Dungeon Raider System

It was supposed to be an easy incursion, but so far things hadn't gone the way the hunting party expected. Although most of them were new hunters, the problem didn't lie in the power of their traits but in te cunning nature of cryptids.

The news always made them seem as mindless creatures that violently attacked anything that moved, while on reality they acted more like predators waiting for the perfect chance to attack.

If the hunters were strong enough to provide a good meal, they would risk attacking. On the other hand, if they were too strong, they would only attack in numbers or by surprise, leading to many unsavory moments.

"I can't take this anymore..." A male student let out dejectedly.

"Yeah, we've been hunting all morning and we can't even cover the tickets with the orbs we collected." This time a female student added.

"It would be fine, if not for a certain someone not pulling their weight." Another highschool girl complained.

"Sorry about that, but I told you this already, I'm only here to keep you safe, not to fill your pockets." Just when Uriel thought he was finally being taken seriously by the head of the rangers after he not only accepted that Uriel wouldn't join them but also politely asked him for a favor, he was let down when he found out what was the mission about.

Ever since the Fallen corp allowed everyone to get a trait, things had become hectic in the city. The amount of work increased for every government agency. Needless to say, it was a scheme to provide an explanation as to why so many people disappeared, while at the same time increasing the energy value of the hunters being used as cryptid feed.

The head of the rangers wasn't as naive as to let something like that happen without investigating the cause, but his hands were tied. Whenever he assigned a ranger to follow the new hunters, nothing would happen, but if he didn't send a ranger some of the parties would never come back.

There were too many possible explanations, the easiest being that cryptid were just too good at sensing the power level of their enemies. But there were other possibilities, like the gate guards leaking information to rogue hunters.

The only way to know for sure was to send someone unrelated to the rangers to investigate, someone who would look weak on paper, but strong in reality. It fitted Uriel perfectly, though he wasn't thrilled about that mission.

It wasn't that he felt the task was beneath him or that he felt it wasn't important, but he had so much on his plate the only reason he ended up agreeing was that it allowed him to recover his own identity. After getting so many different ID cards, going back to being Uriel Sage was a refreshing feeling.

Not just that, the assignment also came with the side benefit of being contracted by the college as a ranger instructor just like Charlie.

It also served the purpose of letting sam know he was still around in spite of his attempt to kill him. It wasn't necessary, but he couldn't pass the opportunity to mess with his head.

'You talk big, but you're only an ascended." The male highschooler scoffed at Uriel.

"That may be so, but I have a lot of hunting experience and I'm also a ranger, that's why I'm the instructor and you're the student."

"Pfff! If I knew you'd be my instructor I would have declined the invitation to become a ranger. I heard rumors there was a hot ranger who only wears bikini top."

"Ew! Jeff! Stop saying creepy things, I just imagined this guy in a bikini and now I can't take that picture out of my head."

The students burst into laughter and all Uriel could do was to repeat himself over and over he wasn't wasting his time and that he might find out more about the Fallen corporation's plans and hopefully get on their way.

Still, he wondered why did he always ended up babysitting hunters and the only answer he could come up with was karma. After all, he wasn't proud of some of his past deeds and helping the community did serve as atonement.

The next cryptid that showed up was a boar like cryptid uriel had found many times before in the barrenlands. They were common and fairly small, but hunters used to avoid them when possible. They were tough and would only drop a beast rank flux orb, making the work to get it not worth it.

"Hey, look! that one looks easy!" The male student shouted as he ran forward to attack the cryptid with his trait. The hunter's eyes glimmered for a brief moment and his arm extended in what seemed to be an ice sword, though the boar's skin was too thick and it didn't cause any damage.

"That was too shallow, shoot it!" The female huntress shouted and opened fire at the boar.

"Stop! You're only making it worse!" Uriel shouted, but his voice was muffled by the sound of machine guns going off and a dust cloud was lifted in the place where the boar used to be.

Not even five seconds after, the boar bashed at the nearest hunter swift as an arrow. Due to it's stature, the cryptid wouldn't have been able to kill the hunter even at full speed, but the tackle was powerful enough to cripple him.

Left without a choice, Uriel discharged his gun and the bullet pierced through the boar's skull like it was made of jelly. Then, he went ahead and picked the flux orb for himself.

"Hey! What are you doing? It's supposed to go to the loot pile!" Jeff complained, trying to endure the pain of his broken ankle.

"I don't have any issues with that, but that would mean you would have to share all your loot with me. Is that really what you want?" Uriel asked.

"Tsk, that guy is right and we won't be able to do any more hunting with your leg like that."

"Quit calling me 'that guy', my name is Sage."

"I'm not buying it, I was there when you got your trait and we even went on a hunt together. Your name is Magnum, I don't know how did you manage to become a ranger so fast, but I know you're a lier."

"Fine, you can call me Magnum or Sage, just stop with the 'that guy' thing."

"Why should I? Do you even remember my name?"

"Fair enough." Uriel replied as he turned towards the city without a care for the injured student. He wasn't as cruel as he used to be, but he learned not to care about people who didn't even respect him. He wouldn't let them die, but that didn't mean he would carry them back in his arms if they were unable to return on their own.

This was precisely what the female hunters were forced to do, since they didn't want to leave their companion behind, but catching up to Uriel was made intentionally difficult by him who saw it as their punishment for treating him badly.

After reaching the gates of the city safely, or at least alive, Uriel disbanded the party and went his own way, totally convinced hat the reason why so many new hunters disappeared was because they had a nasty attitude and pissed someone stronger than them or they were just too incompetent and overconfident in their traits.

Now all he needed to do was to report his findings to the rangers and his assignment would be finished, or so he thought.

'That girl said she knew me from when I acquired my trait as Magnum, but I counted on that ID being secret to hide from the Fallen corp. and if she spills the beans I'll be screwed.' Uriel finally realized the importance of keeping track of his identities. It wasn't rare for hunters to go by different names, but he was among the few ones that had valid ID cards for them.

It was an advantage he couldn't lose and he decided on speaking to that girl and asking her not to mention that Sage and Magnum were the same person.

However, when Uriel went back to the Cryptid hunting agency the irl was nowhere to be seen.

"She must have been in a hurry..." Uriel let out and went back outside.

The shadow cast by the tall buildings, the slum weather, the smog, it all felt like home now. Even if those things weren't pleasant, they still had a soothing effect on him since he was raised in those conditions. Stale air and nasty smells were all Uriel knew until he signed up for college, but it was only when he became a hunter that he truly understood what he had been missing all his life.

However, after spending so uch time outside, even the stale air brought him some comfort and he inhaled deeply one more time to get a whiff of home.

'This is odd...' Uriel inwardly thought as a scent he was familiar with filled his nostrils and piqued his curiosity.