[Clair's POV]

It took a bit of work, but I managed to get the other Council members on task, getting their help in directing the people in setting up camp on the metal platform under the floating obelisk in the sky.

I had a few of our Guards set up around the portal in case the staff decided to come through, and I had the rest simply resting and setting up camp with whatever supplies they took with them from the town, which wasn't much due to our sudden departure.

I then had Jay, Bright, and a couple of our strongest men head out in a certain direction to see if they could find anything but told them if they didn't find anything within a couple of hours to return.

I did this with three other groups too, sending them in three other directions.

It would have us defenseless if Staff were to come in, but we should have enough people to defend ourselves if they do attack.

Not going to lie, I was hoping the portal would have closed once we all passed through, but it still looked the same even after a few hours passed.

Other than that, a few more of our people interacted with the 'System' gaining classes and mysterious powers and abilities themselves.

Even she selected a 'Class' for herself, gaining three mysterious abilities.

[Boost Morale - Active - Activating this ability and giving a good enough speech, you can give a minor or major boost to the morale of your subordinates]

[Aura of Confidence - Active - While active, your Aura will give a slight boost to your ally's confidence and bravery depending on how confident and brave you yourself are]

[Leadership - Passive - Whenever you lead, you get a feeling of the right things to say]

Those were the 'skills' she chose, and based on their descriptions and her experiences so far in using them, they were not wrong.

However, the skills seemed to be quite weak due to their low level, barely helping at all, though it was better than nothing.

However, she was concerned, if these skills did indeed affect a person's mind, what other things could it do?

Was there some kind of skill that allowed someone to mind control another?

Shaking her head, she instead focused her mind back on the task, they might have escaped one hell, but who is to say they didn't escape into another?

---

Meanwhile, traveling west, towards the split between the Arctic and Redwoods Biome, Jack Bright, Jay, and several other guards were chatting as they slowly walked through the grassy plains.

However, about half an hour of walking later, some of them began noticing what looked to be pillars forming a line in the distance with large gaps of empty space in between.

Deciding to follow along the pillars, the group eventually came upon a road with a small building made of metal at the end.

Jay was the first to step in.

It seemed to be a small office, with a console on one of the walls with a shattered window above it looking out towards the road and away from the obelisk.

The Console was clean, yet covered in a sheen of dust, its surface like a screen.

However...Jack was the first to notice the skeleton wearing an old and tattered guard uniform several feet up in the air pinned to the wall by arrows...

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Walking up to the skeleton, Jack was the first to notice an object in the skeleton's clasped hand.

Opening the closed skeletal fist, Jack was surprised to see a small rectangular block with a sharp tip.

Grabbing it, Jack examined it closer.

At the top of the block was an engraving of a diamond, surprisingly the same symbol that was on the face of the Obelisk floating above the camp...

Turning around, Jack noticed a seemingly perfect hole at the center of the console that would fit the rectangle.

"Jack?" Jay asked as Jack walked past him and toward the Console before inserting the rectangle.

Suddenly with a flash of light, the whole console seemed to power up as the diamond on the 'key' turned a bright white, and white lines seemed to spread across the console and the screen flashed on.

[Logs]

[Gate Status: Deactivated]

[Fence B Status: Deactivated]

[3/4 Guard Stations Needing Activation]

Curious, Jack tapped on Logs, bringing up a list of entities.

[Log 1 - 8/14/2358]

[Log 2 - E̵̽r̸r̴õ̴r̵, Log not available]

...

...

...

"What...2358?" A man by the name of Derrick who took the Aspiring Warrior Class asked, baffled.

"Over 300 years..." The last man of the group, Gyle, of the Aspiring Hunter class, spoke.

Even Jay and Jack's expressions turned grim.

Even though there was a possibility this wasn't their Earth, they were still worried about the countless changes and differences the Humanity of this Earth would have after so long.

Without hesitation, Jack opened the first log, which brought up a holographic screen showcasing a recording of the very room they were standing in only clean and with a man in a Guard's uniform sitting in a chair.

This man, of Asian descent, looked annoyed as he sighed with his eyes closed before he opened them and stared back at the screen.

"My name is Kyle Rig, and as of today, April 2nd of 2358, I am required to make daily logs going over my daily activities and any reports I may have for my superiors...sigh," the man sighed, "Listen, I know no one is going to even watch these, so I'm going to speak candidly, I'm tired, and I am old.

This job is supposed to be an easy one, and well paying, but with whatever their building at the center of the park, I am beginning to wonder if I might actually have to try and actually 'work,' not that I had much I had to do other than keep those without proper authorization out and making sure that the fence hasn't been breached and is in working order, and with my boss becoming more iron-clad with following the rules, I worry."

He leaned back into his chair and sat in silence for a minute, seemingly lost in thought, "The boss has always had a stick up his arse, but don't get me wrong, he recently has become a lot more serious, meaning whatever was being built at the center of the site, have my boss's higher-ups pressuring him to make sure we do our jobs.

My question is, why the hell are they building whatever in the middle of the damn park? They do realize countless people walk through the park every day, sightseeing or checking out the exhibits, right? They are not making my job any easier...sigh, this is going to be a long day," The man said, staring past the console and towards the road, "Seems I have to turn back another guy, man...this job fucking sucks..."

With the recording abruptly ending, the others spent a minute or two in silence, processing what they watched.

Scrolling down, Jack noticed most of the logs were corrupted, and inaccessible, leaving only a few that were available for viewing.

Turning back, he glanced at the skeleton before turning back and scrolling all the way down to the most recent log.

[Log 14 - 4/2/2359]

"Shit...shit...shit!" The security guard, Kyle cursed, as his uniform was covered in sweat and his hand was bleeding.

"I don't know what happened, but there was an earthquake, I can't even remember how long it's been since an earthquake has even been recorded happening...and suddenly the alarms start blaring out through the city, I was on my way to work, and suddenly these...things appeared in the middle of the path and began killing everyone around me, luckily I had my issued firearm on me and was able to protect myself from whatever the hell these creatures were, but one of them fucking got me, knocking my gun out of my hand, I didn't know what to do so I ran, I came to the only place that seemed safe in this damned park...shit...they were following me," The man cursed and paled as he looked past the screen and towards the road.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He screamed as he tried to run, only for the sound of breaking glass and an arrow to shoot into the room like a missile...

The arrow hit the guard with so much force it sent him flying back, and pinning him to the wall.

Pale and bleeding, he tried to pull the arrow out, and he successfully did, rushing toward the console, he seemed to pull out the 'key' and try to make a run for it, why he didn't just run away, the group didn't know, perhaps the key was valuable?

Only for a high-pitched laugh to come from behind the screen and a strange creature with green skin standing at five feet in height, to leap over the console and into the room.

In the final moments, the group horrified watched as the green creature approached the guard who slowly backed off to the wall, then the recording went black.