Matthew messaged Faralynn asking where she was. She sent her location to him over the phone saying she was in the car with Faynn and the other girls.

It was very far from where he was.

"Where are you going?" He asked over text.

"To the command center. Most adventurers are going there." She answered pinning the location on their conversation.

Matthew saw helicopters flying over the sky. Military helicopters with soldiers inside. They were going towards the portal and engaged in battle with the demons pouring out of the red gate. Matthew observed for a while while the machines guns raged from afar felling the demons by the dozens.

The imps responded by throwing their fireballs and scattering all over the sky to not make themselves easy targets. A single helicopter was felled while the others resisted the attacks by being protected by mana shields, most likely deployed by soldiers from the inside who were quick to return fire.

That's when fighter jets passed through the sky, their speed to great to engage in combat with the imps that flew very slowly. The jets deployed their missiles in direction of the gate one met an imp and exploded while the others entered the gate. From where Matthew was, he could say what was happening inside.

At this point a military truck carrying troops passed by Matthew who was just walking towards the command center while he watched the battle unfold in the sky. The truck stopped by him and the driver asked after taking a look at Matthew's weapons:

"You're an adventurer?"

"Yeah." Matthew said.

"Going to volunteer?" The driver asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to the command center. My party is going there." Matthew answered.

"Then get in kid. I'm taking this bundle there as well." He said pointing to the back where a bunch of soldiers were cramped inside.

A soldier opened the back so that Matthew could get in. There was no space for him to sit down. There was barely any space to stand. But as soon as Matthew got in, the soldier closed the door and them all were hauled towards the city center.

Matthew looked around. All of the soldiers in there were kids like him. Some where older, but most looked 18. Using his Identify skill, he noticed that their levels ranged from 5 to 10. The driver wasn't even awakened.

No one said a word. All that Matthew could hear was the sound of their breathing and the sound of the truck. Looking at their faces, Matthew saw how scared they were. He knew exactly what they were going to face. But, unlike Matthew, they didn't have the levels to back it up.

When the truck stopped and the door opened, Matthew took in the size of the operation. The command center was situated in a military base very close to the city center. Matthew got out of the truck and looked around in awe. There were tanks and all other sorts of heavy weaponry.

Computers were set under tents were dozens of soldiers operated drones. Soldiers were running around shouting orders. Others were carrying boxes and a few were just keeping guard at the fence that surrounded the base.

Everyone knew what to do, where to go. Matthew saw himself lost in the chaos until the driver touched his shoulder and pointed him to a building that looked like a gymnasium.

"Volunteers report for duty there. Good luck kid." The man said getting back into the truck. "I have to take in another bundle."

Matthew walked to the gym where scores of adventurers like him, with no uniform, dressed and armed as if they were going to a dungeon, waited around doing nothing. A single soldier was sitting at a desk with a tablet on his hand.

"Name and Level." The soldier said when Matthew got near him.

"Matthew Lordstone. 35." Matthew said looking around without thinking.

"35? You?" The soldier looked at him skeptically.

"Sorry. I meant 15." Matthew pretended to correct himself. It was easier than trying to convince he wasn't making it up.

The soldier still was skeptic, but wrote down the information on the tablet and pointed to inside the large open space of the gymnasium.

"Get in and wait for orders."

Matthew found a quiet spot and sat down. Looking around, the adventurers there were not scared. In fact, differently than the soldiers he saw earlier, the adventurers were behaving just like they usually did in front of the gates.

Some were talking about their lives, others were coordinating battle formations and a few were walking around talking to other groups trying to find a party to join.

That familiar scenario made Matthew relax a bit. It's just like any other dive. You go in, kill monsters and go out. Just there and back again. He thought to himself trying to control his shaking.

"Hey kid." Matthew woke up from his thoughts by a soft kick on his leg. "Don't you answer your phone?"

Matthew looked up and it was Vanessa. She was dressing with a band t-shirt as always, but this time her biker outfit was reinforced with steel plates just like Eric's.

"Vanessa?" Matthew got surprised jumping to his feet. "S-sorry, I forgot during all the commotion." He apologized.

"Glad to see you're ok." She said looking him in the eyes.

"Did Eric come?" Matthew asked looking around.

"He's with Katia. He didn't want to leave her during an invasion of that size." She answered pointing to the sky. "His guild, including Paula and Michael are patrolling the neighborhoods further away from the center. Helping people the army can't."

"Why aren't you with him or the guild?" Matthew asked.

"Because… The epicenter, the building right down where the gate opened is owned by the Howling Spear." Vanessa answered with a cold tone. "I'm sure they're involved with this crap." She said gnashing her teeth in anger.

"You want to go there." Matthew stated the obvious.

"Of course. If this is their doing, I'm going to kill them."

Matthew didn't say a word. He thought the same.

"So, what do we do?" Matthew asked.

"The army will go in the gate, they'll most likely bring someone to close it. They'll give us the job to walk around the city rescuing civilians and killing the demons." Vanessa said looking around. "We'll try to sneak into the Howling Spear's building when they give us free reign."

"Got it." Matthew said.

At this moment, Matthew saw Faralynn, Faynn, Erin, Tina and Mia walking in and presenting themselves to the soldier at the desk. A group of all women, and all beautiful women, made a lot of heads turn to look.

They all walked towards Matthew under the scrutiny of all the other adventurers. Matthew was used by the envy looks by now. But coming from more experienced people rather than his colleagues in school, felt a bit more intimidating.

"Hey." Faralynn said trying to hide her embarrassment. Seeing Matthew again made her remember the events of the night before.

"Hey beautiful." Matthew said trying to hold her hand while he smiled at how her ears became red and started to twitch.

Faralynn pulled her hand pointing to the adventurers surrounding them with her head. Matthew understood very well that she was too shy to hold hands in front of so many people.

"She's is your lawyer, isn't she?" Tina asked pointing at Vanessa interrupting the couple.

"I am. But I'm also his party member. You are also from the school, I assume." Vanessa replied to Tina.

"Yes. Guess the 7 of us will be party then?" Tina asked looking around.

Vanessa looked at Matthew waiting for his response. Bringing them along might actually hinder them if they try to sneak into the Howling Spear headquarters. Her eyes said to him say no, but instead Matthew agreed.

"We explain to them later. They'll understand." Matthew whispered to Vanessa explaining his choice.

It didn't take too long for a trio of soldier to come howling in a huge screen.

"Attention volunteers!" One of the soldiers said loudly, his voice echoing inside the gymnasium. "We shall now brief you all on the situation and give your orders."

He turned the screen on and stood beside it, while one other soldier stepped forward waiting for the adventurers to come forward. A map of the city was on the screen with red areas and blue areas shaded.

"I'm Captain Xueling. It's very nice to meet you all and thank you for your service today. The army will begin an operation to close the gate in a few hours time. That is all you need to know. This map shows the city center where most of the invaders are. The blue areas are areas where civilians are being evacuated to and that the army has control of. The red areas are areas where the enemy has taken full control and we are struggling to take." The soldier in front started to speak.

"You will do well to take a picture of this map." The Captain added. "Your mission is simple. If your level is lower than 20, you will patrol the city center away from the red areas. Defeat any demon you find. If the demon is too strong, retreat to a blue area and report. If you find civilians, bring them back safely to any of the blue areas." He kept talking while the adventurers took pictures of the map.

"Lastly, if you are level 20 or above, report to any of the red areas and follow the orders from the officers in there." The Captain said. "You may go now. May the gods be with you all."

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