Dungeon Raider System

After going through a rough patch Miss Dragonfang's bad luck streak was seemingly coming to an end. She and Phlox had some success scavenging in the lost city and they even managed to come back with five monster rank flux orbs during one of their incursions.

With that huge boost in their confidence they organized a hunting party in the lost city. Of all the possible candidates they decided to go with the ones that seemed new at hunting because they were less likely to backstab them during a fight.

Something like that wasn't unheard of and they wanted someone they could trust over people with strong traits. They went for a second year college student called Amy, along with her group of friends.

Not only were they much more trustworthy than the rest of the hunters because they were too inexperienced to even think of killing someone, but they also had their own vehicle, something that would make their incursion much faster and safer.

Connor, an engineering student, introduced the vehicle as Blublu and explained that he built him himself from spare parts and scrap metal, something that interested Phlox who was a combat engineer.

The difference between a civilian and a combat engineer was subtle but significant at the same time. While Phlox could arm and disarm any gadget provided she had the schematics, Connor had limited choices but he only needed the parts because his in depth understanding of the underlying concepts of physics.

Dragonfang, instead, hit it off immediately with Rocky who was the strongest fighter in Amy's group of friends and they chatted profusely on the trip.

They hunted down many beast rank cryptids, though that wasn't enough even to pay for their trouble. Their two choices were to either stay for longer or venture deeper and Miss Dragonfang took a decision that would haunt her for a long time.

In spite of Amy's repeated comments on how it was against the hunter's manual teachings, Dragonfang decided to advance further into the city until they reached an unspoiled building. It was an old cathedral, but in great condition considering the many cryptids lurking in the vicinity.

They headed inside and gathered all the possible loot in a room in the basement. All sorts of religious paraphernalia, several crucifixes and valuables.

"This alone will pay for the cost of our incursion!" Rocky cheered.

"I'll finally be able to upgrade Blublu's engine!" Connor followed in a joyful mood.

"I just want to pay off my debts." Phlox sighed with longing.

"Yeah, me too." Phlox added.

"Everyone get out!" Dragonfang commanded.

The kids didn't know what was going on, they didn't see anything and all they heard was Phlox speak but Dragonfang had dealt with that sort of creature before and knew they were in trouble.

Her skin became scaly and hard, her eyes now had vertical pupils and she looked like a human lizard hybrid.

"Not you!"

"Oh, right!" Phlox slapped herself as though trying to snap out of a stupor.

"She's the skinwalker, she tried to go after the students."

"Shut up, both of you!" Lizzy Dragonfang was now trapped inside an old building with an entity level cryptid, something an ascended like her should not be able to deal with. Sweat trickled down her forehead and she didn't take her now yellow eyes from them, not even to blink because now she had a transparent third eyelid that allowed her to keep her eyes open for as long as she wanted.

"What should we do?" Phlox asked.

"I'm thinking!" Dragonfang replied annoyed. "The next one to speak is the copycat!"

It was a desperate attempt to keep her companion silent. while she tried to look for a solution. Uriel told them both how to deal with skinwalkers, but since skinwalkers were able to access their victim's memories that meant it was also aware of it and that made things much more difficult.

"Okay, stay at a distance, do not move." She said as she reached for the biggest silver crucifx she could find in the pile of loot. Phlox and her copy both watched her silently and seemingly unfazed by the possibility of being exposed to silver, something that made Dragonfang hesitate.

'What if they lied? What if it worked for them, but not for me?' She questioned herself. Her plan was to grab the crucifix and attack with it the first one to move, but they didn't react in the slightest. That meant her only choice was to either throw the crucifix at them one at a time or to get closer.

"Catch!" Dragonfang said as she threw the crucifix towards one of the women standing at a distance.

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"Crap! I dodged it on instinct!" one of the Phloxs said.

"Don't listen to her, I've been telling you all this time she's the copycapt."

"I know, but she's not attacking us! I can't tell who's the real one. You, can you go grab the crucifix?"

"I don't mind, but you do know the minute I get my hands on it, the creature will attack, right?"

"There's no choice, do it."

Phlox took a few steps backwards without taking her eyes from the other Phlox in the room. To say it was nerve wracking would be an understatement, she crouched and reached for the crucifix but just before touching it she turned on her heels and ran towards the exit with a mocking laughter.

"It's going after the kids! We need to stop it!" Dragonfang darted outside at a speed only possible thanks to her reptilian trait, not knowing that she played right into the creature's hand.

The second she poked her body out of the basement she was met with a long protruding black claw that grazed her skin, giving the unsightly creature all it needed to mimic the ascended huntress.

"I'll have so much fun playing with those kids... that Rocky guy looks particularly tasty." Lizzy Dragonfang's copy licked its sharp fangs with her bifid tongue.