Dungeon Raider System

Chapter 144 Oath

In a dark room inside an apartment in the slums, a young hunter was being gnawed by an unsightly creature. As terrible as that fate may seem, getting devoured by cryptids wasn't that uncommon for hunters.

There was even a popular saying 'A hunter's retirement is always on the belly of a beast.', though it was mostly used jokingly by hunters to argue when their spouses complained they spent too much money and didn't save enough credits for retirement.

In his last moments of consciousness, Uriel cranked up his brain trying to recall the exact words Water warlock said to him while they were in the mystical realm. Overcoming the pain was no easy feat, but it wasn't his first time in such a situation and he already proved himself capable of doing it.

'If you oath to investigate the whereabouts of my people, I will bestow my blessing upon you. It will grant you an immortal body, eternal youth and the power of the one who destroyed the world.'

That was the exact wording the imposing man used.

"I... swear..." Uriel let out with the help of the cryptid's maw pressing on his chest.

[System notice] Water warlock's blessing activated.

Heavy rain poured down from the sky encompassed by the sound of roaring thunders in the distance. It was as though nature itself was announcing the advent of a long forgotten power.

Uriel's eyes began shimmering in a bright cyan light that bathed the room and the cryptid was sent flying to the other corner of the apartment. The world came to a halt and every object and living creature came to a standstill.

Then, small drops of water started coming out from the drain pipes in the bathroom, the blood stain on the carpet, even from the potted plant in the window but, more importantly, the rain outside was suspended in the air too.

Uriel shifted his gaze towards the round drops of water in the air for a glimpse of a second and before he knew it, time came back to normal and all the nearby water came flying at him like living bullets.

As soon as the water drops touched his body his wounds started healing and his body regenerated, the process was so fast it seemed instantaneous. Such regeneration speed would be unthinkable even for cryptids, but all Uriel knew was now that his body was in perfect health and he was able to stand up with ease.

Steam arose from his body, his pristine skin showing through his ragged clothes and, even though the regeneration process was complete, his eyes didn't lose the intense shimmer. Had Uriel looked himself in a mirror, he would have noticed the resemblance with Water warlock's eyes, but he didn't have the time for such matters as the fight against the cryptid wasn't over yet.

The odd black creature seemed confused, it was the first time something like that happened to it. It could still feel its stomach filled with its victim's flesh and blood, and yet there he stood like nothing. Then, a simplistic but dangerous thought crossed its mind.

"More..." The cryptid eagerly bashed towards Uriel, its maw drooling a viscous substance. For a cryptid like that, a victim with the regeneration ability was nothing short of an all you can eat buffet.

Uriel saw it coming, but now he could see it clearly as day and it didn't seem as frightful as it did before. Instead of scared he was actually thrilled to fight the creature and he activated his dash skill and easily dodged the tackle.

All of the cryptid's limbs moved independently to try and stop itself but the momentum it carried due to its weight made it impossible to stop its race mid way. Even so, its eyes were nailed on Uriel as it passed by the hunter and it took the chance to wrap one of its limbs around Uriel's wrist and drag him along with it, but he swiftly pulled his hand snapping the cryptid's limb from its root.

"Was this thing always this weak?" Uriel wondered as he unwrapped the prehensile limb from his wrist revealing a purple bruise that healed instantly.

While still under the effects of Dash, Uriel summoned his swiss army knife from the museum and launched himself amidst sparks of blue energy and stabbed the creature from behind but the thrust was so powerful it created a hole similar to the one previously inflicted by the magnum.

The cryptid turned around and unleashed a desperate flurry of attacks with his many remaining limbs, but Uriel dodged or blocked most of them, receiving only small wounds in the process. Although he didn't possess any knowledge in martial arts, his enhanced speed stat allowed him to figure out the creature's attack pattern which allowed Uriel to eventually outperform it.

Each passing second Uriel managed to stop more of the incoming strikes until finally while receiving less wounds in return until he was able to land a powerful punch to directly to the cryptid's maw, breaking its jaw in the process.

The creature writhed in pain as it tried to retreat to the walls, but before it could climb high enough to escape from Uriel's reach he dealt another punch followed with a stab. The old swiss army knife penetrated the creature's soft skin and caused a gaping wound that sent it to the floor.

Now in despair, the cryptid turned around and attempted to attack Uriel but he countered with a flurry of attacks of his own reducing the creature to a pulp in seconds.

[System notice] Dash skill cancelled.

Uriel's heavy breathing was the only sound that remained, his body was aching and every muscle felt tense and cramped but the worst part was his mind. A nausea inducing headache erupted causing him to lose focus immediately, it was a well documented symptom of abusing flux energy. Explore stories on empire

'I should have added more points to my flux stat.' Uriel thought regretfully.

Excited, he crouched to pick up the flux orb from the floor. It was a flawless entity level orb, the first he acquired solely for himself and he couldn't keep a smile from appearing on his face. Especially when a familiar feeling alerted him that he could store the orb inside of his trait.