Dungeon Raider System

It took a long while, but after Jon finished naming every profanity in all the languages he knew under the confused stare of those present, he finally calmed himself long enough for Uriel to ask a question.

"Why do you think that?"

"It's not what I think, I know they can't be killed. Throughout my career I stumbled upon several places with mysterious writings no one can decipher. Well, that was at least until you managed to translate the carvings on the walls in Chichén Itzá that is. The problem is that even after you provided a translation not even our best specialist had been able to decipher the language..."

"That's because I lied, the carvings meant something similar, but I put it in other words."

"Cheeky bastard, I'd laugh, but you caused us a lot of trouble. Most of the Mapple corp. linguists that saw your translation thought you were just bullshitting and got lucky with the door."

"Yeah, well... I wasn't. You can't expect me to do the work properly if you don't pay, I'm still waiting for my payment for participating in that incursion." Uriel shrugged, but Jon fell into a pensive state.

"So the old Friedriksen wasn't crazy after all," Jon muttered and then took a glance at Seiren, who understood it was important for her to keep her trait active. "I need to know two things: Can you translate the language? and if you can, how?"

"And I have two words for you: F..."

"Stop this immediately!" Medusa's voice filled the room. "Uriel, you're going to explain as much as you can without getting in trouble. Jon, you'll be satisfied with his answer and won't push it. And you, Seiren, I warned you about this before, but if you want to stay here you'll have to be impartial and call every lie."

Everyone remained silent for a few seconds after being yelled by the kindest person they knew and they simply nodded.

"I can read and understand the meaning behind the ancient carvings. Without going in too deep, I theorized there's a civilization that preceded humanity which influenced the creation of the different languages. That explains why different civilizations far apart from each other share some stories, parts of their language and other cultural aspects."

"Is there any evidence to support that claim?" Jon asked.

"Uncle Jon!" Medusa was so angry that Jon didn't stick to the agreement a vein almost popped in her forehead, but Uriel decided to answer that question.

"It's fine, It's natural to question the evidence that supports a claim like that. So far, most of my evidence is empirical, but I found some pictographs in Rapa Nui that backed my theory.

Of course, the only way you would be able to confirm this is if you were able to understand the antedeluvian scriptures, which is impossible because I prefer to be the only one capable of understanding its meaning."

"Ignoring the fact that the term antedeluvian means you base your claim in the universal deluge being real, this might be the most remarkable finding in the history of mankind. Even better than the mythical 'el dorado'."

Uriel fought the temptation to say he'd seen 'el dorado' before, but it would serve no other purpose than bragging about it. It wasn't like he could prove it existed in the first place, not even if he decided to share anything about the mystical realm with Jon, which he didn't want to.

"It's your turn, Uncle Jon."

"Oh, right... It's not like I was trying to play dumb and avoid sharing what I know." Jon performed a charming smile that turned upside down as soon as Seiren spoke.

"He's lying." Seiren sighed.

"I've been collecting all the scriptures I've seen around the world and destroying the places I've found them."

"You immoral bastard! You've been destroying historical ruins!?" Uriel shouted, elevating the volume of what was supposed to be a peaceful conversation.

"Of course! The only thing all those scribbles have in common is they're all related to dungeons, it's far too dangerous to leave those things for other people to find them! You have no idea how far some people are willing to go to get their hands on orichalcum!"

"Like I wouldn't know, you were there when we entered that dungeon..."

"I'm not talking about a small time incursion like that! It's what started everything in the first place!" Jon shouted angrily but then buried his face in his palms. "when the Mapping project first started I was called to verify the sites due to my ability to speak multiple languages and my deep knowledge about other cultures.

Things were going great and it gave a significant boost to my career since they allowed me to credit myself for the discovery of the ruins I found. After a few years, shortly after getting married, I stumbled upon some ruins that differed greatly from anything I ever seen before...

It was Atlantis." Jon expected someone to react by this revelation, but all of those present knew Atlantis was the original source of orichalcum.

"Let me guess, it was a dungeon." Uriel said disinterestedly.

"No, well... yes, but we didn't know it at the time. I was married and had a son, which is why it was supposed to be my last expedition. You know how archaeologist spend weeks far from civilization and I didn't want that kind of life anymore, but this place was something extraordinary.

Cultural artifacts, precious gems, invaluable treasures, but more importantly, some of the objects we found were made of an unknown metal. I decided to stay and make the most of it, my family would be set for life and there would be no need for me to spend time far from home anymore.

"We spent months in there without a single casualty, but one day everything changed. People in different parts of the site became silent on the radio and we assumed some sort of accident happened, but then we noticed a pattern. People were becoming silent from the bottom of the structure to the top and we evacuated the site. Hundreds died that day before we even know it was cryptids.

"It was stupid greed, just that. after just a week of exploration I had more than enough money for my family, but I wanted more. If it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened. Do you want to know why they call me the first hunter? It's because I was the one who started all this. Because of me, cryptids are free from their prison.

I did all this to the world, to my family and to myself."

In all the years Medusa had known Jon, the only time she saw him as distraught was when she first met him. He always put on a playful smile and kept appearances that he moved on from his tragic past, but now she knew that guilt had been eating him from within. All those years, all the happy memories she shared with him, the most meaningful moments of her life she never realized he was still in pain.

"That's stupid." Luna broke the heart-melting moment with complete disregard for Jon's feelings.

"Excuse me?" Jon lifted his eyes, though he wasn't expecting the tiny huntress' inexpressive face to suddenly shift into anger.

"It's stupid, cryptids had been around far longer than that. Before the Mapping project, before the Mapple corporation even existed. They have always been close to us, but people simply forgot about them." Luna explained.

"That's not true, don't try to make me feel better. I know I'm the one who caused the arrival, if it wasn't for me no one would have found it in the first place."

"Now that's stupid," Uriel scoffed. "Without the Mapping project you wouldn't have found crap. Besides, what Luna says is true. I confirmed it with the Nosferatu, he's been around humans at least since medieval age."

Seiren was at a loss, not because of Jon's secret since she also belonged to the Mapple corp. higher ranks due to how useful her trait was. She didn't know what to make of the conversation taking place in front of her because she knew no one was lying and yet, what Jon said contradicted what the other hunters stated.

After spending so much time with Jon, Seiren had become more skillful in using her trait. She was now able to determine if someone was lying, lying by omission and even if they had any doubts about what they were saying.

"Anyway, you still need to explain why do you think titans are immortal." Uriel glared at Jon whose eyes were red from the dry tears that never left his eyes.

"Uriel! Have some compassion! He lost his wife and his son, can't you..."

"Oh! Boo hoo! Let's all pat him in the back for losing people years ago. People die all the time, not just here, everywhere! I've seen more people killed in the slums for enough money to buy a synthetic meal than in all of my incursions put together. And you know what?

They had families too, they were sons, they were daughters, they were mothers and fathers. Now get over it and answer the damned question."

"You want answers? Then get them yourself, you worthless prat!" Jon said before throwing David Crocket's diary to his face and exiting the ship.