Dungeon Raider System

Medusa was taken aback when not only Uriel, but also Nika showed familiarity with her grampa. Even Luna who was the last to enter as she still moved about in a wheelchair didn't seem too impressed by the man in front of her despite knowing he was the founder of the most important company in the world.

"And here I hoped you had finally come up to your senses and decided to join the corp." Walter Works, founder of the Mapple corporation, let out a dejected sigh.

"Hey, old man, you don't have any beer left." Nika grumbled.

"I wasn't expecting visitors." He chuckled.

"When did you guys met?"

"He's the one who got me my job at the Mapple corp." Nika replied dismissively.

"And he's the one who conned me out of my pay." Uriel snarled.

"That is one of the things I've been wanting to discuss with you. You see, everyone who took part in the expedition confirmed what you said, but we have people with lie detecting traits. That is how I know you took something with you that you shouldn't have."

"Claiming the dagger for himself was within his rights." Nika furrowed her brows, receiving a nudge on the ribs by a very annoyed Uriel.

"Fine, let's call it even then." Uriel said, suspecting Walter knew about the jaguar despite his efforts to keep its existence a secret.

"Agreed. So, what brings you all here?" Walter looked at Medusa with a puzzled expression on his face.

"I want to know about my mother."

Walter knew this dreaded moment would come eventually, but he did not expect for Medusa to ask something so personal in front of other people. He had heard some of her stories about her friends but despite Medusa trusting him with her life, she still kept their names a secret. If any of them knew she talked about them with none other than the founder of the corps. himself they would have been pissed to say the least.

"It's entertaining how things developed," Walter took a pause to look each of those present before continuing to speak. "I still remember the day I took you in, Nika. You were a lost soul with empty eyes and look at yourself now. You are a beautiful huntress and a very powerful one at that. I also remember the day someone showed me a certain Vlog pertaining a teen from the slums with the wildest theories about ancient languages and whatnot. And you... you must be Luna, correct?"

"Uhm... yes." She nodded.

"When I visited Texas I had the chance to look at your job application. I'm sure you would have done wonders for our company and that is precisely why I had to personally reject you." The words that came out of Walter's mouth made no sense to Luna. Contradictions were difficult for her to understand and while she wanted answers as to why the founder of the Mapple corporation decided to nip her dream of introducing cryptozoology as a science in the bud, she understood her question was nothing when compared to what Medusa wanted to know.

"Gramps, this has nothing to do with my question." Medusa pouted like the spoiled grandchild she was.

"I know you are craving for answers, but I just can't give them to you. The only person who can answer those questions is your mother herself."

"But she's sick and... I've never seen her." Medusa lowered her gaze.

"She is not exactly sick," Walter muttered. "also, the reason why I remain shut inside buildings at all times is not because I'm sick but because I can't control my flux energy, just like it happened to you each time you become stronger."

"Then why are you so obsessed with the fountain of youth?" Uriel furrowed his brows without a care for meddling into Medusa's family matters.

"Grampa, please..." Medusa gave her best impression of puppy eyes, only her eyes were not just of a different color. They were the most intimidating shade of red brimming with power and the threat of sending someone to face their most inner fears or even petrify them on the spot, yet Walter was the only person in the world who found her puppy eyes to be extremely effective.

"We know exactly where your mother is, but... it is impossible to get there. Not even Jon Hunter was able to enter that place which is why I looked for someone who could understand the ancient language. But that doesn't mean we don't know about that place, actually, there is a lot of information about it. The problem is that in order to enter, you need someone capable of infiltrating through matter. Then, there's also the cryptids..." Walter's voice became flaky and his demeanor shifted from that of a loving grandfather to a distraught father and Uriel took the chance to butt in once again.

"I can read the ancient language, Nika can use shadowblink and Luna knows all there is to know about cryptids and she can also pick up on things on the go...," Uriel spoke as though he was solving the ancient puzzle of the century, but then it dawned on him that it was too much of a coincidence. It was then that the true puzzle started forming in his mind as the pieces fitted together. "and that is why you handpicked us. Because you knew we could be useful one day and I believe this is that day."

"Yeah! Let's go rescue Medusa's mom!" Nika cheered popping open a beer no one knew she had.

Tears welled up in Medusa's eyes as the same people she attempted to kick out of the building not long ago were signing up to help her without so much as sparing it a second thought. The worst part was that it wasn't something she didn't expect but rather completely within the boundaries of their usual behavior.

"I'm sorry for getting your hopes up, but it's all meaningless. Without the fountain of youth it is impossible to get there..."