Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 965: The vision serpent

Nika had always thought that Uriel cared the least about her among her companions as he usually showed more concern for the safety of any crew member but her. Even when she fought cryptids alone and returned after a life or death scenario, even when she moved into enemy territory, Uriel never showed he cared. As usual, there was a reason to that.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care, it was that he trusted she would be alright no matter the situation she was put in. Besides, thanks to their bond he could feel whether or not she was alright and that was the case now as he trusted she would reach her destination safe and in time.

But that was not the case for him as he was now alone in the middle of the jungle without any means of transportation or sense of direction. Sure, he was able to buy a compass from his souvenir shop but they were prone to failing due to electromagnetic anomalies. And it just happened that one of the largest electromagnetic anomalies hovered on top of his head no matter where he went.

Of course, the best alternative would be to summon his jaguar and ride across the jungle. Not just because of the jaguar spirit’s exceptional sense of direction and speed, but also because it was adept at navigating the jungle terrain that had been his home for millennia. But there was no point in daydreaming as his trusted jaguar was not an option anymore and that left Uriel in a pinch.

"I didn’t think I would make it this far..." He sighed as he sat on a tree trunk that was recently hit by lightning to think of a solution. Most of his conundrums had always been about complex mysteries, varied creatures or lack of power, not something as menial as ’how to get from point A to point B’ and that presented an unusual challenge. It was then, that an unusual solution came to mind.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that being stranded on the middle of the jungle was a life or death scenario and that didn’t apply just to regular humans as hunters were also considered prey in the unknowns of the jungle. But thankfully, Uriel was not a regular human or a regular hunter for that matter and that allowed him to think outside the box.

It took a while, but thanks to Luna’s research on cryptids Uriel was able to find the perfect candidate to become his new steed. The first step to lure him was to perform the bloodletting ritual, which sounded far more solemn than the simple act of scattering blood in the surroundings. A small amount should have been enough, but now that he got Water warlock’s blessing back blood was cheap and Uriel figured the more the better.

Just as he suspected, the Vision serpent didn’t take long to appear. Similar to the winged serpents he had seen in the archaeological site, Luna theorized that the vision serpent also had the ability to fly but it was be bigger and faster. She based her theory on the tales about the serpent and what Uriel mentioned about the bloodletting ritual. Due to the religious aspect of this particular creature, its existence lied at the fringes of mythology which is why anticipating exactly what it would look like would be impossible.

But even if someone had told Uriel exactly what it looked like, Uriel would have still gasped in shock after seeing it for the first time. For starters, it wasn’t just larger than the winged serpents, it was the size of an average skyscraper. Also, depicting it as a serpent did little justice to the magnificent creature that appeared in front of Uriel and the closest thing Uriel could think about was something he blurted out without even realizing it.

"A dragon!" The feeling of wonder and fear struggled within Uriel’s mind leaving him in awe in front of the creature.

"It has been a while since the last time the ceremony," The Mayan equivalent to a dragon spoke the same as a teen who had just been woken up to have breakfast. "what is it that you wish? Peace for your tribe? Bountiful crops?" The dragon asked with the same excitement a clerk would show to the hundredth client on a monday.

"Not really." Uriel scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Could it be treasure?" The dragon’s eyes became sharp as he leaned closer to Uriel. Gauging his reaction he could tell that there was desire in his heart, but the young man still shook his head.

"It’s not that either."

"The time has come," The dragon spoke solemnly. "finally, someone overcame the earthly desires and seeks the ancient wisdom of this one."

"Well, that’s not it either." Uriel replied increasingly embarrassed.

"Then what do you want?" The Dragon dropped all semblance of solemnity and asked with obvious curiosity.

"I need transportation." Uriel said in the thinnest voice his now heavenly rank body could produce.

It took the mythical dragon no less than ten minutes of freezing awe to finally come to its senses and process the request. He had been summoned several times in the past and asked to solve the greatest catastrophes known to men, illness, starvation, war. He had also been asked selfish material things and there were also some strange ones, but never in its existence had anyone asked for a ride.

"Thanks for this." Uriel politely said after settling in the cryptid’s loin.

"You are very polite for someone who coerced me into agreeing." The mythical dragon called vision serpent felt offended by the request and refused on the spot and when asking nicely didn’t work, Uriel used violence and beat the creature with the help of the same lightnings that were meant to kill him.

"Just because you forced me to use violence doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you." Uriel explained, then let himself be carried east where his destiny awaited.

Zeppelins were not nearly as fast as planes used to be, but planes were too frail to withstand combat, but riding a dragon was the best of both worlds. It not only was faster than a zeppelin, but any and all cryptids would run away instead of attacking as a horror level beast was considered an apex predator. Uriel also found out that dragons made good conversation and he was able to learn much about the Mayan people from their beginnings and the cause of their demise.

"So it really was illness what got them." Uriel nodded.

"Did you know about this?" The dragon’s tone had become more casual after Uriel thanked him as it healed somewhat his wounded pride.

"Yes, thanks to the material remains that had been found one of the theories was that the Spanyards visiting the continent brought diseases that the people from the time could not cure. Their bodies had no defense for that, which is why the next time they visited the place was empty."

"That is pretty much what happened, it saddened me to see them die. Knowing I could have helped them was even worse."

"Then why didn’t you?" It was Uriel’s turn to ask.

"None who remembered the old ways remained," The dragon lingered for a second, then continued. "that is what In thought, but I must be mistaken since you knew the ritual."

Uriel considered explaining to the dragon that it wasn’t that they didn’t remember the old ways, but that people stopped believing in them, but decided to remain silent as he didn’t know which was worse. Being forgotten or people not believing you even existed, both were atrocious to an archaeologist whose academic purpose was precisely to keep memories alive by digging mysteries and bringing them to light for everyone to see.

He felt specially bad for the dragon because he realized that it was similar to Luna’s wandering island in the sense that it too was an ancient cryptid that decided to become the guardian of a civilization, then falling into a slumber when all the people that fed them disappeared. Both the people and the cryptid received what they needed in a fair exchange which was proof that coexisting was possible, or that should have been the case but considering how those civilizations disappeared Uriel found himself questioning his own conclusions.

The flight was pleasing and the conversation was nice, but Uriel realized their trip was about to come to an end when the dragon started its descent and decided he had nothing to lose if he tried Luna’s approach and ask if the dragon wanted to be friends with him, but the dragon said he was otherwise engaged and politely declined.

’I shoot my shot.’ Uriel inwardly thought.

Unaware of the awkward conversation that was taking place, the largest megacity of the UK was fell into a panic as their autoturrets pointed upward and all hunters were summoned to their battle stations.

The ominous picture of a young man riding a dragon with a sword lifted in the air catching lightning as they flew was a threat far too large for anyone to ignore and all nearby holy rank hunters were summoned, but Uriel just flew past the city and unmounted near the Mapple corporation headquarters outside the city walls.

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