Dungeon Raider System

The young man ran across the streets of a crowded megacity, fear imprinted in his face and sweat staining his shirt. He begged for help crying to strangers uncaring of his pride as a man, yet even those who might have been inclined to help him saw no danger, no immediate threat. Nothing that could warrant such a reaction from someone who was clearly body abled.

"He must be wrong in the head." Said someone in a murmur and someone replied with pity.

"Such a handsome guy, that's too bad."

He continued his race for dear life, sinking his fingers deep into the walls to speed up and even though he was strong enough to leave cracks on the concrete, it was of little aid as he took a wrong turn and met a dead end.

An alley like many others with nothing of interests was bound to be his last memory in this world and he closed his eyes trying to think of something nicer, anything, yet nothing came to mind as the slow pace of his pursuer resounded in the dark of day in a megacity.

"Please, get away from me!" Sam cried his lungs out. "I don't want to learn the damned thing anymore!"

Lily kept walking towards him, a smile carved on her face as inexpressive as Luna's. She may have looked like a human being, but due to her spending most of her life completely alone in a lost city with a titan on her heels she lacked the basic understanding on communication and just mimicked what she had seen others do.

Uriel had asked her a task that was so simple and easy to accomplish, to make Sam fear for his life. That was supposedly enough for him to learn how to conceal his energy signature as it was enough for Uriel and for her, but in the end everything came up to whether Sam would have the determination to learn how to use the skill, or if it was even possible for him.

"Please, I beg of you!" Sam cried some more, then craned his neck up to the sky. "are you going to fucking watch and laugh!? Come and save me!"

"I'm sorry," Ika said barely containing the laughing fit. "but if I keep you from learning the skill you'll get mad at me."

"I won't, I don't even care about the damned thing anymore." Sam hissed as four tendrils of water pierced through his flesh causing him enough pain to make him silent. Thanks to Water warlock, Sam was able to heal from absolutely anything just like Uriel had been in the past, provided there was enough water for him to do so.

The problem with Lily's skill was that she manipulated water to perfection. If Bella was a master at wind manipulation supposedly loved by the wind element itself to the point where it granted her an unbreakable barrier that kept her safe from the world, then Lily was at the next level since she could turn herself into water at will.

Not just that, as a holy rank hunter her energy reserve was vast enough to allow her to fight for a week without a break while the same could not be said about Sam, who had to channel a higher amount of flux everytime he healed due to Lily manipulating even air humidity to make it more difficult for Sam to heal.

In order to learn the skill he didn't need to suffer or be hurt in any way, but he needed to actually be afraid for his life. To know that the difference between that alley turning into his grave or the classroom where he would learn the skill solely relied on his will to do so.

It was a great plan that should have worked and would have worked with almost anyone, except it would never work with Sam and for one reason alone: He was easily scared.

From before he became a hunter Sam feared social interactions, going out, making a mistake and even saying the wrong thing. After becoming a hunter and acquiring a trait that allowed him to see the horrors of the night unveiled by the merciful darkness it provided, Sam was beyond post traumatic stress. He was a mass of nerves that had never from that point onward had a single night rest.

He was so fearful and insecure his own thoughts kept him up at night. so coward that cunning and bullying those weaker than him had been the only way for him to actually achieve anything. Not even after possessing the blessing of Water warlock, an unthinkable creature of untold power that turned him into the only truly immortal being in the world was enough to give Sam's mind a break and he fainted.

He just fainted.

"Did he have a stroke or something?" Said Sharp who had been following Lily across the city to make sure she would not get hurt. Not that she as a heavenly rank hunter could have done anything to protect her from harm, but she figured it was still her duty as her caretaker.

Lily shrugged in reply and turned to leave with a frown. Her job was not done as Sam did not learn the skill she so easily taught Uriel and she wondered if they actually needed a titan level cryptid to teach Sam the skill. Whichever the case, as the appointed guardian of the city of New Texas she needed to get back to work and could not waste her time with a passed out student and it fell into Ika's hands to take care of him, though without anywhere to take him she just landed by him and checked his pulse.

"He'll be fine, I think..."

"Well, then, that's us accomplishing our end of the deal." Sharp said.

"Wait, but he didn't learn the skill!" Ika countered.

"Neither did Lily. Fair is fair." Sharp said and retreated leaving Ika alone with Sam still passed out.

Ika saw Sam as nothing but a friend and her current boss, though the latter didn't hold much of a meaning to her considering how most of the company had gone down along with the zeppelin. Even Wendy, the strongest heavenly rank hunter Ika had ever seen had disappeared which meant they were the only two members of a company that went under as fast as it rose up.

The day after, Sam opened his eyes to a dream come true, though it wasn't the sight of a naked woman or the lap pillow he so craved, but the face of an old friend what lit up his face.

"You're finally awake. I've been chatting with Ika and I'm sorry for how things turned up." Uriel said as he peeled an apple.

"The last thing I need is your pity, so save it for someone who cares." Sam scoffed and turned to the side. As long as Uriel remained in his ample field of view he would be able to see him the same as though he was looking directly at him which was yet another downside of his trait.

"I respect you too much to pity you," Said Uriel, then continued when Sam gritted his teeth in response. "I may not like who you've become and don't get me wrong, but whatever happens to you is nothing but the consequences of your actions, but I'm not here to judge you."

"Then you only came here to mock my failure? Just because you learned how to conceal your energy signature in the blink of an eye doesn't make you better than me, I learned smite on my own, I learned how to use my wings and I even know how to build dungeons from scratch. So save your breath and just get out of my room." It was only after Sam spoke those words that he realized he truly was in his room. Not the one in his old family house, neither was he at the college dorms or his crashed ship's room, but the only place he had ever actually considered a home. The shabby concrete room without windows in the Dungeon Raiders headquarters.

"I would in any other circumstance, but the girls are in trouble and my hands are tied."

"Is it true?" Sam asked, yet instead of Uriel it was Ika who replied.

"Yes, he called your cellphone and I picked up the call while you were unconscious."

"The Pegasus is MIA and Nika is not showing up. I was also ambushed while serving with the rangers, so I'm thinking there might be foul play here."

"And you want me to use my trait to search for them?" Sam scoffed.

"Sam, you've been unconscious far longer than you think. The tournament is today and I need to participate, but I also need to look for them. I can't be in two places at the same time. I need your help." Admitting this was far more difficult for Uriel than he expected it, but his hands were truly tied. He even attempted to contact Jon before calling Sam, but just as he expected Jon did not show up when it mattered the most.

"And what makes you think I can do anything." Sam asked with decreasing levels of distrust.

"You can't participate directly on the tournament and after making an appearance at the event your presence won't be required. All Tina wants is to showcase as many powerful hunters as she can gather and that would leave you free to investigate. But before that... I'll need you do pick up the thing or me participating in the tournament won't make any difference." Uriel said and as per contract, Sam was obligated to follow through with the accord.

"Even if I find the place, what makes you so sure I will find that item there. I don't even know how does it look like." Sam complained.