Dungeon Raider System

As their name implied, the Dungeon Raiders were adept at finding dungeons and uncovering ancient artifacts, though due to many events they couldn't possibly prepare for they had to get involved in many different activities, including salvaging.

It wasn't their strong suit, but their teamwork was flawless from the start and they were able to efficiently gather resources in the few occasions they were force to.

Unfortunately for Uriel, the only members from his company present at the time were him, Nika and Luna, but the latter remained unconscious which left the Dungeon Raiders at a clear disadvantage against the members of the Spanish Tercio.

While their hunting party was separated into three divisions, the same did not apply when salvaging. They performed this task by separating into groups of three members each with a different type of weapon, applying the same strategy they did as a group.

They efficiently broke into buildings and got rid of the weaker cryptids, then grabbed everything they thought could possess any value and finally processed it all with recyclers which were machines that turned crap into materials.

Uriel didn't have such machinery at his disposal nor did he have the manpower to scavenge through an entire apartment building. What he did have was the help of a huntress with the ability to jump between the shadows which allowed her to scout an entire block in less than a minute and find the best possible loot.

"There's an antique shop down the corner." Nika whispered and both she and Uriel rushed in to get there before anybody else. Most buildings would possess nothing but scrap metal and some old appliances that may or may not still work, but antique shops, museums or pawn shops were the go to places if one wanted to find an artifact.

But whether or not there would be an artifact inside that abandoned shop was the least of their concerns once they reached the location and saw a writing on the side of the wall with a date and a short signature that read 'Dungeon Raiders'.

"They were here!" A smile crept up to Uriel's face before he even noticed and Nika reached in closer to inspect the graffiti allowing her to see a small moon drawn next to it which obviously represented Luna. This was code for the presence of a cryptid that wouldn't pose a threat if undisturbed, but could potentially become dangerous if pushed, just like Luna who seemed to be an innocent girl until she turned into a lycanthrope.

Still, they figured it was safe to explore the place at least and Uriel made a mental note to warn off the Tercio to not enter that place after.

"This is Lizzy's penmanship, so at least we know they were ok until... what is that, one month ago?"

"How do you even know it's her writing?" Uriel asked, then quickly added when he noticed Nika was offended. "I'm not questioning it, just wondering because graphology is a tough subject."

"You always look down on me like I don't know anything, but I'll gladly prove you wrong. See the elongation in the top corner of the letter 'D'?"

"Uh... yeah." Uriel nodded.

"Well, it shows roughly the stature of the person who wrote this and...," Nika said in a serious tone, but upon noticing Uriel looked amazed burst out into a belly laughter. "I'm sorry, but this is too much. I was just bullshitting, her handwriting is fucking awful."

After a well deserved glare from Uriel they pried the glass door open and proceeded to inspect the place. Uriel, of course, passed his hand across every item in hopes of finding anything he could possibly store in his museum but had no luck.

"Don't look all disappointed now, it's obvious they already took the most valuable items. There's spots on the shelves that don't look as dusty which means they grabbed lots of stuff from here."

"I'd be disappointed if they didn't, what got me is that they were in a rush."

"Really? Are you bullshitting me this time?" Nika looked puzzled.

"No, look, there's still plenty of stuff here and even if it's not valuable, there's no way in hell Phlox would have passed on the opportunity to throw all this into her recycler. Even if just to replenish her ammo."

"Speaking of recyclers, we really need us one of those babies." Nika said with hopeful eyes.

"Both my Magnum and your Peacemaker can replenish ammo when stored in the museum, why would you even need one of those?" Nika refused to answer the question and just walked further inside the shop.

Unsurprisingly, most of what they found was garbage, but even garbage could prove to be valuable in the right hands especially for the Tercio since they relied heavily on the use of firearms to take down cryptids. But they did found a couple useful things.

"I make these look good." She chuckled after trying on a pair of black leather gloves. They were old, but natural leather was pretty resilient and also difficult to secure in most places which made them incredibly valuable.

Uriel also found something, though it wasn't a piece of garment but a '1 real' silver coin from 1738. Despite it being made of silver it wasn't too valuable in its own, but it acted as a reminder of his companions from whom he had been separated for what felt like an eternity and he lingered in nostalgia for a full minute before storing the coin in his pocket.

"Considering they used the Pegasus and that they came from America which is west from here, then it's safe to assume that the fact that they passed through here points to the fact that they either went east or north from this point." Uriel said.

"Sure, or they just got off track to salvage." Nika replied.

"If you're implying they needed to make a stop to salvage for ammo, I don't think that's the case. They took the most valuable items which means they needed cash."

"Why would they need cash? I mean sure, they didn't have access to your bank account, but Medusa should have enough money to... Oh..." Nika seemingly realized something and Uriel nodded.

"Do you see my point? This means Medusa and the rest got separated." Uriel said out loud what had been Nika's intrusive thoughts for a while now causing her to fall silent and focus on the task at hand.

Together with Nika they grabbed everything not bolted to the ground and piled it outside making sure to separate what they thought could still be used or sold as it was from whatever they deemed useless as scrap. It was a painstaking endeavor that would have taken most people hours, but thanks to their inhumane speed and Nika's ability to blink in the shadows it took them less than ten minutes.

"Ready for the next one?" Uriel asked Nika, who looked worried.

"Perhaps we should get ready for trouble instead," Nika said as she pointed at a group of five hunters who walked towards them. "Is anything wrong, boys?" She said out loud.

"Probably, your friend woke up and is having a tantrum. I think you guys should go back." Alvarez, whose name Uriel had heard in passing, said.

"You go, I'll wrap up things here." Uriel replied at the same time he placed an empty iron safe on the scrap pile.

"There's no need for that, we can take care of everything. Your friend needs you and that's all what matters." Alvarez said with a smile that couldn't hide his cunning nature from a man like Uriel.

"I already said I'll do it." Uriel insisted, though he wasn't too worried about the scrap they just gathered and only did it to help the Tercio regain some of their ammo.

"Look, I know the boss took a liking to you, but if you don't want to have a totally accidental shot in the back while you're fighting then you should keep your head low and your voice even lower." Alvarez laughed emboldened by the presence of his goons.

Before Uriel could do something stupid, Nika placed a hand over his shoulder and shook her face.

"If there's a slim chance that Luna did wake up, I think it's best if we both show up. We don't want 'that' to happen again."

Uriel had to agree with Nika and he also acknowledged that nothing good could come from him turning against one of the members of the Tercio, at least not with so many witnesses. But now he at least know that even if everyone treated him nicely in front of Alonso, they were just putting up a face and didn't mean any of it.

Alvarez watched as Uriel retreated with Nika, taking the chance to shamelessly stare at her shapely buttocks while making luscious comments about her body. From Alvarez' perspective he had just secured a loot pile large enough to earn him a few months of salary while putting Uriel on his place at the same time, not knowing that angering Uriel was the same as signing his own death sentence.

Alvarez looked at the graffiti in the wall with a puzzled expression and lingered on the poorly drawn moon by the side, yet dismissed it as it held no meaning for him since marking buildings wasn't the usual in Europe, let alone leaving warnings for people who came after them.

They stepped into the antique shop to see if there was anything missing and that was the last time anyone saw anyone from Alvarez' group.