Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 557: Bet against the system Part 1

"You knew!" Kalos face turned bright red out of anger and shame.

"Next time you try to get me killed I'll charge you double." Uriel casually shrugged.

"He did what!?" Medusa's anger voice filled the vastness of the barrenlands and a distant roar seemingly replied which prompted her to cover her mouth with an 'oops' expression.

Uriel shook his head with a sigh then turned to run followed closely by Kalos and lastly Medusa who, just as Uriel expected could only follow Kalos' presence due to Uriel hiding his own. This arrangement should have worked, if not for Kalos constantly lagging behing unable to match Uriel's speed.

[18h54m39s]

"Hurry up Kalos, your sister might be in danger." Uriel tried to convince Kalos, not realizing it would only make him slower for the rest of the race.

"I just can't keep up, just give me a moment." Kalos replied with a jagged breath as he leaned into wide thorny tree.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want us to give you and your girlfriend a moment?" Uriel said jokingly.

"I'm a treefolk! Not a damned tree!" Kalos growled.

"Yeah, but... I mean, your people must have come from somewhere." Uriel shrugged prompting Medusa to chuckle. Usually, Medusa was against making fun of other people but she lost all respect for Kalos when learned he tried to get Uriel killed.

"I'm so tired of the stupid jokes about trees, we treefolk come from ancient creatures that were precursors to both trees and treefolk. This is just a tree!" Kalos kicked the tree causing a hinging sound that resembled a moan.

"Is that tree language?" Medusa asked innocently.

"For the love of..." Kalos facepalmed, then fell to the ground when the 'tree' was lifted from the ground.

"Guys... I don't think that's a tree... it has a presence." Medusa's face went pale as she pointed her finger to the direction where she felt the birthing of an energy signature.

"This... precursors you mentioned. Are they nice people?"

"They are, but..." Kalos loudly gulped when he noticed that Medusa wasn't pointing at the 'tree' but above their heads.

"Run!" Uriel shouted, though it was unnecessary as both Kalos and Medusa were already at a distance, running away from the creaking sounds that seemingly surrounded them. Uriel pointed his lantern at his surroundings trying to understand what was going on or trying to find the enemy without success.

"It's like the trees disappear and reappear at different places!" Medusa stated once she realized they were lost.

"Can trees teleport?" Uriel asked Kalos who replied in a shout.

"I'm not an expert in fucking trees!"

As much as Uriel would have loved to make fun of Kalos' wrong choice of words, he decided to remain silent as the situation was much too strange for his liking. No matter which direction they took, it was as though the entire forest followed them making them lose their path.

"We need to rest." Uriel said with a jagged breath, making Kalos wonder how could the same hunter that fought tirelessly for an entire night suddenly become tired after running for less than half an hour.

"Should I... take the blindfold off?" Medusa asked hesitantly, thinking that maybe she could see something they couldn't.

"No, we'll leave your petrifying glare as a last resort." Uriel replied, knowing that her trait could possibly solve their situation in an instant, but it could also make things way worse.

"What if we leave a mark in the trees we pass?" Kalos asked.

"That won't be necessary," Uriel replied with a ghostly pale face when the dim light of the sunrise revealed the reason why the 'trees' seemingly moved and he pointed his finger upwards. "They're not trees, they're spider legs!"

Gigantic spider, legs wide as a trunk and nimble enough to stride across the barrenlands without making a single noise were the least of their worries once they saw their huge chelicerae dripping venom.

The first to act was Kalos, who struck the nearest one with his fist causing a hollow sound that caused the spider to become aggressive and attempted to jab him with another leg, though Uriel managed to block it with the 'Red thread of fate'.

"Why the hell did you do that!?" Uriel scolded, struggling to fend off the huge limb.

"I thought I could break it..." A wide eyed Kalos barely managed to reply after seeing death flash in front of his eyes.

With both hands occupied trying to block the spider leg, Uriel kicked Kalos out of its trajectory before letting it go. The huge limb tore deep into the ground with a booming sound where it remained still once more.

"They're not hostile, they'll just try to get us lost and they'll catch us when we're tired."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"It's because of Luna, she warned us about spider cryptids liked this. She said they're ambush predators and will only engage in fights they know they can win without taking any damage. By hitting it, you triggered its defense response, but now they should remain still..." Medusa spoke until Uriel cut her short.

[16h46m15s]

"We've lost enough time already, let's keep moving." Uriel said after gazing at the distance under the morning sun and finding the landmark he'd been searching for.

Foll𝑜w current novels on fɾēewebnσveℓ.com.

Running outside the 'forest' was only a matter of minutes now that the spiders remained still and as they gained distance, they turned to see the forest for what it truly was.

Despite the green thoraxes that looked like treetops and the bark-like limbs that perfectly blended in with the bushes and actual trees, they now knew it wasn't a forest but a multitude of spiders and each of them made a silent vow to not ever go there in the remainder of their lives.

"Where are you taking us?" Kalos broke the silence once he realized they were in the middle of nowhere.

"Do you always ask so many questions?"

"I want to know too..." Medusa muttered.

"The known entrances to the Alamo dungeon are: the San Fernando cathedral, which is the emergency exit, the Alamo itself which is the sealed entrance that you can only cross after acquiring all three relics and the bottomless pit near lake Travis which you can only cross with the permission of its guardian." Uriel began his explanation.

"That's right, reply only when the pretty girl asks." Kalos sneered.

"She's my friend, you're only a random jerk I barely met that tried to get me killed." Uriel shrugged.

"Please, continue." Medusa spoke at the general direction of Uriel's voice.

"I'll do it while we walk. As I was saying, the last entrance I mentioned is linked not only to its guardian, but to the first world. This opens the possibility that there might be a secret entrance linked to each world and I'm fairly certain I know where it is."

"That plateau?" Kalos pointed at the distance.

"That's not any plateau. Lots of people reported strange things going on in there before the arrival, things like creaking sounds or grunting in the distance. There's also a lot of native American stories about that place."

"It can't be... you're not taking us to the enchanted rock, are you!?"