Dungeon Raider System

At the same moment Alice backtracked Uriel's steps from where he would supposedly arrive in around one hour, Uriel was having a heated argument with a candle. Or at least that is how Soulfire saw it happening as he could not listen to Dana's words or see Charon standing right besides Uriel.

"You have to listen to me son, you have to pack up your things and be ready to get on the move as soon as the barrier goes down." Dana's commanding tone didn't bode well with Uriel as he would rather take orders from anyone above his military rank or even a senior ranger rather than that of his biological mother.

"And I'm telling you I'm not moving a finger until you explain to me what's going on." He argued back, though escaping the city had been his plan from the start and he just wanted to see if he could squeeze out some information from Dana.

"There's things only the gods are supposed to know. I haven't even told Jon even though he's a candidate to become one of us, you're not even at the holy rank yet which means you'll have to trust me."

"I'm not big on trusting strangers," Uriel scoffed and the candle burnt bright until it was consumed. "do you happen to have a spare?" He asked Soulfire who handed him another candle prompting Charon to swiftly perform the ritual.

"Sorry, I'll try to keep my cool this time," Dana said after a long sigh. "even if it was a stranger the one speaking, you would still hear them out if they said to run."

"And I'm more than ready to hear you out." Uriel said.

"Why are you being so stubborn!? If you don't leave, you are going to die. It's as simple as that." The candle dimmed as Dana spoke and Uriel understood it was the perfect time to be honest, or pretend to be.

"I know there's forbidden knowledge that's dangerous, I've stumbled upon quite a few secrets that would have been better sealed up in a dungeon than out in the open. But here's the thing, I've been cursed by the asshole god of lightning and if I set foot outside the city I'm done for. If I'm going to die, I'd rather die knowing who's the one behind all this so I can at least punch them in the face. So tell me, who it is?" Uriel glared at the candle, not that Dana could see it but he did it nonetheless.

"You figured it out too, huh. You're a smart kid, just like your father," She chuckled. "I too think there's someone pulling the strings behind all that's happened. It can't be a coincidence that I'm locked outside the city just when you needed me the most."

"If you don't know who's behind it, then what makes you think there is someone pulling the strings?"

"The same as you, gut instinct. But there's also evidence to support that. In order for a god to leave their domain you need two things, an anchor that tethers them to a certain point in reality."

"It's known as Axis mundi in anthropology. A point in space that's the center of the world for a culture."

"By myself! You sure are one smart cookie. And the other thing is... a vessel."

"A human to possess." Uriel nodded at the candle that was then consumed forcing Soulfire and Charon to repeat the process.

"How did you get so many stygian candles? Do you know the street value of those things?" Dana gasped when the communication was recovered.

"I have a guy."

"Does he make them?" Dana asked with suspicious interest.

"I guess," Uriel shrugged, then continued. "that's the thing. So far, we've found that most of the times, whenever a god chooses a person as their vessel or avatar, emissary or whatever, the end result is the recipient bursting out. We believe it is due to biological incompatibility."

"That is also correct, hunters are prone to evolving, but if the change is too drastic from the god who's bestowing them their power, then they die. That's what the trials are for. They're meant to prepare a human to trascend into divinity."

"We had that part figured out too. If those are your forbidden secrets, then let me tell you, they're neither forbidden nor secrets." Uriel said causing an equal measure of surprise and annoyance in Dana.

"If that was the case, then I may think things just developed this way but it gets more complicated when you have the full picture like I do. The vessels of the gods gain little energy from human food and the only way around it is to shorten the life span of their vessel. That is, unless they consume ambrose, which is food from the other side. In regular circumstances it will not grow, but with so many dungeons open the outside world is being constantly infused with flux energy and I don't know who did it, but someone figured it out and now they're handing ambrose on the streets like candy."

"That is news to me." Uriel lied as he was the one responsible for that.

"It gets worse, the amount of artifacts and orichalcum made objects in the megacity of New Texas is unusually high which resulted in the gods unanimously deciding to hold their tournament in this city."

"Who might have done that." Uriel said with feigned surprise as he covered his mouth, now realizing that the one behind that was also him.

"Even worse is the fact that there is a city wide policy for blood donation, which the gods need to sustain not their vessels but their real bodies. I found the rangers to be the ones responsible for that one, but while I was investigating the matters outside the city was sealed and I was left outside. The timing seems odd."

"Whew," Uriel let out. "we have nothing to do with the blood thing and the timing of the barrier being put in place was actually us trying to keep the gods from entering or exiting the city."

"Well, that was stupid. While the vessels are usually at the holy rank level, they're empowered by the gods which means they'll be extremely proficient at commanding control over nature. Plus, the vessel will eventually become one with the god allowing them to control the body. For instance, while my real body is still in my domain, I can still kill any being that's weaker than me with a touch."

"So? We have a few holy rank hunters and they'll be hunting them one at a time. Besides, I already sent that Arausio guy back to crab planet." Uriel joked.

"I'm not surprised that you gave that old crab a lesson, what worries me is that souls are also entrapped inside the city."

"Let me guess, gods have an use for souls too." Uriel let out a sigh.

"They do and you're not going to like it, they make them stronger," Dana lingered for a few seconds before continuing. "all the things I mentioned make the perfect recipe for absolute destruction. If any god stands above the others, he or she will be able to claim ownership of all the souls in question which will cause an imbalance in the power scale of the gods. That is why they are so desperate to get an avatar and also why they're desperate to be the one that stands above all."

"Let me get this straight, if I had the power to summon the souls and command them. That would allow me to either distribute them fairly, consume them myself to become a holy rank hunter or keep them away from other gods. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And there's a book that allowed me to do just that. Too bad someone took it away from me." Uriel sneered.

"Don't play games with me, I know what you're trying to imply but that thing is not a toy," Dana huffed then after a small pause started to speak to someone else. "no, we're busy. Hey, stop it! fine, fine... your girlfriend says hi."

"My... what?"

"Your girlfriend, the fun one, not the hot or the cute."

"Nika! For fuck's sake, what is she doing with you?"

"She's been helping me a little."

"This is very important, tell her to head over to Lake Travis and ask the skinwalker there to lead her into the city. If there is a way in from the dungeon into the city, that thing will know it," As Uriel spoke the light dimmed down as it was almost consumed. "but be sure to tell her that whatever she does, she must not have any source of light. Hello? Dana?" Uriel asked, but the candle was already out and Soulfire had only one candle left which Uriel promptly snatched from his hand.

"Boss, we need you at the headquarters!" Alice shouted the moment her future sight synchronized with the present.