Traestin was impressed at the recovery rate of the young fighter. She was awake just hours after almost dying. He cut several slices of meat, and pulled out another bottle of gronberry juice as an extra boost. The juice was one of the few things he brought with on his jump, along with some seeds to grow a bush some day here. Gronberries were not only tasty, but had a wide range of physical effects. As long as there was food in your stomach, they enhanced most of the bodies natural processes. This helped more in prevention than restoration, but it had a lot of natural sugars as well. He hoped the initial burst will help with getting the rest down. The tent hung open slightly as the woman peered out waiting for the meal. He place it down at the entrance, and introduced everyone.

"I am Traestin, the blonde man on the left is Aiden, and these are two people that joined me upon arrival, Greg and Amon."

The woman looked at each one by one, taking in the variety of appearance without much reaction.

"My name is Ashlee, with two E's," she responded between mouthfuls. "You may recognize me from my fitness or gaming streams."

Traestin turned back to exchange looks with the others. Aiden, deciding to step in, stood up and walked to the tent. Watching Ashlee inhale half her body weight in roasted monster, he cleared his throat lightly. She hadn't even asked what it was that she was eating. It did look like any other pile of meat, and wasn't overly gamey. He decided he couldn't really blame her given the situation at hand.

"I'm not sure how to break this to you, but I don't think these guys know you. They aren't exactly from around here, ya know? We met last night when I was trying to find you some help," Aiden said squatting down.

"I have seen a few of her videos," Amon added in the background. As he did, Ashlee glanced at the speaker with a smile. Took in the dog like features again, and continued eating.

"You.. have," Aiden turned and asked incredulously.

"I used to have a lot of free time. The occasional change of a sprinkler was the most expected of me back home," he said casually as if that answered the question completely.

"We'll come back to that. You don't seem very concerned that we have been invaded by a bunch of other planets," Aiden said.

"It's not the first time, plus there were a few already here. I'm more surprised that you are surprised. Have you never watched a documentary? Completely ignored the history channel? There is a lot of information available on alien life out there. Just yesterday I was talking with my followers about.."

"The whole omnipresent network, skills, and fighting stuff totally normal for you as well," Aiden interrupted, now feeling even more out of place than when the night had begun.

"I'm just glad we were around low level enemies," Ashlee said happily, then turning to Tristan she asked, "Were there other places that got invaded by bosses or high level enemies?"

Aiden gave up trying to be consoling, and headed back to the bench. He was obviously less useful in this conversation than he had assumed.

"A very small amount. I takes a lot of dark source to get them here with anything very worrying. They mostly rely on the element of surprise. We were more powerful ourselves before jumping here, but we chose to sacrifice a lot of our source to get here instead of pulling on the network," Traestin replied.

Ashlee finished both the meat and the entire bottle of rare juice before standing up. Stretching her arms wide she let out a loud burp, and handed the dishes back to Traestin.

"Looks like I gained a level, and some skill levels in that first battle. I think I'm going to go more heavy on defense since we have a healer. How can the two of us start getting equipment," she said to everyone heading towards them.

"I don't think you should be so ready to rely on my cleric stuff, I don't know much about what is happening. I barely finished high school, and have been doing day labor ever since," Aiden said to to the whole team. He felt like they all were overestimating how much he knew about this new existence before the surge.

"You haven't been useless, although you should've kept your starting weapon," Greg confessed.

"This bar is way heavier and more durable," Aiden replied swinging it in the air a bit.

"You need to start examining things with the system is all. That bar will do nothing," Ashlee told him while resting a hand comfortingly on the back of his neck. He tried shrugging off her light grip, but her hand followed. She pointed to the bar and continued, "Look at it as an item in this new world, not as an item of our old world."

That was a really good way of describing it to him, even though he felt patronized. He looked at the bar as an item of the new world, and text appeared by it. Old World Salvage, this item may be recycled or sold.

"It doesn't even have any damage numbers like the stick."

"Your mace was a weapon," Amon offered, "That is a bar."

Ashlee nodded in agreement, and went back to addressing the others.

"Don't worry, you'll be a fine healer once you settle in. Back to my question, where is the loot," Ashlee asked the others, while giving Aiden's neck a squeeze. Here he was thinking he had been the hero of the night, and now he felt more like a liability. His spirit had been recovering a little faster since the new level. He wasn't entirely useless, but now he had no weapon. Greg and Amon looked at Traestin, giving him a nod.

"We actually had planned on going into a shrine together as soon as possible to try and save more natives. You were in rough condition so we would have waited until you recovered, but now that you are on your feet it may be possible. There will be more of a challenge, but rewards will follow based on the outcome. Sometimes enemies have equipment, and sometimes if enough source is released the system will make something for us from a part of it."

Ashlee thought on this for a moment, taking a seat at the bench.

"What are these sources." Aiden asked.

"That is a lifetime study. The basic answer is light and darkness. The world you see is a reflection of light, an actual force that permeates and rebounds all over. There is a also an entire universe you cannot see. This is a place that does not light. If we cross over there, or they cross over here, it takes energy from those sources that hold and create these energies. We can release the stored energy near stars, like your sun, and it will become part of the light that is our realm. Think of stars as furnaces powering your universe," Traestin moved his hand gracefully sweeping the blanket of night above them.

"We can study later," Ashlee interrupted. "If we can pick up something basic for Aiden and me to utilize on the way. I say we strike before they have time to settle in and grow. They feel like parasites."

"It is actually relatively safe now that we have Aiden. The easiest way to understand is that you have to keep an eye on our conditions and your spirit. Keep us above fifty percent health, mend more serious wounds, and cleanse any infections you can. I assure you it is not as difficult as you are imagining at this point. Most invasion periods have trouble because nobody ever starts as a cleric, and very few jump into invaded worlds," Greg said.

One part of Aiden pulled at him to not shoulder responsibility for these peoples lives without being confident in his ability, but on the other hand there were more people in danger. Since collapsing to the floor he felt like he hadn't had any time to think. One emergency gave way to the next. The sun would be coming up soon, and he hadn't rested yet. If it was possible at all though, however unlikely, he had to try and keep more people from the fate these dark beings had in store for them.

"Let's head in the general direction of the shrine, and grab what we can on the way. I don't see a reason not to try," Aiden told the others.

They all looked excited, and immediately began gathering their things. Ashlee picked at what was left of the roasted boar while talking to Amon about her tactics in a video game she streamed. His translation came through as "simulation" instead, and Aiden wondered what was actually getting through to them. How they sounded, in these other languages. Trying not to accidentally activate the system to respond, he instead started looking within seeing distance for items that could be used to replace his rebar. The night was darker than usual as most of the lights were gone now. A few places had battery powered set ups that seemed to make it through the change, which provided enough light to scan. Thankfully items new to this world also made themselves known during the search. He planned on trying to stay as far from the engagement as possible while still being useful.

Stolen story; please report.

The others gathered at the edge of camp with small packs over their shoulders, where he joined them as they all set out into the early morning. They stayed on the roads, and sidewalks. Following Greg who had seen the shrine during his search. These places were almost the opposite of the camp they just left. Greg shared the way light being sacrificed here gave dark energy more efficiently to their enemies. The very presence of one pulled on the light in this world slowly, like a puncture in a pipeline.

Ashlee had found less a less torn up version of her armor, a wooden sword, and two shields. She had secured one to her back just in case. After talking with Traestin a bit, the elf found Aiden a nice wand and a small wooden symbol. Both would help his skills be more efficient, and his spirit pool's recovery. He practiced focusing his magic through the wand on the way, which allowed him to fire small pellets. Most of all, he was happiest about the rusted metal armor pieces he was able to replace his robes with. They were noisy, and made using the wand a lot harder, but Aiden preferred being able to take a few hits just in case. He tested using cure on on Greg and Amon, seeing how much spirit was used in relation to how much was healed. The rate was inconsistent between the two, and Aiden noticed that the amount of health differed between each of his team now. His observation skill reached level four rather quickly, as he was actively taking in every detail he could while they followed Greg. Not much was changing as it improved yet. He could see health to a decimal now, and new world items had a few more details available when looking.

Greg held his arm out vertically to stop them all. They had made it towards the edge of down town with few interruptions. Goblins, boars, large bats, and a wolf like creature were quickly defeated. None of them took them team more than one volley of attacks to eliminate, and seemed to be wandering alone.

"Just around this corner is a large place of worship that has been converted. The dark beings are more stabilized here. There will be guards and defenses," Greg explained in almost a whisper.

"I'll head in first then," Ashlee said starting to walk past his arm, but it did not move.

"You three will be guarding Traestin and me as we clear what we can without drawing attention. We do this safely, or we don't do this."

Aiden now felt a little more excited than anxious. Sweeping the base unaware seemed to be more relevant to his knowledge than numbers and stats in head on battle. Ashlee nodded and stood close to Greg's side, and Amon positioned himself to protect Traestin on the other side of them. Aiden followed in the back not to far behind as they rounded the corner. The old catholic church came into view over the tops of the nearby buildings between them, sitting on a slight hill. This had to have been where the group was heading to. They saw two goblins who seemed to be having a conversation in front of an old thrift shop.

Traestin motioned for everyone to wait behind the nearby dumpster as he climbed the side of the pizza shop next to them. When he returned he made hand motions to the others. Greg translated for the two new friends, "They're isolated. We attack quietly and hard."

Amon pushed Ashlee to the front by his side, and started counting down with raised fingers. The two sprinted together towards the enemies with all their strength, while Traestin started firing arrows. Greg turned out to be a magic person as well, and was letting out small arcs of electricity from his hand. Aiden joined in with a few pellets from his wand. In the short time it took to reach the goblins, they had lost most of their health. One was more covered in charred spots, making a gurgling noise from it's throat as it shook slightly. The other looked more like a pin cushion, blood pumping from a wound where it had ripped out one of the arrows impulsively. A few punches and slashes later, both fell completely overwhelmed. It was all slightly louder than Aiden would have preferred, but a few thuds and groans would be okay if there was distance from the rest of the enemies.

Traestin climbed high again to scout the next block. This could be as easy as they had implied. Aiden examined the bodies, now still and silent. Goblin Sentry, level: 8. No inventory.

They were a higher level than everyone, but somehow didn't require much more effort. He would have to read more on the level system after this rescue mission was over.

Traestin lead them down a tight gap in between the buildings towards the next street up. The walls were painted white over a rough texturing. Aiden went slower than the others while trying to keep his metal from scraping loudly. By the time he reached the next side walk they had already started the next attack.

This time there were three goblins engaged by the ambush. One looked like it had tried to run, as it had fallen facing away from the party covered in arrows and singed patches along it's back. The other two were making as much noise as they could while fending off Ashlee. She had decided to not only slash and stab at them, but was also pushing forward with her shield to keep them trapped against the wall. Amon was to her left punching spiked fists into the side of the closer goblin's head whenever the perfect opening presented itself. These ones were taking more damage than the first. By the time the second goblin fell, the side Amon was attacking resembled a tenderized steak with one eye lost in the fight somewhere. He tumbled like a gymnast around Ashlee, pivoting at her back mid roll, and extended his legs straightening back into a stand at the other side next to the last sentry. Aiden noticed Ashlee pulled a rusted metal dagger from her stomach. She drove it into the goblin's chest while holding him with the edge of her shield. Aiden had missed the wound, and cursed in a whisper as he started by first mending the flesh. Curing it was slower than he would have liked, as it was deeply torn. He was know thankful for the flash that signaled the closing of the wound, and switched over to cleansing the rust and other contaminants that had made it's way into her body. There was no symbol signifying infection, but he wasn't about to risk it. Finishing with a quick channel of cure again to top off her health, Aiden watched closely his spirit started to recover again. It was all a much smoother process with the right equipment. He hadn't even dipped below eighty percent of his available pool. Amon was covering the goblin's mouth, while Ashlee carved the knife around inside it where a human heart would have sat. It seem an effective plan, as Greg had stopped casting and Traestin had went to check around the corners to see if anyone had heard. The muffled noises in Amon's glove stopped as the goblin's health dropped to zero in less than a second. Ashlee must've finally found her target. Aiden felt reassured in his decision to have armor that could protect his vital organs after seeing the goblin fade.

Level 3, stat point available. Cure level 3. Cleanse level 2.

Aiden pumped his wisdom stat up one more to six, and was given the same response message. The rest of his stats went on the list of things he would have to learn as soon as there was time to process.

Traestin came back from the edge of the block with a finger over his lips, and dragged one of the bodies on the ground into a nearby dumpster. Aiden followed his lead, and started tossing dirt from a nearby planter over patches of blood from the fight. He did not believe they could effectively conceal the scene, but at least it could be harder to spot.

After doing the best they could in short time, everyone ran into a nearby apartment complex's office lobby. Ashlee peered out a window and whispered, "They've seen the fresh signs of a fight. One ran back towards the church, and the rest are arguing while looking for the bodies. I think we're screwed."

Amon pulled a chair over to the entrance door, and wedged it firmly. Even though the goblins didn't know where they were, it was safe to assume they were no longer at ease. The church bell rang twice. There was no doubt left. The whole shrine knew they were under attack.