"Do you think they did it on purpose?" One of the guards on the central island asked about the incident that ran in everyone's mouth as he escorted a rowdy group of hunters.
"Maybe, maybe not... the Masons say these floating islands are quite frail, but that might be sothing they just say to excuse their actions." Another replied.
The place was crowding with civilians and hunters, all of them making a line to so station. People walked in, got their blood drawn and then walked out with a few rations on their hands which were the main reason no one was complaining.
The only odd thing about it was that not a single army mber could be spotted on the entire island, but it wasn't as strange considering they had their own supply of food. The different families also took the chance to recruit those with elental affinities to thicken their numbers, but the main point of the operation was much more sinister.
"What do you think they're going to do with us?" Asked Longlegs fearing the answer.
"I got no clue, but everything will be alright." Phlox tried to reassure her with bravery, though she didn't have much to spare.
"This is all your fault, you surrendered without even putting up a fight! If you let fight them, I would have at least taken a few of them with ." Longlegs scoffed.
"We were outgunned, outnumbered and outmatched. The only thing you would have managed is to get yourself and the rest of us killed." Phlox insisted while walking. The soldiers around them didn't mind the chatter as long as they didn't hold up the line, which gave the Dungeon Raiders the much appreciated chance to speak among themselves.
"Still, do you think they're taking blood to feed vampires?"
"It's more likely that they're just running tests to check if any of the refugees are cryptids in disguise." Phlox laughed.
One of the newest mbers of the company, Amy, didn't join in the laughter and instead, remained silent as a grave in a way very much opposed to her cheerful character and it didn't take long for Emma to take notice of this.
"They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"I- I can't let them take a sample from my blood." Amy stuttered.
"Why not? Wait.."
"It's not like that, but my trait... it's not actually a trait. I- I'm a hybrid." Amy stuttered so more taking care not to be heard by people outside the Dungeon Raiders as she disclosed the one secret her family never shared with anyone.
She feared her new companions would turn against her or at least scream in response, deeming it a much better outco than being outed once it was her turn in line. But none of that ca to happen.
"And?"
"You're not doubting ?" Amy asked after making a double take when she realized that no one seed fazed by her revelation. As one of the newest mbers, Amy didn't know about Luna's lycanthropy and actually thought her family were the only hybrids in the world.
"Why should I? We have a werewolf." Emma replied before realizing that she almost outed Luna without her consent.
"A... a what!?" Amy's face paled.
"It doesn't matter, if they're trying to spot any hybrids, things might get a bit heated once it's our turn." Phlox muttered under her breath as she scanned the enemies despite knowing that if they weren't a match for them on the island, things weren't any better now that they found themselves on enemy territory.
Emma turned her attention towards the dics in charge of drawing blood from people and realized how odd it was that they didn't possess any kind of machinery or lab. Instead, a row of five hunters looked at the samples and then put the results into writing.
The process was fast, but with just five hunters analyzing the blood Emma judged it would be a few hours until they reached the front of the line.
She was relieved by this, but after what happened to their island she didn't hold much hopes of making it alive, not without help. However, as a journalist, she didn't forget to photograph everything found of interest with the help of her trait. Focusing on this gave her sothing to distract herself from their disadvantageous situation.
"You're not getting away with this!" A woman shouted after they separated her from her family.
"What's wrong?" Asked one of the hunters in charge of security.
"You can't separate from my children, what you're doing is illegal! If the army finds out..." Those were her last words as a bullet crossed her skull.
"Don't bother asking, just kill the ones who don't comply." Replied his partner with a tone that showed he was annoyed by the chore that ant disposing of the body instead, but had no issues with the killing.
"Hey, scumbag!" Longlegs shouted.
"Here we go..." Phlox buried her face in her palms. She was more than accustod to Miss Dragonfang's shenanigans and actually found them endearing, but Longlegs was just a hot headed fighter.
The ard soldier was just about to open fire again when his companion stopped him by placing his hand on top of the rifle.
"You'll start a riot, let handle this." He said.
"Like you could handle this." Longlegs scoffed while using her hands to point at her womanly but disproportionate figure.
"It's not our intention to harm anyone, we're just making sure there's no cryptids around. If you refuse to cooperate, you'll leave us no choice but to open fire."
"That pacifist shit doesn't cut it, the only way they'll understand is if we give them a lesson." The more violent man said as he approached Longlegs with a crazed expression.
"You dare so much as touch any of us and you'll get your just deserts." Phlox said with a serious tone of voice.
"Oh, look at , I'm so scared I'm trembling." The man joked, though his words beca true once one of the elental squads approached him and the leader spoke.
"Stop making so much noise, what's all this about?"
"Nothing, I was just saying what's coming their way if they harm us." Phlox stated with confidence.
"Your hat, you're from the Dungeon Raiders aren't you?" The man asked in spite of knowing the answer, then continued speaking. "If you're waiting for him to co and save you, let's just say... you're waiting in vain."
"What did you do to him!?" Emma shouted.
"Nothing, we just cut the path of his island and he went on his rry way to the bottom of the abyss. Now his bones are probably being chewed out by a cryptid or sothing." The man said and turned to leave, but was stopped by Phlox.
"You made a big mistake..." She shook her head.
"Oh, really? He didn't seem like much, with his poor energy signature even if he ends up coming I'm sure I can deal with him. I just avoided confrontation like the higher ups wanted." The man said triggering Phlox's laughter. Sothing he didn't enjoy much as his eyes brimming in red announced.
Judging by the amount of flux energy the man channeled it was clear he was a heavenly rank, but even other heavenly rank hunters took so distance.
"Co on, do it. Use your trait, hurt us. It will only make him more angry."
"So, you really do think he's stronger than ?" The man said after regaining his composure, making it clear that even while angry he didn't lost control of his emotions.
"What I think doesn't matter, what matters is what I've seen him do." Phlox finished the conversation with a grin. For so odd reason, in spites of Phlox being nothing but a weakling on his eyes, her words shook him for a few seconds.
"Dispose of the body, we'll take care of watching these guys from now on." Easton, the elental squad leader spoke and the two guards retreated.
Folowing Easton's commands, the elental squad remained at a distance from the Dungeon Raiders, but they never took their eyes from them in spites of looking down on them. Just like it happened with their leader, the Dungeon Raiders didn't seem strong enough to take so many cautions when dealing with them and he wondered why didn't the higher ups in the society allow him to simply kill them.
To him, they were nothing but trash that needed to be taken out, just like all the other hunters who didn't possess an elental manipulation trait.
After a few minutes things went back to normal which seed to surprise even those in charge of the operation, but humans were resilient enough to recover from almost anything, especially if it was accompanied with food.
Blood in exchange for food was seemingly a fair deal, especially to those hunters who struggled to get by in the dungeon and they didn't care if they tested them, used the blood to feed vampires or anything. As long as they handed them enough rations, they even fought for their spot in the queue.
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