After two hours had passed, Clair grew increasingly worried at the sight of the unfinished quest that hung at the corner of her vision.

She expected Jake and the others to have returned by now. Getting worried that something may have happened, she decided to make the call.

She looked over to one of the Guards, "Get Jack or Jay, whoever is still in town," with that order, and a flash of light, Clair hoped that nothing happened to her friends.

...

"Sarge, they seem to be getting anxious, they just sent one of their men back through," The man operating the drones spoke up, breaking the silent atmosphere that hung over everyone.

"Alright, Jackson, Mike, you ready?" The commander asked, looking toward his two second in command.

"Good. Pack up, we need to move, Julio, and Sam, help the others with the Drones and radio equipment," The commander began issuing out orders left and right before focusing on us, "Alright, all of you up on your feet. No sudden movements, unless you wish to feel what it's like to get shot."

"What are you going to do?" Jake questioned, worried about his subordinates.

"Quiet. No talking or more will end up like her," The Commander warned the Integrated Humans, gesturing toward the [Aspiring Hunter] they shot, who was still clutching their rapidly healing leg.

Directing the Integrated Humans to stand, including the injured Hunter who stood with difficulty. From there, the Foundation operatives gathered their gear, geared up, and readied themselves to move.

Forcing their prisoners to begin marching forward in front of them, the group began making its way towards the Settlement.

...

Meanwhile, inside the Dungeon in the rebuilt town of 'Ark,' Bright could be seen lazing around his shack with juice in his hand and several makeshift mead barrels sitting nearby.

You see...Bright had started a pet project when he found beehives in the Jungle. With honey, crushes berries and whatever wild spices he found to begin fermenting his very own mead. It'll take weeks before he has some decent alcohol, but he felt it would be worth the effort.

Relaxing and leaning back into his chair, Bright couldn't help but think that this was far better than the countless years he spent working for the Foundation. Sure, with the Foundation he was handsomely paid, but he hardly ever had a day off, and not once had anything resembling an actual vacation.

Raising his hand, blue wisps of energy flowed from the palm of his hand, forming a small orb of energy that floated above his hand.

With precise control, the ball began to float around his hand in an orbit.

Every day Bright couldn't help but be thankful they found this place. Not only was it a safe haven and an escape from the IKEA, but it also granted them all miraculous abilities. Bright couldn't imagine not having these abilities. It felt like he was finally free, not from the amulet of course, but something that truly felt like it was his and not something he stole from the countless men and women he stole the bodies of due to his damned amulet.

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Just as Bright was getting lost in his thoughts while he practiced his magic, sudden shouting broke him from his stupor.

"Where's Bright?!" The Voice shouted, quickly getting closer as they sought him out.

Sighing, Bright climbed up from the recliner he sat in, and stepped away from the shack made of furniture that was his temporary home, grabbing his machete that rested against the wall.

Seconds later, the voice reached him, showing it to be one of the guards.

"Bright! Clair wants to see you, she said to bring your weapon and your team!" The Man informed Bright, heaving and breathing heavily, clearly having run from the Portal all the way to the town.

"Why is it always on my day off..." Bright said with exhaustion.

While he did enjoy this new part of his life, it certainly had its drawbacks. At least he didn't have to do any paperwork...yet.

...

Watching everything that was happening, I became giddy with excitement at the story taking place before my eyes, how would the Foundation Operatives react to Bright or my Dungeon? What were they planning? Would they siege the Settlement around the portal to get access to it, or would they try to be diplomatic?

If the Foundation's Operatives were smart, they'd try the diplomatic approach first instead of aggression. However, knowing the Foundation's attitude towards most situations, I feel it is likely they will try to use fearmongering tactics instead or eliminate all of the opposition.

Such tactics would work well if the party had overwhelming strength compared to the opposition, but the Foundation Operatives did not have overwhelming strength against my Humans. My humans possess magic, bows, and crossbows, and are numbered over a hundred in number. The small group from the Foundation would be powerless if my Humans were forced to fight back, regardless of whether or not the Foundation has guns.

Though...that brings up another question, what will my [Enforcers] and [Guardian] do? I could alert them to a 'Citizen' being in danger, and force a confrontation between my Machines and the Foundation, but as much as I wanted to, I would not interfere. I could not hold the hands of my Humans. This was a tribulation, would they grow, or would they fail?

Following all of the participants involved with my Mana, I could see everything as it happened.

The Foundation Operatives with their prisoners marching in front of them would soon reach the wall of the Settlement, where the Commander ordered two of his subordinates to split off from the group and get into position somewhere where they could get a clear line of sight on the Settlement.

Noticing the shifting arrow pointing towards the Foundation Operatives, Clair must have realized that they were getting closer and warned everyone in the Settlement, as they quickly armed themselves and gathered behind the wall of furniture that would separate them from the Operatives.

Clair, along with the few Guards she had with her prepared themselves. They had no idea what was coming, what happened to their friends, or even if their friends were successful in their mission, so, Clair chose to prepare for the worst scenario.

Using her Aura skills, she boosted the morale of everyone present, hoping that her low skill level would make them a bit more focused and confident, they may very well need it for whatever was coming.

...

[Jake]

As they pushed us forward, I could see the outlines of the wall of the Settlement we found ourselves in a few hours ago.

Standing behind the cracks of the wall, I could see Clair and the other guards, as well as all of the people who called the 'Bedroom' Settlement home.

I thought for a moment about fighting back, in hopes that Clair and the others would be able to rush out and help, but hesitated. These people, whoever they were, had guns. They could kill all of us before we even moved.

But...No...there's too many of them. If I say something they could very well kill all of us right now, or hurt someone else to get what they want.

"Who are you?" Clair shouted from behind the wall, warily glaring at the strangers who had their guns trained on our backs.

The men behind us stayed quiet, making everyone more nervous with each passing moment.

Eventually, the leader did speak up.

"All of you, come out with your hands up, or one of them dies," The Commander demanded, placing their gun against the back of the head of Tom, an Aspiring Hunter.

Before I could react, I watched as Tom reacted, turning around faster than I could react, Tom managed to grab the barrel of the Commander's gun and use one of his skills to send a devastating punch into the chin of the Commander, nearly instantly knocking him out.

At that moment, chaos erupted.