Dungeon Raider System

On what seemed like a completely uneventful night in the megacity of Texas, in a seemingly inconspicuous place, an event that would forever change the fate of the world was about to take place.

"Working hard or hardly working?" Nika giggled at the sight of a sweaty Medusa wearing an overall and resting on a chair in front of the orichalcum forge.

"I just want to finish this as soon as possible." Medusa replied without bothering to lift her head to look at Nika because she was too tired to even spare that effort.

"I don't get it, when you drain flux energy from orichalcum it gets soft, doesn't it? Then why are you trying to shape it while it's hard?" Nika asked.

"It's sort of difficult to explain, but if you must know, it's because shaping it while it's soft is easy but sharpening it it's nearly impossible. The only way to sharpen a dagger like this is if you strike it right before it reaches its peak density. Then you repeat the process over and over again until it becomes as sharp as you want it to be."

"I see..." Nika pretended to understand or care about the explanation, though her mind was already drifting.

"It's almost finished, I just need to give it the finishing touch and name it."

"Uhm... Stabby." Luna nodded her head a couple times.

"No way Uriel is going to wield a dagger called like that. What about Hell blade?" Nika proposed, but Medusa shook her head.

"That's a bit too much..."

"Well, why don't you decide its name? You're his girlfriend so you should know him better." Nika shrugged.

"I don't know him that well... He's been really different from the Uriel I remember. It seems like what happened on Easter island affected him too deeply, but I'm scared to ask him what happened."

"You don't sound happy at all. I thought you'd still be in the honeymoon phase. Especially since you'reliving together in the same apartment and all. He even quit being a hunter so I assume he has a lot of free time to, you know..."

"Not really, he's working at a Starborgs now. He's miserable there, but pretends things are fine. That's why... I was hoping that this gift will cheer him up and maybe convince him to go back to being a hunter." Medusa let a long sigh while looking at the almost perfect dagger she made for Uriel.

"That's not how you cheer a man, you just need to spice things up in bed!" Nika chuckled.

"We don't do that sort of stuff... Yet." Medusa replied blushingly.

"Why? If he can't perform I could prescribe some medicine for that." Luna offered with a bare face as she went through her medkit.

"It's not that! He says he won't be able to enter Xibalba If he loses his virginity, so..."

"If you're not going to do it, then it's my turn." Luna interrupted.

"It doesn't work like that! You can't just..."

"That's right!! You can't just ask for a turn, you need to seduce him. If she lets him go, then it's fair game for us." This time, it was Nika who interrupted Medusa.

"Interesting..." Luna muttered as an idea began forming on her mind.

"Come on, girls... I'm right here, right here!" Medusa pointed at herself and then continued in anger. "I can't believe you do this right in front of me. Uriel is my boyfriend, MY boyfriend!"

"Uhm... You blew your chance. It's my turn now." Luna spoke calmly, though a sudden wave of flux energy hit Medusa on the face. Instead of scared by this, Medusa too began channeling her flux energy and even Nika joined in, though she was the only heavenly rank present and soon it became a battle of endurance.

Two ascended against a single heavenly rank, all of them channeling as much flux energy as their bodies allowed.

"Even if he's depressed or sad, I'll always be by his side. He's mine and mine alone!" Medusa shouted.

"Maybe he's just not into you and that's why he won't sleep with you..." Luna said softly, though her words hurt Medusa like daggers.

"I've slept with him." Nika let out, taking by surprise both Luna and Medusa. Instead of backing down, though, they increased their flux energy output to the very limit of her bodies.

Had somebody else been nearby, they might have thought a fight was about to take place, but that wasn't the case. It wasn't a rare occurrence for them to get pumped up, especially when it came to Uriel, but they didn't have any bad feelings for each other.

"Why do you want to be with him anyway? I'm not saying he's a bad boyfriend, but he's far from being who he used to be." Medusa muttered as her flux energy decreased.

"I, uhmmm... Want him to work for me. I'm willing to let him use my body if it allows me to further my research." Luna replied with a straight face.

"You just can't be serious... Boyfriends are not free labor." Medusa scolded, but Nika seemed to disagree.

"Actually, girls dating guys to use them is not unheard of. It may sound bad, but as long as they're both okay with it, I don't see the problem."

"Nika, why do you..." Medusa was about to ask Nika the most dreaded question when a sudden red glimmer came erupted from the dagger.

"Uhm... Is it supposed to do that?" Luna asked.

"Beats me." Nika shrugged.

Although both Luna and Nika helped designing the dagger, the one who actually crafted it was Medusa and it fell upon her shoulders to investigate the matter. She took out one of her hand made gadgets that allowed her to measure the flux energy up to a certain point, but as soon as she drew it close to the dagger it exploded

"It seems the dagger absorbed our flux energy... But it wasn't supposed to do that." Medusa's crimson eyes were still shimmering by the last remnants of the flux energy she channeled, which got Luna to realize something.

"Your eyes... Uhm... It's the color of your eyes." She said.

"Look at that, you painted it black and red! It looks so cool!" Nika said after finally catching a glimpse of the dagger since Medusa didn't let them see it until it was finished.

"I didn't paint it... I think it became that color because of you, Nika."

"Then... Uhmmm... Uhm.." Luna stood on the tip of her toes to take a peek at the dagger, but the color of her flux energy was nowhere to be found and her eyes got teary.

"This is highly unusual... I may need to perform some tests." Medusa said as she was about to pick the dagger, but an eerie feeling prevented her from doing so.

"What's the matter?"

"Can't you feel that?" She asked, but before anyone could answer the lights started flickering and the air became stale. It was as though the whole room had been sealed and deprived of oxygen, though what was going on was something entirely different.

"That thing is dangerous! It's syphoning all the flux energy in it's surroundings!" Nika shouted as she promptly jumped in between the shadows and grabbed the dagger by the handle before Medusa could do it.

The light bulbs burst into sparks and the factory was left in complete dark, leaving Nika unable to continue jumping into shadows. They couldn't see what was happening to Nika and all they could hear were her screams of agony.

Being a fast thinker, Medusa rushed in with an orichalcum coil and snatched te dagger from Nika's hand, only to experience the exact same effect. For some unknown reason, the dagger was capable of draining all the flux energy in the vicinity, including that of the person who wielded it.

It was now Luna's turn to act, but she only did so after turning into a werewolf. She grabbed the coil Medusa just dropped at her feet and grabbed the dagger, letting out a pained howl when the dagger started affecting her.

But she did not let go of it. In spites of her huge hands, she was somehow able to wrap the orichalcum wire around the hilt, cutting her hand on several occasions until she finally finished it.

"Throw it into the pile of orichalcum!" Medusa shouted in hopes that the dagger would drain the remaining flux in the ore, causing it to melt.

As hunters, even breathing became difficult in a place devoid of flux energy since most of the energy they expended came from the atmosphere rather than their own bodies. By the time they finally managed to contain the dagger, the three hunters were drained of most of their flux energy, but the one most affected was actually Nika since she could only regain it by spending time near Uriel.

Unbeknownst to them, by absorbing the flux energy they channeled nearby, the recently crafted dagger absorbed a part of their traits. From Nika whose trait was related to shadow which is the absence of light, the dagger obtained the ability to drain flux energy. From Medusa, who held the power to freeze people in fear, it obtained the ability to 'inspire' the wielder.

But Luna's case was different. For some odd reason, her blood mixing with the dagger had a completely different effect. One that, due to them deeming the dagger too dangerous to wield until it finally absorbed enough flux energy to settle, would only be discovered after a long time.