Chapter 25: Hunting party

Chapter 25: Hunting party

"Uh? Lieutenant Dragonfang! What are you doing here?" Uriel said in a daze.

"What do you mean? didn't you get the call?"

"Call? what call?" Confounded, he looked at his flip phone and there were more than fifty missed calls. After a quick check he noticed that Medusa and Sam had been calling him.

"Hello? you still there?" Lieutenant Dragonfang stared at Uriel who had spaced out.

"Uh, yes... I... I'm sorry, I always turn off the sound because my phone tends to ring at the most inconvenient times" Only then Did Uriel notice that Lieutenant Dragonfang wasn't wearing her army uniform but casual clothes. A tight fitted skirt and a blouse with a couple undone buttons, her attire was nothing fancy, but its simplicity brought up her figure and mature charm.

If he didn't know her from before, Uriel would have thought that she worked behind a counter, just like the receptionist he spoke with before.

"Like what you see?" She chuckled.

"No, that's not it..." He replied apologetically and blushing up to his ears.

"What do you mean no?" She frowned for a brief second and then continued. "Anyway, I quit the army and I'll be working independently. After what happened... I can't bring myself to trust them anymore."

The reason why she joined the army in the first place wasn't because she wanted money or power like many people of her generation, she only did it because after learning about the true state of humanity and the truth behind the 'forceful drafts' she thought she needed to do something to prevent young people from dying pointlessly.

However, as soon as she got a battle oriented ascended trait she was sent to help young people acquire their traits and she eventually got used to fighting, and unfortunately, to watching them die too.

Uriel was dragged by miss Dragonfang towards the garage, although she didn't know anyone in the agency, she was already familiar with the building and the inner workings of the cryptid hunting agency.

"Uriel!? Look guys It's Uriel!" Sam said loudly as soon as he noticed his arrival, both Luna and Medusa smiled widely and were just about to greet him when miss Dragonfang spoke.

"Do I need to repeat myself, Lightbringer?" She glared at Sam. "Do not use your real names under any circumstance, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am." He lowered his gaze.

"Oh, I do need to repeat myself after all, I forgot Uriel is just joining us. Listen Uriel, the reason why we can't use our real names outside the city is because there might all sorts of different people out there, not just from this city, and they might be hunting in the same place as us. The cryptid hunting agency organizes most of the incursions so it doesn't happen that often, but anyway, it's too risky to reveal your name because if you happen to anger someone they might go after your family, that's why we use our nicknames." Miss Dragonfang explained.

"You say that like they might attack us or find where we live or something..."

"That's what I mean, cryptids are not the only danger out there." She cut Uriel short. "Although incursions are organized with the intention of killing cryptids and diminishing their numbers to make it safer for everyone, the actual source of income is salvaging valuables from POIs and gathering flux orbs. There are some groups of people that specialize in stealing other people's loot. Heck, even good honest people might feel tempted if you stumble upon something really valuable." Miss Dragonfang explained as they got inside an armored transport vehicle.

When Uriel entered, he was relieved when he realized that he already knew the driver, it was the corporal with the purple hair. It wasn't really a surprise for him, given that she was loyal to her and even participated on their meeting before the zeppelin arrived.

"What's up kiddo!" The former private greeted him.

"Uh, hi Miss..." He lingered for a while because he didn't know her name.

"I'm evolved Phlox" She smirked as the engine roared.