Dungeon Raider System

The room was lit by the cold light coming off from the square roof lamps stuck to the ceiling. Inside the dormitory several bunk beds with white sheets and gray covers neatly placed on top gave the sensation of walking through a forest of the sorts, only instead of trees the branches were the thing alloy pipes that gave support to beds meant for hunters.

Alerted by what Atkinson thought was a low growl Atkinson quickly drew his eyes to where Luna was sleeping, her snores way deeper than such a small frame should allow. Her face was restless and she seemed in pain, but she still carried the soft expression that gives beauty to people in their sleep.

"If you brought me here looking for pity, you're mistaken. I know the medicine you gave your friend is not working and you need a doctor, but my hands are tied. I can't put the lives of thousands of people at risk just to save a sick hunter that might end up dying anyway." Atkinson said in a stern voice, though his facial expression showed he was more than conflicted for letting a young woman die.

"See that girl? She's a complete oddball, socially inept and her moral compass is so messed up I sometimes wonder if she's actually evil but there is one thing that she is not and that is stupid. You have no idea how many times she has told stories about faeries and monsters so strange their existence is an affront to reason and she fully believes in their existence, to her they're real creatures waiting to be discovered. You not believing me I understand because it's usually me in that position and I've been proven wrong most of the times because she is not a gullible girl, she's an absolute genius that can somehow reconcile thousands of years of mythological beliefs with reality by finding evidence and following the scientific method in a field of study that escapes logic. Wobbegongs, Kobods, Nessie, the fucking yeti, if she says they're real, I'm not doubting her. I am not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to believe in the world's best cryptozoologist." Uriel finished his dramatic rant by handing the notepad to Atkinson.

Uriel remained in front of the man, silently plotting his next move that would likely earn him a new title by the system, 'cold blooded killer', a title he somehow had been able to avoid up until that point. Still, the calculative way in which Uriel lured the man to a place without witnesses with the sole intention of killing him was deserving of such title and Uriel was mentally prepared to embrace it fully.

A man like Atkinson was bound to be strong as he wasn't just any Captain, but one deemed powerful enough to lead an elite squad that performed missions far from any megacity yet it wasn't his strength what forced Uriel to prepare so much.

It was the fact that the most common trait in soldiers was the ability to summon weapons and if the captain managed to fire a single shot he would also be forced to kill Gordon and Brown to silence them. Besides, Uriel assessed the man's character and thought he was a good soldier and probably a good man too. It weighed on him to kill an innocent person, but his only choice was not whether or not to kill him but whether or not he could make it a painless death.

Just when Uriel readied himself to activate Dash summon the Red thread of fate and lunge forward to kill the distracted captain who gaped at the words he read on Luna's notepad the lights flickered for an instant and a thin voice murmured.

"I love you to." Luna said after hearing Uriel's discourse. She knew he didn't say it, but the words he spoke where the best love confession Uriel could have possibly spelled.

"Luna! You are awake!" Uriel threw his plan out the window and rushed in to check up on Luna.

"Yes, you pervert." She joked with an emotionless face that somehow despite all the time Uriel had known her still managed to get the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.

"Sea fucking monkeys... it's hard to not believe they're real when this notepad holds so much information on cryptids I have seen with my own two eyes. Is it true that collectors are scavengers and won't attack unless provoked?"

"Yes, we confirmed it in Madrid." Luna said amidst coughs prompting Captain Atkinson to search for the entry on that cryptid.

"This could have saved us a lot of trouble on the way here," Atkinson heaved a sigh, then continued. "I think a change of command is in order, but to make it official you must be promoted to my same rank if you are up for it."

"I... am." Uriel was taken aback by the offer yet agreed on the spot. Not a minute ago he was plotting to kill Atkinson to achieve a change of command, though this was even better as it prevented Brown from challenging it.

Both Brown and Gordon seemed taken aback when Atkinson informed them he was passing on command to Uriel, though what surprised them the most was the fact that they didn't know a captain could promote another soldier to his same rank.

As counterintuitive as it was, the deed was done already and with Uriel at the head of their joined squads he was finally able to start the investigation.

"Anything to report, Nika?" To those present, Uriel speaking to his shadow was almost as mystifying as the fact that the shadow promptly answered.

"They remained most of the time being debriefed by their superiors. Apparently, this is a scientific outpost designed to detect and identify a strange flux signature that sometimes emerges from the ocean."

"Well done, Nika. I need you to be my eyes on the outside of the bunker, come back if anything shows up. Gordon, Atkinson, Kristina, you three will keep tabs on the communication device and send a distress signal out there. Luna and Brown, you two are going to help me perform an autopsy."

"I doubt you can do it properly." Luna managed to scoff in a wheeze.

"Hey! I may not be a doctor, but don't forget that anthropology is the basis of forensics." Uriel glared amused by Luna's joke, only when he looked at her he realized it wasn't a joke but her honest thoughts.

"Why don't we just evacuated? I thought you said this was caused by sea monkeys." Brown asked.

"Sea monkeys... uhm... we should evacuate." Luna added.

"And where exactly would we take refuge? This bunker by the beach is the only building we found in kilometers. We need to keep the entrance clear of cryptids in case we need to leave in a rush, but I'd rather stay here until the ship comes for us or we find a better alternative." Uriel explained his reasoning and it was as though their eyes were opened in an instant.

The supposed cryptids behind the deaths that took place in the bunker were likely weak individually, but impossible to defeat in numbers. They didn't know where did they come from or where did they go to which meant their only option was to run away, but there was nowhere to run hence why Uriel wanted to perform an autopsy.

Setting it up under Luna's direction was a breeze, performing the autopsy not so much. The necessary precautions during an autopsy would most likely prove ineffective against cryptids and there was nothing Uriel could use to protect himself should he get attacked or inffected by whatever killed Evans which is why Uriel wanted Brown by his side during the procedure.

"Subject appears to be a male hunter in his thirties. There is no moisture in the skin, but this discoloration is different to the cases of exsanguination we have witnessed before." Uriel informed Luna who remained seated nearby.

"I concur, now proceed with the 'Y' incision." Luna nodded.

Uriel's hand was steady as it opened the corpse. It wasn't the first time he saw the insides of another human being, though this was the first time he was actually paying attention to what he found inside.

"Confirmed, there's no moisture inside. Internal organs are intact, veins and arteries are filled with blood... dry blood." Uriel continued.

"He was an absolute jerk and a creep to the bone, but I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy." Brown said, managing to keep herself from gagging thanks only to the fact that Evans' corpse was completely dry.

"Why did you say he was a creep?" Uriel made small talk as he inspected the interior of the corpse with a magnifying glass under Luna's severe supervision.

"He would always creep on me on the showers, can you believe that?" Brown exclaimed.

"It's just as I thought, there's no evidence of cryptids inside his body. We can rule the sea monkeys being parasytic." Uriel wheezed in relief, but Luna remained silent for a few seconds pondering not about what Uriel just declared but what Brown said.

"That is incorrect, they are parasitic. It's just that they died and disappeared leaving no trace behind. You can confirm this by looking for tissue damage in muscles such as the heart." Luna said, then continued before Uriel got the chance to do it. "and I think I know how to defeat them. But if you want to know, you will have to figure it out on your own."