Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 831 - 831: Matters of the heart Part 1

Having a hunter with the power to manipulate air was more than convenient for any company who owned a zeppelin, though someone would argue that having a member from the Eurus family perform as an auxiliary engine was a waste of potential, let alone Bella Eurus herself. Bella was naturally gifted with a vast flux reserve and precise control over her energy expense which would have made her the most powerful huntress in most companies, though that wasn't the case with the Dungeon Raiders.

The strongest member of their company was also their boss, Uriel. He never considered himself as the strongest as he knew Nika was faster, Luna's lycanthropy made her as resilient as cryptids and Medusa's trait was now at the level it allowed her to take down a holy rank hunter. But as strong as they were, Uriel had experienced Bella's power on his own flesh and he knew there was no one who could compare to her.

She was physically strong, had perfect control over flux energy, inherited a vast knowledge on witchcraft and to top it off, she had a wind barrier that kept her safe from most types of damage. As if that was not enough, her trait allowed her to control air itself opening a wide variety of skills such as flying, suffocating and even artificial breathing.

Bella betrayed him and the company by stealing from them, but then she also came back in their time of need which made it difficult to decide if she needed a punishment or a reward. One thing he was certain of was that although he never liked her much as a companion, she was utterly terrifying as an enemy.

However, Uriel knew he was way more versatile than her and the only one with the determination to put himself into a kill or be killed situation without second thought. Bella was scared of dying or getting hurt and that was his sole advantage against her.

"You can take the man from the slums, but you can't take the slums from the man." He sighed as he realized the only reason he was like that was due to how he was raised..

"No kidding, I sometimes forget I'm a hunter and get all jumpy for the silliest things, like spiders." Kristina chuckled.

"I know someone like that." Nika chuckled while directing a mocking wink to Uriel who reacted by leaving the ship's cafeteria making her thing he got upset.

"We need to talk." Uriel said as he entered Bella's room without knocking. A small yet meaningful gesture that showed declining was not an option.

"I don't know where the spear is." Bella said defensively, though Uriel's expression did not shift as he wasn't interested in the artifact. Losing it was incredibly wasteful and could have future implications, but that a done deal. He needed to make a decision on whether or not to trust Bella and for that the only one who could help him was Bella herself.

"I don't know why you did what you did and there are several questions I would like answers to, but if I'm being honest, I would not believe you even if you told the truth. I need to know if you're one of us or if you're here just because it was convenient."

"I am one of you, of us. I just..." Bella bit her lower lip and fell silent.

"I just said I don't trust you. Anything you say is just hot air to me." Uriel said, then continued after she nodded in understanding. "In order to decide if you are one of us I will present you with two options. One, you can receive a punishment according to your betrayal. I won't play it down, it is going to hurt... a lot."

"What is the other choice?" She asked after gulping down a lump of saliva that felt like dust.

"A reward, a pretty big one since you saved the Pegasus, the crew and even helped when they were rescuing us. If it was a stranger the one who did it I would not hesitate to cough up half the ship's worth for saving the ship, half my fortune for saving our crew and whatever is left on my bank account for saving me, but you were once one of us and for that, I will give you all of our funds."

"Will that be enough to get me back to America?" Bella's question was met with a loud scoff from Uriel.

"It's probably enough to buy you a fleet for yourself. Though, I will only pay you once you get us to a safe megacity."

"That's a pretty dumb choice." Bella muttered, though something in her gut told her things were not as simple.

"Bear in mind that if you choose the punishment, you will be allowed to stay and be one of us. The latter, instead, will get you kicked out of the company and you will never be allowed back."

Bella lingered for about a minute before standing up towards the door, only to shut it close ready for whichever form of torture he chose. She didn't scream, cry for help or tried to defend herself during the following hour. Whatever happened would remain a mystery as neither Uriel nor Bella would ever speak about it. The only thing the crew would ever know was that Uriel came out of the room drenched in sweat bearing a satisfied grin and no one would see or hear about her in the following day.

"She's going to need the day off." Uriel said to the always nosy Miss Dragonfang before she even asked a question.

Uriel's next stop was the medical bay where the maid had taken Soulfire hoping he would be conscious and lucid enough to have a conversation. One much different from the one he just had with Bella, needless to say. As soon as he set foot in the room he met with Luna, who was checking on Soulfire's condition.

"He's on the brink of death and may never wake up, but he is an excellent study case." She informed, sitting on the wheelchair Uriel found during their last incursion proving that deciding not to scrap it was the best choice.

"How are you doing?" Uriel asked after acknowledging Luna's report.

"Breathing hurts, how do you think I'm doing?" She asked aloof as always.

"No need to be sassy, I just worry about you."

"I was not being sassy, I'm genuinely curious. Nika said you went through the same thing I did and I thought you would know."

"Our conditions are similar, but not quite the same. To me it was a very slow process that took place over weeks. It was painful, but not too much since my body had time to readjust itself."

"I see, my case is different probably because of the radiation poisoning. It destroyed my cells which sped up the process...." She said, then started mumbling to herself.

"That is what I thought too. But hey, now that you know about this perhaps you can take check me up and try to make sense of this."

"Yes, drop your pants." She nodded oozing scientific curiosity through her eyes.

"Nice try, the flux orb is in my chest." Uriel's words triggered a very rare shocked expression on Luna's face causing him to flinch and cover his chest out of instinct, though his words had set his fate into stone.

After calming herself, Luna asked Uriel to take off his shirt and carefully examined him for a good five minutes without uttering a single word. From time to time it looked as though she was about to speak, but then just huffed and continued her silent evaluation.

"Do you want the good or the bad news?" As a medic, Luna's duty was to diagnose any ailments of the people and then seek for a possible treatment, but that was not the full extent of her job. She also needed to explain it to her patients in a way they would understand without needlessly scaring them, though she always failed at the last part. It was something Lamar attempted to correct many times, but whether Luna couldn't understand or just wouldn't he couldn't tell.

"The bad news first, the good news after and then I'll bump you in the head." Uriel replied.

"Bad news are that this is indeed a flux orb, but it is impossible to determine its level. There is also the fact that apparently, you either do not have a heart or it was displaced by the orb. You may wonder how could a hunter survive without a heart, but that is impossible. Besides, you do have a heartbeat, which leads me to the good news. This orb has somehow been performing the role of your heart for a long period of time. Ouch." After finishing the explanation and receiving the promised bump in the head, Luna yelped in a monotone.