Dungeon Raider System

The heavy alloy door of the outpost was unhinged, but there wasn't a single crack on it which made things even worse. If there were bumps or cracks on it, they would be able to tell more or less how strong the culprit was, but taking a door out of its frame without damaging it was extremely rare.

"Do you think it was done by a trait?" Uriel asked.

"That's a nice question, but I'm not that worried about how did it happen. I'm more worried about what this implies, if the door was broken then it's less likely they lost comms and more so that they abandoned this place. It's either that or..." Charlie didn't want to finish that sentence to avoid unsettling the already scared students.

The group walked in silence through the hall that became darker the further they advanced as the natural light couldn't reach the inside of the building. The male student tried to flick the light switch but it didn't work and the students broke into a cold sweat as they knew what that could mean.

Uriel, though, remained calm and investigated the place. Even if there was a cryptid inside, he felt much more comfortable fighting in close distance rather than being exposed to enemy fire out in the open.

"They're not dead, or at least it's not likely." Uriel whispered.

"You noticed too, huh." Charlie said.

"What? What is it?"

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"There aren't any bodies or signs of a struggle. Whatever it was that attacked the outpost, the guards had enough time to run away."

The outpost was supposed to be guarded all year by rangers and whenever hunters or soldiers came by the place was always cramped and buzzing with activity, but now the silence and darkness gave off an eerie feeling they couldn't shake off their heads.

At Charlie's command they turned on their gas lanterns to search for clues about what happened to the rangers or to whoever sent the distress signal. There were cups of cold coffee on the table and dirty dishes on the sink, there were some pieces of cloth laying around in the living quarters and the dripping sound that came from an open faucet indicated that people left the place in a rush.

While the rest of his group investigated the place, Uriel closed his eyes to focus on his mystical sense in hopes of finding out whether there was anyone in there with them. Friend or foe, nothing changed the fact that sensing them would be a great advantage. However, the only presences he was able to feel were those of the people that came with him.

"There seems to be no one here." Uriel spoke normally now that he was fairly certain there was no one else besides them in the building.@@novelbin@@

"Yeah, they all left the place." Charlie nodded.

"Hey, I found something!" The male student exclaimed while pointing his lantern to a poorly handwritten note taped to a door.

"I'll read it." Charlie leaned close to the sheet of paper and the rest of the students remained behind her. Then, the ranger professor began reading what the note said out loud.

"One: Don't leave the place when it's dark outside."

"Is this a joke!? It's obvious that this was left by the culprit. We need to leave right now!" The male student exclaimed.

"Shut up, let the professor continue reading." The female student scolded.

"Two: Don't open or close any doors, no matter what." As soon as Charlie read that line, the meaning of the note was made obvious. It was a set of rules they were supposed to follow, but they had no idea on whether the intentions of the person who left the note behind were good or not.

"Miss Charlie..."

"Wait, there's more," Charlie said as she held the lantern as close to the paper as possible to try and make what was written on the note, but it seemed as though it was written with the intention of it being difficult to be read. "Three: Don't look at your own reflection."

"I don't like how it sounds." The female student stuttered.

"Is there any explanation? Does it say what will happen if we don't do as it says?" Uriel asked.

"Maybe, I'm having trouble reading the last part."

"Give it to me, I'm accustomed to reading bad handwriting," Said Uriel wanting to make good use of his years of experience in reading old documents. He received the paper and started deciphering what it said under the pressure of the expecting gaze of the rest of the group. When Uriel finished reading the note his eyes widened in shock, something that didn't bode well for them.

"Everyone, remain calm and do as the note says." Uriel spoke slowly.

"Don't be so dramatic and just read it for the flag's sake!" The male student almost shouted.

"Four: Don't turn around for a full minute after reading this." The rules written on the mysterious note were increasingly strange, but the last one was certainly the worst.

Everyone fell silent and they could feel needles on their spines, even Charlie was frightened and about to loose her cool. A full minute may have not seemed like much, but that was plenty of time to kill them all from behind for anyone with a weapon strong enough or with a combat oriented trait.

The first few seconds were the easiest as they tried to understand the meaning of the words in the last line, but after that it was torture. Every minute sound drew them nearer to madness and their own minds started playing games on them, even Uriel could feel an immense pressure to look behind even if it was just out of curiosity.

It was one of the rare occasions on which hunters wished their perception of time was faster instead of slower, but that was only wishful thinking.

"Ahhhh! Something grabbed my hair!" The voice of the female student pierced the silence.

"What is it!?" The male student swiftly turned around to ward himself from the threat, only to never be seen again.