The tension was palpable the next morning as everyone ate quietly. Alex’s mood had gone from worry to outright brooding. The thought of having to tell one hundred newly kidnapped people that they were stuck in a game of life or death and that there was no way back home, weighed heavily on his mind.

He wasn’t alone in his thoughts. It appeared that everyone was thinking about the people that would soon be arriving. Even Ty, who had a gift for turning people’s frowns upside down, was lost in thought as the Red Panda stared at his unfinished breakfast of chorizo egg omelet.

It had been a month since they had been brought here and as Alex looked around, the change was staggering. He never thought he would ever get used to people dressed in their Sci-Fi/Renaissance Fair armor while living in what could only be styled after a five-star hotel much less seeing the confidence in which these people held themselves. They had each come far from their first moments appearing at the Bellevue. Long gone were the scared and uncertain faces, replaced with assuredness and strength of a people far more capable than before.

Jeffrey had agreed to meet the new arrivals and give them his welcoming speech, but he was to hold off on giving them access to their Interface. Alex and the others had talked about it and they were all in agreement that a little information would go a long way before the new arrivals could get lost in their Interface.

At least they didn’t have the points to spend right away. This way, the new arrivals could look through the System Shop and plan out what they wanted to do. There had been more than a few people that had bought their Modifiers without thinking. Alex and the others wanted to stop that before it could happen again.

A flash of light came through the dining room door and Alex and the others stared at the door quietly for some time before finally moving into place. They would greet the arrivals here and explain to them what was happening. Alex begrudgingly moved to the front of the room while the other players spread out along the walls while the evidence of their morning meal vanished from the tables.

There was the occasional shout of protest as Jeffrey went through his speech, but soon enough, the older looking gentleman led a group of wide-eyed Humans into the dining room. Each head that swiveled about as they looked at the people standing along the walls made Alex reflexively wince. They probably weren’t the most welcoming looking people as the Founders watched in silence as the new players were led to the tables.

The biggest surprise was seeing them all in their regular clothing. Aside from their own armor and the training outfits that appeared on them in the training areas below, Alex had almost forgot what it was like to see people in jeans or working clothes. He immediately remembered appearing in the Bellevue lobby with no more than a t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs. He would have laughed at the thought if he wasn’t so focused on the scared, uncertain and angry looks that were shared with him and his friends.

Alex kept his emotions in check. He needed to show them his confidence. He needed to show them that they could survive and become more than what they are now. Taking a deep breath, he finally addressed the crowd.

“Have a seat, please.” Alex said, his voice shattering the silence of the room and breaking the newcomers from their thoughts.

The all sat hesitantly, even the ones who looked angry sat down though they looked ready to start yelling again. These were obviously the people who were protesting in the lobby. In his opinion, Alex preferred a little fight over flight but it was important to think clearly.

“I’m sure you all have questions, but let’s get some general information out of the way. My name is Alex Donner and these people standing with me are part of the first one hundred Humans who were taken from their lives on Earth and brought here exactly one month ago.

“I don’t know if it was reported back on Earth that one hundred random people had suddenly disappeared. We have no way of knowing what is happening back home. As Jeffrey has already told you, you have been brought here to fight for Humanities chance at Ascension. First, know that we are not alone here. Those of us standing before you found out the hard way that there are other Races here, some that have been here far longer than us and they are all trying to Ascend. The catch is this, only one Race may Ascend.”

The crowd started to stir as they started asking questions, but Alex spoke over them, cutting them off.

“I know it sounds like bullshit, but listen up. Those around the room will be happy to answer your questions later. The fact is this, none of us asked to be here, but here we are and nothing can change that. There is no way that we have found that can take us back home. You have two options. If you choose to fight, then we will teach you how. We will explain what we have learned about the System and how it works. We have spent the past month learning everything we can so that you and those that follow can have a better chance to survive.”

Several faces in the crowd looked on with sudden relief written on their faces. Sometimes, all it took was knowing that you weren’t alone to not fall into hopelessness and despair.

“Your other choice is to give up.” Alex continued. “You can stay in the safety of the Bellevue, hiding in your room and none of us here will begrudge you. If you choose that fate, however, if you choose to hide away, there is a likely chance that you will end up hating yourself.

“We are not the strongest, fastest or even smartest Race to have been brought here. The System has provided us with a means to fight those other Races but that doesn’t mean we will win. There are no good guys and bad guys here. Every Race is trying to save their own people. We have fought Gnomes with guns the size of me and the Tahloh which are golden skinned magical giants. When I say this place is like the video games we played back home, don’t be mistaken. The System might seem game like but there are no restarts or infinite lives. If you die, then it’s game over.

“Right now, you are in the City Zone. At level ten, you will be transported to the next zone. Those of us before you are all at level nine. We waited on heading to the next zone so that we could train you before we move on and we expect you to do the same for those who follow. We aren’t fighting against each other. The more you help others grow stronger, the better chance we have of Ascending.

Jeffrey here, will give you wristbands that will give you access to your Interface and the System Shop. It takes Experience Points to buy anything from the Shop and you will need to find out what role you will play. The System also gives you a Class and armor and weapons that will work with your Class. You will be weak at first, but again, that’s why we stayed behind.

“Jeffrey.” Alex said, turning to the older gentleman. “Please give them their wristbands and Classes.”

Golden orbs of light flashed into existences causing a few cries of surprise and the plain black bands appeared on everyone’s wrist. Jeffrey started explaining what they were seeing and talked them through the motions as Alex and the others looked over the new faces in the crowd.

They all looked young. Or maybe it was the lack of experience that showed through. Looking at the people who stood along the wall, Alex noticed the hardened expressions of those that had fought for their lives over and over again. If he was being honest with himself, it was probably pretty intimidating being surrounded by them.

As flashes of light filtered through the room, Alex watched as the crowd looked down in awe at their gear and Classes. He gave them a moment to search through their Interface, remembering the feeling he had once felt at discovering all of this. He tried not to fixate on those who had odd or unique gear. He needed to be impartial right now.

“Alright, settle down!” Alex shouted. The group begrudgingly sat back down. “Like I said, it’s like a video game from home, but make no mistake, this is no game. You can die out there. If you haven’t noticed, there are ninety-two people standing along the walls. The memorial in the lobby will show three names. Those were our friends and teammates who lost their lives.

“The other five that are not here, were killed by myself and my teammates.”

The crowd stared at Alex, some in abject horror but if it bothered him, he didn’t show it.

“Those five people kidnapped our friends and tried to enslave them. They beat them near death and they also took advantage of the sole woman of the group. Those people are now dead and their names forgotten.”

The room was deathly silent and each player along the wall carried a hard look. A man near the front stood up and Alex already knew what this guy was about to say. He was young and built like a damn linebacker, but the arrogant look he wore was enough to tip Alex off.

“What gives you the right?” He shouted. “You just admitted to murdering five people! Why should we listen to you at all? The woman was probably lying anyway-!”

He never finished his sentence since Silvia moved forward at impossible speed, appearing before him in an instant. The large man fell back into his chair with a yell of surprise and Silvia stood above him, almost growling at the man. Toby and Rishi moved forward as well, standing beside Silvia.

“Meet Toby, Rishi and Silvia.” Alex stated. “This was the team that was kidnapped. Myself, Ty and Danny were the ones that found them. We witnessed enough to know for certain that those people deserved death.”

The large man had lost all of his bluster as Silvia stared him down. He might be twice her size, but Silvia didn’t look like some weakling. Her aura alone had the man shaking in his seat.

“There are no police here.” Alex continued. “There are no jails either. If one of you attacks their fellow man or woman, it will be up to the rest of you to see that they never do it again. We have no room for people preying on their fellow Human. I don’t care what you believe or how you were raised. You don’t enslave. You don’t rape. And you don’t kill without damn good cause. If you let people like that hurt others, if you turn a blind eye to it, then you are just as guilty as them. And when we find out about it in the higher zones, we will eventually find you, do not doubt that.”

The rest of the introduction went on without interruption and soon, Alex and the others were answering questions along with handing out the Player’s Guides that they had bought from the System Shop. They also handed out Minor Pills of Health and Mana, as well as handing out Storage Rings. They held back on the extra orbs they had set aside, however, since they would hand those out later on once they evaluated everyone skills.

The new group was left to process all the information and give them time to settle in their rooms. As the group started to disperse, a familiar voice called out to Alex. Alex looked over to find a man that he most definitely recognized.

“Byron?” Alex asked reaching out to shake the man’s hand.

Byron ignored the hand and pulled Alex into a bear hug, lifting Alex off the ground. Alex was thankful that his improved Vitality and Strength protected him from the rib crushing embrace.

Byron stood at 6’6 and was the definition of gentle giant. His mixed heritage gave him light tanned skin which clashed with the red curls atop his head. Byron slowly put Alex back down and was smiling wide.

“Man! When you disappeared from school, your parents were freaking out! They thought you might have joined a cult and ran off to South America!”

Alex wanted to laugh but remembering that his parents would never know what happened to their son hit him hard. Byron immediately winced and started apologizing profusely.

“It’s okay, Byron.” Alex said, trying to placate the guilty looking man. “Let me introduce you to my friends and teammates.”

Alex turned to find his teammates already there, watching the exchange.

“This is Danny, Ty, Silvia, Toby and Rishi. Everyone, this is Byron Crowbear, from my hometown.”

“Crowbar?” Ty asked.

“Crowbear.” Byron said happily. “My Mom is Irish, hence the name Byron and the curly red locks and my Dad is Navaho Indian and thinks he is funny, hence the last name.”

“So, Byron?” Alex asked. “Does the world know about us?”

Byron nodded. “Oh yeah. Well, maybe not all of you but definitely most of you. It was on the news for a week with experts claiming alien abductions and cult activities. Who would have thought the crazy Alien Believers were right?”

The group all laughed but it was strained. Apparently, seeing all the new faces had brought back a few painful memories.

“So, what Class did you get?” Alex asked, trying to lighten the mood. It was obvious from the iron brigandine armor that Byron was a Tank or frontline fighter. Alex noticed the large axe strapped to the man’s back but didn’t see a shield, which confused him when Byron answered.

“It says Escutcheon. I mean, is the System trying to be literal or is it just screwing with me? How are you going to call a guy a shield without giving him a shield!?”

The group let out a laugh.

“The System tends to fuck with people a bit.” Alex answered. “But you literally are a ‘coat of arms’ with all that armor, so I guess it was going for a pun. Depending on your two main attributes, you will be set into a training class with others like you. We will spend a few days training you up and taking you out into the zone to watch over you while you fight. Just look out for three or four people you think would be good teammates and keep an eye out on anyone who might not have the best interest of Humanity in mind.”

Byron glanced at Silvia. “I’m sorry you had to go through what you did, ma’am.”

Silvia smiled at the man. “Thank you, but I’m no wilting flower. I got stronger and have good friends to watch my back.”

Byron nodded. “Okay then. I will see you at lunch. Need to process everything a bit.”

“No worries, Byron.” Alex said. “We are going to be hanging around here to help out.”

Byron left the dining room and Alex noticed a commotion going on at the far end of the room. Alex and the others walked over to find Hilda and a much shorter and deeply tanned woman arguing, with Hosmunt standing in between the two.

“Hosmunt.” Alex asked. “Friend of yours?”

The shorter woman turned on Alex and started pointing her finger at him.

“I am Hosmunt’s cousin, Fusun, and I will not see him sully himself with this human bear.”

“Hey!” Ty protested.

Fusun did a quick double take of Ty and seemed completely at a loss. Alex tried his best to keep his smile from showing.

“Alex.” Hosmunt said. “I apologize for Fusun’s attitude. She hasn’t seemed to grasp her situation yet and is fighting it by trying to hold on to old traditions.”

“It’s the only reason I haven’t torn her little head off yet.” Hilda growled.

Alex looked pointedly at the large woman and she had enough wherewithal to look properly chagrined.

“You know firsthand what it’s like coming here, Hilda.” Alex said. “Don’t worry about Fusun’s prejudices. I know you trust Hosmunt to always be honest.”

Hilda nodded sheepishly. Alex turned to see Ty waving his furry hand in front of Fusun’s face. The woman was still staring at Ty.

“I think I broke her.” Ty said.

“Hosmunt, maybe you should get your cousin to her room.” Danny said. “She seems to be in a bit of shock.”

Hosmunt nodded. “I think you’re right.”

With that done and the dining room starting to empty, Alex headed to the lobby and fell into one of the leather couches.

“That sucked and I didn’t even have to do anything.” Rishi said.

“The look on all of their faces was hard to watch.” Toby added.

“And the arrogant prick who spoke up.” Silvia added. “What is wrong with people?”

“Right?” Danny said. “I mean, the guy was practically a side character out of some B Rated movie.”

“It’s only going to get harder.” Alex said. “We got to get them up and running before we leave and even then, we need to make sure they are capable enough to train the next group that comes through.”

“If everyone comes to lunch, then Hosmunt will be going over the Player’s Guide with them.” Rishi stated. “Then we separate them and start their training. Tanks, Healers, Ranged DPS, Melee DPS and other.”

“I thought we agreed to call them unique, not other?” Alex said, shooting Rishi a look.

“Don’t get mad cause your stuck with the weirdos.” Ty laughed.

“That’s funny, coming from a talking beanie baby.” Alex shot back.

“Alright children, that’s enough.” Danny said, rolling her eyes. “We have work to do.”

As they stood, they watched as three men walked down the stairs and headed towards the entrance into the City Zone. Alex recognized the man who spouted off that morning leading the trio and held back a hiss of annoyance.

“What are you doing?” Toby asked, cutting off the group.

“Were heading out into the city.” The arrogant man said defiantly. “What? You going to tell us what we can and can’t do?”

Silvia laughed. “You’re going to head out into an unknown dangerous place without any training and without any relevant information?”

The two men accompanying the arrogant man looked a little less certain but that didn’t stop the trouble maker.

“See!” He shouted. “I told you they were going to try and control us! They’re just-”

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Danny said happily.

Alex knew that look she was giving them and stifled his laugh as she continued.

“I, for one, think that is very brave! In fact, I think we could learn a little from that type of dedication. Would you mind if Alex and I tagged along? We won’t get in your way and it is always important to see varying approaches in combat so that we can continuously improve ourselves.”

The trio looked a little more confident at her words and the trouble maker actually puffed out his chest.

“It’s good to see that someone understands that sitting around is useless.” He spoke.

Alex dutifully followed Danny, not saying a word as the trio walked out of the Bellevue. The leader didn’t even bother checking his surroundings as he turned right and started walking out down the street.

Alex knew his type well. The man was obviously trying to regain some measure of control. From the way he ignored asking even the most basic questions, Alex and Danny were sure this man was going to get his two new friends killed.

Alex had to hand it to Danny, she way playing it up perfectly. She casually hinted at what they could expect all the while pretending to be interested in what they were planning to do. Alex kept to the back, more to hide his smile than anything else.

The trouble maker, who introduced himself as Tanner, passed the Worn Wooden Doors, explaining to his new friends that those must be meant for noobs. Alex watched as the two seemed to agree excitedly with everything Tanner said, nodding vigorously every time he gave them some awe inspiring wisdom as to why things were the way they were.

“Starter zones like this are usually to help weaklings gain some type of confidence.” He said proudly. “There isn’t anything here really worth fighting. These empty streets are just proof. The System obviously knows nothing about our world. Look! They didn’t even add windows to any of the damn buildings.”

He droned on for a good two blocks until they came across their first Iron Banded Door. Alex didn’t miss the obvious hesitation at the man’s gaze but Tanner played it off.

“We don’t have all day.” Tanner said with an overdramatic sigh. “Two blocks and this is the first sign of anything different. Might as well show these people how professionals get things done.”

Danny only smiled at him and his team.

“We will stay back and let you do your thing.” She said happily. “You won’t even know we are there.”

Alex and Danny followed the three men into the door and tried not to laugh out loud when they saw what was awaiting them.

Occasionally, teams would come across mobs they had seen before. Hosmunt had catalogued every monster that the various teams had come across, as well as their abilities and weaknesses. If the trio had taken the time to read through the book, they would have realized how to handle the mobs easily.

They found themselves in a public bathhouse. The moisture was thick in the air and bouts of steam were funneling through the open doorway at the back of the lobby. A single desk was piled high with folded towels and a single monster, covered in white and grey fur, standing barely three feet tall and sporting long arms and protruding tusks. It started to squeak angrily at the group.

Tanner, who was obviously the tank, sporting chainmail, a small buckler and a single-handed mace, stepped in front of his two new buddies. One wore plain looking white robes with a book in one hand and a scepter in the other and the third man wore a simple looking leather cuirass with a few throwing knives attached to the front and two long fighting daggers held in each hand.

It wasn’t a bad team mock up. Tank, Healer and DPS was standard for any party, but it was obvious that they had no clue what they were doing. Tanner strode forward with his shield hanging low and his mace sitting over his shoulder. He had assumed that the mob was weak due to its size, but he was in for a rude awakening.

The little furry mob, known as a Yeti youngster, jumped over the desk and wrapped long arms around Tanner head before the man could react. The Yeti started biting and humping the man’s face and Tanner cried out in surprise as he fell backwards. His teammates rushed in and tried beating and stabbing the mob in the back, but to no avail.

Tanner was laid out and his screams of protest quickly turned into cries of pain and fear. His teammates redoubled their efforts, their panicked faces showing their lack in discipline. The Healer, at some point, had missed the Yeti altogether, slamming his scepter into the rogue’s foot while the rogue accidently swung wide and caught the Healer in the side with his fighting dagger.

It was a true clusterfuck and Danny was quick to step in before it could spiral even further out of hand. The whole point was to teach them a lesson, but the way things were heading, they would end up accidently killing each other. The Healer hadn’t even cast a spell yet.

Danny pushed both men to the side, her superior strength easily man handling the two. Then she grabbed the Yeti by the ear. The sensitive ear was the monsters weak spot and the mob immediately let go of Tanner and was thrown into the wall with a sickening crunch.

Tanner and his two friends stared up at Danny, the red headed Druid no longer acting as the happy-go-lucky mentor but as a Founder that the System labeled her as. Her green eyes flashed with a look a pure disgust as she stared down at the men.

“Now that you have had your asses handed to you, let me make this perfectly clear. You would have all died today, a single, insignificant monster would have killed you and there would be no one who would have even missed you.

“While you think this is all a damn game, that doesn’t change what is at stake. If we don’t Ascend, we die. You, your friends and family back home, everyone. I don’t want to waste my time on useless people but we also don’t have the luxury of letting every idiot go off and getting other people killed.

“You need to train your stats, understand your Class’ strengths and weaknesses and learn how to work as a team. Even then, you still might die. Do everything right, work harder than everybody else and you could still die.

“Now you can choose to learn how to get stronger, faster and smarter than you are now, or you can continue this macho bullshit and try and finish clearing this building, but it will be without us. Choose.”

Without waiting, she turned around and headed out of the building and back into the City Zone. Alex followed her and soon after, the trio followed behind quietly. They made it back to the Bellevue and Danny and Alex joined their team who looked over the beaten trio who quickly headed up to their rooms.