--- 05/27/2030 --- NewLand Base.

Gabriel is heading towards the main courtyard, with Pedro by his side, both fully equipped in standard tactical gear and carrying Imbel IA2 assault rifles. Gabriel gazes at the surrounding landscape and is impressed by the army engineering, as they have erected several logistics and accommodation buildings in just a few weeks. They pass by a group of Marines playing soccer near a wheeled howitzer. In the background, AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" is playing.

"I envy those Marines," Gabriel said with a sigh. "It seems like they're always having fun."

"I think everyone here is looking for some distraction after everything that's happened," Pedro replied. Gabriel, Pedro, and those around them are distracted by the loud sound of helicopters taking off. Two dozen UH-60 Black Hawks begin to pass by, followed by another four dozen AS-330 Pumas. Finally, almost 50 Bell UH-1Hs also fly past them. They are impressed by the incredible number of helicopters and how quickly they were all transported to this side of the portal.

"It looks like it's finally starting," Pedro said, looking up.

"Starting what?" Gabriel asked, confused.

"Haven't you noticed yet?" Pedro looks at Gabriel. "They're probably heading to capture that city mentioned in the documents."

"I haven't even read everything. You're amazing, Pedro."

"It's nothing, I'm just cautious," Pedro adjusts his rifle. "Now let's go, we don't want to be late for our first mission."

"Although their mission seems much more fun," Gabriel said, pointing to the last helicopters flying overhead.

---

"This armor doesn't seem to be very resistant," Thalassa said, looking at the tactical vest on her bed.

"What do you think it's made of?" Selena picks up the vest, "It's not as heavy as metal plate, but I've never seen this material before."

"These people are quite peculiar," Thalassa thought.

"And look at these boots we're wearing, I've never seen anything like them before. The material is light, but I feel like it protects my feet well," Selena says.

They spend some time examining each piece of their uniforms and thinking how fascinating it is and how manufacturing it must have been extremely expensive since everything is very detailed.

Three light knocks can be heard on the door. "I'm coming in," it was Alice.

She enters, holding 2 MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) packages in her hands.

"Alice!" Thalassa says as she goes to hug her.

"I see you two are adapting well," Alice says, "here, brought these packages for you, they're army-provided food. But don't worry, I'll teach you how to prepare them," she puts the MREs in a backpack. She notices that both of them are not fully equipped yet and will soon have to go to the courtyard for instructions before the mission.

"You haven't put on your vests yet, have you?" she picks up one of the vests, "these soldiers simply gave this to you expecting you already know how to use it, anyway, I'll help you put these on."

Alice instructs Thalassa to open her arms, the elf's body is slender so it wasn't difficult for Alice to put the vest on her. In fact, she could have done it alone, Alice just demonstrated how to wear it.

Seeing her friend wearing the vest, Selena seems to have understood how to wear it, so she picks up her vest from the bed and puts it on. She finds it fascinating that it has this adhesive on the side that makes it easy to put on and take off.

Alice looks at both of them now fully equipped, "well, you look perfect, now you just need the helmet."

Selena makes a final adjustment to her vest and says, "no helmet, not used to it," Selena tries to formulate a sentence in this strange new language.

Alice looks surprised at Selena, "amazing, you're also learning my language quickly, in no time I believe you'll be as good as Thalassa."

Thalassa looks confidently at her friend to encourage her to continue studying later. The elf is teaching everything she has learned about this language called Portuguese to Selena.

With everything ready, the three leave the accommodation and start walking to the courtyard, which is not far away, so it would only take a 5-minute walk to get there.

During the walk, Thalassa asks a curious question, "how many languages are there in your world?"

"Curious, aren't you?" Alice says with a slight smile, "well, I'm also very curious about your world, Thalassa. But to answer your question, there are dozens of languages. The most common ones are English, Portuguese, Spanish, and I believe Mandarin too."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Thalassa looks at Alice with a puzzled look, trying to understand these new words. "Don't be alarmed, one day you might learn these languages too. I recommend starting with English and then Spanish. Sometimes people from other countries get confused and think that in my country we speak Spanish, when they find out that Brazil speaks Portuguese, they get confused, it's a hilarious reaction, I confess."

"Very interesting. In my world, we have a variety of cultures, but few language variations as you call it."

"But why is that?" asked with curiosity.

"I don't know, humans have their own unified language, non-human races and hybrids also have theirs, and we elves have our own language. I believe there are not even 10 variations of languages in total, at least in the years I've been alive I haven't seen any more."

"Fascinating." Alice changes the subject since something else Thalassa said just caught her attention, "I know it may seem like a rude question, but how old are you? I completely forgot to ask earlier."

When Thalassa was about to answer, she is interrupted by a swarm of helicopters that made a growing sound as they approached and flew over their heads.

Selena stands there admiring and at the same time with a fear, she observes these huge flying metal carriages pass by her.

Alice notices the reaction of both and says, "you don't need to be afraid, they are just transport helicopters."

"Where are they going?" Thalassa asked as she kept her eyes on the metal beasts.

"I don't really know. But by the quantity, it must be a mission of attack."

"Matique," Selena says looking at the horizon in the direction of the city.

"Matique?" Alice asks confused.

"It's a city not far away," Thalassa says, "maybe your helicopters (Thalassa has difficulty saying this word) are going there."

"You may be right," as the last aircraft passes, Alice looks at both of them and says, "let's continue, I don't want to make a bad impression on our first mission."

---

Thalgrim has been flying on a Wyvern for 3 days now, his objective is to convince the emperor to send reinforcements. He still doesn't know, but the city has already fallen into enemy hands. The sun begins to rise on the horizon, and there are only a few more hours of travel left until the imperial capital.

The night before, he had passed through a storm, so unfortunately, he will have to land the Wyvern to rest. These beasts are very resilient, but flying for 3 days without sleep and enduring a storm would tire anyone out. He decides to land in a clearing, cautiously his Wyvern glides and touches the ground with its paws. The creature lets out a roar and then lies down, Thalgrim dismounts from the creature. He adjusts his sword and takes a brief look around, noticing that the Wyvern is preparing to sleep. He then decides to move away to hunt, so he can feed the creature and himself.

After a few hours of rest, his Wyvern seems ready to fly again. As soon as he mounts, the creature begins to flap its wings and take off, making dry foliage fly everywhere.

"Let's go to the capital at last," says Thalgrim while caressing the creature's head.

He flies at high speed. In 3 hours, he begins to visualize villages and agricultural fields. Next, he sees the silhouette of the imperial capital, the city of Arborville.

The city is located in the center of the empire, its geography facilitates communication with the rest of the country, and it is surrounded by a gigantic artificial river that serves as protection. To access the city, one must cross a huge bridge.

In the outskirts of the city, there are several small villages and satellite towns. Arborville is the most populous city in the Hurdian Empire, with exactly 1.2 million inhabitants. The city boasts excellent architecture and urban organization, resembling the capital of the ancient Roman Empire, the city of Rome.

At the city center stands an enormous castle, the official residence of the emperor and a symbol of the empire's power. This castle is formed by dozens of towers and its height is an incredible 110 meters, making it the tallest structure in the empire from afar.

...

As Thalgrim approaches the city, he is intercepted by two Wyvern knights. They escort him to a nearby landing strip.

Upon landing, he is greeted by four knights. He introduces himself and demands an audience with the emperor urgently.

He waits for a few minutes but soon sees a knight galloping towards him. The knight is an imperial guard, his golden armor visible from afar. Thalgrim recalls that some of these royal knights crossed the portal but none returned.

The knight dismounts and walks confidently towards Thalgrim, his arrogance palpable.

"General," the knight began, "what a surprise to see you here."

Thalgrim knows that these royal guards are merely sons of nobles and the vast majority do not respect high imperial officers. Besides, they are extremely corrupt.

"Knight, take me to the emperor."

The knight lets out a slight disguised smile. "Unfortunately, the emperor is not available at the moment, but perhaps tomorrow I can arrange an audience for you..." Before he could finish speaking, Thalgrim handed him a pouch with some coins of high value. "Tomorrow without fail."

The knight breaks into a broad smile and says, "It's done, tomorrow the emperor will definitely see you."

Thalgrim steps back and walks towards the city in search of a tavern for lodging.

--- 05/19/2030 --- Hurdian Empire.

Princess Helena walks confidently through a Griffin stable. She is not alone; by her side is her friend and knight, Luiza, along with two other knights, Martha and Milla. Both are daughters of very influential nobles in the empire, with Milla's father specifically being the leader of the merchants' guild in Matique and currently in the city, which is one of the reasons Milla volunteered for this mission with the princess.

Helena arrives at her Griffin, which lets out a happy roar when it sees its owner approaching. Helena approaches and strokes the feathers of her Griffin. "I'm here, girl." Her Griffin has completely white feathers and blue eyes.

Helena turns her attention to her knights. "You don't have to accompany me; I don't want to force you into anything."

"Princess, we will accompany you. Of course, I want my father's safety in that city, but it is our duty as knights to ensure your safety."

"She's right," Luiza began. "We are not only knights but also your friends, and we will always be by your side, princess."

Helena feels more confident after hearing what her companions said. "Then I ask that you accompany me on this journey."

They all mount their respective Griffins, and the sounds of wings and growls fill the air as all the creatures take flight.

Helena looks down and sees her capital below, feeling a slight unease, something she can't explain. However, she decides to ignore it and continue her flight. She lets out a battle cry accompanied by her three knights, "FOR THE EMPIRE!"