Adriana was standing at the edge of the space they marked out for camp. She had a team of 15 people working on building a defensive structure for the camp. With her engineering skills and resourcefulness, drawing up a plan wasn't difficult.

"Make sure that you are tying the connecting points together well. If you don't these things aren't going to hold up." She moved swiftly through the workers' spaces checking connections to make sure that it would withstand weight and force.

After the small green creatures attacked earlier, it was obvious that they would have to have a better setup. This led to them building a camp with walls and spikes to keep things from easily climbing the walls. The professor put a team of students with appropriate majors in charge of designing the camp. Each one played a major role in developing the camp's structure, Adriana was in charge of defenses and tools. Earlier today she was developing things like hammers, stone axes, rope from fibers, and sharpening sticks to catch food for the supply team.

"I am going to go grab more building material, keep reinforcing that sidewall with the spikes." Adriana took a swig from her water before going to grab more material.

Upon arriving by the material stacks she saw a familiar face. "X the bird didn't eat you?!"

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" X pondered how everyone else saw him in their eyes. Was he really that weak looking?

"What happened when it took you? We could barely hear the conversation. You should have seen the dumb look on Norman's stupid face. It really was priceless." A delightful smile spread across Adriana's face.

X gave her the same explanation he gave to his current party. "After hearing about the small green people attacking, it is giving me all the more reason to go after this fruit."

"And this seer person said that this would be a difficult mission? It is kinda worrisome that our hope lay in the hands of someone who isn't even an adult yet. I guess that is usually the case in books and on TV, who would have thought it would happen for real." She collected a few more pieces of material. "Can you help me bring some of this stuff to the camp wall so we can finish the spike defense?"

"Sure, I was done with the task Norman gave me anyway", X says as he picks up some sharpened wood.

After a bit of hard work, that group was able to get to finish building the spike wall. It was almost time for dinner, and grumbling could be heard from around the camp. Someone was making a stew from the edible plants and small animals found around the camp. There were a couple of thoughts lingering in the back of everyone's mind. How long will supplies last, and will the small green people come back and attack them again?

Once everyone was finished eating, there was supposed to be an announcement from the professor, so everyone gathered around in a circle waiting for him to give his talk. After a few minutes, he finishes talking with a group of students among whom were Adriana, Norman, and Zack.

"Greetings students I am professor Von William. I teach history. During this very unprecedented ordeal, I have taken the initiative to bring order to us who were taken away from what we know to be normal. The teams we established earlier are directly responsible for the wonderful feast we just enjoyed. You all have yourselves to thank for this wonderful camp we have created in such a short time. I am certain that with our shared knowledge we shall be able to make improvements to give ourselves an even better quality of life than we have now. I am thankful for all of your hard work." Professor Von William gets cut off by the student's applause. After the applause dies down he continues again. "As I am certain you all know we were attacked earlier today by what could only be described as goblins from some work of fiction. Because of the sacrifice of a few brave souls, we were able to make them retreat. Because of this attack, your team leads, and I have established a new team. " He gestures to a very fit pair of people. "This is Mike Eswell and Layla Vollem. They are military students, and they shall be in charge of the patrol team."

They both step forward. In the firelight, their powerful features could be made out. Layla was half a head taller than Mike with her long blond hair pulled up into a ponytail. Even though they weren't in uniform the air about them was still military. It could be seen in their body's structure. Both of them were very well built with mostly lean muscle.

Layla spoke first. "From today on, anyone that volunteers for our team will be responsible for keeping the rest of the camp safe from harm. Our efforts will keep the forces of these so-called Goblins away from the wonderful people here in our camp."

Mike chimed in next. "We will give you the training and discipline you need in order to do this successfully and practically."

The crowd gave another round of applause.

"Thank you in advance to the patrol team for your hard work." The professor nodded his head towards them to grant another acknowledgment. "Lastly we are hard at work searching for a method to return to our home. I know that with the bright minds that our university fosters, that we shall forge a path forward in these times of darkness. We shall not despair, and we shall return." With that, he stepped out of the center of the circle and returned to his previous spot.

A group of students went over to Mike and Layla to talk about joining the patrol team.

Almost naturally the party congregated together with the addition of Adriana.

"So I was thinking about our mission again. What happens if we run into one of the goblins while we are out searching for this fruit?" Elana shifts her sitting position and continues. "They have weapons and numbers."

"I actually got tasked with making some weapons after dinner by the professor, so making some extra gear for us wouldn't be that much more difficult." Adriana took the group by surprise.

"You are going to join us?!" Darius and Zack said almost at the same time.

"I have never been the type to wait for life to happen to me. If we have a shot of getting everyone out of here I am going to be a part of it." Determination beamed from her eyes like the beam from a flashlight.

*System Alert*

A new Party member has joined you.

Adriana (Mage class)

Adriana's Mouth gaped open. "Am I seeing things? Can you guys see this too?"

Everyone else nods.

"So are we like trapped in a convoluted VR game or something?" She mused while flipping through the system menu. "I can't place my own stat points? That sucks!"

"I think because I am the party leader, I have to allocate everyone's stat points. What would you like to increase? X set his window to her status screen.

Name: Adriana Gonzalas______________________HP: 20

Class: Mage _______________________________MP: 25

Level 1 ______________________________________ST: 10

EXP 0/100

(?)Hint

Durability __________ 2 +

Strength ___________ 1 +

Dexterity _________ 2 +

Wisdom _________ 5 +

Intelligence _______ 4 +

Luck_____________ 30 +

"Do intelligence! If I am smarter I can think of really awesome spells, and I can probably build better equipment for us if I have more knowledge. Maybe I can even learn a third language since being bilingual with English and Spanish wasn't enough to get that internship I applied for last month." She looked at the others. "What are your classes?"

Once everyone explained she looked at Zack. "Do you think we can compare notes and get better at this magic thing together?"

"Do you think it works like that? I started being able to manipulate mana after I began contemplating what it was and how it worked." He summoned the electricity to his fingertips again.

"So mana seems like an energy source. Do you think it follows the same principles as other forms of energy? Maybe it is like potential energy, and upon giving it some form of activation it can do something cool." She pointed at a rock on the ground in front of them. "Kinda like how this rock could do some serious damage if it wasn't at static equilibrium with the ground." She picks it up and tosses it to Darius.

"I don't think I want to stick around for this convo, I really don't think I will understand half of it. I will go make myself useful elsewhere." Darius drops the rock and drags X off with him as he goes to look for something to do.

"So theoretically speaking I can cause the same energy that is within my body to vibrate things outside of my body by projecting it. If I am right maybe I can..." Before she could finish her statement the spot on the ground she was focusing on started to smoke. "Holy crap I can make things catch on fire!

*System Alert*

New skills unlocked

Shape Mana

Combustion

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Shape Mana: The user gains the ability to change the shape and form of mana into familiar forms and shapes.

Combustion: The user gains the ability to make objects vibrate to the point of igniting.

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"This is going to be epic. So on to the next lesson how can I apply this to my tool-making process? Would you two like to help with that?"

"I am actually kinda tired, so I will pass for now. But if you are still at it tomorrow I will be sure to help out." Elana yawned.

"We did do a lot today, it might not be a bad idea to just rest for now." Zack looked away trying to avoid her yawn.

"Then I will find you first thing in the morning!" She strolled off to her makeshift work area.