Dungeon Raider System

Flying over the ocean under the flag of the Hathaway company in a top of the line zeppelin with an all female crew was Sam's dream, yet for some reason he couldn't help but look out the window searching for Uriel in the distance.

"That lucky bastard!" Sam gritted his teeth when he saw yet another woman join Uriel's party. Describing her as beautiful would be too much and even Sam considered her to be lacking in regards to feminine charm. Artemis was slender and agile, nimble as a cat and she moved gracefully across the obstructed terrain, but there was something about her that made her look masculine.

"Shouldn't you be doing something else? Like, I don't know... running this company!?" Ika scoffed.

"Let him be, he's just stressed and needs to blow out some steam. I bet he's perving over some random girl." Wendy laughed as loud as possible to annoy Sam, yet he didn't react which made it clear it wasn't the case. By that point she knew him well enough to know that whenever he peeped a strange grin would form in his face despite him trying to hide it.

Sam's crew did not know why she liked to torture himself by watching Uriel all the time, but even if Sam wanted to explain it to them it would be for naught as not even he understood what bothered him so much.

"Can't you do something to cheer him up?" Ika asked, anxious about being effectively trapped in a floating metal cage in the middle of the ocean knowing full well that if something breached the hull she would become cryptid food within the hour no matter her holy rank. After all, the strongest the energy signature the more cryptids would be drawn towards it which meant being powerful didn't necessarily mean being safe.

Sam had gazed from the far distance many of Uriel's achievements throughout the months, yet that didn't come from her past friendship, recent enmity or current confusing situation. He also didn't do it to spy on him or gather any kind of information about him or his group of friends but rather from pure envy.

He thought back at the times where hanging out with his friends at all times was the usual, when their adventures included lowly cryptids that he now could kill with but a mean glare yet they felt so challenging and scary. But all of his memories brought him little comfort as they were now tainted by the 'what if', 'why not me' and 'why them'.

Sam didn't know if he missed Medusa or Luna, but he knew he certainly lusted over Nika as an undesired side effect of sharing his body with Water Warlock who apparently had a big crush on her. That was one of the reasons why he didn't think of going back to his old group, but there was also the thing about Uriel becoming absurdly strong.

Even then, he could still defeat him if not for Uriel's knack for being unpredictable. As usual, killing him would have been an easy way to get rid of half of his headaches, but as long as there was at least a dim chance of him making it alive Sam knew the consequences would be hell on earth. Besides, killing Uriel would also make him enemies of the same people he wanted to get back.

"I can't take this anymore!" Sam ruffled his hair as though trying to shake his ideas, yet he didn't stop watching Uriel for a second. "That guy acts like a jerk to everyone, yet he has to fight girls off with a stick while I treat all of you nicely and you don't give me the time of day!"

"Is that what is bothering you? I knew you were an incel, but this..." Wendy's belly laughter irked Sam even more.

"I need a serious answer, like seriously, what is wrong with me?"

"Alphabetically or chronologically?" Asked Wendy mockingly after putting on a pair of glasses she didn't need.

"It's not you, it's me... I loved Manu and I still do. I don't think I'm capable of ever moving on."

"What about you? I'm being serious this time." Sam glared at Wendy with piercing yellow eyes that held the threatening gleam of a holy rank hunter.

"I don't date married men." Wendy shrugged.

"Target found, how shall we proceed?" The first mate showed up, cutting the awkward conversation short.

"Full speed ahead, fly the Fallen corp flag, we can't let our enemies find about our ties with the Hathaway conglomerate." Sam commanded.

The ship they had been following had been spotted hours ago by Sam, but catching up with it in a place far away from any megacities was a time consuming matter that allowed Sam to get distracted with meaningless stuff, like his interpersonal relationships with the crew.

The moment the occupants of the Mapple corporation zeppelin noticed the flag on the ship that tailed them they knew they were in trouble. Pirates were not usual considering how dangerous it was for ships to fly in a world where cryptids had taken over and how scarce zeppelins were, but when the payout exceeded the risks even honorable traders could become pirates.

Hunters of varied ranks took to the defensive positions in the Mapple corporate zeppelin and opened fire at their pursuers. Their measly weapons barely made a dent in the hull, but a lucky shot was able to take down one of Sam's crew members.

The battle station was painted in red, yet the ship remained a steady course and full throttle. The chair didn't had the time to go cold before a new crew member took the seat after pushing the corpse and she replied fire.

Rounds of different calibers were fired to and from, yet the bulky ships endured even the rounds made for the specific purpose of breaching enemy ships. The heavy reinforced hull of the zeppelins was a statement for the reason as to why airplanes were a thing of the past. After all, no matter what kind of engine an airplane had, armoring them would be impossible due to lack of buoyancy.

"We got two of their propellers!" Announced the first mate.

"Cease fire and open the cargo load, you're up." Sam said to Ika.

"I don't want to, these people are innocent." She rebuked.

"As if anyone related to the Mapple corporation can be innocent. Their hands are stained with the blood of the innocents, this is only payback," Sam replied, then added with a strangely wide smile. "or yould you rather have me board their ship?"

His gleaming eyes and the odd shape of Sam's mouth that could barely pass as a smile let Ika know that whatever he had in store for the poor people. It was the moment to make a decision, she thought, not realizing that the decision was taken the minute she decided to join forces with Sam.

"Or we can just shoot them down." Wendy said with disinterest.

"No! Their cargo is too precious to risk it." Sam shouted.

"I'll go, but... promise me you won't kill them." Said Ika before taking flight and reaching the enemy ship in the proverbial blink of an eye.

She moved way faster than the hunters could anticipate and was able to knock three of them out before anyone even noticed she was there and when they finally did, it was already too late as most of the defending party had been knocked out.

She received more than a few gunshots, but they tickled more than they hurt which made It as clean of a disarm as it could have been. Ika smiled in relief after noticing how no one had died, completely unaware that within the zeppelin four members of the security division had taken notice of her.

They were heavenly rank hunters, but heavily armed and well trained. Their traits were also combat related and the team was handpicked for maximum compatibility. A smoke screen immediately interrupted Sam's line of sight and a barrage of advanced firearm rounds threw Ika out the ship causing her to crash onto her own ship's windshield like a bug.

Had that been all, they could have easily overcome the challenge, but rather than staying on the defensive the Mapple corporation security division jumped into action by boarding their enemies. Cries of agony echoed inside the ship while Sam desperately attempted to make his way outside.

"What a fuck up." Wendy scoffed when she realized their ship's hull had been breached as it became filled with smoke.

"What should we do?" Asked one of the crew to Wendy, the only remaining officer on board.

"I don't know about you, but I'll jump."

"Is it safe?" Asked the terrified woman.

"Sure." Wendy replied before taking the jump out the ship. After landing safely on the ground and leaving a crater the size of a medium sized pool, Wendy dusted her clothes and looked up at Sam and Ika fighting for dear life against the Mapple corporation security division until the thud sound of the crew members who blindly followed her distracted her for just one second.