"Ow, you don't have to hit me so hard" Noah said while clutching his waist.

"You were being an ass" Ava snorted and looked away.

"I didn't even get to say we didn't meet truck-kun." Noah had the annoying smug face on. Ava got ready to punch him in the face this time.

"Back off you two, do this later." Shaun as always had to step in as the mediator.

"Sure"

Noah continued seeing his friends losing some of that tense look. "You both calmed down enough?"

"All thanks to you" Ava huffed though her eyes showed slight gratitude.

"Why are you chill about all this?" Shaun had an inquisitive expression.

"Believe me when I say that experiencing the dream last night made me slightly immune to crazy stuff happening around me. This doesn't even come close to it." Noah shrugged.

"What do you think about the situation?" Ava said while eyeing the others with caution.

"They seem to be in the same situation as us." looking at the people around, Shaun continued. "They collected quite a group from around the world. I can see Caucasians, Africans, Asians and even some tribal people just from a casual glance around."

"At least, we don't seem to be in immediate danger at the moment. We have to quickly find a source of information. We can't be sitting ducks here." Ava added.

"The buff guys up there wearing knight cosplay armor seems promising. Who am I kidding, those are definitely real knights." Noah pointed in a direction in which the trio turned in shortly afterward.

There was a massive three-floor manor in that direction. The walls were adorned with glass windows. In the middle of which was a huge balcony. There was a podium placed there with more than a dozen knights wearing shiny armors covered in intricate designs posted on both sides of it.

A knight with even shinier armor having more intricate designs emerged from within the manor and headed straight to the podium with swift steps. He was followed by a man wearing a luxurious dress covered by a robe.

The knight said some words to the noble(?) who nodded and waved his hands to most likely signal him to speak. As a few moments after that, an explosion sounded out. Those who didn't keep an eye on the knight would have likely missed him but the trio clearly saw him punching his fist up in the air and air rippled out around his fist creating a sonic boom. On closer look, they saw his fist covered in some sort of yellow aura. Their eyes widened at this display of might.

The plaza suddenly quieted down with everyone turning towards the source of the explosion. Seeing that he had everyone's attention, the knight took a deep breath declared with a booming voice.

"WELCOME VISITORS, TO THE ERANGEL TOWN!" Hearing the loud voice all of a sudden, people were startled and started murmuring with fear slowly permeating the atmosphere.

"CALM DOWN. AND NO ONE SHALL BE HARMED." The knight repeated his previous feat which was surprisingly quite effective to calm the group.

"Everyone Is Surely Confused By The Situation. Worry not, you will all get your answers." The booming voice eventually quieted down though still loud enough to be heard clearly by the entire plaza.

"It's best we start from the beginning. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Geoff Sanders, Commander of Knights Order of Kingdom of Lydia." Knight Sanders took a sweeping glance at the group and continued.

"You all are here for a reason. It's better for you all to see it than hear me explain. Now, Focus your thoughts and think of the word 'Status' in your mind." He finished with that simple instruction having no indication of continuing whatsoever.

"What does he mean by Sta-" Noah like all other was confused by that statement and was about to question his friends before getting interrupted by a blue box popping up in his vision.

'Feels like Deja-Vu Noah thought and turned his attention to the message present in front of him.

[Integration: A Once In An Era Event. Involving the merging of Universes to be part of the Multiverse. An Event of Cosmic Proportions. The Akasha Records bear witness to the event and manages the proper assimilation of all beings, sapient or non-sapient and acclimatize them to their new worlds.]

[Title Acquired: [Initiates of the New World (LOCKED)]

[Quest: Phase I {Initiation} - The New World will be treacherous and fraught with dangers. Where a single misstep could bring you into fatal danger. As new Initiates, you are given the precious opportunity to be prepared for the eventuality and flourish in the new environment.]

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Main Objective: Pass the Rite of Awakening before the end of Phase I.

Time Left: 90 Cosmic Days

2339:56:37

Rewards: Talent Acquisition

Invitation to Phase II

Digesting all this information took some time with everyone paying careful attention to every word. A lull fell over the entire plaza as every single person tried to come to terms with their current situation.

After almost 2 minutes of silence, Knight Sanders deemed it enough and restarted from where he left off.

"I believe all of you now have a basic understanding of your circumstances. To put this into your perspective, you are given an opportunity for growth. I and my colleagues are here to oversee your development and help you get on the right track." Sanders paused to let them ease the tension.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ALL OF US?" A young teen couldn't handle the pressure and chose to vent his angst by yelling.

"WE JUST WANT TO GO HOME" Witnessing the teen, the dam burst and people started coming forth in apprehension.

"WHERE ARE MY PARENTS?"

"BRING US BACK!"

..

"ENOUGH!!" Knight Sanders intervened before it could turn into something disastrous.

The Knights standing behind him banged their sheathed swords in unison. The resulting noise put a stop to the clamor but anyone could see it was just a stopgap.

"Unfortunately, We don't know much besides the general information and neither can we teleport you back to your world." Knight Sanders said in a much softer tone and continued.

"But, One thing we can do is help you all. It is the sole reason we have all gathered today in this town. To help you settle, to help you train and guide you. It is normal to feel fearful in face of unknown dangers. but don't let that fear dominate you. We, I will be there to help you." Knight Sanders said in an upright manner.

Hearing the speech was much effective than one would expect. After all, most of the fear was because of concern for the future. All of a sudden being put in such a situation is enough to make most people uneasy. Getting a guarantee of support even if it may be fake is enough for people to hold onto it with their dear life. After all said, Humans are quite gullible in nature. No wonder people could vote for politicians that screwed them over time after time.

Besides, this Sanders guy was no slick politician, he was a natural leader. The guy could probably give Captain America a run for money with his charisma. So, people were willing to at least listen to him. And his punch was enough deterrent to those who weren't.

"My Knights will lead you to your dwellings. You will be living there for the rest of your stay here. The people there will help you get settled." Sanders added. The Knights moved in unison and jumped from the balcony to land in front of the crowd.

"Form a line before each knight. Make sure not to rush. We have plenty of time on us. You will live in this town for quite some time after all." Sanders concluded.

The trio shared glances and started moving towards one of the knights.

"You think he is trustworthy?" Ava whispered to the two.

"I think so, although time will tell. We should continue this discussion back at the lodge or inn or wherever they are taking us to. Don't want them to think we're suspicious or anything." Noah replied while looking at the Knight leading this group.

"I mean, there isn't much we can do even if I wanted to. You guys have seen those moves too, right. Every single one of the knights is a supersoldier while that Captain Sanders is a beast. You may as well replace him with a tank." Shaun added with a cautious look.

"I'm really excited right now for some reason." Noah said with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Are you serious with me? I'm halfway pissing my pants here and you are looking like you have come to Disneyland." Shaun said with a strange look on his face.

"Oh, I for sure pissed my pants last night but they are hung out to dry right now. Looking past all that, I just realized there is something unique, new about this and I'm getting to know about a literal new world. This isn't something that happens every other day." Noah explained with a tinge of excitement in his voice.

"Looking at you makes me feel like I should just relax and go with the flow." Ava's body relaxed slightly and her gait became slightly more confident.

"Maybe I just have that effect with people. By the way, did you realize the people here are not speaking English right now while we're still able to perfectly understand their intent."

"I thought it was just another thing done to help us socialize and allow us to become part of the community here. This town has more of a fantasy feeling than a medieval one. But can't say anything about that. The moment that dude threw a supersonic punch like Flash, that possibility drained down the gutter." Ava had an enthusiastic look on her face looking at the town around her. She wasn't the only one though, nearly everyone had a childish look on their face watching the different sights in town.

The walk went on like this for another 15 minutes or so with the trio discussing about the town before the knight in lead slowed to a stop in front of a massive building.

It was a three-floor tall wooden inn. At this point, it would be more apt to call it a hotel 'cause it definitely had the necessary size.

Moving through the two-door doorway, the knight led the group into the inn.

"Welcome to Florelle's Inn" A cheerful voice greeted them as they entered the inn. The owner of the voice turned out to be a young woman with dark hair tinged slightly with green. She looked to be in her mid-20s and could be considered beautiful. The lady saw the knight in front leading the group and greeted with a bright smile.

"Oh, Good Afternoon Rylee. Are they here?"

"Good afternoon, Florelle. There they are, the new trainees. Are the rooms prepared?" The knight, Rylee was an average-looking guy also in his mid-20s though if your average guy had six-packs and could put NBA players to shame. He answered while pointing his thumb back at them.

"Just a moment till it is done. they can look around and do something else until then." Florelle said while looking back to check the progress.

"Right, they probably haven't done that. They might as well check it out sooner rather than later." Rylee continued after turning towards the group.

"Y'all should open your Status page again and familiarize yourself with it. It is going to be very important in your future."

With a curious look, the trio eyed each other and nodded before opening their Status page and with it entirely new information appeared within the box.

[Status]

Name: Noah

Race: Human(F) - LVL 1

Profession: N/A

Status: Healthy - [Blessing: Universal Tongue (Limited)] [Blessing of the Titanos Ragnarok]

Talent: [Intelligent] [Focused Mind]

Stats

Strength: 1.3

Agility: 1.1

Vitality: 1.2

Constitution: 1.2

Endurance: 1.1

Perception: 0.9

Intelligence: 1.6

Wisdom: 1.4

Willpower: 1.5

Skills: N/A

"Okayy??" Noah didn't know how to make sense of it. Or more precisely, he was quite disbelieving of the situation.