Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 584: Hunting done right Part 1

Now that Uriel was acting strangely, even for his standards, it fell upon Nika's shoulders to lead the hunting party. She had always avoided taking this responsibility, not because she wasn't suited for it but because she thought that in time Uriel would become a great leader, but only if he gained enough field experience.

However, not Luna who spent so much time with Nika, not Bella who barely knew her, not even Medusa who knew how high the standards at the Mapple corp. were expected much from Nika.

"What's the situation?" Nika asked when they neared the address written on the folder.

"He's still cold and there's no change in his vitals, but his mental condition hasn't shown any signs of improvement or deterioration." Luna replied after pressing her ear on Uriel's lungs. Her enhanced senses as both an ascended and a hybrid allowed her to listen to his breathing and heartbeat without the need of a stethoscope.

"I'm talking about the POI."

"There's nothing apart from what was discussed previously. The post was about a cursed artifact."

Nika nodded, then rang the bell of what they assumed would be a mansion or a villa sine it was located in the wealthy side of the district and it was obviously not a skyscraper since they should have been able to see the towering building from afar if that was the case.

All that could be seen about the property was the four meter wall partially covered in bindweed and other climbing plants that extended even to the fence. It didn't look anywhere close to the supposed haunted house Bella visited the day before as instead of making it seem like an abandoned house it gave the vibrant feeling of wildlife.

"They should totally fire the gardener." Bella scoffed.

"And whoever is supposed to open the door too. How long are they going to keep us waiting?"

"Uhm... judging by how many plants there are in the fence, I would say this door hasn't been opened more than a few times lately. Also, if you look closer, there's evidence of someone picking the lock." Luna turned to see Uriel who looked above her with a curious look on his face.

"I did? I don't remember."

"Can you do it again please?" Nika asked and Uriel started rummaging through his pockets looking for the knife he always carried with him and then became pale.

"I lost it! I don't have my Swiss army Knife anymore!"

"It's inside your trait, idiot." Luna looked at him with what anyone would have thought was annoyance, but was actually sadness of seeing her friend acting like an idiot.

"Right, right." Uriel said as he grabbed the pocket knife from his museum, then spent five minutes trying to pick the lock.

"We should really climb over the fence." Medusa proposed, trying not to sound mean to Uriel who was focused on his task.

"Impossible, rich people may have auto turrets. They might not be able to kill us, but they'll hurt like hell." Nika explained.

"I got it!" Uriel's exclamation came accompanied by the high pitched noise of the hinges moving the heavy alloy fence revealing an unkempt garden and just like they expected a beautiful modern villa, but not a single soul inside.

Without much hopes, they knocked on the door, but soon after it was opened by a young man that emitted the energy signature of an ascended hunter. The man looked at the odd group with distrust at first, then with lust and then with utter disbelief.

"Where's my pizza?" He scratched the back of his head.

"We are actually from the Dungeon Raider company, someone in this address made a post requesting help to deal with a cursed artifact and we answered the call." Nika explained.

"Cursed artifact?" The man seemed to ponder about Nika's words for a while then shook his head. "I think I would have noticed if we had any issues with something like that, we are antiquarians and deal with rare items all the time, but maybe my wife did it. Why don't you come in and wait for her?"

The man fully opened the door and Nika let everybody in to see if he reacted in any way when he saw Uriel, then relaxed once she noticed that the man didn't seem to know Uriel.

"Look at this place, just the couch is worth more than I get paid in a month." Nika whistled once the man left them in the livingroom. Every single item, from the carpet to the curtains was made of natural fiber and looked expensive enough to greet people from high society.

"I thought Uriel wasn't paying you since you're bonded to him due to the contract you made under the Mapple corp." Medusa asked, but received no answer as Nika was too engulfed into examining the room.

"You noticed, huh." Bella nodded in approval.

"Yeah, some of this stuff is capable of channeling flux. Hey Uriel, what's this thing?"

"That's a... huh... mmm... I don't remember."

"That's a tribal mask! How can you forget about something so simple!?" Nika scolded, then lowered her gaze after seeing Uriel's innocent face. While it pained her seeing him completely oblivious to anything, even to some artifacts that would usually drive him crazy in greed, she couldn't deny he looked charming.

"He looks so cute." Bella giggled. To her, it wasn't that strange seeing him without his usual glare and she also liked that he didn't rebuffed her like always. She didn't knew much about Uriel and the only reason why she wanted to become close to him was that he was the only one able to touch her.

"Our Uriel isn't like this." Was all Luna said.

"Yeah, he can be a jerk sometimes, but he can also be the sweetest." Medusa added, unaware of the pained expression on Uriel's face when she called him a jerk. He had trouble remembering anything, but that didn't prevent him from feeling offended when called names.

After spending half an hour chatting about different topics, mostly shallow since they didn't know if they were being recorded or watched, Nika decided they wasted enough time waiting for the man to return.

"Well, he's not coming back. The good thing is that our electronic devices have been working the entire time and I haven't felt any disturbances in flux. What about you, Luna?"

"Nothing I can smell, but I think he lied to us. There is no wife... or anybody else in here. Not even cleaning staff, the house is pretty dirty and smelly." She informed.

"I do feel a disturbance in the wind element. I don't know what to make of it, but it's strange." Bella indicated towards the hall the man disappeared into.

"Let's move." Nika commanded and the girls followed her, leaving behind a clueless Uriel until Bella returned to lead him by the arm.

"Don't stay behind honey." A cute smile was drawn on Uriel's face when she called him 'honey' and she couldn't resist the impulse to rub herself into him.

"Don't do that, you're wiping away my smell." Luna scolded in a monotone.

"He likes it, so what's the issue?"

"If you do that, I won't be able to track him if he gets lost."

"My bad," Bella stuck out her tongue and winked at Luna, who just turned her back on Bella. "Geez! Why is everyone so mean to me, I wish Lizzy came instead of you." Bella complained in a low voice, knowing she would be heard.

Usually, Medusa would have acted out of jealousy, but she was having a hard time trying to put her feelings in order. Nika's case was different, she usually didn't care about people flirting with Uriel but Bella's attitude was starting to get on their nerves.

"Could you please tone down your hormones lady?" Nika scoffed at Bella who instead of embarrassed seemed shocked. Nika wondered if her tone was too harsh, but then she noticed how Bella wasn't even looking at her. "What's the matter?"

"Can't you guys see that!?" Since Bella always hovered above ground level, she was able to see past the tall Medusa who was now in front of the line.

It would have been a good strategy as she was a heavy hitter and that left Luna to protect Bella and Nika to cover their backs, but on this occasion it proved to be a wrong move since Medusa couldn't read the red markings on the wall directly in front of her.

"It says, don't look in the mirror." Luna read the words out loud after inspecting the wall.

"Is it blood?"

"No, I would have been able to smell it. It seems to be some sort of lipstick."

"Lipstick? I don't think Uriel has any and you mentioned there's nobody else living here. Is the guy who let us in a crossdresser or something?" Nika asked out loud, but no one had a clue.

The group passed a few closed doors on their way across the hall, but before investigating further they limited themselves to examine the walls looking for more warnings.

"He's always watching, don't close your eyes," Luna's emotionless tone of voice sounded ominous which contrasted with her tiny stature and the efforts she had to make in order to read the writings since they were written too high for her. "Watch your back, don't look in the mirror, don't close your eyes while you shower, uh... we are in trouble."

"What is it? Do you know what caused this?"

"Judging by the writings, it's safe to assume the mirror is located in the bathroom and... the wife is also there." Luna said pointing at a closed door and prompting Nika to blink there using the shadows. As soon as she opened the door, the disgusting smell of a corpse that had been sealed for weeks reached everyone.