Eventually, everyone had calmed down and were able to speak to each other with civility. They gathered around and began sharing ideas for questions that they could ask. Zane’s group kept in contact with Britney and the others to make sure everyone didn’t waste points on questions that have already been answered. Once the questions were determined, everyone suggested that Adam be the spokesperson. However, he declined because he felt like he might get distracted and ask questions that the group didn’t agree on. In the end, Nikki was chosen to be the spokesperson.

As Nikki asked the agreed upon questions to the Messenger, the group created another set of questions to ask based on the answers the Messenger gave. However, the Messenger announced that she was leaving halfway through the first set of questions. Most people had completely forgotten about the time limit that the Messenger mentioned. Those that did remember thought she mentioned a time limit so they would ask more questions.

The Messenger kneeled down and placed her hands on the altar she was on after she announced that she was leaving. She held her position for a few seconds before a multicolored light exploded from the altar. The light was so bright that Zane could not see anything. It lasted a few second before rapidly fading. Once the light was gone Zane saw the Messenger standing on the grass with no altar in sight.

“I had a second job beside answering your questions,” the Messenger said. I had to make sure the altar was hidden so the mana creatures don’t touch it during the Upheaval. Okay, it’s time for me to go. If you have any more questions, then you know where to find me.”

“Oh, one last piece of free information. Your situation is a lot better than people at other starting villages. Some starting villages met the requirements in six days and were given the same five days to prepare that you have now. In fact, there are only a few starting villages left that haven’t met the requirements yet. Okay, that’s all I’ll say for now. Good luck.”

Everyone watched as the Messenger instantly disappeared. Things became a little bit chaotic after that. People were confused on what they should do next. Some people questioned why the Messenger didn’t stay and continuing answering their questions since she liked to take their points so much. Eventually, Nikki stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

“Hello everyone,” she said. “I’ve been talking to my team members at other arrival locations through mental communication. For those of you who don’t know, we adventurers are capable of forming teams recognized by the system and the system gives us the ability to communicate mentally. If you want to know how it’s done, then you can ask someone else later. As I was saying, I contacted my team members and confirmed that their Messenger has left as well. I suggested that we all gather here and everyone in their arrival location agreed to come here after my team members spoke to them. I hope everyone can stay here so we can discuss working together for the Upheaval. Also, if you can contact people at other arrival locations then please do that now.”

Nobody had a problem agreeing with Nikki’s suggestion and decided to relax while they waited for other people to arrive. A few people mentioned that they had people in other arrival locations, and they would start notifying them. Everyone stayed together to talk in the beginning, but slowly separated after a few minutes. Zane’s group moved away and started their own discussion.

“It seems like we weren’t the only group that thought of communicating with our friends in other areas,” Brad said.

“Should we have mentioned Britney and the others?” Sam asked.

“We could have, but we didn’t need to,” Shane replied. “Whitney said they were heading over, and we would have to tell them to go back if we wanted them to invite people from their arrival location.”

“Ah!” Sophie’s sudden shout caused everyone to look at her. “We forgot to properly celebrate Jason’s breakthrough. I didn’t even congratulate you.”

“You’re right,” Jason started laughing out loud. “I was so worried about the Upheaval that I barely thought about my breakthrough.”

“What was it like?” Brad asked. “Did you get a good class?”

“Good? My class is amazing! Feast your eyes on the first Fanatical Magician.”

Class: Fanatical Magician

Description: Through research and study you have become a magician. Through determination and dedication, you have become a fanatic. Forgoing all other forms of power beside magic you receive a great boost in your ability to affect the world around you with magic.

Rewards: 50 CP, +10 Int, +6 Wis, +6 Per, +2 Will and +1 free stat point per level

Zane was surprised when he saw Jason’s class appear in front of his eyes. However, he immediately recovered and started glaring at Jason. This idiot, Zane thought to himself. Zane knew that Jason had just shared his class with the entire group.

When Jason saw Zane’s glare he was surprised, but he quickly became embarrassed and looked away. Zane shook his head and decided to focus on reading the information about Jason’s class. It wasn’t the end of the world if the others knew the details of Jason’s class. He still had talents and skills that nobody knew about.

“It looks like the system rewarded you for not doing proper physical training,” Zane said.

“Who would have thought that Jason’s lazy behavior would be beneficial for him,” Sophie added.

“I’m someone who uses spells. Why would I need to focus on having a super strong body?”

“I use spells too. I had no problem doing the workouts that Teacher Isabelle recommended.”

“Let’s not talk about my class anymore. Instead, let’s talk about the meditation technique I created.”

Meditation Technique: Fanatical Magician Technique

Grade: Rare

Level: 1

Proficiency: 450/1000

Tier: 1

Description: A meditation technique created by Jason based on his fanatical desire towards magic. By studying mana and magical principles with a single-minded focus, one is able to increase the power of their mind and body. The more you study the stronger you become. The stronger you become the more you can study.

Effects: +0.1 Spirit, +50 mana, +10 Int, +6 Wis, +2 Per, +2 Will and +1 to all other stats per level

Once again, Zane felt the feeling of surprise when he saw Jason’s meditation technique appear in front of him. Once again, Zane glared at Jason after he recovered from his surprise. You actually managed to create a rare meditation method, Zane thought to himself. Zane couldn’t help feeling jealous when he saw that the meditation method Jason created was one level higher than his.

Jason and Zane had a bond stronger than brothers related by blood. When Jason saw Zane glare at him, he didn’t feel embarrassed like before. Instead, he gave Zane a proud look because he could understand the jealousy and envy behind Zane’s gaze.

Forget it, Zane thought to himself. I already knew that Jason was someone with a lot of talent. Since I was able to create a meditation method for myself, I shouldn’t be surprised by Jason being able to create one too. I guess I should be glad that he revealed his before mine. Otherwise, he definitely would have rubbed it in my face that he was one grade higher than me.

Mentally patting himself on the back Zane started to look at Jason’s meditation techniques. He compared it to his own meditation art and tried to see how he could improve. However, Zane was unable to see what made Jason’s meditation art deserving of a higher grade than his own.

“Hey, I thought you said the spirit stat, and the three other source stats could only be improved naturally?” Sam questioned. “This meditation technique seems like some sort of cheat.”

“Technically this can be considered a natural process,” Sophie responded. “In the past meditation arts were how people improved themselves. That’s why meditation methods still have the ability to improve source stats.”

“First you said that the source stats can’t be improved by external materials,” Brad said. “Now you’re saying that we can improve them with meditation methods. I’m not saying you guys are lying, but I’m starting to think you don’t know as much as you say you do.”

“We only heard people mention that meditation methods at the rare grade were capable of increasing source stats. We didn’t know for sure and even if we did, we had no way of getting one.”

Zane and the others continued to talk while they waited for people from other areas to arrive. After a few minutes they started to see people walking toward their arrival location. When the group saw Britney and the others, they waved them over.

Sophie realized that they held a conversation without them and started to apologize. They could have talked via mental communication, but everyone forgot. Perhaps they were too stunned by Jason revealing his class and meditation method. Britney, Frank and Whitney let Sophie know it was okay. Sophie made sure to catch them up on what was discussed, and Jason was more than happy to receive another opportunity to show off.

As time passed, more people arrived, and the area started to become more crowded. Zane and the others recognized some of the people that arrived. They were people that they had helped over the past few days in the forest and at the training grounds. Some people stopped and sat with Zane’s group. Others only walked by to greet them and say a few kind words.

The original twelve people had grown to more than fifty. To Zane it was a comforting sight. He had taken the Messenger’s advice to form connections and when he was able to build a decent relationship with many people. These relationships would be the foundation they would use to establish good teamwork and defeat the Upheaval.

Soon, more than ten minutes passed and there were no new people walking toward the arrival location. Everyone had started to settle down and were waiting for the next step in preparing for the Upheaval. Adam and Nikki stood on a stone that was two meters tall and addressed the crowd.