Dungeon Raider System

Chapter 148 Lake travis

Amy led Uriel towards the hangar where their vehicle was ready to depart. It was a rusty pickup truck made with spare parts, it was an odd patchwork that barely functioned but it was decorated with stickers and 'Bloobloo' was written on the back.

"I know it's not much, but it gets us where we need to go and so far Bloobloo has never failed us." Amy, the leader of the party said, to which one of the male students replied with a mocking laughter.

"That's a lie if I ever heard one, it spends more time in the garage than in the road."

The hunting party this time was a bit larger than what Uriel was accustomed to, but something like that was to be expected as the difficulty of the zone was higher than in the lost city and it was comprised by second year college students only.

"Hear me out everyone, we are not going anywhere near the POI. Our current objective is to hunt in the our delimited zone and hopefully come back a bit richer than we left, but we're not taking any risks." The leader said in a loud tone of voice.

Uriel was surprised by their professionalism. Even though all of them were second year college students, they were far more prepared than any party he had ever took part in.

"New guy, you seem confused. Do you have any questions?" The girl next to him asked with a smile. Her attitude somewhat reminded him of Medusa and he lingered on these thoughts for a couple seconds.

"I'm just amazed by you guys."

"Oh, it's because we're following our combat professor's teachings to the letter. We sometimes come back without hunting anything, but so far we've never lost a member."

"Dude, don't jinx it." The male student next to him nudged him on the side.

"Hop in everyone, we're ready to depart." Amy said clapping her hands twice. Everyone obeyed her instruction immediately and Uriel was the last one to climb to the back of the pickup truck.

Apart from Uriel, the group was comprised of 4 male and 3 female second year students. The only ascended hunters in the party were Amy, the driver and one male student, the rest were only evolved.

Before acquiring a trait it would have been impossible for Uriel to tell them apart so easily mostly because he rarely encountered people with traits until his first year of college, but now he could see the subtle differences between different ranks.

Traits with a physical tell weren't so uncommon, but most people would try to hide them to keep their trait a secret. That wasn't the case of the male ascended that was in front of Uriel, instead of hiding it he left a part of his sleeve uncovered revealing his rock-like skin.

Uriel couldn't help but to stare at it, bringing a smile to the student's face.

"It's cool, isn't it?"

"Uhm... yeah." Experience new stories on empire

"This is one of the strongest ranged offensive traits, it allows me to throw rocks from my body." The male ascended said puffing out his chest.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really. It's like I'm always carrying rocks on my arm, when I fire it feels like letting it go rather than throwing it. I can't wait to become a heavenly rank."

As soon as they exited the hangar they realized it was still raining. The streets were starting to flood and people ran hurriedly under their umbrellas. Hunters wouldn't catch a cold with just a bit of rain, but that didn't mean it wasn't uncomfortable.

One of the male evolved banged twice on the small window that connected to the inside of the pickup truck and the driver pulled a lever causing a plastic cover to be released. Because of the speed the vehicle carried, the cover was put in place and the only thing left to do was to secure the strap on its ends.

Since both Uriel and the ascended were sitting at the end of the truck that task fell onto them and Uriel mimicked the more experienced ascended, tightly securing the cover.

Bloobloo wasn't an armored vehicle and it was barely able to traverse the muddy barren lands outside the city. More than once they almost got stuck in the mud and the fact that the driver wasn't that good at his job didn't help either, but Uriel found the trip much more enjoyable than in other occasions.

Even if all they had for roof was a plastic cover without any openings and the only sight he was able to appreciate was what they were leaving behind, even if the place felt way too cramped it felt intimate.

Soon, the sound of the rain hitting the plastic sheet above Uriel started soothing him like a lullaby and he started nodding his head. Only when the vehicle skid across the mud and came to a stop Uriel woke up from his cozy nap.

"So soon?" One of the female students complained making it clear Uriel wasn't the only one enjoying the ride.

"Yeah, it's time to work." Amy said after getting down from the passenger seat.

Uriel climbed down the back of the Bloobloo along with the rest of the party members. The rain didn't bother him that much, but it diminished their visibility.

'So this is lake Travis' Uriel inwardly thought. The sight in front of him was breathtaking, even if everything looked gray because of the dark clouds that hovered above them, it was Uriel's first time in front of a lake. He'd seen pictures before but being there in person was a whole new experience.

Raindrops sang when touching the surface of the lake and the wind caused soft waves that kissed the land in an endless motion. It was beautiful.

"I forgot to ask, do you have a weapon?" Amy asked him, completely unfazed by the beauty of the place. She then grabbed a stick shaped bundle covered with cloth and tied with a thin rope without waiting for an answer and proceeded to untie the knot a short steel spear was revealed and Uriel noticed everyone but him had a melee weapon, some even had shields.

"I have this." Uriel pretended to take his Magnum revolver from his backpack and showed it to the party leader.

"I think it's better if you don't intervene in the fights. Firearms won't do much against the cryptids we're about to hunt and there's always the possibility of friendly fire."

"I don't think that's the case," Said the driver after gazing at Uriel's revolver. "That's a Magnum, it fires bigger caliber rounds than most handguns and it might be enough to kill beast rank cryptids."

"Oh really?" Amy seemed surprised by the revelation. "Then stick behind Rocky and provide support only if asked. Your job is only to fetch flux orbs, but keep your eyes peeled in case we're attacked."

Uriel nodded and followed Rocky in hopes that their path will prove to be useful to advance with his investigation of the Comanche people of old.