Norbert was finally the first in the queue and looked towards the line of desks. Looking, Norbert saw himself being called, walking up and placing the card on the desk. "Thank you for arriving in Alasium; how may I be of assistance," the office clerk asked Norbert.
Remembering what was said before, Norbert looked up at him, "I have been assigned a new placement and was instructed to go here, so here I am, I guess?" Norbert asked, ending off with a question.
"Well, you've come to the right place; thank you for the card, and just give me a few moments," they said; Norbert just waited for them to finish. "Thanks for the wait. It looks like you'll be leaving shortly, in fact, so I will have to make this quick." They said, talking faster and faster as they continued, "You're looking for a man called Dousan, who will be the leader of your group for now. To go to the collection point for The Frontier, please head towards the room on your right. Thank you, and have a great day," He finished before calling next.
Norbert looked around, barely able to hear the instructions went to the right-hand side as instructed and entered the room there.
Once in, Norbert saw tables throughout it, looking more like a coffee shop or bar than the bustling place he came from. Standing at the entrance, Norbert looked around, seeing an odd fifty or so people sitting around and talking with each other.
When he entered, it quieted down slightly before the sound picked back up, people returning to their conversations. Norbert scanned the crowd to see a face that looked like a "Dousan" in the crowd.
"Norbert?" he turned to the call of his name, sounding more like a question. A man stood up around one of the tables, waving him over.
Norbert went to the man looking at his gear, wearing the metal that he had seen the other users of The Frontier wear, no helmet to hide his short-cut black hair and dark brown eyes, matching his tanned skin. Norbert walked towards him, asking the question, "Dousan?"
"The one and only looks like our little band is all together now and accounted for. It's time to head off!" Dousan said, raising his voice towards the end so everyone in the room could hear. With the grinding and complaining of people, everyone stood up, making their way towards the entrance that Norbert came from.
Not wanting to be left behind, Norbert moved Obsius to his other shoulder, securing his backpack correctly before following the crowd into the bustle. Securely within the group, Norbert followed the packs and people wearing the leather to know he was heading in the right direction. Entering the gate room, Norbert looked up, seeing the massive towering ceiling with its dome.
It reminded Norbert of a church, with its painting depicting someone slaying a dragon-like beast at the top, with one of the gates behind him and a pack of houses behind the dragon burning down. Moving his head back down to not bump into anyone, Norbert followed again to a gate. This one looked different from the others as there was o console.
A person branched off from the group, heading there before and touched his staff to it. Norbert looked and realised it was one of the gate people he had seen before, one that came him his translating pendant. Looking, Norbert could not discern anything specific between the one he met before and this one.
That was other than the staff halfway through the portal; instead of being white like the previous one, this one was a deep brown, with wrappings going to the middle portion of the staff where he would hold.
Placing it through the gate, the blue smoke once more appeared. Stepping through first, he was no longer there; a moment later, Norbert saw the staff once more stick through. With a wave from Dousan, the rest of the party surged forward; Norbert caught in it and went through one by one until Norbert was first in line. Knowing where he was going, Gulping about now, Norbert patted Obsius and stepped through.
His body stretched once more when Norbert felt normal again. He opened his eyes, the light streaming into his eyes; Norbert squinted as he looked around at his new environment.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Walking forward so he would not be in anyone's way, Norbert smiled at what he saw. Looking down from the hill he was on, Norbert saw a little town nestled around it, all wooden houses in a circle going out.
Looking, Norbert saw people going about their day and smoke coming out of some chimneys. Hearing the sound of children laughing, Norbert looked up past the town, seeing the green hills rolling throughout the landscape.
Seeing dots of colour throughout them, Norbert realised there were flowers of some kind spotting the hills. Turning to the left, Norbert looked at what was behind the gate. Craning his head up, Norbert saw a forest slowly coming out of the ground. The closest trees were the usual variety Norbert would see on Earth, spanning several meters into the air.
But dwarfed from these stood massive trees, and rows upon rows of them, looking like pine trees that someone just put the slider on for way too thick, each one being ten, twenty meters, maybe more Norbert could no longer tell the height. The trunks of each were massive as well, looking more like five trees combined in one.
As Norbert walked closer to it, trying to get a better view of the giant trees, Norbert realised these still weren't the tallest trees he had seen, remembering the trees upon the plateau and the presence they filled the air with.
CLAP, CLAP Norbert turned around, seeing Dousan, who had walked down the hill a bit towards town, getting everyone's attention, saying, "Ok, everyone, thanks for coming as you can see, we have arrived in this quaint little village. On our left, the first hill you see will be where we camp for our time here." Dousan said while pointing towards one of the hills.
"Scouts, go out and see what there is to find; any information, as usual, is needed. Meet back at the camp for sundown!" Dousan shouted before continuing, "Martitia, organise the areas for today within the scouts."
"Right away, Dousan", A woman replied, wavering her hand in the air. She directed down the hill; Norbert saw she was wearing the same clothes as him and followed across. Feeling the rush of wind on his shoulders, Norbert looked up, seeing Obsius flying off towards the town to view whatever caught his interest.
Making his way to Martitia, Norbert looked around at the people around her. "Ok, everyone, raise your hand if this is your first time, no need to feel embarrassed", she asked the crowd around her. Shooting up his arm Norbert felt eyes on him; Norbert looked around to see if anyone else had their hand raised. With relief, Norbert saw another hand raised; at least he wouldn't be the only new person here.
"Two recruits then, the rest of you form out into the forest behind your backs, fan out and prepare as usual. You two will be looking after the hills behind the camp. She said, pointing in the direction of the hills.
Looking, Norbert waited for more directions; Martitia looked at the two of them and opened her mouth. "You are both responsible for the area, normally, it is divided in ease of use and what people's specialties are, as you both knew you, sir", she said while pointing to Norbert. "Are in charge of the area to the right of the hill camp will be on. And the rest for you, miss." She said, pointing to the other person also standing with Norbert.
"Look for any beasts that may be found and the amount. And don't disturb anything or have anything chase you. This is only a first recon, and I do NOT want to see a horde of beasts chasing either of you. Now scram," She finished, waving her hands at the two of them.
Looking around at the area he would be in charge of for the day, Norbert and his fellow newbie rushed off; as he made his way to the bottom of the hill, he heard behind him, "Make sure your back before dark!" Martitia shouted towards them.
Norbert, raising his hand in response, hit the town, looking at the quiet streets for the day and the sun before it set. It was in a quarter risen, so he would have many hours of exploring. Jogging through the town on the stone paths where he could, Norbert could smell the smoke.
Waving at people as he passed with a smile, few returned his greetings before continuing with their day. Norbert passed kids playing and laughing with what looked like some magical device, chasing one of them with giggles surrounding them. Norbert followed them and saw his marked location, the first green hill.
Looking towards it, Norbert looked at the grass on the hill; slowing down, he brushed it with his fingers before stepping on it, confirming that it was just regular grass and not some weird amalgamation. He walked up the top of the rise, breathing slowly and waiting to see what the other side held.
Reaching the top, Norbert bathed in the light for a moment, happy and looked out towards what he would need to look at.
Seeing the hills rise and fall Norbert looked out for as far as he could, all looking the same throughout the landscape before it finally petered off into flat planes to his left. Looking to the right, Norbert saw the hills slowly decline, not knowing what was down there before it was lost due to the hills surrounding him.
Reaching down, picking a flower, Norbert breathed it in, the purple-looking lily, though without the stems coming out of it. Sniffing it, Norbert breathed in the perfume and set off toward the incline, wanting to see what was out there.