Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 314: Pacific shipwreck

Even in the old times, when people thought of cryptids as nothing but myths, the sea was always considered a mysterious place. All sorts of enigmatic animals were discovered in the ocean along the centuries and the presence of giant creatures at the bottom of the sea was food for the collective imagination.

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However, most people didn’t fear the sea for those creatures but for the dangers of the sea itself.

Now things were different and the ocean was considered too dangerous to be traversed even by the huge battleships that were now gathering rust at the shipyards all over the world, though it was still possible to find some shipwrecks at random places in the middle of the ocean.

That was precisely what Sam spotted directly in their path, a huge warship almost as big as the Pegasus, which was impressive to say the least considering that people didn’t have traits when it was built.

"Can you imagine assembling something like that without traits?" Medusa asked in amazement.

"Must have been a pain in the ass." Sam said as he inspected the ship from above.

"Is there anything there that can be of any use to us?" Uriel’s eyes lit up with greed.

The hulking mass of floating steel told the tale of a gruesome battle. It was cut in half and there were many holes in the hull, yet somehow it managed to remain afloat in spite of it looking like a piece of Swiss cheese. But that wasn’t the most shocking thing about it.

"I don’t know about that, but I think there’s people living in there!" Sam gasped.

"You can’t be serious, who would live in a shipwreck?"

"No, I swear, I think I saw someone from the corner of my eye."

"Uhm, cryptids... it must be cryptids." Luna butted in.

"You’re right, we should probably stay away from that shipwreck." Sam replied.

"No," Luna shook her head. "I want to go there."

"No, no, no! Impossible. We’re safe up here, there’s no need to take such a stupid risk. Even if there’s people living there, we can’t be certain they’re good people. Besides, we’re currently in the middle of the ocean and if something goes wrong we’ll be trapped or worse." Sam had a point, his arguments were solid and the logic behind his words couldn’t be denied.

For once, everyone had to agree that Sam was right and it was a poor decision to explore an abandoned shipwreck in the middle of the ocean, there was little to gain and too much to lose.

Just as expected, though, five minutes later the Pegasus was descending to a distance that would allow them to board the shipwreck as Sam pouted behind the rudder.

"Why!? I don’t get it!"

"Let it go, Sam. There’s nothing we can do about it, Luna said she wants to go." Uriel said as he placed his hand over his friend’s shoulder.

"You guys spoil her too much!" Sam wasn’t just upset that they decided to explore the shipwreck in spite of their better judgement, what bothered him the most was that since they didn’t have anywhere to land and he was the only one capable of flying, he was the one tasked with carrying them to and from the shipwreck.

The first trip was obviously the most dangerous one and Uriel wouldn’t let anyone other than himself take that risk. It wasn’t just that he knew he would most likely survive any dangers thanks to Water warlock’s blessing, but also because Nika was able to come and go from his shadow as she pleased and would be able to assist him if things went wrong.

Sam went back to get Luna as soon as Uriel landed, which gave him enough time to scout the place on his own. Everything seemed dirty and old, but not the kind of ancient old that Uriel would have loved to study.

There were no clues to ancient mysteries, nor were there any hints of possible treasure, if anything, the only thing he learned was that whatever creature destroyed the ship had to be at least as big as the ship itself. Even if it was just steel, the hull was so thick it would have taken at least a heavenly rank with physical enhancement abilities to break it.

Once Luna joined him, they walked along the ship looking for any clues. Sam mentioned that there were people living in there, but didn’t say exactly what did he see. It took a while, but eventually they found what used to be the entrance to the ship and they went inside.

The long halls were wet and filled with barnacles and seaweed, hinting that at some point in time the place had to be completely submerhed under water, but instead of shedding any light it only made things more confusing. The only possible explanation was that someone, or something, must have refloated the ship with a mysterious purpose.

They crossed the long halls in silence without any sense of direction, taking care to explore every single room they found but without daring to open any sealed door to not disturb whatever creature that called that filthy place their home. As their exploration progressed, sunlight became scarcer which forced them both to light up their gas lanterns to venture even further in the shipwreck.

Then, a strange buzzing sound alerted them that something was going on right beneath their feet where a hatch was conveniently placed. Uriel nodded at Luna before attempting to open it and a beam of light illuminated their faces blinding them for a short second, but that wasn’t all.

A somewhat familiar smell hit their nostrils, but Luna reacted heavily to it and she rushed inside without even caring about the possible danger.

Everything was spotless clean, bright and crowded with hunters with all kinds of traits related to water. But the most impressive thing were the words uttered by the beautiful cashier:

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