BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZ-SMACK!

Letting out a small groan, Sam's eyes fluttered open as he felt a rhythmic pounding in his skull. As the dregs of last night danced behind his skull, he slowly shifted himself out of the covers of his bed. Feeling the carpet press against his feet, he got up from his bed before making his way towards the bathroom.

'Alright, note to self; if Jenny tries to egg you on during drinks, ignore her,' he thought as he entered his bathroom. Mentally marking it down, he turned on the sink before splashing his face with water. As he felt the sharp chill push away his headache, he looked into his reflection. Eyes of dulled gold stared back at him, accompanied by hair the color of rusted steel. Various scars covered his body, each being from a rather familiar point of his life. 'Man, looking into the mirror now, I really do like some playboy. Guess he was right about that.'

As that thought passed through his mind, a small shiver went up his spine. That was something he had to keep to himself. Otherwise, he'd never hear the end of it from the bastard. Silently making that oath, he shed his clothes before going through his routine. As he went through the same old motions, he couldn't help but let out a small hum as he did so. It was a rather simple tune, something that he heard while perusing bars. Yet, as he hummed the familiar melody, he couldn't help but find it rather comforting. It was as if he was back home, listening to the various hymns sung.

Once he had finished his bathroom routine, he wrapped a towel around his waist before walking out. As he exited the bathroom, he began to search through his closet for his outfit, continuing to hum that song. Yet, as he searched through his wardrobe, he paused as a familiar sound echoed throughout his room. Turning towards the source, he saw that his H-cell was ringing, its screen carrying a bright glow.

'Is someone from work calling me? It's my day off, though.'

Pulling up his sweats, he walked over to his device before looking at the caller's name. Yet, rather than some random number, it was a name that he was rather familiar with.

{Dect. David L.}

"Why the hell is he calling me?" he muttered to himself, furrowing his brow. Sure, the two of them talked during work, but it wasn't much. Rather, it was just due to their teams often working together on cases. Picking up his device, he accepted the call before putting it to his ear. "Never expected to have you ringing me up. What seems to be the occasion?"

"Glad to see you're keeping your usual smarmy act," David answered, clear annoyance in his voice. "Sorry to interrupt your little stay-cation, but we need you on scene."

"If you need my team, you can just speak to Sergeant Mackenzie," Sam shot back, raising a brow. After all, he taught her pretty much everything she had to know. With that solid base and the half-a-decade of experience, she can definitely hold her own.

"Yeah, her and the other Seekers are here, that's for sure," David admitted, his voice losing its stiffness. Well, if they're at the scene, then there's no reason to call him-. "However, everyone on the team seems stumped, at the moment. Hell, this call was on Mackenzie's recommendation."

Hearing that, Sam came to a stop, his shirt still barely put on. If Mackenzie is having him be called in, then it's one of two things. The first is that it's something that she feels out of her depths for. It's rare, but there were times near the end of last year that stumped her. The most notable one was the Root-walker Church murder case, since he had to step out of a family meet-up.

'The other reason she'd ask for me is that it's about something she's not supposed to know,' Sam mused, furrowing his brow. Things that, when she was still under his wing, he explicitly told her to not involve herself in, no matter what. While she fought back against this at first, she did concede given time and understanding. 'And if that's the case, then...'

"Did she say anything about any unusual phenomena in the area?" Sam questioned, his tone now serious. Even if it's not what it could be, he should make sure. "Any sort of residuals that can't be connected to any sort of Aetheric source? Spell residue, elevated Aether levels, anything that can't match to those?"

"I mean, there's evidence of spell usage, that's for sure. Hallways look like a scene from a horror movie," David admitted, confusion clear in his voice. "She did say something about the place smelling like a war zone and snow, though. I assume you know what that means?"

'Shit, nothing concrete. Still, better to go and make sure.'

"I do, actually. Send me the address, I'll be there in a bit," Sam said, his voice sharp before ending the call. Tossing his device onto his bed, he quickly began changing into his uniform. Once in his field uniform, he made his way over to his desk, where a pair of familiar gauntlets sat. Grabbing the metallic gauntlets, he slipped them on before tightening them shut. Sure that they were secured, he then knelt down to a familiar drawer before opening it. Seeing that his badge and service pistol were where they should be, a small breath of relief left him.

'Thank the gods it's still there. Otherwise, I'd have to make a pit stop at the precinct and that'd be a pain.'

Grabbing his badge, he clipped it onto his belt before taking out his pistol and holstering it. Securing his service weapon, he then grabbed his phone to see a message from David. Opening it, he pressed on the link sent to him, which opened to his map.

'Alright, so it's still in Old Town, that's good. Won't lead to a major headache, at least.'

Looking for a place nearby the scene, he found one that caught his eye. A small mom and pop diner that one would walk past while glancing at it.

That can work.

Memorizing the address of the store, he walked over to his door before placing his hand on the hardened wood. As he pressed his palm against the door, a heavy breath left him as he drew out all too familiar words.

Light the colorless flame.

Rip open the infinite between seconds.

Open the gate between gods and man.

As these words echoed in his mind, he heard the familiar sound of cracking glass. Opening his eyes, he saw that the door in front was completely different than before. Rather than darkened hardwood, the door was made out something more akin to glass. Light shone through the stained glass, as if it was the windows he saw in the manor. Looking through the colored glass, he saw what seemed to be the sidewalk in front of the store.

'Alright, seems solid.'

With that assured, Sam opened the door before stepping through. Crossing the threshold, he felt a familiar sense of vertigo as he found himself on the sidewalk. Pulling out his device, he compared his location to the one given to him by David.

'Alright, seems like I'm in the correct area.'

Memorizing the route, he pocketed his device before taking off towards the scene. It didn't take long for him to make his way towards the scene, guided by the familiar sound of sirens. He eventually arrived at the scene to the usual type of happenings. People standing at the edges of the scene, watching with a mix of both concern and morbid curiosity. Wardens and officers sectioning off the area with both body and tape so the scene isn't tampered with. The flashing of familiar both public safety and medical vehicles.

'A murder that involves the occult, huh.'

Furrowing his brow, Sam walked towards the scene of the crime. Weaving past the small crowd, he crossed the glowing blue tape before beginning to scan the scene. Various members of Public Safety were placed around the area, each one doing their duty. Walking over to a nearby Seeker, he tapped them on the shoulder, causing them to turn towards him. What was at first a sense of confusion on their face turned into that of realization and surprise.

"Oh, hello, Captain. Didn't expect to see you today," the Seeker greeted, giving him a small salute. Oscar is his name, should his memory serve him correctly. One of the newer recruits and one who had shown a lot of promise.

"Likewise. Say, mind telling me what's going on here?" Sam inquired, motioning towards his surroundings. "I haven't been told much, except for it being serious."

At his words, he watched as the Seeker went quiet, smile fading into a look he saw many times. A familiar weight he had seen on others, especially those who are fresh from recruitment. The weight of realization that comes with exposure to the more ugly parts of this line of work.

'Whatever it is, it must be bad.'

"Glad to see that you're here," a familiar voice said, bringing him out of his thoughts. Turning towards the source, he saw David making his way towards him. Dressed in his signature wind breaker, the air around him seemed on edge, even more so than usual. "Unfortunate that I had to cut into your day off. I assume you had beach plans?"

"Was just going to watch some movies I had actually," Sam responded, crossing his arms. It had been a while since he had time to work through his collection. "What happened here that you needed me on my day off?"

"You know about the 7th Street Kids, I assume," David stated, causing Sam to nod in affirmation. It'd be hard not to know about them, to be honest. Complaints came in about them pretty much every week about them from all kinds of folks. While not anything actually dangerous, they were definitely a nuisance for people. "Well, we got a report of someone hearing shots being fired from this area. As it turns out, it seemed to be their headquarters."

"Well, that's something, at least," Sam responded, glancing towards the building in question. Old even by his standards, graffiti covered it from head to toe, with the laid brick barely visible. Most of the murals were old and worn, the paint used to create them having faded with time. There were also signs of clear damage as well, such as broken windows and cracks in the wall.

"Yeah, well, not anymore it isn't. Seems like everyone in the 7th Street Kids are dead," David said, a grim look on his face. As those words sunk into Sam's mind, David continued on, despite the shift in the air. "Remnants of a fight could be found all throughout the building's interior. Bloodstains, blade marks, bullet holes; the usual works. Despite that, though, only three bodies were able to be located. The other twenty-five members aren't in the area. Security footage doesn't show anything either."

"So, you called in my team since you suspected the occult to be involved. However, since they couldn't find anything, you ended up going to me directly," Sam realized. Seeing David nod at his words, Sam clicked his tongue as he mused. A case where it had clear signs of a conflict, yet no bodies. Not only that, but any sort of security footage is useless.

'A few people who could that come to mind, but most of them don't live in Northwater. Those that do wouldn't have any reason to do this or would give themselves away.'

"Alright, let's walk and talk. Tell me what exactly happened," Sam said, shoving his hands into his pockets. The detective nodded before walking towards the building, Sam following close behind.

'So much for an uneventful day off...'

As Jake further ventured into the Dungeon, he eventually found himself in front of the Gate. The colorless wall seemed to shimmer and twist, the air around now more akin to glass. Even the trees around it seemed to shake, despite the complete lack of wind in the area. Stepping through the Gate, he found himself in a large break in the forest. A wall of trees spanned the edges of the area, their size akin to that of buildings. Their branches seemed to twist into one another, causing the sun to barely peek through.

'Alright, this place had Radierrels, so the boss should be an elder or variant,' Jake thought, pulling out his axe. As he scanned his surroundings, he felt the air around him become sharp as a flash of movement caught his eye. Leaping out of the way, he watched as the ground where he once stood was ripped apart by an explosion. Shielding himself from the debris, he pulled out his pistol as he scanned the canopy above. As he watched the shrouded canopy for movement, something caught his eye. A branch that shifted too unnaturally for the wind to be the cause.

Focus.

As the world went gray, he snapped towards the direction of the change. As he did, he was met with something akin to an acorn flying towards him. Seeing this, he raised his pistol before firing a round at the acorn-like object. Hitting its mark, he watched as an explosion consumed the unknown object in totality. As flame began to consume the canopy, he watched as a figure leapt out from the alight area and onto the ground. Unlike its kin that he met before, this beast was around his height, if not slightly taller. It had the same hybridization of human and squirrel traits, albeit clearly mutated. Crimson, matted fur covered its emaciated body as it stared him down, eyes lit with both hunger and hatred.

'So, that's a Bloodjaw Raiderrel. Matches the description in the books, at least.'

Letting out a noise akin to a screech, the beast rushed towards him, closing the gap with rapid speed. Dodging a swing of the beast's claws, he then twisted his body before burying his axe in its side. Letting a pained noise, it swung at him once more, only for its claws to hit air as Jake leapt out of the way.

Focus, Advance, and Strike.

As the world went dull, Jake bolted towards the Raiderrel closing the gap in an instant. Once close enough, he then twisted his body before cleaving through the beast's neck. As color returned to the world, he watched as both the boss's body and head tumbled to the floor.

'Alright, E-rank Dungeon dealt with today.'

As he watched the roots begin to consume the boss's corpse, he thought back to his options. Clearing Dungeons, while useful, can only service him for so long. Not only that, he could only access B-rank Dungeons due to A-ranks and higher being extremely rare.

'Well, there are the city's Hunting Grounds to consider. I can just walk in and out whenever I can, after all. Not only that, but it should also have valuable materials which would help me.'

Making his choice, he pressed his hand against the Nexus Bulb now in front of him, watching as it bloomed open. Once fully open, he tossed the items it held into his bag before beginning to make his way out of the Dungeon.