Dungeon Raider System

When the giant was defeated the entirety of the Spanish Tercio regrouped and although they just managed to defeat an incredibly powerful cryptid, no one cheered as their casualties had been too high.

Most of the men took matters to hand and started jabbing at the cryptid remains to accelerate the vanishing process and free the flux orb, while others tended to the wounded and searched the debris looking for the bodies of their fallen comrades.

"At least we got us a flux orb..." Nika said, her eyes widening as the sight of the unruly jaguar setting its eyes on the prize and before she could even blink, the cryptid had swallowed it whole. "oh, well."

Suddenly, Nika felt the weight of a hundred glares piercing her skin and the swearing resounded like a choir. Feeling threatened Nika attempted to use shadow blink, though Alonso stepped in to appease his men before they could do something stupid.

"She is strong enough to fight on par with the giant that casually murdered our comrades, what do you think she would do to you if you dare speak against her? I, for one, am thankful that my head is somehow still on top of my shoulders and will not move against my savior."

"But, Don Alonso..." The female doctor attempted to rebuke.

"We have a contract in place, even if we don't get the flux orb, we will still be compensated for our hard work." He replied and their men finally calmed down and right in time as Uriel had just arrived.

Nika thought Uriel would become angry when she mentioned the jaguar consuming the flux orb, but he seemed disinterested and didn't care when they told him how much did he need to reimburse for the horror level orb.

"What happened to the two giants? Did you get them to lose our track?" Alonso asked.

"I disabled them, but those things won't die." Uriel grunted.

"As if we will believe you alone could fight against two giants." The female doctor scoffed.

Uriel completely disregarded her and handed the hilt of the Red thread of fate to Luna and her tiny hand made the crimson dagger look like a sword in comparison.

"This feels... nice." Luna said in an unusual flustered voice as the flux energy streamed into her body. She held onto the dagger for as long as she could, then passed it down to Nika, though she didn't feel anything.

"It doesn't work for me." Nika blurted out.

"I figured that already, we share the same flux pool." Uriel explained, then grabbed the dagger and handed it to Alonso.

Of all the people present he was the only one who could see the thin flux wire that connected the hilt of the dagger with the giants, which explained why he was more than grateful that Uriel allowed him to use it.

Alonso's wounds immediately began to heal, albeit at a slow pace, making it seem as though the aging process was going backwards to the point where If not for his battered armor and the dust on his skin, no one could have guessed he took part in a battle to death.

"We need to talk," Said Uriel to his friends while the dagger worked its magic on the wounded hunter, whom Uriel also dragged to the side so he could hear what he had to say. "there is currently no way we can defeat the two remaining giants, they are too sturdy and too powerful for us to handle. I'd suggest you take your men and run the fastest you can towards a city and lay low for a while, some cryptids can pick up the specific energy signature of a hunter."

"What about you?" Alonso asked.

"We will remain here for a short while to give you guys a head start, but eventually one of the giants might win the fight against the other or they could release themselves from their bindings. Whatever the case, no one should stay here to find out." Uriel informed.

"Thank you for all you've done for us today, the Spanish Tercio will always be in your debt." Alonso said to Uriel then turned to Luna. "Dear Luna, thank you too for your assistance." Finally, he looked Nika in the eye and said with a regretful tone. "Miss Nika, I will forever carry the memory. If not for my sweet Aldonza, I would ask for your contact information."

"That is so...," Nika really wanted to say the word 'creepy' but Alonso's gentle bearing made her think her words twice. "sweet."

"Our fated encounter comes to an end, I wish you all good luck in your journey," Said Alonso now completely healed and returned the dagger before rejoining his men.

Uriel watched them disappear on the distance with a trace of a smile as he felt his physical strength downgrade a notch as his new friend was out of the range of the Red thread of fate. Then mounted his jaguar and resumed his own journey along with his friends while taking note of how far he could extend the dagger's flux wire, though after an hour the wire kept going strong.

To say he was impressed by his dagger's ability would have been an understatement. He was more than ecstatic to find out that not only it was unbreakable, but also seemed to be infinite. This allowed him to continue recovering his own energy the entire time, though it came to the point where his' and Luna's flux reserve became full despite them channeling as much flux as they could channel to their mounts to accelerate their speed.

This forced Uriel to eventually store the dagger back in his museum, aware of the fact that it meant the giants were now free from their entrapment.

"This really confirms our theory that most dungeons were built to seal creatures that could not be killed." Uriel spoke to Luna now that their speeds were back to normal.

"It also confirms that the level of a cryptid doesn't necessarily matches their energy level. These cryptids were somehow able to store an incredible amount of flux energy." She said, amazed by how much energy they were able to drain from their enemies.

Thanks to them following what used to be a highway, they knew they were nearing the city of Madrid. Though the first clue that they were drawing near didn't come by the hands of a highway sign, but by the many POI's they started encountering.

A small town here, a junkyard there, until the scenic sight of the wilderness was replaced by abandoned structures that told the story of the misfortune of those who used to live there.

When the megacity of Madrid came in sight, Uriel decided to make a quick stop by a destroyed gas station and after marking the date, he entered along with Luna whose trait made it easy to find salvage. Uriel's mystical sense also made it safe for them to enter since it reassured them that despite the ominous look of the building, the place was completely safe.

Luna sniffed the air searching for food, though apart from canned food that went bad years ago she had no luck and she let out a low grumble that resembled that of a wolf. Uriel had learned that whenever she was in such foul mood, the best way to appease her was to hand her a snack from his souvenir shop and this time wasn't the exception.

"This is... uhm... getting old." Luna said while munching on a bag of chips.

"If you don't like them, then you can give them back," Uriel attempted to snatch the treat to which Luna replied with a growl. "this should be enough, lets continue on foot." Uriel said as he pushed a rusty old supermarket cart filled to the brim with scrap.

It wasn't much in terms of money, but although he did intend to sell it the reason behind their little salvage operation was to pretend they weren't poachers. It was a flimsy facade, but it was better than to show up to a megacity with empty hands.

If a hunter came by the doors of his city without flux orbs or a decent story of how did he get there, he would usually be met with distrust. If instead they showed up with a small booty that barely paid for their tickets they would be met with pity, which was preferable in their case.

Since both Uriel and Luna were faster and stronger than the average hunter, they had to slow their pace just in case they saw them at a distance and they calculated the time to make it to the city gates right by sunset.

It was refreshing for them both to be met with stone faced guards, a long trip across a thick wall made with the remains of old buildings and reinforced with alloy and the ensuing identity check. It was something familiar to them and something they've experienced hundreds of times in the past.

When the clerk received their IDs, though, the silent alarm was triggered and her usually uncaring expression shifted into one of horror as she saw the report on her screen.

"Is there something wrong?" Asked Uriel eyeing the woman's facial expression and sizing up the guards at the same time. It wouldn't be his first time fighting his way outside a wall, but it was something he really wanted to avoid this time.

"Excuse me, Sir... there appears to be a system error," The clerk replied. Luna and Uriel exchanged a knowing gaze and readied themselves to engage in combat, but the clerk continued evidently flustered. "do you happen to be the CEO of the Dungeon Raiders?"