Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 360: For kindness

After a couple of nights patrolling the city, Uriel realized the flaw in his plan. Hunting inside the city was great for short term income, especially since very few hunters knew it was even possible and the competition was non existent, but in the long term it was more risk than it was worth.

It wasn’t just that he was hunting by himself what made it dangerous, it was he fact that he needed to be out in the open most of the time and he risked being caught by pretty much anyone who was looking for him.

"The best course of action would be to go to a dungeon and get my hands in some orichalcum, but doing it on my own is just not feasible." Uriel let out a sigh as he stared blankly at the cracked roof over his head. It had only been a couple days but the building that served as a hideout was already getting old for him.

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He looked back to the days when Medusa would wake him up with breakfast, chat for a while before leaving to work and then coming back to a cozy apartment. Uriel knew those days were over and the only way to be with Medusa was to move forward and sort himself, one issue at a time.

Such thoughts steeled his resolve, but there was nothing else to do now other than being patient. Or so he thought.

"That was quite the catch!"

"It sure was, I’m looking forward to doubling it, hehe." Two rowdy men entered the abandoned building where Uriel was without noticing his presence.

One of them was as tall as Uriel, bald and had a long scar crossing his right eye, the other was skinny and had a goatie. Judging by their looks, they were regular humans and even though they had very distinct features, they fitted right in the slums aesthetic. In other words, they were sleep deprived, pale and sickly.

"I’m sorry, is this your home?" Uriel politely asked as he stood up hurriedly, making them flinch in response to his sudden appearance.

"Oh! No, we thought this place was empty..."

"Yeah, sorry about that. We didn’t mean to intrude," The skinny man apologized and then continued. "We found some great loot just outside this building and thought we might find some more inside."

Uriel looked at the man with a hint of pity on his eyes. The ’great loot’ the man was referring too was the trash Uriel accumulated over the days. It was mostly empty tin cans from all the energy drinks the had and a few clothes he discarded after his hunting nights. It saddened him that even his trash was worth so much for people in the slums, but what truly broke his heart was what followed.

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"You look hungry, do you want to have lunch with us?" The tall man asked as he produced a cup of synthetic food from his bag. It wasn’t even Cheeky chicken, it was the kind of synthetic food that didn’t even bother to imitate any real flavor and tasted like chemicals. As far as synthetic food went, it was the cheapest of the cheap, but both of them seemed pretty content with their meal.

Not just that, they were willing to share it with him.

’Just how bad do I look that even those guys are willing to share their meal with me?’ Uriel felt both moved and embarrassed in equal measure. He had been very active in both hunting and training, but he had no means to even take a shower.

Uriel thought of refusing their offer to not take from people that was clearly in worse condition than him, but then he remembered that in any culture refusing a meal was considered an offense and he couldn’t get himself to disrespect those gentle souls.

The shared meal was great, not for the taste that was like a punch to the gut, but for the company. Even if it wasn’t that long since he had been by himself, Uriel really couldn’t take being alone. If anything, the one thing that bothered him was that there was only one cup and they all took turns eating.

"Thanks for the meal." Uriel said as he leaned on the wall trying to forget the greasy taste, but vowing to never forget that it was the people who had less the ones who were more generous. More than once he was forced to go to bed hungry when he was studying in college because he didn’t have any money and not even his rich ’girlfriend’ at the time even offered him something.

Tina probably assumed Uriel had all his basics needs covered, but she also never bothered to ask him.

"It’s not a problem. I’ve been in your situation before."

"I really don’t think so." Uriel replied dismissively. After all, his situation wasn’t something he could have foreseen even in a hundred years.

"Let me see, you were kicked out by your girlfriend and now you’re saving money to try and win her back later," The skinny man said with confidence, but then he went even further. "It’s not worth it, she’ll find someone with more money than you."

"What he’s saying, is that you should try to get back on your feet, but do it for yourself." The bald man butted in.

"Yes, that!" The skinny man nodded.

Uriel was beyond shocked by how accurate they were and for a second he suspected they might be hunters sent after him to poison him, but that wouldn’t make any sense. First, because that kind of synthetic meal was already pretty bad on its own and he doubted any poison could make it any worse and second, because their energy signature was even lower than that of a regular human.

"Hey, if you’re free... why don’t you go with us to the ladder?"

"The ladder?" Uriel snapped back from his thoughts and asked.

"Yeah, it’s the kind of place where you can double your earnings in a day!"