Rogue in the Dungeon (Hiatus)

Preparation

Good lord, the wait at the consulate's reception took forever. But at least I'm done with reporting the equipment used and the Hatores Knight findings. The feeling of stretching my leg muscles is indescribable, but it's been a while since I've had such a leisurely stroll across town. Regardless, it's time to kick back for a while.

From what I can gather, the Hatores Knight is a humanoid-type enemy, and it primarily has an area silence spell with some kind of magic. Apart from that, it also has a kind of runic carving on its armor which reassembles itself with the remains of previous adventurers.

Well, if that were true, then what explained its gauntlet in my bag? If it could reassemble itself, surely a second knight would have formed from my bag by now. Or did it have conditions as to how it could reassemble?

It makes me wonder what the gauntlet is really for. There's no rush for it, and it will take a while for the prospectors to deduce the mossy skeleton arm within. Until more clues could be found, speculation will only drive us all in circles.

Instead, taking advantage of its missing left arm is the best course of action. The range of movements it can perform is greatly hampered and we might even stand a chance against it at last.

... Wait, the left arm... Didn't the knight require the left arm to perform the area silence? Isn't it a good thing that I have the left arm with me now?

No, no. The Hatores knight is considered an undead, not a golem... At least, if that Fraunagliceae report stands true. For all I know, it could activate once the main body in the labyrinth gets triggered. That could be bad if it started clawing out the prospectors' faces while we were engaged with the main body. I should give then a warning when heading back.

One can never be too safe with that sort of thing. But, back on point : It is a given that pinning it down will become significantly easier. The body is no longer symmetrical and its movement will have to adjust to the new center of gravity. There will be delays when it first starts moving again, and that's the window we have to capitalize on.

If we give it ample time to accustom to its new condition, we'll lose the advantage. As such, practicing for it will be good. I must sharpen my Three-Shadow Grave technique to bind it more consistently.  borrowed a target emblem and tied it on a stray cat nearby. It may be a bit cruel of me, but I set up a salt triangle at the bench nearby and used my Kagerou to scare the cat.

The poor thing turn-tailed and sprinted away as fast as it could , but I managed to pin it with the Three-Shadow Grave. No sooner had I started did I realize the limitations of the idea.

I can't really call this 'practice', can I? The cat is blindly trying to escape from the shadow, and its movements are quite predictable if one predicates the path of escape underneath a thicket. Placing obstacles deliberately would feel displaced, and the cat simply doesn't do enough to make it a valuable practice partner.

There's also the problem of people, too. Most warriors are not fast enough to match the Hatores knight, despite sharing the same humanoid physique. Thieves wouldn't quite cut it because speed aside their weapons don't simulate the length and prowess of its blade.

Then, what? How do I prepare myself against a monster like that?

*** ***

I decided to drop by the Panther guild to update them about the details as well, rather than waiting for the consulate to issue a formal report. I stepped into the reception and was greeted by Lindy.

"Nice to have you back, P. How have you been?" She was sporting a new hairstyle, a large ponytail with two smaller pig-tails to the side. Lindy was a new receptionist taking after her sister Matilda, who was the person overseeing all of my progress until recently.

"Still eating pork stew in front of the knight. Same as always. I came to hand a copy of my report so you guys don't have to wait for the consulate." I gave her a brief glance and handed the papers over with a smile. "How's Matilda? I hope the pregnancy's not too hard on her."

"My sister's fine. She says she misses the hustle of the guild, and one of her friend's nieces is starting out as an adventurer for the field test this week so she's worried that she can't give advice from the desk here." Matilda's pretty active and bubbly, which was weird for a guild focused around rogues and pathfinders, but it made the guild worth looking forward to. Oddly enough, Matilda became the poster girl for the guild and left a pretty big shadow for Lindy to overcome. Poor girl.

"Is that so? Alright then. Tell her I dropped by to say hello, then-" I turned to leave after giving the papers, but my wrist was grabbed before I could leave the desk. "Hey, P? I just got an idea. Why don't you sneak yourself among the recruits and join in the initiation?"

She wants me to do what? And after I just returned, too. Eh, it could be a good breather against the Hatores knight. "You're a slave driver, you know that? I just survived against the Hatores knight!" Lindy had a panicked expression and started stuttering like she was afraid of offending me. "No, I uh, I- I was just thinking t- that, you know, you'd be willing to help out with the adventurer trainees."

I'm not made of tofu, you know. You don't have to worry about offending me. "I'm just fooling around. The adventurer's initiation is in two days, right? I'll be there. Any idea who the niece is?" I took the liberty of borrowing a quill pen, an ink bottle and a piece of paper out, and started taking the notes I needed.

"Her name is Iris, I think. She's got slightly messy hair, and a brass bangle on her arm. Other than that she was a pretty plain girl with freckles, nothing too outstanding." I took down the notes and thanked her before heading out. I'll need supplies and weak equipment to look the part, so I headed back to my crawlspace basement to salvage some rags.