Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 833 - 833: Matters of the heart Part 3

Nika walked inside the headquarters with the overbearing attitude she used to back when she was a Mapple corporation employee. She did not wear their uniform just as she never did back in the day since she claimed it hindered her movements, but she insisted on Uriel needed to wear one as she was granted special permission by Walter Works himself to skip on the uniform and her case was unique.

A line of bodyguards formed up just like in the old days, with the difference that now they were cutting her path rather than clearing it for her.

"I'm sorry Miss Nika, but you are no longer an employee. Please state your business and leave the premises before we call for the security division." Asked a woman Nika saw hundreds of times in the past yet she never bothered to remember her name or even acknowledge her presence.

"I was deep undercover, tell Jon we accomplished our mission. In the meantime I would like a Stout and my asset wants an Ipa." Nika said as she made way through the bodyguards as though they were nothing but wimps rather than hand picked hunters from all over the world.

"Do you really think I will fall for that?" The woman sneered.

"They're not buying it," Uriel's grimace brought a scornful smile to the woman's face that lasted only until he grabbed his phone. "guess I'll have to call him. Do you mind telling me your name? I need someone to take the blame for me bothering him while he's playing with some woman."

The woman's face stiffened when Uriel finished speaking. They didn't show even the slightest hesitation when speaking or when they made their way through the bodyguards. Not just that, Uriel actually pushed one to the side with ease when the man attempted to place himself directly in his path. But worst of all was that he knew Jon was currently fooling around and hated to be interrupted.

"Did I stutter? Chop, chop," Nika clapped her hands as she sat on a futuristic looking couch and it seemed to snap everyone out of their reverie. The bodyguards instinctively went back to their positions and the woman hurried up to bring them the drinks Nika asked for. "how did you know Jon was with a girl?"

"Isn't he always?" Uriel shrugged dismissively as if his blind shot was not a big deal.

The wait was long and the beer Nika ordered for Uriel was bitter and much to his distaste, yet he drank it all to avoid drawing any attention. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the woman returned with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, but he's currently unreachable. May I leave a message for him?"

"Don't worry, it was a work thing, but it's not time sensitive." Uriel said.

"I insist." The woman said hinting that her suspicions were not over, something Nika swiftly picked up on and she nodded at Uriel.

"It's safe if you only tell her the topic."

"It's about the Laschamp excusion." Uriel said.

"An excursion? I don't recall anything like that in our schedule." The woman said as though she had just caught Uriel in a lie, which she did but Uriel was not going to make it so easy for her.

"That's because it happened roughly 42 thousand years in the past. It's an event that triggered a magnetic pole inversion. Investigating ancient remains of a fossilized tree has shed some light about..."

"I told you just the basics. Geez! This archaeologists are such a pain in the rear. Am I right?" Nika scoffed.

"Archaeologist!? Why didn't you say so before!? They are waiting for you at the auditorium. If you're so kind as to follow me." The woman bowed and gestured with her arm to open the way for Uriel who did so with a puzzled expression on his face.

The auditorium as called by the receptionist was just as one would expect from the Mapple corporation. It was needlessly large, spacious and had a futuristic look to it. The neon lights made it look better fitted for a rock concert than a speech and it was filled to the brim with people who seemed impatient.

The moment the receptionist walked in the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Nika being Nika, she took the chance to graciously vow in front of the public as though she was the one being celebrated right before sitting on the front row.

When Uriel attempted to sit, though, the Mapple corp. employee intervened.

"These people have been waiting here for hours, some even came from abroad days ago just to see you."

"Then let them wait a few more minutes, I need to prepare," Uriel said with the same grumpy expression he would use to scold his own employees. "do you know what's going on?"

"Just go and bore them with your long winded explanations until they fall asleep. No one will even notice you're not the person they've been waiting for." Nika shrugged and her easy going attitude had never been so annoying to Uriel before.

For any archaeologist this situation was not just a nightmare, it was the nightmare. Being rushed into give a speech in front of an audience without even knowing the topic of discussion could be compared to a torture, though Uriel would have rather had his nails plucked with pliers rather than standing in front of so many people.

His palms were sweaty, his throat felt dry and he could feel his mind urging him to fight an imaginary enemy or to flee for safety, but there was no safety. Even if he made it back to the zeppelin, they would not let them fly away just like that. His life and the lives of most of the people he cared about in the world depended on whether he could muster the courage to make a fool out of himself.

"You there, what is your name?" He asked a random woman in the crowd.

"Me? I'm doctor Lissette..."

"What is your favorite part of the subject we are going to discuss tonight? I would like to dedicate that portion to you and maybe grab a drink later." He said making his best impression of Jon Hunter to seduce the woman and Nika would have laughed if not for his confidence and charming demeanor that actually left her in a daze.

"I... huh... I'm just... I don't know, they said it was a secret."

"Ah, these idiots from the Mapple corporation with their secrets. Discoveries are meant to be shared with the scientific community." He grumbled as he walked up to the stage bearing the crooked grin of a complete victory.

Silence was made when the lights on the front showed not the professor they were expecting to listen to, built like a hunter, though he carried the solemn look of the occasion. He cleared his throat at the precise moment one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes upon entered the auditorium and a fat huffing as he tried to keep the pace.

The woman in question was actually someone Uriel knew all too well, or that was what he thought until the realization that she wasn't being kept against her will and she actually walked on her own two feet.

Medusa and Uriel looked each other at a distance, unable to move or speak. To Uriel it felt akin to having his Dash skill active, only instead of making time slow down it was as though it advanced too fast for everybody else and before he could father his thoughts Medusa had disappeared through the same entrance she had walked in.

Uriel gestured at Nika to get on the move and despite her not seeing Medusa she quickly understood what had happened. Uriel spacing out was nothing unusual, but she didn't miss the way his gaze went from icy cold to white hot anger.

"You are not Professor Friedrikssen!" An accusatory voice stood over the gossipy noise of the crowd.

"Proffessor!?" Uriel climbed out of the stage to greet one of the few people he met in Chichén Itzá that actually left a good impression on him.

"Look at you!" He went in for a hug with teary eyes. He was among the people that lied saying Uriel had died during the incursion and then tried to contact Uriel more than a few times just to know if he was doing well. He spent a sizeable chunk of his fortune by even hiring hunters to seek for him, yet once the city of Texas fell he lost all hope and stopped trying. The old man's white mustache shivered in excitement and joy. Tears welled up in his eyes in emotion as many questions arose in his head.

"It's nice meeting you, I would love to catch up but..." Uriel said in a regretful tone of voice as he wanted to disappear and speak to Medusa, though the professor assumed he was troubled for leaving the academics waiting.

"Don't worry about them, it's just a briefing on how to approach dungeons and I have the feeling you have more to say about them than I do." The professor chuckled.