Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 990 - 990: Lost continent

Entering what Sam told them was a city felt no different to the Shadowlands outside. There were no walls blocking their way and the place was just as dark as everywhere else. Even the sounds remained the same, though the annoying creaking did not come from sand but glass against the shattered pavement of a city destroyed long ago.

Telling exactly which city they were in was impossible for more than one reasons. The only one who had supposedly been there before could not see and the one who could see, did not recognize anything. Not that there was much to identify even if they knew what they were looking for, which they didn't because the only one who would have been able to make anything of the remnants of a city was precisely the person they were looking for.

"They call these places lost cities, but this is just foundations and a few walls here and there. It's like they bombarded the place." Sam explained what he saw to the rest.

"Maybe they did. When cryptids appeared the first thing your people did was to throw bombs at everything." Nika would have loved to glare at Sam, but even the glimmer of his eyes was lost in the darkness that seemed to become denser with every step they took.

"What do you mean with my people?" Sam asked genuinely confused as it was difficult for him to picture a time where humanity had different nations. As any modern citizen in any megacity in the world, Sam knew there used to be different nations that sometimes waged war against each other, but it was still difficult to picture countries as different geopolitical limits rather than just geological landmarks.

"I don't think it was bombs. The usual traces of a bomb are quite noticeable, particularly in ground zero. In this case, it's as if hunters fought against cryptids... or maybe each other." Medusa spoke shyly assuming Nika would get angry at the suggestion, but she agreed.

"That's probably it. My people had a knack for fighting one another. Back in the day..." Maybe due to the boredom caused by the lack of sensory stimulation, Nika went on a speech about her country and what her people was like.

She told them how they lived, what kind of food they ate, the music they listened to and stories in general about what she knew about Mexico. She was still young when she was taken by the Mapple corporation, but those memories were the thing she clung to as a lifeline to keep her sanity at her lowest.

Sam, Luna and Medusa listened to her with admiration as some of the things she said seemed even more unbelievable than many of the supernatural beings they've encountered so far. Sam could not understand for the life of his why would people pay to get zapped with a car battery while Luna was pretty interested in the cuisine. Medusa, however, was lost on her thoughts.

She enjoyed hearing Nika speaking and not just because it drew her away from boredom, but there was something else. It took her a while to figure it out, but the reason why she enjoyed Nika's speech so much was because she sounded just like Uriel whenever he spoke about past civilizations. It brought her a sense of joy and excitement she wanted to share with everyone else, but then it hit her.

"Nika, your culture is lost. It will never return. It's a tragedy that all the people who lived here died, but to think that all you mentioned will forever be lost... that's just..." Medusa spoke the first words that came out of her mind as tears started welling up in her eyes. She wished she could give Nika a tight hug to comfort her for losing everything about her culture but her memories, but no word or gesture could mean anything now.

It had always been there, Nika speaking spanish whenever she had the chance and talking about snacks from her childhood. Talking about people no one knew and telling 'fun stories' about them no one actually thought were funny. Nika always said their names and talked as if they were close relatives, even when she talked about grocery owners or just neighbors. It was incredibly annoying when she did all those things, but it was only then that Medusa could understand why Nika did it.

She always acted so carefree and lighthearted no one could have ever pictured the pain she had deep into her heart. No one but Uriel, that is, and that made her understand two things.

"Now I know why you drink so much," Nika's alcoholism was the cause of so many troubles, both during incursions and during day to day company activities, not to mention her annoying behavior while she was drunk which admittedly was most of the time. And the second thing she understood was something far more serious. "I think now I know why he's into archaeology so much. I would never say this to his face, but I always thought archaeology was kind of useless except for the insight he gained about dungeons. Before knowing him I always wondered why would someone even chose to study something I thought to be useless."

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't get it at first. I had a good impression about him when we met just because he wasn't bratty, handsy or entitled. That was far better than most of my previous clients. It came with the downside of having to listen to him about sculptures that looked the same, yet somehow had a different meaning. I couldn't figure out what was so interesting about them. I mean, the damned things were made out of clay." Nika chuckled.

"Archaeology doesn't make sense until you realize it's not just about understanding the past, it's about preventing what happened to the failed cultures to happen to those who are left. Making mistakes is fine, but only because we can learn from them. Even as a civilization." Sam nodded as if someone could see him.

"Is that what happened to us? Will we never return to normal?" Luna's innocent face was unseen and her monotone may have seemed inexpressive even to a pattern learning algorithm, yet those who knew her could tell the sadness that came along those words.

"It's going to be fine, don't worry." Nika said as she reached in the dark to poke her cheeks with a finger before clapping her hands and getting to work.

The plan was to find a place where Uriel could have passed since catching him was out of the question. It wasn't just that he had days ahead of them, but the fact that his speed now far outmatched that of anybody in the group. That could have made their mission completely useless if not for one thing.

While Uriel may have been able to hide his flux signature and stay away from combat, they knew he would only use stealth when necessary. He always preferred the high risk high reward path and the shadowlands was the kind of place that had plenty of both. Every cryptid had a flux orb inside that could be sold for a lot of money, yet money had become irrelevant for Uriel a while ago. It was months ago that they decided to stop selling flux orbs as it only drove down prices rather than garnishing them more winnings due to the quantity and quality of the ones they possessed.

No, it wasn't the flux orbs that would make Uriel make a stop before meeting the titan. It was something else entirely and they knew exactly where to find it.

"Yup, he's been here." Sam said, his tone implying he wasn't too happy about it. Or maybe he was distracted by Luna rubbing herself on the floor of what used to be a museum. The place was ransacked during the arrival which meant nothing of value should have remained, but the true valuable artifacts were not necessarily appealing to looters.

Just like the jaguar figurine that allowed Uriel to summon and control a cryptid seemed to be cheap until he crushed flux orbs nearby, many other artifacts had lost their luster and could be repaired in the same way.

"I can smell his scent, but it's faint. It's been about five days." She informed blushing up after realizing that Sam was able to see her embarrassing behavior.

The group moved from one city to the other, camping only when absolutely necessary to avoid wasting their time. They visited several museums, but some cities either didn't have one or it was too destroyed for them to find.

"Is this it? We're going to go from city to city looking for places he's been?" Medusa furrowed her brows in the unseen of dark.

"If you have a better idea, I'm taking any suggestions," Nika shrugged then added. "this may not be the fastest way, but we're getting closer." Other than Luna's sense of smell there was no evidence to support Nika's claim, but that was only until Sam finally spotted something in the distance.

"I know that place... that's where I lived when I was on the run!"