--- São Paulo City, Brazil. ---
Gunshots echo through the shooting range, a bustling place frequented by various target shooting enthusiasts. Tiago was busy reloading an M4 5.56mm rifle for another round of shots. As the gun resounded, memories invaded his mind, full of death and destruction. And for what? Just the thought enraged him deeply.
After completing the shots, he observes the rifle for a moment before placing it on the table.
"That was impressive. Not a single shot missed," praises a man standing at the doorway next to the shooting stalls.
Tiago notices the man's presence. "How long have you been there?" he asks.
"Long enough to see that you're perfect for the mission," replies the man in a suit, lighting a cigarette. "So, have you decided who you want on your team?" he continues after a brief pause. "Time is short, "We are preparing to cross the portal soon."
Tiago looks confidently at the man as he puts on his cap. "I've already made up my mind. I want Cadet Pedro and Cadet Gabriel as additional personnel for my group."
The man laughs and comments, "Look, you already have three Commandos (special forces operators) in your group, and suddenly you want two cadets who are still in training at the academy?"
"They fought alongside me, and one of them saved my life. I trust them, and consider this part of their training in formation," replies Tiago.
"I could refuse this offer, but the central command of the armed forces insists on you for this mission because of your track record," says the man.
"You know they adore me," Tiago responds ironically.
"If that's what you want, then I have no choice, do I?" the man concludes, taking one last drag of his cigarette. "Consider it done, but the responsibilities for them and any trouble they may eventually cause will all be yours."
Tiago doesn't respond, just smiles and gives the man in the suit a light punch on the shoulder before leaving the range.
--- Campinas, two days after Tiago's decision ---
Gabriel and Pedro are in a room inside the military academy, seated in front of a table while a middle-aged officer reads some documents. They wonder why they have been called.
"Gentlemen, it seems someone really likes your asses," said the officer after placing the papers on the table.
Now his attention was on the two cadets, both with a confused reaction on their faces. They wanted to ask something, but the fear of not formulating the question correctly prevented them.
The man continued speaking, "I'll get straight to the point. We're assembling a reconnaissance team to venture into the interior of this new world and interact with the natives while searching for our people who were kidnapped." The man now looks directly at Pedro. "I read the report about your performance in combat, took down a flying beast and blew the head off one of those hideous things,"
Pedro responds in a low tone, "Thank you, sir! But I only did my duty as a soldier."
The officer lets out a slight smile. "I understand," he gets up and walks to a window that provides a wide view of the military academy's courtyard where some students are receiving instruction from a few officers. "We lost 30 cadets that day, they were just young people who could have been good officers, but their sacrifice allowed us to kick those bastards' asses."
Pedro and Gabriel look at each other, they understand very well what he means, they saw with their own eyes some classmates being killed by those monsters.
"Well, now you two are one step away from continuing your academic life in normal circumstances we would never consider putting our students at risk," the officer pauses and turns his gaze back to the two cadets. "You have been summoned to join a team that will cross the portal, I won't tell you all the details, but based on your demonstrated combat skills, we have decided to accept Sergeant Tiago's request to integrate you into his group." The man continues, "but of course, as you are still cadets, you have the full right to refuse to participate in this specific mission."
They look at each other for a few seconds, Pedro knows this is a great opportunity to further improve himself and facilitate his ascent to the high command of the armed forces, and on the other hand, he also knows that with this opportunity he may discover who, and why they did all this.
Unlike Pedro, Gabriel had his own ambitions that encouraged him to accept this mission. He wants to learn even more about this new world and these new people, he knows that even amidst destruction there is still the unbelievable and kindness, and that's what he aims to find in this new world, of course, in addition to seeing mystical creatures that he can only see in books and video games.
After a brief exchange of glances, they both look at the officer and accept the mission.
--- A few kilometers from Matique, Hurdian Empire ---
Selina and Thalassa are currently riding at full speed to the designated region, accompanied by around 200 Adventurers of various humanoid races, mostly elves, humans, and semi-humans (humans with animal-like characteristics). Everyone seems very excited about this opportunity for easy wealth, but Selina wonders where they will be sent, as she does not know any nations in this region.
In contrast, Thalassa had an expression of happiness for finally having obtained a good amount of money for her village.
After riding for a few more minutes, they arrive at the meeting point. A large camp can be seen, surely with more than 100 thousand troops from the empire. One sight catches Selena's attention; she sees a legion of monsters and magical beasts, all of them seemed to be tamed.
This means that the beast-taming mages are here too.
After moving away from the group of adventurers, they head towards the camp. As they enter the camp still mounted on their horses, the two of them can feel an air of festivity and a lot of conversation; some soldiers polish their shiny armor, others chat and drink, while mages practice their enchantments. "It's pretty lively around here, don't you think?" Thalassa affirms with a smile to Selina.
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"I acknowledge that it is indeed," Selina adjusts herself on her horse as she rides slowly, "but I don't understand, where are we going?"
Thalassa also looks at her with a doubtful look, they both don't know who the enemy is besides the Northern Alliance.
Before answering Selina, both of them look at mages in uniforms from the Empire's Magic Academy, all of them were marching in perfect synchrony. In the middle of the formation was the most important person in the entire empire after the emperor, Gram Master Colt. Thalassa looks at Selina with a smile and finally answers, "It seems like we're about to find out."
Both leave their horses in an improvised stable and head towards a tent for the treasurer. They enter the tent, and soon a treasurer comes out handing a bag of coins to another adventurer who looked like a cat.
Thalassa and Selina go to the treasurer who was behind an improvised counter. Thalassa introduces herself and says that she came with her new group companion to collect her payment.
He looks at both of them and gives a slight smirk before saying, "I see that you are adventurers," the man stands up to greet the two before sitting back down, "well, let's get straight to the point, did you bring the contract?"
Thalassa takes out the contract in the form of a scroll from her pouch and hands it to the man. He opens it and reads it carefully, "so your name is Selina?" he looks at Selina. She doesn't say anything, just confirms the question by nodding her head.
"Hmm, I understand." The man stands up and takes a bag of coins, placing it on the table. "I'll pay you 500 gold coins now, and another 500 coins after you finish your services for the Empire."
Selina doesn't know what to respond, even though for now it's only half of what was agreed upon, it's still a lot of money; she can easily buy a house or start her own business. She is also impressed by the payment amount; it's extremely high to hire an adventurer, even on high-risk missions that can take several months to complete; the commission value usually does not exceed one gold coin. She takes the bag and opens it to check, and they are indeed gold coins; she can't count them now, but they surely have exactly 500 coins.
"I'll give you this new contract; you'll sign it with your mana through a blood pact, so we'll make sure you received the first part of the payment."
Selena looks at the man and asks, "how long will it take for me to receive the rest of the payment?"
"Your contract is for 1 year (1 year lasts 10 months on the continent of Eria), with this amount you can work for 5 months; you'll receive the rest in the sixth month once you renew your contract for another 5 months."
Selena nods her head; this payment is really good. She accepts the contract, pricks the tip of her finger, and presses it onto the contract.
After that, both leave the tent, Thalassa turns to Selena and says, "Well, now I have to go gather our group."
"How many people besides me did you recruit for your group?" Selina asked.
"Besides you, there were 20," Thalassa raises her eyebrow and says, "that's almost a group to kill some superior beast-creatures."
They look at each other and laugh, then Thalassa says goodbye with a tight hug to Selina. Selena decides to continue walking through the huge camp.
--- 5 days later ---
During the days that passed, thousands more troops from the empire gathered in this vast plain. Selena no longer even knew how many soldiers the empire had managed to assemble. However, Thalassa estimated about 300 thousand troops. This number was not even larger than the imperial army that was fighting against the northern alliance, but still a large number.
However, today seemed to be the day when they would finally discover who the new enemy was. A part of the army gathered by order of the Grand Master, about 200 thousand soldiers awaited orders from the powerful mage. The rest waited in another camp a little further away. Selene and Thalassa, along with the rest of the recruited adventurers, were part of these 200 thousand soldiers ready to hear what the Grand Master had to say.
She briefly looks to the side and sees soldiers of the royal guard in their golden armor in a beautiful formation. She wonders why they are here. Thalassa then says, "I bet they're here to protect Grand Master Colt on the Emperor's orders." Selena finds sense in her friend's words.
But then the Grand Master climbs onto an improvised stage, and with the help of air magic to amplify his voice, he begins to speak so that everyone there could hear.
"Dear warriors of the Hurdian Empire, today marks the beginning of a new era for the empire. We are on the verge of becoming one with the gods." Selena listens attentively to the Grand Master's first words and is initially confused. How does the empire plan to compare itself to the gods? This was one of the doubts that lingered in her mind.
He continues, "We, brave mages of the Hurdian Empire's academy, have found a way to conquer other worlds. In our research, we have found a place beyond our reality, a new world."
Selena is now even more confused. She looks to Thalassa, who has an equally puzzled expression, and not only her, but everyone she looked at had the same expression, seeking more answers. "This new world is a place without magic, without gods, and without governance. Morality in this new world has given way to barbarism; it is a world without beasts and only humans, a world with unexplored lands and riches, and we, the civilized world, will conquer these lands and subjugate these barbarians." Thalassa and Selena look at each other, trying to understand what that old mage is saying. "I know that for many of you, my words alone are not enough to demonstrate the power we hold in our hands." The mage turns his back to the audience, takes the scroll from his bag, and begins reciting a spell in a language unknown to most. Other mages join the Grand Master, sending him mana, and with that, a gigantic aura begins to form around the mages who lend their power to the Grand Master. Thalassa breaks the silence that has formed. "This is the language of the ancient Wizard kingdom." Selena looks at her curiously. "Sometimes I forget that you are an elder." "Well, I have lived long enough, but everything I know about the Wizard kingdom came from my grandfather; he witnessed the fall of that powerful kingdom and taught me its ancient language," Thalassa said seriously. "But the fall of that kingdom was almost 7 thousand years ago..." Selena is impressed by how ancient the elves are and how they have seen everything.
While they were talking, a great brightness formed, comparing to the sunlight. Everyone shielded their eyes, but when they looked back at the stage, a little ahead of the Grand Master, there was a gigantic transparent structure that seemed to distort the space around it, like waves in an ocean.
"What is this?" Selena asks, this time with a certain amazement. "It's a portal," Thalassa replies and continues, "I've heard stories; the Wizard kingdom had the ability to invade any kingdom on the continent. Legends say they opened rifts so their armies could move." "That's pretty scary, I have to admit," Selena said as she adjusted her sword in its sheath. "But the mage said this will take us to another world; is that really possible?" "For a long time, my people believed that the ancient gods created infinite worlds, but these worlds could not connect," Thalassa pauses and looks at the portal and then back to Selena. "Well, they couldn't until now."