Dungeon Raider System

Laughter erupted like a volcano when Magellan's crew spotted Uriel's expeditionary party and not just because of its reduced number. It was Luna's presence what caused their amusement as they made all the wrong assumptions.

They thought Luna had to be their archaeologist and that she had to be a regular human, since they couldn't fathom why else would they bother bringing a disabled person to a dangerous expedition. They also thought Medusa was the strongest member of their party because she protected the alleged archaeologist and finally, they also assumed their leader was Nika and that she stayed behind because she knew their chances of survival were slim to none.

Needless to say, they did not know Luna was not just a hunter but a powerful lycanthrope in the process of evolution and that her field of study was cryptozoology or that Medusa was actually part of the Works family. However, Magellan knew of Nika's trait that turned her into the ultimate bodyguard as she could reinforce her asset at any time she wished by popping out of their shadow. It was precisely due to arriving at the wrong conclusions that Uriel's presence was a mystery to them as he didn't look particularly strong.

"That guy... isn't that Jon's hat?" Magellan asked.

"All hats look the same to me and if you ask me, I think Jon looks better without it anyway." Silvana, Magellan's first mate and also his girlfriend, answered.

Seeing that Magellan's ship was taking too long to land, Jon decided to just hop over there and although it took him a couple attempts he managed to grasp onto the ship's hull and make his way inside the ship where he proceeded to break the truth to Magellan.

"With all the respect you deserve as the ship's captain," Which was none, but Jon decided not to sour his already flimsy relationship with the famed explorer. "I won't be able to take part on this expedition, that is unless you want a dragon to spot us."

"Why didn't you say that before I turned down the request to partner with those rookies?"

"I proposed the idea and you denied it without listening to me." Jon casually shrugged.

"Then why did we bother coming here? Without an archaeologist we won't be able to enter the dungeon."

"Their archaeologist is actually quite decent if not remarkable and is not unreasonable at all. A bit cranky, but not unreasonable." Jon chuckled, then proceeded to warn them to not touch a single hair on Medusa's head and to listen to anything the tiny huntress said, seemingly confirming their hypothesis that Luna was their archaeologist. And before ten minutes Magellan's entire crew was ready to set off.

The expeditionary force climbed off the zeppelin in an orderly fashion, fully geared and armed to the teeth. They moved with professionalism with the solemn bearing of a military invasion which caused different reactions from those in the Pegasus who watched the scene.

Miss Dragonfang had flashbacks of her military career and shivered at the memory of how many times she was punished for breaking the line or lacking discipline while Phlox directly laughed at their coordination that only caused them to waste precious time for no other reason than to score style points.

"We're not in a parade, just forming in a line takes time. Time that cryptids are using to detect their presence and prepare ambushes, some might even be on their way to actively hunt us." Phlox said.

"Keeping formation saves lives." Brown said, startling Phlox.

"Brown!? What the fuck are you doing here!?" Due to Phlox being the ship's pilot, it was of no surprise that she didn't have the time to meet the surviving members of the army that tagged along with them after the events in the coast of France. As luck would have it, they had all met before which was the equivalent for military members to being friends.

Magellan's expedition had already set off and were well on their way to the strange building that seemed to be closer than it actually was when they encountered a strange creature. It was a small human figure with two pairs of wings that shimmered.

Upon closer inspection, the beauty of the cryptid took the man who found her aback which amounted to the fact that the small creature had no clothes caused the man to hesitate before announcing its presence. But that turned out to be unnecessary as the entire area was soon filled with curious little creatures that flew by them with puzzled expressions on their perfect faces.

"Take aim." Magellan shouted and his following command was cut short when Luna rolled her wheelchair towards the group in evident hurry.

"Whatever you do, do not open fire. They are not hostile," As Luna spoke several of those creatures landed on top of her head and shoulders. "They are faeries, more specifically, Tuatha de danann. They are the ones responsible for the circles of flowers and mushrooms you see around."

"If they're harmless, then why shouldn't we kill them for their flux orbs?" Asked Silvana after catching one of them with her hands and squeezing it. The poor faerie let out a tiny squeak that sent a cruel grin on Silvana's face when she died leaving a regular sized flux orb behind.

"You're all free to kill them if you want, but save your bullets." Magellan said then he kept his gaze on Luna completely disregarding Jon's warning. Needless to say, Luna was displeased that they ignored her, though it didn't show on her face.

"What a bunch of monsters, they brought a little girl into a dangerous expedition and they even left her behind." Magellan let out in a sigh.

"Does it really surprise you? It's Nika we're talking about." Silvana scoffed.

"First, she's an adult. And second, we didn't left her behind, she came here to save your sorry asses even though I told her it was useless." Uriel explained, though in reality Luna wanted to save the faeries and Uriel was unsure if she was lying about them. Nevertheless, listening to Luna was the top of Uriel's priorities, even above his own desire to just head over to the tallest building and explore it on his own.

"I see you're short staffed, why don't you guys join us? It will be safer for you." Magellan proposed.

"You would only slow us down." Uriel replied shortly.

"I think it's a good idea, that will prevent any more useless deaths like hers." Luna said pointing at Silvana who looked surprised. She paled for a second before patting herself up and down, then looked around her to see if people looked at her in a strange way, but she was only met with curiosity.

"What are you talking about?" Silvana demanded.

"The creatures we will encounter in this area are mostly from the fae family. Their original names are too bothersome, but in short, despite specimens appearing to be very different from each other, they are actually the same species. For instance, the tooth faerie..."

"Tooth faerie!" Some of the oldest in Magellan's expeditionary party knew the story and laughter spread like a wild fire, without caring to notice that none of the youngest had ever heard about it or questioning themselves about the reason for that.

"Yes, the tooth faerie differs from the garden faeries in several aspects. For starters, they too possess four wings but they are fused in order to support heavier loads which proves useful to them as they need to carry coins around to exchange for baby teeth."

"That is the cutest lie I have ever heard." Silvana chuckled.

"Call her a liar again and we're gone." Medusa butted in directing a glare so mean it petrified Silvana in the figurative sense as Medusa didn't use a single hint of flux energy.

"As I was saying, they display a dimorphism based on their task," Luna continued ignoring Silvana's comment. "garden faeries like the ones hovering around here are display two pairs of wing they can flutter separately to gain maneuverability which they need to survive in the open as even wild fauna can be dangerous to them."

"Right, they can't create their circles from a distance." Magellan said, the sarcasm flying over Luna's head as usual.

"Precisely." She nodded, glad that someone actually listened to her.

"Where are you going with all this?" Magellan asked, now wondering if this was just a strategy to delay them while Nika explored the ruins.

"Their sexual dimorphism is also interesting. The male gender associated with the tooth faerie are the leprechauns, which collect all sorts of valuable items and hoard them in pots which is where the tooth faeries get their coins and in return, they feed the leprechauns with part of the teeth they collect."

"So faeries feed on bone now." Laughed a man from within Magellan's ranks, only now Luna's speech was becoming too ominous for others to follow. Even Magellan found himself intently listening to what Luna said as Jon's warning nagged at him in the back of his head.

"They do and that's a problem, because garden faeries are too numerous. So now you may wonder where do they get their food from? That is also from the male of their species and though it's existence has never been confirmed, it is my belief that we will be facing against a powerful type of cryptid. You see, garden faeries mark circles where corpses had been buried, sometimes from large animals and the adaptative need would suggest the presence of a larger variety of faerie... the bone faerie."