Mystical mayhem

Uriel was completely dazzled by the dagger and he kept it on his hand the whole trip back to camp. He was also really grateful towards Nika for reminding everyone about the clause that allowed archaeologists who found any treasure to keep a part of the loot for themselves. This was, of course, in the best interest of the Mapple corp. as it worked to motivate archaeologists to find as much treasure as they could while at the same time discourage them from stealing a part of it.

Up to that point Uriel had assumed that Nika would only care for Mapple corp. though, and didn't expect her to openly support him.

Lost in his thoughts, Uriel failed to notice a strange presence right in front of him until it was too late. A strange creature, the size of a six year old kid, dressed with nothing but a loincloth and wielding a stone spear was blocking his way.

"Watch out!" Nika shouted, but Uriel couldn't react in time as the creature managed to land a clean hit on his leg.

The young student fell awkwardly on the floor, but the small creature was unable to continue its attack as the bodyguards dispatched it quickly with the heavy rounds from their high tech assault rifles.

"What's going on?" Nika was dumbfounded. "I thought cryptids weren't supposed to appear close to the site!"

"Do you think it has something to do with the tomb we opened Mister Sage?" Flanagan asked as he helped the young student to stand up.

"I don't think so, we would have been able to use electronic devices because there weren't any cryptids near the Cenote and I would have noticed." Nika replied in stead of Uriel who was struggling to remain on foot.

"It doesn't matter, we need to secure the POIs! We can't afford to lose any important data!" Uriel limped towards the camp which was relatively close. The sight in front of him was much worse than he expected.

There were hundreds of human like small creatures like the one Nika just killed, but there were also different kinds of cryptids laying waste to the camp and attacking people. Shots were being fired and traits were being activated, but the sheer amount of creatures attacking was too much for the few combat able employees to cope with.

Nika jumped right into battle after making sure Uriel was safe and blinked from one shadow to the next making quick work of the weaker creatures. Flanagan placed his hands to the sides and an arch of electricity connected them both, he then ran forward using his trait as if it was a taser stunning creatures all over the place making it easier for the armed bodyguards to finish them off quickly.

Uriel, though, was hesitant to pull off his gun. He knew he would be able to help and, more than likely, save the lives of many people by shooting some cryptids down but there were a few possible drawbacks from doing this. His trait would become common knowledge and he would be left with less bullets, if any at all.

All in all, it wasn't really worth it. At least not until his own life was at risk. Or that's what he thought until he witnessed a young woman being dropped to the ground by a huge feathered snake. He didn't know what kind of cryptid it was, but it somewhat resembled one of the gods portrayed in many sculptures.

After taking aim to the snake's head, Uriel pressed the trigger and a bullet went through the skull of the creature and the snake fell limp on the ground.

'A human life is far more precious than any treasure.' Uriel thought to himself.

"You saved my life! Thank you so much!" The woman smiled brightly, but her smile was short lived as she was stabbed in the back by one of the pygmy cryptids.

"Why are you not helping!?" Uriel reprimanded his bodyguards who didn't lift a finger to help those in need, not even the young woman who just fell to the ground.

Shooting a huge snake was far easier than aiming at a pygmy, still Uriel was able to get closer and shoot it. Magnum bullets were so destructive, there wasn't much of the cryptid left and the essence orb appeared almost immediately.

Uriel limped towards the woman who had just been stabbed and after confirming she wasn't in any life risk, he picked up the essence orb and crushed it.

[Essence orbs 2/10]

He didn't know what was going to happen after crushing a total of ten essence orbs, what he knew though was that he didn't have the leisure of time to waste in such thoughts and allocated his recently acquired stat point in his speed.

A quick check on his revolver confirmed that it had only four bullets left and he quickly stored it inside his trait.

"I see your trait is quite powerful!" Flanagan said in admiration after coming back. "Please excuse your bodyguards for not helping you, but they're only tasked with your security. Even if Miss Nika was in trouble they wouldn't be able to help unless ordered to do so."

Uriel didn't think much of Flanagan's words and he did what he could to take the wounded woman back to safety.

"What's going on? Why are cryptids inside the site now?" He asked the woman. It may have seemed a bit insensitive on his side, but he was in dire need of an explanation.

"It was... Schleiman..." The woman said amidst coughs. It was only after Uriel offered a sip of water that she was able to speak normally again. "He crushed essence orbs inside every single site so he could claim to be the one who discovered their usefulness."

The woman attempted to keep talking, but Uriel stopped her. "Where is he now?" He asked urgently and the woman pointed towards a certain POI.

"NO! No, no no!" Uriel shouted.

"What's the matter!?" Nika ran towards Uriel after hearing him. She had already killed her fair share of cryptids and needed to take a rest.

"That's the building of the descending god, we can't let him activate it!"

"The site's FOD is down and we're already being swarmed by cryptids and you worry about nerd stuff!?"

"This is not nerd stuff, not anymore, If my theory is correct that building is dangerous. Please Miss Nika, you need to stop him!"