Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 698 - 698: The expedition begins Part 1

It took a couple days for Nika to sort the logistics of taking so many students from New Texas to Hollywood megacity. The first problem she needed to solve was to verify the identity of the students who wanted to tag along, which was a problem in itself since most of them if not all were reluctant to share their personal details and not without reason.

To solve this issue she asked the Cryptid hunting agency to do this job. That way students who wanted to remain anonymous or their traits a secret could do so, since the Cryptid hunting agency was the only institution allowed to handle such delicate information.

Securing means of transportation for everyone should have been the most difficult part since they couldn't count with the help of the army. Their presence in the south side of the continent suffered greatly with the downfall of Texas and from being exiled from the dungeon, but that too was solved easily thanks to one of the students who came from a family that owned a transport company.

Their vehicles weren't luxurious, but they were the best next thing. They had just enough weapons to deter beast rank cryptids from getting on the way, but their armor was up to hunter's standards which meant they could take cover in the vehicles while fighting against stronger foes yet the best part was actually their ability to move in all kinds of terrain at a decent speed.

The actual difficult part was to acquire enough supplies to last them the entire expedition per Pangeotis' request. Although the old professor expected some of the students to not return, he wanted to at least give all the students a fair chance at making it.

Had it been last year, Pangeotis wouldn't have minded sending students with whatever they could afford themselves, but losing so many students had left deep scars in him. Finding artifacts was a difficult task already and since he wasn't a hunter, the only thing he could do was to make things easier for them.

But that left Nika to figure out what to buy, where to buy it and how to distribute it in the vehicles. Something she couldn't have done if not for the 'priceless' help from his students.

"That should be all." Nika dusted her clothes and took a sight of the fully loaded vehicles that were now ready to set off. Just five vehicles should have been enough, but they decided to bring seven just in case they needed the extra cargo capacity to haul artifacts or even salvage.

"Over here, Miss Nika," Simon waved at Nika to get inside the first vehicle in the line. It made sense for her to be at the front since she was supposedly the only one who knew where they were headed to, but also because that vehicle was the best among the group. "this is my family's pride and joy, the Kenworth."

"Whew, that's pretty cool looking." She whistled at the sight of the heavily armored truck, yet it wasn't until she saw the inside that she truly knew how true Simon's words were.

"It's a repurposed truck that has a top defense and all the amenities you could need for a long trip."

"Is that a Jacuzzi!?" Nika entered the vehicle and Alice's group attempted to follow, but Simon stopped them in their tracks.

"Your ride is all the way back." Simon glared at the blond woman.

"But, the teaching assistant said we should stay close to Miss Nika." Alice rebuked.

"This is my truck and what I say goes, you had your chance but you made your choice when you rejected me in front of everyone." While in any regular circumstance Simon would have loved to travel along with Alice, she couldn't possibly compare with Nika in any aspect.

"Do you think he'll hit on her?" Scoundrel let out with envy.

"Only if he has a deathwish." Ashanti chuckled.

"You guys should worry about the professor, but rather about our own safety. Sage insisted we should stay close with Professor Nika at all times and I don't think he said it just because he's paranoid." Alice said, before entering the last vehicle in the formation.

Truth be told, it wasn't bad either and it could compete against the army ATVs. It was also armored and heavily defended, with tinted glass and an alloy mesh in the windows that would keep out even the sturdiest beast level cryptid.

Nevertheless, after their training with Uriel and realizing their own prowess couldn't compare to his, they couldn't possibly fathom how bad could things be outside the city for Uriel to be so insistent about their safety.

"Are you on a first name basis with the teaching assistant now? Could it be that you like him!?" Ashanti made fun of Alice who contrary to her usual cool demeanor blushed up.

"Of course not! I like somebody else." Alice replied looking straight at Scoundrel.

"I don't know, he's a cool guy and he's been good to us." Scoundrel said, completely unaware of what Alice meant.

"Whatever." Alice scoffed and went back to her usual calm demeanor as she took a seat by the window.

"You're so stupid sometimes." Ashanti sat next to Alice which left Scoundrel with no choice but to sit on the other side.

Contrary to their suspicions, the way towards the neighboring megacity was not only safe but also pretty comfortable. They passed through the barrenlands and then got to the point where vegetation started to appear in small patches, then went beyond what used to be the old city of San Antonio.

At a distance they saw what could only be described as a walking forest, a couple small lakes and a few hills, but what called for their attention the most were the traces of an old asphalt road the drivers followed.

It was Scoundrel's and Ashani's first time outside the city and they enjoyed the view along the way just like Uriel did on his first outing, yet after a few hours of traveling they started to become anxious as a question crawled up to their minds.

"Hey, how long until we reach our destination?" Scoundrel asked the driver who remained silent and simply pointed at a sign that read 'Do not distract the driver'.