Dungeon Raider System

"Of course! That's what I've been saying! How much do you make in a year? I'll triple that, just tell me your name and I'll make it a realityas soon as you take me to a proper hospital." David shouted and the man turned from the driver's seat just to give David a pitying look.

"My name is Charon and I only make two coins per trip, but I'm afraid you cannot afford to triple that." Charon said before stepping out of the vehicle, leaving David to shout his lungs out strapped in the black ambulance.

For some reason Charon could not understand in that moment, it was impossible for him to exit the Megacity of New Texas hence stopping him from doing his job and that was a problem not just for him, but to all souls in existence which left him with no choice but to phone his boss or the god's equivalent at least.

He sat on the ground and lit up a black candle, not that its color was needed or even preferred by the god of death but Charon loved tradition. It was one of the reasons why he decided to paint his ambulance black, the same as the boat he used to have back in the classical period. In fact, he would have continued to use the boat, but when the souls of those who passed saw a boat floating in the street they became suspicious which didn't happen when they saw an ambulance.

"Ó, fæmne deað, gehīera mīn gebetsung," He spoke in a language long forgotten, then cleared his throat and continued in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry, I forgot you go by Dana now. Someone placed a barrier and I can't do my job, can you do something about it?"

"Help... me..." A faint voice replied in a distant echo with the words that should have never come out of lady death's mouth.

"How can this lowly servant be of help?" Charon asked and all he got as a reply was his candle burning bright until it fizzled out leaving him with only questions and no answers.

In all of Charon's ancient existence nothing had ever stopped him from performing his job, not even when the god of death disappeared, making it the first time in Charon's existence that he did not know what to do. It wasn't that he didn't want to help the god of death whom he served with all of his heart, but the only thing he knew how to do was to usher souls forward on their travel.

He had never needed to be told what to do or how to do it, but now circumstances had led him to his first crisis ever. "Is this like a vacation or am I unemployed?" He asked himself and he would have liked to reflect on such matters, but a nearby sound kept distracting him. Or at least that was the excuse he gave himself.

"Hey, do you mind keeping it down? I'm trying to think." Charon voiced out to a young man who bashed at the west gate door, a futile activity that never crossed Charon's mind.

"If you want quiet then go somewhere else, I got here first." Uriel replied with a snarl receiving a quizzical look from Charon.

"You can see me?"

"So, thinking is not your strong suit it seems." Uriel said as he took a pause from banging on the gate to gather his breath.

"It's really not, but you aren't supposed to see me. Unless you're at death's door, but you seem healthy to me."

Uriel looked at the pale figure of a man standing tall right next to a black ambulance with muffled moans coming off of it and he pondered for a couple seconds before drawing his dagger.

"Stay back, I'm warning you." He said as he attempted to figure out what kind of creature he faced.

"Don't worry, fighting is not my strong suit either." Charon chuckled.

"Then what is it you do?"

"I... well... I... what is it I do?" Charon asked himself. "right, I take souls from here to what's next."

"So, you're a reaper." Uriel nodded knowingly.

"I am not a reaper, I am the reaper," Charon said after producing a 'best employee of the millennium' certificate from his ambulance with his name in large letters prompting Uriel to study it from what he considered a safe distance. "sorry, I forgot people can't read enochian."

"Charon, as in the boatsman?"

"Who would have thought, I'm still popular among mortals!" He said trying to hold off a giggle and failing at that.

"Am I going to die?" Uriel asked out of curiosity rather than fear.

"I don't think so," Charon shrugged. "do you mind lending me a hand?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Really, that's your first question? You are an odd one."

"Says the guy who drives the most suspicious vehicle ever." Uriel remarked with a scoff.

"How about this? If you help me, I'll put in a good word for you with my boss. Your death count is amazing and I think you'll become a fine reaper."

"Pass, I don't think asking me to work for you and paying me with more work is a good deal."

"Come on, I don't have anything else to offer." Charon pleaded.

"How about your ambulance? I could repaint it."

"Repaint... it...," Charon echoed in utter horror. "ask something else and I'll grant it to you as long as it is in my power, but please, help me save my boss," Charon begged. "I can't interact with people unless they're on the brink of death and that kind of people won't be of any help."

Surprisingly enough, Uriel agreed on the spot. Charon did not know what convinced him, not that it mattered as he already had what he wanted. He explained Uriel how he attempted to contact his boss and only managed to speak with her for a short period of time and could barely understand her. In response, Uriel asked him to try and contact her again and he repeated the ritual, though this time the candle lit up way before he could even speak.

"I think I know who can help." Uriel said looking distraught.

"That's not the face someone makes when they're happy." Charon mouthed.

"You're right, I'm not happy. Now try and keep up, I don't have the time to wait for you to catch up." Uriel said.

"No man made vehicle can move faster than..." Charon didn't get to finish his sentence and was forced to jump into the ambulance to follow Uriel's jaguar as it took off.

The jaguar spirit not only was not man made, but after spending so much time within the megacity it had learned to put its natural advantages it normally used in the jungle to use in an urban setting. It bypassed the smoothness of the concrete by gently clawing it and would jump to a wall before taking a turn to avoid losing momentum which forced Charon to turn on the siren and step on the gas pedal to its fullest.

"Took you long enough." Uriel waited for Charon, a smile drawn on his face after receiving a system message 'Faster than death'. He walked inside the zeppelin and found Soulfire sitting in a couch fiddling with his fingers until he noticed his presence.

"Uriel! You're finally here! Did you get them!?"

As if to shut him up, Uriel handed him the artifacts he won in the tournament while naming each of them. "The shinto rosary, the ankh of reincarnation, an old vial said to contain blood of a saint, an original voodoo doll and the Miserere. Can you make anything of it?"

"Sure, I'll work on it right now." Soulfire said after receiving the artifacts with the same gleeful smile a six year old would open Christmas gifts.

"Actually, I need to ask something of you. This is Charon and..."

"Are you alright? Did they hit you in the head? You don't seem to have a fever." Soulfire said after jumping to take his temperature with an unwelcomed hand on Uriel's forehead.

"I told you I'm invisible." Charon reaffirmed and Uriel seriously pondered if it would be worth beating Soulfire an inch from death so he could speak with Charon.

"Look, there's a reaper in this room and he needs a candle that can hold flux." Uriel glared at the stupidly handsome man as a smile crept to the latter's face.

"And you thought of me! Feel free to use whichever candle you want." Soulfire opened his coat like in the same fashion a criminal would flash the merchandise and Uriel grabbed one replying with an annoyed yet meaningful 'thanks'.

Charon sat on the ground and performed the ritual, not before painting the candle in his favored color which impressed Soulfire as he thought Uriel was doing it.

"Charon, is it you? Are you coming to help?" The faint voice of Dana was heard through the candle.

"It's me, did you manage to get yourself trapped again?" Uriel snarkily asked and Dana replied in kind.

"First, lose the sass, kid. Second, I'm not trapped, you are. The entire megacity is covered by a holy barrier I can't cross. And third, would it kill you to call me mom for once?"