"Revenge!? You dragged me all the way here just for revenge and didn't even bother telling me up until now!?" Uriel shouted in anger.
"Don't be mad, Sage. She only did it because we asked her to." Medusa said trying to calm her friend down, but Miss Dragonfang lifted a hand to shush her.
"What you say is true, I understand you feel cheated, but none of us could go on with our lives, not like this..." She explained.
"But... why drag me along? I don't need any of this! I thought we would be hunting some rabbits and making quick money." Uriel said, still a bit offended, but his anger subsided thanks to Miss Dragonfang's serious tone of voice.
"That may be your case, but you don't know what happened to those who couldn't escape in time... That thing... I... I was forced to kill a student thinking it was the shapeshifter." Miss Dragonfang argued.
"I get it, but... How did you get everybody else on board with this madness?"
"These two witnessed their classmates getting killed..." She said pointing towards Sam and the geeky student. "Medusa was impersonated and, worst of all, Lightbringer even made out with that 'thing' thinking it was Medusa. How do you think someone can move on with their life like that?"
Her words were nothing new, but when she mentioned Sam making out with the shapeshifting cryptid pretending to be Medusa, she cringed.
"Now it makes sense why you were acting all weird with me..." She spoke in an accusing tone, finally understanding why Sam tried to get close to her.
"Luna, you..." Uriel attempted to speak, but Luna cut him short.
"I just want to learn more about cryptids and see if I can find any evidence to prove my theory that these creatures had been inhabiting earth long before the so called 'arrival'. I had nothing to do with any of this and the only reason I wanted you on this incursion was to ask if you'd be interested in collaborating with my research." Luna said unfazed.
"It's not fair that none of you told me what was really going on..." He said in a sigh. "I get where you're coming from, but I'm risking my life here, even more than any of you. I'm only an evolved and this is surely going to be dangerous." He continued.
"Let's get real here." Miss Dragonfang made a quick pause to emphasize her words. "You're complaining on how unfair it is that you didn't know about the true objective of this incursion, when in fact it's an opportunity. Who else would hire an evolved that just acquired his trait? Besides, I'm not letting anyone die this time, all you have to do if you get asked to prove your identity is to take off a piece of garment and everything will be alright."
Deep inside, Uriel knew that Miss Dragonfang was right, the ticket fee was extremely pricey for him and she paid for it, without her help Uriel would most likely end up like a corporate drone in a small company until the end of his days.
Participating in an independent incursion was a privilege only the richer students could afford and it was an incredible opportunity for someone like him.
"Fine..." Uriel said with a bitter aftertaste. Maybe if they had told him the full story or if, at least, they gave him enough time to prepare, he would have been jumping with joy after getting invited to an incursion free of charge.
After the small argument the group continued investigating the area for a while longer until the lack of clues forced them to go back to their camp.
"I don't get it..." Said Medusa. "Why does the army help college students in acquiring their traits, but not the general population?"
"The reason behind that is simple. College students undergo a series of admittance tests, some of which are designed to spot any possible troublemaker." Phlox replied.
"I see..." Medusa said, but her face told another story.
"It's not just that, Medusa. What do you think would happen if anyone was allowed to have a trait?" Uriel asked after pondering miss Phlox's reply.
"Uh... We would have a lot of stronger people and we could finally win the war against the cryptids."
"Wrong, this isn't a war, the war is already lost. What they've been teaching us at school up until this moment is nothing but a sweet lie to keep people working with their heads down. Besides, if everyone had a trait that would lead to chaos and, who would work? there wouldn't be any workforce and society would fall into a power based hierarchy."
His reply left Miss Dragonfang dumbstruck, not only because he quickly figured out the lies within the government propaganda, but also because it took her three years in the army to get to the same reasoning.
"What they said is true, I guess... You do have a good head on your shoulders after all." Miss Dragonfang said under her breath.
Before dusk, Phlox came by and handed every member of the group some gear along with a set of light armor. It didn't offer much protection, but it came with an oval shield on the arm which came in handy. The best part was that it didn't encumber their movements in any way and it was possible to wear it on top of regular clothes. Medusa didn't seem too thrilled to ruin her 'style', but in the end she wore it without any complaints.
They all looked like boxing practicers in a sparring match, but they were also relieved to have at least some sort of defense. The only ones who looked apart from the group were the two former soldiers.
Phlox was wearing her usual medium tier armor, which covered every inch of her body, even her face, while Miss Dragonfang, instead, was wearing her regular clothes.
"Uh, Miss Dragonfang, why are you not wearing any armor?" Sam asked, concerned that the strongest member of their hunting party was defenseless, but the mature woman simply showed him her naked arm. One second it was normal, then the next it was covered in scales.
"Cryptids like the rabbits or even that dog you saw before wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on my skin." She said with a smile. "Your armor will protect you against bruises, but be careful against piercing attacks because it will do little to protect you against those."
'Great! Now it turns out our armor is useless against horned rabbits. All they do is try to stab people in the face and I don't even want to think on the black dog's fangs. I bet every damned cryptid will have fangs, horns or piercing claws.' Uriel shivered thinking that their armor was, essentially, just for show.
That night was quiet and, although everyone was a little bored, no one wanted to listen to any of Luna's tales. At dawn break, the group headed towards the lost city. It was a few kilometers walk, but thanks to everyone being either evolved or ascended, it took them a short while to reach the first building.
It was a small gas station in the outskirts of the city and it was covered with markings on the walls. They didn't look anything like graffiti, it was more like an orderly list of names.
Lieutenant Dragonfang picked a spray paint can from the ground and marked her name and a number on a blank space.
"This building acts like a visitors log, it's not a rule, but most groups will mark their passing as soon as they can." She explained.
"Are we not going to enter the building?" Medusa asked.
"I don't think it will be possible for us to find anything valuable in there, all this markings mean at least that many people have been inside already. Besides, even if there was, we're just starting our incursion and the extra weight would only be a hindrance if we need to fight."
The group was about to get ready to move forward, when Uriel stopped them.
"I think we might find something in there. You said that the weight might be an encumbrance for us but, following that logic, all the other hunting parties should have thought the same." Uriel pointed out.
"Uhm... Interesting. I don't think you'll find anything but, let's use this as a practice. I'll give you guys two minutes to scavenge as much as you can, starting now!"