The world changed from the darkness of a cave into a wide sky. They were in the middle of an endless mountain range. It was the Mountain world.

Silas looked back at the carriages. Everyone was safe and sound. Silvano pointed to the south.

"The city should be over there, but it's hard to see since we’re pretty high."

"No, I can see it." Nathan caught the shape of a giant crater in the mountain. It was round, and the city of Lorsaus was there.

"Ok, Nadine, we need you to hide the gate inside the earth."

"Leave it to me. I’m going to make a cave entrance and hide the gate behind two walls of stone." She modeled the ground with ease, and the shape of the ground looked completely natural.

"Let’s go over the cover one last time. Tell me, Franco, what are we?"

"A group of traveling merchants that buy and sell food, gems, and other things."

"Excellent. We came here to look for things to trade. Don’t let anyone intimidate you or sell us anything unnecessary."

They put quite the effort into making the carriages convincing. They were full of food, gems, and some weapons. They didn't want to draw potential thieves' attention to anything valuable. They were pulled by a species of giant geckos they found in the forest and domesticated.

They looked like regular geckos until they opened their mouths, revealing a long tongue that could pierce skin. They use it to suck the blood of their prey. Emily was the only one who could tame them, so they only had a few of them back in the capital. Thanks to their appetite for sucking blood, she named them "Vampire Gecko."

"Don’t worry, they have been eating well. One fat bird keeps them docile for a whole day. If they get hungry, we can buy raw meat, or any carcass would work."

"I still don’t know why you chose these animals to domesticate."

"I tried with wolves and wild cats, but they just don’t listen to me. If you get them to obey, be my guest."

Maybe it was because she was half-Bors but he had no way to act on that information. They got inside the carriages and descended along the dangerous mountain paths.

A regular horse would most likely refuse to move on such an uneven path. They would fall and roll, sustaining injuries. The vampire geckos, on the other hand, could move without a problem; their feet stuck to the ground as they walked. They weren’t very strong, but there wasn’t any risk of the cart dropping and dragging the gecko with it since the wagons weren't even close to full capacity.

After an hour, they got close enough to see the crater. It was definitely big; they could see several buildings inside the city, some of which had over ten floors. The architecture of the valein empire was very uniform, but it was very distinct; the streets were painted with different colors and materials according to what they assumed were the districts.

The noise grew until they reached the paved road to the crater. The city was covered by walls, and soldiers patrolled every moment of every day. It wasn’t just a simple wall; he could see the electric panels and shields glowing against the sunlight. The only way to pass that barrier was to launch a frontal assault, which would alert everyone.

They approached the gate, and the guards made them stop. There were two guards in the front. A valein and a pix.

"What is the purpose of your visit?" The valein soldier got close and asked Silas and Jacob, who were in front.

"We’re traveling merchants. We came here to see if we could make a profit." He said it with a smile, but the soldier looked at him with skepticism.

"Is this the first time you arrive to a city of the Valein Empire?"

Lying would be pointless; he already knew he was missing some form of etiquette or greeting. Damn, Cink told us they wouldn’t ask for anything like a card or document to prove our identity. It’s been over 1,000 years since the old man was part of the empire; maybe the protocol changed?

"Haha, how did you know? We’re just a group of humans trying to work and earn our food. I heard you guys were friendly to strangers."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"In that case, you need to submit your trade application. It is a document to give you permission to trade with our cities. Since this is the first time you can talk to the resource ministry representative. He would help you fill out the document and give you a license. In the meantime, we need to inspect your wagons and the geckos in front to make sure that you aren’t smuggling dangerous or illegal substances."

"Sure thing. We don’t have anything to hide, but it would be a lie to say that I know about your laws. If you find anything wrong, please teach us."

The soldier made them exit the carriage and walk into a room where more guards inspected them. Everything went as planned; he was waiting for them to inspect them like in an airport. That’s why they left all their best weapons at Dawn’s base. Silvano could open a portal and take their bags.

The only exception was Emily, who was still holding her orb. It was a precaution in case the guards turned hostile or tried to arrest them.

"What is this?" the guard asked while holding the orb.

"It’s an orb that allows me to use magic; it was given to me by the System."

"Are you a magic user?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" She wasn’t going to entertain the questions. "I'm a human; do I really need to explain the System's powers? I thought your kind already knew about it, or maybe you haven’t met any humans before."

The soldier was left stunned for a moment, not knowing how to reply, but another valein came to de-escalate the situation.

"It's fine; there are plenty of humans in this city." It was a valein wearing elegant clothes in contrast with the white armor of the guards. He wore a small medal on his chest engraved with a crown with five stars, the symbol of the Empire.

"We don’t mean to offend you, but your condition is unusual even among your race. I can imagine that is part of the powers that the System gave you, so we won’t pry anymore."

"And you’re?"

"Edegoss, I work for the ministry of resources. Please follow me; we have a lot to discuss." He took them across the hallway. On the other side was a room with paintings and statues. The central piece was a holographic map of the city.

"This is my office; I can finish the paperwork while you look at these samples of our city." He took a seat and brought out the documents.

"I’m the one in charge of this little group, so I can answer your questions." Silas took a seat in front of the desk and let his guildmates walk around the mini museum.

He was expecting more trick questions and other traps to discover information, but it was a boring document. The valein only asked obvious things: his name and the name of his group, what things they dealt with, and if they had a main base of operations.

He stuck to his story and lied convincingly. The man wasn’t doubting his claim, and after five minutes, he gave him a badge.

"This is your trade number. Any trade or business is going to require it, so please don’t lose it. We’re done."

"Really? This was much faster than in our previous world."

"Ah, you mean bureaucracy, is that what you called it? Here in the empire, we have to work efficiently to not delay anything that could help the citizens. Once you enter the city, you will notice that there are not only races brought here by the System that live in peace but also several natives. The ministry of resources is also in charge of keeping peaceful relationships with other races and groups; if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask."

"Then can I ask if these paintings were done in this city?" The quality of the works on display astounded Silvano. The paintings depicted impossible cities and creatures, but that only reminded him of his own ignorance.

"I’m glad you’re enjoying it. These are just some of the best creations of painters who lived in this city for most of their lives. Lorsaus has been the home of artists for thousands of years. That’s why we are called the city of art."

"The city of art?"

"Let me show you." The man walked to the holographic map and began to enhance the image, showing all the districts of the city.

"Our city is divided into five districts in total. If you’re looking to make negotiations, the trade district is the place where you’ll spend most of your time. There are plenty of places to stay and keep your goods secure."

"The Street of Art is the district filled with all kinds of creative shows if you're interested in looking closely at our past or just getting a taste of the talent of the people. Painting, music, actors, poetry, etc."

"D-do you have a hospital or maybe a place to buy medicine?"

"We have plenty of stores for that, but the city’s hospital is in the central district. All the main branches of the ministries and public services are there. The big dome in the middle is the office and home of the governor, Lord Telir."

"What about those things that look like spaceships?" Franco pointed his finger at the hologram.

"That’s the military district. Most of the army buildings and military personnel stay there. You can’t go there without permission. Normally it is not used much, but several captains have arrived, so if you see a ship above, don’t panic. It’s just the army moving his forces to go fight in other worlds."

He could feel the dismissive attitude of Edegoss toward that topic, so he quickly moved the conversation and explained the last residential district.

"That is where most of the citizens live. If you decide to stay longer, you can look for a place to stay. The empire is always looking for more people to join. If you go to the ministry of construction, they can assign you a house and help you look for work."

He’s already trying to get us on his side. I guess Cink was right—it's just part of their nature to try to rule over other races.

"In any case, all stores are obligated to pay you in credits. If you need to exchange currency before you leave, just go to the resource ministry, or you can keep the credits to make future trades easier."

With that, the tour was done, and Edegoss took them to the gate outside, letting the wind and colors fill their eyes.

"Welcome to Lorsaus."