Lane woke up after the sun had set and night covered the forest clearing. Some were still asleep, while many of the others were busy chatting or trying out their new weapons. Lane settled his ruffled hair as he eyed the Summoned swinging around their new weapons like toys. Even to his untrained eyes, it was evident how they were complete novices. It surprised him, considering how powerful the Summoned were. For a normal Native, it would take years—maybe even decades—to move from this level to a level where they were able to handle the monsters that roamed the Blasted Lands. And even then, it was more than likely that they would be killed if they faced off against one of the more dangerous beasts. Despite this, these complete beginners who hadn't even touched a weapon before today might be able to reach that level within a fraction of that time.

After observing them for a while, he stood up and trudged into the nearby underbrush for a quick visit to the outhouse before seeing if there was any food left. The administrators hadn't said anything about there being a limit on the amount they could eat so when he saw there was some left he filled a vessel to the brim. Sitting down on the grass that had gone damp from the cold night air, he stared upwards.

The first moon hung high in the night sky and the second moon was also starting to rise. It would be midnight soon. He'd noticed that several of the Summoned who woke up would exclaim, point, or look up at the sky in shock as if it was an amazing thing. The ones who weren't surprised were the exception, rather than the norm.

Had they never seen moons before? What kind of world were they from?

He was considering this matter when a bright and clear-cut whistle resounded throughout the clearing, prompting a pack of birds in the nearby treetops to take flight. The few who were still sleeping were startled awake, and everyone turned their attention to Clyde who's fingers were held to his mouth.

"Time's up. The gate leading to the second testing area will soon open. Usually, every person can only enter that place once, meaning none of us administrators will be coming along. You're all on your own until the second test is finished and you return here." he said, not bothering to let those who had just woken up get their bearings. "The new arrivals from the other four sites will also be there, but you better all remember just from where you entered. If any of you try to exit the test to another site, there'll be hell to pay. Understood?" Clyde's voice took on a threatening tone.

He gestured for the woman administrator who had fired the flare earlier. She took a step forward and placed a small marble statue of a robed woman on the ground in front of everybody.

As the woman stepped back to her original position next to the other administrators, Clyde continued to speak. "The second testing area is a gift created by the gods to help us grow used to this world when we first arrive. You'll be spending quite a bit of time there, but the time there ain't the same so not much time will have passed over here." He looked at his wrist where there was an armband with a circular face on it. Lane had heard of that object. It was called a wristwatch and was relatively common amongst the Summoned. But if a Native wanted to get hold of one they'd have to be prepared to pay a hefty sum.

"If you're cut out for it, the second testing area will be a place where you'll grow in strength and learn how to fight. When the test is completed you'll also get your first class. We'll be the ones administrating the third test and we don't wanna waste resources on rabble who can't take care of themselves, so you'll have to figure out the rest on your own." Clyde went silent as he kept looking down at his wristwatch. Nobody said a thing. After a while, Clyde looked up and nodded at the two administrators who had opened up the original gate.

Both of them took a couple of steps forward and held their arms out towards the statue. As their hands started glowing a bright white color, the statue also started glowing. In the space before the statue, a white tear formed which quickly grew large enough for three people to pass through shoulder to shoulder. It was bright as day on the other side of the gate and Lane spotted a large field through it with high grass that blew in the wind. Everybody looked on with amazement.

Clyde glared at them. "What the hell are you waiting for? Start moving! Do you have any idea how expensive it is to keep this gate open!?" He berating pulled everyone out of their of awed state. The people closest to the gate started entering the gate and a line formed. Lane was closer to the back of the line, but after only a minute he and the rest of the Summoned passed through the gate.

It didn't feel like stepping through a door, but being pulled by a strange force and shaken for a moment. His eyes closed briefly from the experience and when he opened his eyes again, the entire world had changed. Behind them, the gate closed abruptly when the last person exited. Everyone held the weapons they'd chosen as they gazed at the area they had entered.

The sun was high up and there were no clouds to cover up the brilliant blue sky. They were in a large field filled with grass on the edge of a large forest. Close to where they had arrived stood over a dozen wagons with unattended horses at their front. A dirt road led into the forest from there.

Some looked around them, not knowing what to do. A few decisive ones moved over to the wagons and started examining them. Lane joined them. He wasn't sure where they were, but if this was something the gods had created to help the Summoned grow there had to be a meaning to the wagons and horses. Presumably, they were supposed to follow the road that passed through the forest and their goal would be found on the other end.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Others seemed to be of the same mind as him, as he saw some near the horses that were tied onto the wagons. The horses were surprisingly docile and acted favorably towards their approach.

Every wagon was large enough for six people, excluding the coachman. People soon started dividing into groups and discussing traveling in the wagons. Lane had some experience caring for horses. When he was younger, he'd sometimes take care of the horses at the local inn. But he had no experience riding or acting as a coachman. Not feeling like talking to any of the others, he picked one of the wagons that were closer to the road—and thus less likely to be ignored—and climbed on board at the back.

It didn't take long before a middle-aged man with graying hair at the temples also climbed onboard without a word, followed shortly by a group of five that looked to have talked themselves together. One of the five—a young man in his twenties—climbed on board at the front in the coachman position, hesitantly grabbing hold of the reins. His actions didn't invoke much trust from Lane.

The man turned around and looked at the people who sat at the back of the wagon. "Are you sure you want me to do this? I've only ridden a horse a few times, and that was years ago. It might be good if somebody else drives."

One of the others from the same group—a girl that looked to be a couple or so years younger than Lane with short brown hair in a bob cut and a sunny expression on her face—waved at the man as she climbed on board. "It's fine, it's fine. You'll do great. I've seen it in plenty of movies, it's not as hard as it seems. Besides, these horses look super well-groomed. I'm sure even a beginner will be able to do it." She said with a bright voice. Lane eyed her as she sat down.

What's a movie?

When she saw him looking at her, she smiled.

"—Wait, how do you know that they're well-groomed?" The man at the front of the wagon asked.

"Oh, I used to ride all the time when I was younger. I had my own horse, so I've got experience with handling them." She answered.

The man looked back at her with wide eyes. "What? Then why'd you ask me to drive?!"

She laughed and looked embarrassed, turning her head downwards slightly. "Ah, I grow carsick super easy, you see, so I have to lie down if I don't wanna puke all over the place. Just ask Chris. I've puked on him enough times for him to know it's true." She pointed towards the boy who sat next to her. He had ginger hair with some freckles and looked to be around the same age as her. He nodded his head at what she said as he turned to the man. "It's true, she gets sick too quickly. It's disgusting."

"Hey!" The girl elbowed Chris in the stomach and he bent forward from the pain. The man in the front merely let out a long sigh and turned around. "Fine. Guess I'll try my best. But don't you dare judge me when we crash."

"I told you, you'll be fine. Just let the horse do the work and guide it when needed."

The man didn't say anything but gently tried whipping the reins. To his surprise, the horse seemed to understand as it started pulling the wagon along the path that led into the forest. Many other wagons also began moving and soon after, a train of wagons moved along the trail in the forest.

Lane was peering into the thicket, barely listening to the conversing of the others on the wagon as he thought about that what they'd do about food and water. They didn't know how far away their destination was or if they were going to need to find something to eat and drink before then. He wasn't sure if the horses could pull them that far without sustenance either.

As he deliberated the matter and what might happen during the coming trial, a translucent rectangular window appeared in front of him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Name: Rachel Sheppard

Summoned: 1194, 3rd-month, fifth day, Rodian Calendar

Age: 18 y/o

Height: 1.68 m

Weight: 55 kg

Gender: Female

Class: N/A

Affiliation: Barrage (Temporary)

Birthplace: Detroit

Location: Testing area of the Gods

Titles: None

He stared at the screen with his eyes wide open. Turning his head, the window followed, always staying in front of him. He looked at the others to see if they also noticed the window — finding the girl with a bob cut lying down with her head on the other boy's legs, staring at Lane with curious eyes.

"Hi, What's your name? I'm Rachel."

Lane gawked at her, then glanced at the translucent window that was hovering in front of him.

"...Rachel Sheppard?"

She nodded her head. "That's right. That's my status window." She then pointed towards the boy with ginger hair, the one that she had called Chris earlier. Despite having a young-looking face, he was quite muscular. "He's Chris. We're twins."

The boy—Chris—who had been talking with two others on the wagon, turned towards Rachel and Lane at the mention of his name. Looking at Lane, he put his hand out with a smile. "Chris. Nice meeting you."

Lane eyed the hand for a moment before shaking it. Looking closer at the pair, there were several similarities between them. But he would never have thought they were twins if they hadn't told him so themselves.

"Soo, what's your name?" Rachel asked again.

Lane stopped comparing the looks of the twins and turned to Rachel. He felt weird telling his name to a Summoned in a casual conversation like this, but he'd already disclosed his name at the start of the ceremony and there wasn't much point hiding it now. "My name is Lane." He answered after a moment's deliberation.

"Lane? That's an odd name. Where are you from?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. This girl was a bit too curious. "Hamburg, Germany."

"Ooh, so you're speaking german? I know a bit of german. I wish I could try some with you. Having this translating skill is awesome and all, but I wish you could turn it off. Like, what if I wanted to talk privately with someone? Or practice another language?" She sighed. "Anyways, Chris and I are from the States."

Lane looked at the status window again. It said her birthplace was 'Detroit'. He didn't know if that was the same place as this 'States', or if that was something else. He didn't even know why he could see this status window at all right now.

Wasn't that something only Summoned could do? Or could it be that they can show it to Natives, only that he hadn't heard about it? But then he should've have been able to see Clyde's status window the day before at the start of the summoning ceremony.

Could it be...?

"Status," He muttered under his breath.