"Um... Who are you?"

Vagis spun, his hand automatically yanking Jagged out of its sheathe. As he prepared himself to fight, he wished he spent more time practicing in the Guild's training yard. He only had a few levels in [Knife Combat] and wasn't sure how well he could take on someone well-prepared.

However, when he saw who he was facing, he dropped his guard. This is what I was getting so worked up about? He's barely taller than me! Even Lavar has more muscle than that.

Then he spotted the shovel clenched in the man's hand.

Holy cow! Why's he walking around with a shovel? Unless that's his class weapon? Wait, are [Shovel Knights] real? I thought Messi had just been messing with me-heh, that was a good one-no, focus.

Vagis retreated slowly, eyes locked onto the [Shovel Knight's] weapon. What's that brown stuff? Is it dried blood? Did he kill someone? Is this guy so insane that he doesn't even clean his weapon after he murders somebody?

His mind went back to when he walked around the building. He'd been mainly checking the bricks for ash and watching for traps, but he could've sworn he saw footprints. Glancing down at the man's sneakered feet, he grimaced. The prints looked a lot similar.

But wait. Who had he killed and when? He thought of Jan and her son, Keegan or something, but immediately crossed them off the list. Jan was even scarier than Saira―she could handle herself.

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What if...What if the [Shovel Knight] wasn't the one who put out the fire? What if some other guy did it and all he got was some murderous hobo for all his hard work?

Vagis balked at the thought. That would mean he was likely the next target! He stopped walking backward and tightened his grip on Jagged. Even if he wasn't the best warrior, he wouldn't go down without a fight!

"Hey," the man said, an impatient scowl twisting his face. "Hey, I'm talking to you! What are you doing here?"

When Vagis just stared at him, his scowl deepened and lifted the shovel from his shoulders. At that moment, Vagis false sense of bravado immediately faded and he bolted for the door.

He heard grunting and thumping behind him as the insane [Shovel Knight] gave chase. "Get back here, you weirdo!"

You're almost there, Vagis. It's just a few feet away! You can do this! You can do it! Just keep running! Just keep― grk!

He tripped over a tripwire that had not been there before and fell. He would've impaled himself with his dagger had he not been flailing his arms trying to keep his balance. He glanced back and saw the [Shovel Knight] was gaining on him. The man's gait was slow as he was awkwardly carrying the shovel in his arms, trying to find some sort of balance.

Panicking, he tried to get up only to find that his ankle was caught in the tripwire. He yanked at the wire, desperately trying to pull his ankle free. Another glance told him that the man was getting used to jogging with the shovel.

Vagis frantically looked for something to help until he remembered Jagged. He snatched up the dagger and hacked at the wire. Luckily, it was thin and not at all hard to cut through. His legs were just... too weak to be able to pull itself from the entanglement.

He swore to himself that if he survived this encounter, he was going to spend more time at the gym.

Then he looked up and the man was nearly on him, his shovel raised to strike.