Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 456: Magnum

"Another Magnum? How original." The clerk on the desk let out a disinterested sigh. When the Fallen corporation decided to pay for people's first incursion there was an increase in work in the agency which became a burden to the already overworked government employees. That might have explained the clerk's sour mood, but not her words when she was registering Uriel.

"What do you mean another Magnum?"

"Hah, you can play dumb if you like, but you're the seventh Magnum we register this week." She glared at him and then continued filling up the papers.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I chose that name because of this." Urie showed his empty hand, then the next second a magnum revolver appeared.

"I see, then I'm sorry... I'm just tired, that's all."

The clerk somehow reminded Uriel about Janett, the incompetent clerk that mistreated him a few times at the Cryptid hunting agency and ended up working for him, but when she apologized he realized they were worlds apart and the woman in front of him was simply too tired.

He couldn't blame her for being bitter, especially since he worked behind the counter at a Starborgs for a brief period and it wasn't nearly as exciting an fun as he thought it would be.

"Do you know why so many hunters registered themselves as Magnum?"

"Have you been living under a rock or something?" She directed a gaze filled with suspicion towards Uriel, but she continued anyway. "He's one of the legendary hunters, they say he might be a holy rank hunter but those are just rumors. He's just a guy who got on the good side of the ranger's boss and now they're asking all over town about him and even offering a reward."

Uriel thanked the clerk and headed back to where the rest of his group awaited. He decided on accompanying the new group of hunters on their first incursion, not just to blend in but also to protect them in case things got out of hand. As usual, though, it wasn't long until he regretted his decision.

While Uriel didn't like to assume the role of leader, he also couldn't idly watch the new hunter commit so many mistakes in such a short span of time.

"Why did I get myself into this?" He asked with his head in between his hands as he watched the new hunters activate their traits carelessly, overkilling the first enemy only to be caught by surprise by a second one. "Guys, beast rank cryptids rarely come alone."

"Shut up and help! You have a gun, why are you not firing!?"

Uriel couldn't believe his eyes as he saw them struggling against not just any beast rank cryptid, but a horned rabbit cryptid. They were bigger than a normal rabbit, but other than their size and their horns they were mostly harmless for hunters.

They were fast moving cryptids that relied on speed and their horns to kill their prey, though even before acquiring a trait Uriel managed to kill one at the expense of one of his beloved books.

His plan was to blend in with those highschoolers for a while and then go back to the city and look for real work, but the whole incursion was nothing but a waste of time. No one would want to hire someone who came from a group so weak they struggled to kill even the weakest cryptid in the wilderness.

Because of that, Uriel refused to participate in the fight. He could have easily dispatched the pitiful cryptid with a single shot even before becoming a heavenly rank hunter, now he felt as though he needed to hold his breath just to not kill the rabbit by mistake.

'If there's one thing those kids don't need is confidence. If they believe they can become real hunters they'll get killed before their first paycheck.' Uriel inwardly thought. The rest of the incursion, Uriel kept himself from doing any fighting and only intervened when absolutely necessary to save members from his party from getting one shotted.

Of course, he did so with the help of Dash which helped him move unnoticed by the rest of them.

The group returned to the city empty handed, the only one who got something out of that incursion was Uriel, but it was only a headache.

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'Even if I go hunting by myself, I'll waste more time chasing after crytpids than it's worth. Perhaps I should go to the ranger's headquarters and see what they want from me.' Uriel was about to give up, when he realized something important.

The new hunters didn't fail because their traits were weak, but because they lacked training and experience. Even if he didn't realize it at the time, participating no the physical training course not only kept him in shape but also helped him prepare mentally to fighting cryptids.

Captain Silvermane used to shout all sorts of 'motivational' words to them, subconsciously encouraging them to be brave, but also cautious.

Back then, he thought the physical training class was nothing but a waste of time, but now he truly understood the importance of the physical training class and the value of it.

He took a seat at a random spot at the Cryptid hunting agency and tried to unravel the way to become stronger. One that, hopefully, didn't include meddling with incompetent hunters.

'If my goal is to kill a horror rank cryptid I need to become stronger than one. The easiest way would be to become a holy rank hunter, but to promote myself I'll probably need 10 horror rank fux orbs, just like I needed 10 entity rank flux orbs to become a heavenly rank. Then, there's hunting.

It's time consuming, which wouldn't be an issue, if not for the pressing matters of the Titan, the Fallen Corporation, Mister Scofield and my friend's wellbeing.' Uriel pondered some more about his options and realized that while all of them were important, there was nothing urgent he needed to take care at the moment.

The titan rank cryptid had been laying siege on Louisiana for months. Facing the Fallen corporation also meant facing Sam and he had yet to come up with something to offer to Water warlock to bargain for Sam's freedom.

Thanks to Soulfire's trait, he confirmed Mister Scofield was still safe and, while his friends were currently stranded in the wetlands Uriel trusted they were strong enough to handle any challenge that came their way.

It wasn't blind confidence, he knew very well they weren't allmighty and they were unable to fight against the titan rank cryptid that dwelled in the swamp, but Uriel was certain they would make the right decision and run away when cornered. He had to trust them, since that was all he could do for the time being.

Still, there were so many options in front of him he couldn't make a decision. Back when he was a dirt poor archaeology student his choices were limited to the flavor of synthetic food he would eat for dinner. Now he was a powerful hunter and with power comes the responsibility to choose one's fate.

Each decision, no matter how meaningless it seemed, held a myriad of unseen possibilities that would lead either to his doom or salvation.

'I guess it's no surprise the system called me a professional overthinker... that's it! The system!' After silently thinking this, he inwardly scolded himself for forgetting the easiest path in front of him. The system not only granted him unthinkable rewards, but it also provided him with tasks to perform.

To avoid prying eyes, he entered his museum and used the smartphone inside of his trait. Checking the system turned out to be the right decision, though when the app loaded he regretted it for a couple seconds.

Quests:

Investigate the ancient civilization: Incomplete

Retrieve Water warlock: Incomplete

Find Mister Scofield: Incomplete

Daily physical training: Incomplete

Save the Dungeon Raiders company: Failed

Make sure the Pegasus can return safely: Incomplete

Ignoring the fact that he failed the quest to save his company, Uriel directed all of his attention to the last one. Just closing his eyes and hope for the safe return of his friends wasn't enough and he got sidetracked because of Soulfire. He had been trying to avoid meeting with the head of the rangers, but now he knew it was impossible.

It wasn't like they left the city in good terms with everyone, in fact, right before departing they saw a video recording of Uriel torturing and killing people in cold blood. It was, of course, a doppleganger, but the masses had no way to know the truth and the only reason he was able to enter back into the city was because everyone thought him dead.

'But if they think I'm dead, then why are they looking for Magnum? The head of the rangers should know Magnum, Raider and Sage are the same person...' Uriel questioned himself as he exited the Cryptid hunting agency.