‘“What’s an unlisted monster,” you ask?’
Present – Shadow Wolf Guild’s Pantry.
—Trisha put down her half-eaten sandwich on a plate. She leaned back on her chair, thinking… for a moment… before she began:
***
‘An unlisted monster—’
Present – Khiva’s Forest.
Surrounded by sharp wooden fangs: a giant jaw about to snap shut, Latla pressed her boots on the ground, dashing toward Cirrus and Noir. Sensing her movement, the fangs closed in.
‘—is a monster that hasn’t been cataloged.’
Latla grabbed Cirrus—and Noir too, accordingly—and searched for an escape path. She was standing in dead center of the entrapment. The fangs were closing in fast, the gaps between them too narrow to slip through.
‘There are countless species of monsters out there. Most have been known, categorized, and recorded. Some haven’t.’
This is… Latla thought.
‘An unknown.’
… an unlisted monster.
‘That’s what it is. And they are awfully dangerous.’
Slam! The giant jaw snapped shut.
***
Present – Shadow Wolf Guild’s Pantry.
Trisha stood up from her seat.
Hung on one of the walls was a blackboard, half-filled with lists. Its main purpose was to keep track of the pantry’s inventory; its secondary purpose was to be scribbled upon.
‘An unlisted monster is dangerous because there’s no information about it yet.’ Trisha grabbed a chalk and drew two circles—a circle inside a bigger circle—on the board. ‘Take this monster for example,’ she referred to the drawing, ‘a slime.
‘We all know what this monster is: a creature with a gelatinous body. Could drown or decay you to death. It’s a harmless C-rate monster because we know how to deal with it,’ she crossed the inner circle, ‘slash the core in its center.
‘Now, imagine if you have no knowledge of what a slime is. The difficulty of dealing with it increases due to the lack of information. You try slashing its gelatinous body,’ Trisha drew a harsh stroke, missing the slime’s core, ‘but that doesn’t seem to harm it.
‘Try anything you want: bash it with a mace, stab it with a spear, drown it in water, but as long as you don’t destroy the core, your attacks won’t amount to anything. Not knowing makes fighting it difficult. A slime is a harmless C-rated monster for those who know how to deal with it, a harmful B-rated monster for those who don’t know.’
***
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The giant jaw had snapped shut, formed a structure akin to a dome.
The forest was quiet, no sign of movement.
As still as a graveyard.
***
‘As a receptionist,’ Trisha said, ‘the best advice you can give to mages about unlisted monster is to run away when they encounter it. Keep that in mind when mages start asking about the unlisted monster in Khiva’s forest.’
Trisha returned to her seat, grabbed her sandwich, opened her mouth and—heard a new question being asked. She answered:
‘No. The unlisted monster roaming inside Khiva’s forest isn’t a rumor.
‘There hasn’t been any report claiming that there’s an unlisted monster. However, there have been many reports of capable mages going missing there. As if the forest has swallowed them whole.
‘If those missing mages had encountered a listed monster, we would’ve heard from them by now.
‘What we don’t hear—that silence—says a lot. Dead men tell no tales.’
***
Inside the dome, reigned pitch-black darkness.
Clink… clink…
***
‘With the unlisted monster roaming around inside the forest, dark times are ahead of us.
‘Though, I… would still like to believe that—'
***
Flame surged inside the dome.
***
‘—there’s always light in the dark.’
***
Latla. Present – Khiva’s Forest.
A pillar of flame rose toward the sky, obliterating the dome.
Latla emerged from the entrapment, carrying Cirrus and Noir beside her.
The woods surrounding burned, dying from her flames.
I doubt that’s enough, Latla thought. She understood that she was facing an unlisted monster, knew that the creature was strong enough to remain unknown long enough to become a rumor, and she was aware of her lack of information. So many questions raced through her mind: Was that a plant type monster or a plant like monster? Was what she burnt a main part or a disposable extension of its body? Was its nature calm or aggressive?
None of which could be answered.
For now, the monster wasn’t giving any response from being burnt. Knowing that she had time, she decided to focus on a question that could be answered.
‘Are you alright?’ Latla asked.
‘It’s a bit hot, but I’m alright!’ Cirrus answered.
The cat also responded, ‘Meow.’
‘Noir feels the same!’
Somehow, Cirrus’s carefree attitude annoyed Latla. He was facing danger; yet didn’t seem to be concerned at all. There and then, she supposed that this was rather preferable. Things would be more difficult to handle if he was panicking.
What’s important is that he’s unharmed.
The flames were starting to settle down.
Latla reached into her waist bag, pulled out another ring.
What’s next? Latla wondered. Without information, there was no right answer for that question. I’ll wait and observe, then—
The ground shook.
An earthquake; unnatural, artificial. Created by the creature’s movement underground.
At a distance away in front of her, woods sprouted from the ground. Its shape this time wasn’t a fang, but of wood tangled together with one another, forming an oval shape similar to that of an egg. Its size slightly smaller than that of a house.
In a burst, sprouting unevenly on its sides were six sharp legs. Emerging on the front were a pair of distorted arms and a single head made up of just a giant mouth with fangs.
The monster opened its jaws and created a loud, high-pitched screech.
—I’ll crush whatever comes my way.
Latla overtapped her ring.