Dungeon Raider System

After hearing Uriel's answer, Lister was left speechless on the spot. His mind spun so fast he couldn't make sense of anything until half an hour passed since the Dungeon Raiders left the room. Lister had always been considered a genius and not without reason, very few times in his life had he been taken by surprise as he liked to carefully plan every move he made and prepare for contingencies.

Even Allegro's unlikely defeat which hadn't been in his plans didn't take him unprepared and he dealt with it by threatening to dissolve the Dungeon Raiders.

During their meeting in his office, he made sure to have Allegro in the room in case Uriel attempted to assassinate him, he had hidden cameras just in case he could get some information to use as leverage and he also prepared in case Uriel played hard to get. The only scenario he wasn't ready to face was to receive a no in reply when he asked Uriel to become a holy rank hunter.

"Who on their sane mind would refuse to become a holy rank hunter!?" Lister gritted his teeth.

"That's precisely the point, he's insane. He's just a battle crazed monkey, probably too stupid to realize the mistake he made. I bet he thinks himself stronger than holy rank hunters just because he defeated me, but that only happened because I wasn't trying to hurt him.

His trinket was powerful, but I could have easily defeated him if I fought to my best from the start." Allegro explained what he thought to be the truth behind Uriel's refusal, but Soulfire shook his head.

"You're saying that because you don't know him, but I know him well. He's one of my best friends actually. If he refused it must be for a reason." Somewhere in the city, Uriel suddenly got annoyed without knowing the reason but the feeling passed as soon as it came.

"I have to agree with Soulfire, that guy is dangerous. He saw through me like very few people can, he's either smarter than me or paranoid enough to distrust his own shadow. It bothers me, he cheks all the boxes. A poor orphan who lived in the streets, no presence in social media until highschool, very few friends then became a hunter and climbed up to heavenly rank.

I know the type, all they care is about money and power, but this guy... where the hell is my fountain pen!?" Lister skimmed through the papers on his desk trying to find an explanation to Uriel's nonsensical refusal, but as soon as he realized his pen was missing he desperately turned to search for it.

"You're not going to find the answer in those papers." Soulfire sighed.

"What are you even doing here?" Lister felt a vein popping in his head and pushed him outside his office himself.

A few days later on the global airport hangar where the Pegasus was docked, a tall bearded man dressed in a business suit showed up with a black suitcase.

"I'm sorry, but the boss can't see you now." Nika said with a shit eating grin that let Halstead know how much she enjoyed the turn of events. Not long ago she was in the same situation the governor's secretary was currently in and she was more than happy to give him the same treatment.

"I understand, he must be a very busy man."

"No." Nika replied with a somehow even more annoying smirk.

"Did he come again today?" Asked Uriel as soon as he felt the turmoil in his shadow caused by Nika blinking to it. He was sitting on a chair in the meeting room, fiddling with a fountain pen under Luna's attentive gaze like a pup expecting a ball to be thrown her way.

"Yes, he offered even more money today. When are you planning to say yes?" Nika asked as she took a seat on her spot.

"I'm not." Uriel shrugged disinterestedly as he stored the fountain pen inside his trait, then mindlessly confirming its presence on his museum.

Fountain Pen: A montblanc Greta Garbo commemorative 1905 edition pen made to honor one of the most glamorous and enduring stars of Hollywood, it holds 16 diamonds and a single akoya pearl.

[Passive] This pen will use the user's blood instead of ink.

[Passive] Anything written with this pen will become indelible.

[Active] Allows the user to write in other languages.

"You're not!?" Nika asked in a loud tone of voice to snap out of his usual spacing out.

"Why would I?"

"Nika, did you forget that in order to become a holy rank a hunter needs to kill a city's worth of people? Of course Uriel would never do something like that." Medusa replied with baseless confidence.

"I thought he was just playing hard to get to get more out of it." Nika tipped her index finger on her lips.

"Genocide isn't the only way to become a holy rank hunter, I could have become one if I sacrificed Manu back on Easter island when he asked me to and there must be other ways to become one we still don't know. But I'm not stalling to raise my benefits either."

"Refusing was stupid." Luna said, annoyed that Uriel refused the chance to become a holy rank hunter when she herself remained an ascended.

"Not really, didn't you hear what they said? He didn't just want me to become a holy rank hunter, he also wanted me to stay in Texas. Sure, it would give me power, but at the cost of being trapped inside the city for who knows how long. I wouldn't be able to travel the world and discover new dungeons nor would I be able to return to Chichén Itzá."

"That's not necessarily true. Uncle Jon is considered a champion of humanity because he chose not to remain in a city and fights cryptids on their own territory all the time. Perhaps in time you could have done the same."

"Not to mention that having a holy rank hunter would skyrocket our company to the highest positions, getting us closer to the Mapple corp." Nika let out a disappointed sigh.

"Yeah, and it would also paint a target on our backs," Uriel nibbled on his thumb for a second, then clicked his tongue. "I'm not saying Lister's offer was bad, but there's a way can get more bank for our buck. We just need to find a certain person."

"The one eyed beauty?" Medusa scoffed, making Uriel chuckle. Sharp could be described in many ways, but despite her heavenly rank she couldn't be called beautiful.

"How do you even know she even made it here. Maybe they went somewhere else." It was Luna's turn to ask a question, though she wasn't much interested in the answer.

"Allegro's energy signature was too weak to be a holy rank hunter and the only explanation I can think of is that another Holy rank hunter has been draining half the city's excess energy for months."

"Uhm... they also said that cryptids offset energy signatures," Luna pondered, then shook her head. "but that would mean that this city is infested with cryptids and we already know it's not the case."

"So, your plan is for the wild girl join our company and become Texas' holy rank hunter instead of you!" Medusa exclaimed in excitement.

"That should give her a safe place to live." Uriel nodded.

"We know you better than to believe you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart, so spill the beans already." An excited smile made her way to Nika's full lips.

"Jon always nagged at me for being too humble. He insisted that hiding one's power could only result in more trouble and I have to agree. Possessing a holy rank hunter in our company would be the same as announcing to the world we're ready to take part in political plays, leaving us open to attacks from people who've been playing this game long before even the arrival took place.

That's why we're not recruiting the wild girl."

"Hang on, that leaves us completely out of the picture." Nika disheveled her hair trying to rattle her neurons.

"It does, doesn't it?" Uriel smirked.

The next day and the one that followed, Lister could only grab his head in disarray as he couldn't understand why Uriel kept refusing any of his offers and even refused to meet with Halstead. The previously youthful governor now looked ten years older as he had yet to sleep since his meeting with Uriel and had lost his appetite.

The young archaeologist was a mystery and a wild card, both things Lister couldn't accept. Order and predictability had been the key to his success in life and everything had gone according to plan up until the moment Uriel entered his office and the worst part was that no matter how much he looked for it, he still couldn't find his pen and it drove him crazy.