her head.

They finished their meal and went over to the board to see what was available.

XXX

There was a quest to kill a manticore and griffin who were fighting one another. There was another to exterminate a pack of dire wolves who were endangering nearby farms. There was a cyclops living in a cave that was ambushing travelers. Kazuma was looking all of these over and considering them when Darkness snatched a notice off the board.

"Here! This would be perfect for us!"

"If it's about a dragon I swear I am slapping you until you cry."

She hugged herself. "S… So cruel. But no, it doesn't involve a dragon, Take a look."

Kazuma reluctantly took the notice from her. On it was a drawing of what looked like a worm whose front and tail were nothing but a mass of sharp teeth.

A Giant Sand Wyrm has started a feeding frenzy

Must be killed by any means

Reward: 10,000,000 eris

Kazuma gave a low whistle. "Okay, that's a pretty decent reward. But if they're offering that much it must be really dangerous."

She nodded excitedly. "Most of the time they stay underground and don't bother anyone but miners. But when they're about to lay eggs they get into a feeding frenzy and will attack and eat anything on the surface that is near them. Also, when they lay eggs they will usually lay twenty to sixty. And the larvae will also savagely attack the surface once they hatch. So killing this before it can procreate is a big priority."

Kazuma studied the picture. "How big is this thing and how hard is it to kill?"

"The adults are from sixty to two hundred yards in length. Their hides are very thick and tough, about as strong as plate armor. They have no eyes and no obvious weak points. They can regenerate and live even if cut in half. The only sure way to kill them is to either blow them up or burn them to ash. They can also burrow into the ground to escape with ease. So the big challenge is keeping them on the surface long enough to kill."

"Nope!" He shoved the notice back into her hands.

"Why not?" She sounded disappointed.

"You want us to fight something with no eyes or weak points, that is as tough as a knight's armor, can tunnel beneath us as it pleases, and you have to ask why not?!"

"This monster attacks and kills anything on the surface in its area, including farmers and helpless travelers. Even worse, if nothing is done then about a year from now twenty to sixty larval Sand Wyrms will come bursting out of the ground without warning and scour the land like locusts! As a crusader I can't stand by and do nothing while innocent lives are at stake!"

Kazuma rolled his eyes at her. "You're hoping to get swallowed by this thing and pooped out, aren't you?"

Her face turned a bright crimson and she began waving her hands in a desperate denial. "N… N… No! H… How… c… could you e… even think that of m… me!"

"Oh well I'm convinced."

She shook her head and composed herself. "Whatever you think of my motives this is still an important job that needs to be done to save innocent people! Plus, the reward is ten million eris. We should do this."

He paused. He hated to admit it, but she did have a point. There were lives at stake and killing a monster like this was definitely something a hero should do. But…

"Okay, even if I agreed with you, and that's a big if, how could we kill this thing? My Snipe and Backstab abilities work by hitting critical points, not by inflicting tons of damage. If this thing doesn't have eyes or anything else to aim for I won't be able to kill it. Do you think you can punch something that size to death?"

"I'm sure you'll come up with, Kazuma! You always do!"

"I appreciate the faith in me, but there are limits to what I can scheme up." As he thought about it he saw Megumin over with the other waitresses.

He smiled.