“This is crazy.”

“I can’t believe there are so many idiots in the foreign world.”

“So, because of a few idiots we have to face an Upheaval far sooner than we should have.”

The arrival location was filled with complaints that expressed people’s anger confusion and frustration. Zane and many other people born on his world, couldn’t believe what they were hearing. There were actually people foolish enough to upgrade their class so soon. Two days wasn’t even enough time to let one skill reach the max level. Did these people even try to learn a tier one skill?

“Why would they do something so foolish?” A woman with short dark hair asked the Messenger. The question drew people’s attention and they quieted down when the Messenger started to speak.

“Due to the restrictions placed on me by the system, I am unable to answer that question. The system refuses to allow the privacy of an individual’s upgrade to the next tier to be violated. Buuuut, I can tell you an interesting story for a few points.”

“How much points?”

“Not a lot, only 500,000 points. I hope you’re satisfied with my answer and thank you for the 100,000 points.”

Zane saw the woman flinch as if she had received an invisible slap. He didn’t know if she was reacting to the 500,000 points for the story or the 100,000 points for the question. The woman had stayed silent for a while, and he knew that she was hesitating to spend such a large number of points.

“I’m willing to spend 100,000 points,” Zane said.

Once Zane spoke up, three other people followed his lead. Seeing that four fifths of the price for the story had been paid the woman agreed to pay the final fifth. Zane didn’t want to pay so much for a story, but his curiosity demanded satisfaction.

“At the end of the second day the system received someone’s request to upgrade to the next tier. The person came from another world and was only at level ten. Feeling pity, the system provided that individual with more information, but that person didn’t change their mind. They continued with the upgrade confident in their action.”

Cries of idiot rang out through the crowd. Some people mocked his action while others cursed him for doing something that caused the Upheaval to occur ahead of schedule.

“I know, I know. It’s verry shocking, right? But that’s not the end of the story. After that person finished his upgrade, can you guess the quality of their source field?”

Nobody answered the Messenger. Although everyone was sucked into the Messenger story, nobody carelessly responded to her question. After watching them in silence for a few second, the Messenger started speaking again.

“Well, if you don’t want to guess then I’ll tell you the answer.” A few snorts and complaints spread through the area for a brief moment, but the Messenger ignored them. “That person managed to create a perfect source field.”

Silence. There were no shouts of surprise and no complaints about unfairness. Zane remained silent as he heard that someone was able to achieve a perfect source field with only a small amount of effort. He didn’t know what was going through everyone’s mind, but he was sure they were having similar thoughts pass through their minds.

“I was shocked when the Divine Spirits shared this information with me. It was even more shocking when they told me he wasn’t the only one. I realized this event only emphasized the uniqueness and unfathomable properties of the source powers. Even the Divine Spirits can’t predict what effects will occur. That brings me to the end of my story. I hope all of you are satisfied with my story and thank you for the 500,000 points.”

The Messenger stood in silence for over a minute. Seeing that nobody was asking questions she calmly sat down and closed her eyes. Everyone started quietly whispering to each other once she sat down.

“I really don’t know what to say,” Jason said. “I mean, someone was able to achieve a perfect source field so easily.”

“I’m sure that if I tried to upgrade my tier right now, I would only have a small chance at achieving a perfect source field,” Shane said.

“Don’t bother thinking about it,” Zane said. “The Messenger said that the Divine Spirits didn’t even understand how those people were able to reach a perfect tier.” Zane turned toward Sam and Brad before continuing to speak. “Don’t think that you will have the same results as the person in the Messenger’s story.”

“We may not know everything, but we told you what our seniors explained to us,” Sophie said. “We can’t predict what will happen if you rush things so its best of you do things the recommended way.”

“You guys don’t need to worry so much,” Sam responded. “We’re eager but we aren’t foolish.”

The group continued to talk for a while and contacted their friends in the other arrival location. They talked to Adam and listened to the conversations he had with the other people in the circle. Eventually, someone stood up and spoke to everyone. It was a woman with dark skin and short curly dark hair.

“Hello everyone,” she said. “My name is Nikki and I have an idea that I would like to share. Instead of speaking to each other in separate groups, we should gather and share ideas. Once we all agree on a question, we can ask it and share the cost for it.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Adam stood up and voiced his agreement.

Zane saw the woman’s eyes light up. “It’s good to see a Peddler here. I'm sure you’ll live up to your reputation.”

“Speak for yourself,” a male voice echoed from the crowd.

“Hey, if you don’t have anything good to say then keep that shit to yourself.”

“What happened to free speech. Oh, I remember, the Peddlers poisoned it before taking it around back and shooting it in the head.”

“No one. Is taking away. Your god damn free speech. Now you have three options. You can shut up and say nothing, say something helpfully or you can leave. Nobody is forcing you to stay here.”

“First you’re telling me what to say, now you’re telling me where I can and can't go.”

“Is this some kind of joke,” a man with long hair said. “Are they putting on a show or do the people from other worlds enjoy engaging in such foolish behavior.”

“Don’t lump us together.” a male elven stated. “We are nothing like you humans.”

“So, our allies are a group of idiots and a group of arrogant idiots”

“If there’s anyone being arrogant it’s you.” The elven replied to the long hair man. “Don’t forget that we can leave, but all of you have to stay here and fight. As a matter of fact, I think you and all of the people from this world should show their sincerity by paying for all of the questions.”

The man with long hair was stunned, but he quickly replaced that feeling with anger. “Now that you messed things up you stupid cowards want to run away. We would have way more time if you idiots have done things the proper way.”

Multiple voices started to roar through the arrival location and a few people looked like they wanted to exchange blows. Fear and worry about the Upheaval made people tense. The Messenger’s words only added oil to the fire. Zane didn’t know what to say to calm everyone down, but he knew that someone had to say something. The only way to defeat an Upheaval was by working together as a united whole. As Zane was thinking to himself, he saw someone from Adam's circle walk forward and place their hand on Adam’s back.

“Everyone please calm down!” Adam’s voice sounded louder than thunder when it entered Zane’s ears. “I know that we have our differences and feel some frustration toward each other. However, we must overcome them and stop fighting amongst ourselves if we wish to successfully defeat the Upheaval.”

“I disagree,” the Messenger said. “I think you should keep fighting. Fighting is only the natural result when groups of different people join together.”

Everyone turned their head to look at the Messenger that they stopped paying attention to. She was sitting on a pink cushion that looked very comfortable. She had an eating utensil in one hand and a steaming bowl in the other. Zane, like everyone else in the arrival area, was stunned when he saw this sight.

Unbelievable, Zane thought to himself. Is she treating us as entertainment? The moment that thought passed through Zane’s mind he started to get annoyed. The main reason we’re fighting is because of her. She was the one who mentioned the requirements and that people from other worlds caused the Upheaval to happen earlier. Plus, she told the people from other worlds that they could leave.

A few seconds after he had this last thought, Zane felt his annoyance swiftly disperse. The Messenger said that the system will be offering the opportunity to go home in the future, Zane thought to himself. If the Messenger didn’t tell anyone about the opportunity to leave it wouldn’t have changed the fact that the system would be offering the opportunity in the future. Truthfully, things are probably a lot better for us now. We know there’s a chance that some of the people from the other worlds might leave and we won’t create a plan that would fail when they did so. Also, her words caused us to fight amongst each other now. Since we’ve fought already, its less likely for us to fight in the future during the Upheaval.

“Fighting might be normal for multiple groups, but it’s also normal for multiple groups to shake hands, make up, and work together,” Adam said.

“Aren’t you someone born on one of the other worlds?” A woman with long hair asked. “Why are you helping the people from this world? It’s obvious that the people from this world have some resentment for us and were disrespectful to us. Why should we risk our lives to save them?”

“You make it seem like the people born on this world will all die if they don’t receive our help. I’m sorry but that isn’t true. From what I understand the system has the instinctive desire to help all individuals grow. Therefore, the system will make sure there is a way for the people of this world to not only survive the Upheaval but become stronger after it has passed. Of course, I could be wrong. If you want to verify if what I said is true, then you only have to spend a few points.”

Adam pointed to the Messenger, and everyone directed her gaze toward her. The Messenger smiled and waved her eating utensil at everyone. More than a few heads shook their head in response. No one wanted to waste points to ask for an obvious answer to a simple question.

“Instead of thinking about how staying benefits the people of this world, we should start thinking about how staying benefits us. Messenger can you tell me the benefits we can potentially receive when the Upheaval is over?”

“I can’t tell you about all the benefits, but I can describe a few of them for you.” The Messenger spoke while putting her empty bowl away. “The system will change all points to credits after the Upheaval is finished and staying will allow you to earn a lot more. The system will open a special store to buy items not seen on the first and second floor of the market. Also, you can earn a title for surviving until the very end. I hope your satisfied with my answer and thank you for the 100,000 points.”

“Messenger, I would like to ask how important teamwork is in surviving the Upheaval and successfully completing the Upheaval Defense quest?”

“Teamwork is probably the most important weapon to defeating an Upheaval. If the people of this world didn’t work together when their territories were threatened, then very few territories would exist today. All of you definitely won’t be successful without working together. I hope your satisfied with my answer and thank you for the 100,000 points.”

Adam didn’t say anything else. He smiled and looked at everyone as they took in the answers to the two questions he asked. A few moments passed and the man with long hair was the first person to apologize for his words. After he apologized other people also made an attempt to pacify others.

Zane smiled and silently applauded Adam’s efforts. In a show of support, Zane publicly offered Adam some of his own points for the two question he asked. However, Adam declined is offer and Zane respected his decision.