Dungeon Raider System

Startled, Uriel scanned the room trying to see where Nika had gone to, only to realize she vanished using her trait to hide from Walter.

'She just said she didn't want to go back to the museum and she did it anyway, someone like her wouldn't hide for no reason.' Uriel pondered whether he should tell Walter or not, but the old man seemed to be in a rush and didn't leave him much time to make a decision.

"Am I bothering you, Mister Sage?"

Uriel was still a bit jumpy after being startled by Walter, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I mean, Mister Walter, what are you doing here so soon?"

"What do you mean so soon? I'm a patient here myself. Besides, I'm old, but I'm not too old to get lost on my own vehicle." He merrily laughed and then fell silent and his mood shifted. "I need to know what happened at the site. I've received many reports, but there's no information about Flanagan's or Nika's whereabouts.

Of course, I also want to know about your research and if you found anything worth something."

Uriel didn't know how to respond and remained silent for a good minute reminiscing about the events that transpired in Chichén Itzá. While it was true he went through a lot and suffered a great deal, it was also true that he survived, not just that, apparently he also became stronger.

"Is mister Friedriksen... is he dead?" Uriel asked, worried about the benevolent researcher who had treated him with respect.

"Friedriksen? That name doesn't ring a bell, but I can ask for his status." Walter's reply seemed completely normal. He was, after all, the founder of the Mapple corporation and no one could expect him to know all of his employees by name, but something bothered Uriel. Friedriksen wasn't just one in the crowd but one of the top figures in the field of archaeology.

Taking that into consideration, the fact that he couldn't even remember his name was suspicious to say the least.

"You can drop the act, Walter. Let's put all the cards on the table" Uriel adopted a fierce attitude with a confident smile on his face. "I know you tried to play me and I also know you hid a lot from me. If you want a report of my findings, you'll have to come clean."

"You will tell me everything, unless you don't want to get paid that is." The previous gentle face on the old man shifted into a crumpled and bitter one making Walter look like a completely different person. "While it is true you performed your duty, we lost all the research, the artifacts and incurred in heavy monetary losses. You can't come back empty handed and then cash the check."

"So I went through all that and I'm not even getting paid!?" Not even the nameless horrors had scared him as much as the possibility of going back as poor as he was when the expedition started.

"And what exactly did you go through?" Walter said with a mad glint on his eyes.

"It's like I said, you show me yours and I'll show you mine." Uriel shrugged knowing full well that Walter needed answers more than he needed the money.

"I knew about the dungeons," Walter admitted. "I also know about Ponce the Leon's diary and the fountain of eternal youth. In fact, the sole purpose of this expedition was to find it. You may have noticed my health is not that great, I can't go anywhere if I'm not surrounded by doctors and I can't even leave this damned zeppelin.

Because of that I can't act as a CEO anymore and there's been a lot of in fighting in my family. The only way I can fix all of it is to become younger. That's it, I've come clean, now it's your turn to tell me everything you know about the fountain of eternal youth."

"I don't think I can help you with that." Uriel replied. "I found a way to activate the POIs, found an artifact that can summon a Jaguar spirit and witnessed many strange events, but nothing related to the supposed fountain of youth."

"You say that, but look at your face, look at your skin. When I first met you there were some acne scars in your face, bags under your eyes and now you look even younger than before. If that's not evidence of the fountain of youth, then I don't know what is." Walter's gaze became sharp as a knife, but Uriel didn't falter.

"That's because when you met me I had just became an evolved and my trait had yet to settle. Some people I know grew taller, some changed hair color, acquiring a trait is like puberty and it sometimes takes time."

"This is preposterous!" Walter exclaimed.

"That doesn't make it any less true. I'm sure you've read my file, even though it is supposed to be confidential. I was a traitless evolved, but now I'm an ascended I can finally activate my trait."

"And what is your trait supposed to be?" Walter asked without any concern for politeness.

Uriel was now between a rock and a hard place. He could probably tell his trait was to summon weapons and useful tools and that his new ascended rank was the one responsible for his new appearance, but Walter might still suspect him.

He didn't know exactly what kind of effect the blessing of the Water Warlock had on him, but he was certain it had to be related to the rumors of a fountain of youth. It was the only possible explanation because he remembered clearly when he lost part of his foot, when he was burned by acid and when he stabbed himself on the heart, and yet, he had no scars, no injuries and his body was whole.

Water warlock's blessing must actually be the alleged 'fountain of eternal youth'.

Not even the enhanced regeneration of an ascended could do something like healing wounds like that. If that was the case Medusa wouldn't have needed surgery in the first place when she was hurt by the skinwalker.

Uriel didn't know the state of those who came back from Chichén Itzá, but he was certain no one could have come back completely unharmed like he did.

"Regeneration," He muttered. "My trait is regeneration."