Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 651 - 651: The fabled city of Cibola Part 2

Uriel's reluctance to enter the city was very uncharacteristic of him, something anyone who ever heard him speak about archaeology would have noticed.

As his former classmate, Kenny was aware that Uriel wanted to become an archaeologist and although he considered him as a bottom feeder who just got lucky with his trait, he also knew he had perfect grades in the most difficult course in social sciences.

"Perhaps we should hear what he has to say." Kenny said when he noticed the oddity of Uriel's behavior, but that only served to anger the woman.

"We hired you not only because you said you've been here before but also because you said you were an archaeologist. You were supposed to disable the traps and find a way inside, but all you've managed is to waste our time."

"I admit I bit more than I could chew, but how was I supposed to know there would be traps? No one told me what the ritual was for and I only coursed one year at college!" Kenny pouted.

"It doesn't matter. You were hired to do a job and you either can or can't do it. Right now there's hundreds, if not thousands of people looting that castle. We've been trying to get in for days and lost almost half our company and now that we have a chance you want to call it quits!?" The woman snarled and pushed past Kenny to speak directly to Uriel.

"I'm the party leader and I don't care who you are but if you can safely open the gates and get us inside safely not only will I let your friends go, but we're going to give you his share of the loot we find."

"Fine, but let my friends go first." Uriel replied without a second thought.

"So you can turn your back on us and run away? That's not going to happen." Her reply made Uriel curse under his breath since it was precisely what he intended to do.

With no other choice but to open the gate, Uriel took his time to inspect the place not just looking for traps but also admiring the ancient building technique used in its construction. Although it lacked the millimetric precision of the Maya buildings he saw in Chichén Itzá, the city of Cibola had a beauty of its own.

Stones were placed on top of each other with perfect balance and without using any sort of cement or paste to keep them together. It gave the impression that the wall might crumble at any time, but the weight of the stone kept everything in place.

Had Medusa been able to witness it with her own eyes she would have marbled at the geometrical genius of the ancient builders who managed to use the laws of physics to a degree that shouldn't have been possible when the fathers of mathematics had yet to be born.

"Luna, do you know anything about this place?" Medusa asked in a hushed voice to the tiny huntress besides her.

"Uhm... no." She replied shortly. She not only was annoyed for getting captured, but she also couldn't care any less about an old city.

"Entering the city should be easy and safe. All you have to do is push the door with the same strength of the number of bisons portrayed in it." Uriel explained.

"There's only one carving, so this should be easy." The woman nodded at one of her men who pushed the huge door with ease. It's hinges screeched as the hunter who slowly pushed it all the way open until a large rock bound to a pulley hit the floor. As soon as the man let go of the door it started closing by itself revealing countless carvings of bisons on the inner side of the door.

"Don't come!" He shouted in a useless attempt to warn them and everyone fell silent. Not because of his belated warning or because they noticed the door closing behind them, but due to the amazing sight in front of them.

On the outside the buildings and the walls seemed to be made of stone, while inside things were different. From the paved streets to the houses, from the walls to even the tallest building inside the city, everything was made of gold that shone brightly under the artificial light and in turn reflected on the maddened eyes of the hunters.

"We're rich!" Shouted a hunter as he dropped on the ground trying to pull a brick from the paved street with all his might. "It's not budging, someone help me out with this." Yet everyone was busy trying to grab anything they laid their eyes on.

They pulled, poked and probed everything they could see in a frenzy trying to be the ones to become rich first and it was only after five minutes passed that they realized they couldn't be taken.

Uriel saw them act like mindless beasts fueled by greed with a smirk on his face knowing their efforts wouldn't pay out. The golden material of which the dungeon was built wasn't gold but something incredibly more valuable, a material so durable not even the Mapple corporation was able to put a dent in it with a nuke. In other words, it was indestructible.

"It's not going to work." Uriel let out a sigh after confirming his suspicions. He wished it wasn't the case, but now everything made sense. "This is the same material the dungeons are made of."

"Hey! Look what I found!" Kenny, who snapped out of the gold fever as soon as he failed to pick up a stone, decided to try something different and went inside a house and came back with his arms filled with treasures.

"What the..." Uriel gasped at the sight of the treasure. There were vases, plates and trinkets, all of which could be expected in an archaeological dig site from a native American tribe, only instead of clay they were realized in pure gold. Yet what made Uriel pale in shock was a much smaller object that fell from Kenny's arms, it was an electrum coin Uriel was very familiar with.

Uriel rushed in to pick up the trite causing Kenny to sneer at the young hunter crouching to pick up a single coin.

"I just checked one house and even the chairs were made of gold, I bet the other ones are also filled with treasure. Why bother with a coin that's not even made of gold."

"It's electrum." Uriel replied while pretending to store the coin inside his pocket when he actually stored it in inside his trait.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know it's electrum, but it's worth is only half of pure gold." Kenny scoffed at him then showed his loot to the party leader who gave him a deep kiss as a reward.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me." She said seductively into Kenny's ear making him blush in shyness. Because of his sharp features he was never considered handsome by anyone's standards and after becoming a hunter and ranking up to heavenly his features only became sharper, but on that moment he was the most handsome man in the world for Tanya.

She had no care about his physical appearance or his character, all she cared about was the fact that it was thanks to Kenny that they were now rich, richer than she ever dreamed. It was as though she didn't remember that just five minutes ago she was seriously pondering about killing him.

"Miss Tanya, I don't want to ruin the moment, but..." Said the hunter that opened the door, though he actually had every intention of ruining the moment.

"No way, we're trapped." Tanya let out a gasp.

"Unless you find a thousand bisons willing to push the door, that is." Uriel chuckled as he couldn't care less about the door closing. In a sense, he too had fallen into the golden fever though not without reason. No matter the kind of treasures they found, without the possibility to store them inside his museum he would only be able to collect whatever he could carry.

Trites were different since he not only was able to store them in his trait, but Uriel could also buy useful gear or items from his museum. The prices at the souvenir shop were expensive to the point Uriel considered them a personal offense, but the catalogue contained almost anything man made from the preapocaliptic era, even vehicles that could prove to be useful in the way out.

Not to mention that he was also able to exchange them for credits.

"There must be another way out. Let's pile up everything we find for the time being. You too," She said the last part while releasing Medusa from her bindings and pushing Luna towards Uriel. Because of her appearance and how tired she was, they didn't even bother tying her up as they considered her harmless.

"You're free to run away if you want, but there's money to be made and both our corporations can benefit from a temporary collaboration. What do you say?"

"Well..." Uriel shifted awkwardly for a few seconds before turning to run full speed further inside the city, followed closely by Medusa whose speed made everyone forget that she was unable to see.

"Uhm... bye." Luna said courtly as she turned on her heels and followed Uriel with small steps.