Well this is oddly nostalgic.

Devon and Trey found themselves in the midst of a plaza packed full of people. It only took a glance to tell him that the vast majority of them were human like themselves. However, when he looked beyond the mass of people he saw individuals standing on raised platforms, watching over the crowd.

Many of the individuals watching over the mass of people were humanoid in shape, but many of them seemed like mutated versions, with many seeming to take on animalistic or ethereal traits.

It occurred to Devon that the reason the system had rated this place as being highly habitable was because the other inhabitants must have extremely similar forms or needs.

Now that I think about it, the vishan were pretty similar too. They erred a lot more on the animalistic traits than a lot of the individuals I see here, but they were still humanoids that seemed to live off the same base necessities. I saw some real freaks in the old knight's memory that didn't conform to humanoid standards at all.

"Hello, hello? Can everyone hear me?" A voice rang out over the plaza, which Devon identified to be coming from a central scaffold platform that looked like it had been hastily constructed over a pre-existing fountain. Atop it stood a rather pretty woman that addressed everyone within the area.

"Um, it looks like everyone is here so I'm going to get started. My name is Christine, I was one of the first phase initiates that was summoned to Linouah, or I guess the Empire of the Amber Dragon. Oh, Linouah is just the name of this town. Sorry, I'm not used to speaking in front of a crowd like this," The girl said as she blushed and scratched the back of her head.

[Christine - Level 48]

They sure chose a cute poster girl.

"Uh, I guess I should just pass this out now. I think I just… oh, here we go."

[Notice]

Incoming databundle [Information Packet].

Accept databundle?

Accept.

The so-called databundle consisted of three things. The first was a map of the city he presumed they were in which automatically updated his map function. The second was a datalog containing notable establishments and what looked almost like a beginner's guide. The third was an outline of the basic laws of the empire.

"I think most of the stuff in there should be self-explanatory, but I'll give you all a rundown just in case. There's the map of this city which should automatically link to your map function in the system. If for some reason you don't have the map function you can come talk to me after I'm done talking.

"The second is something like a list of recommended actions. Some of you have come from empire-hosted tutorials so you'd already know this, but those who came here from anywhere else should know that the empire doesn't have any sort of strict regimen.

"If you want to keep on the path to growing stronger the empire's military would gladly accept you, with benefits to those who perform well. On the other hand, if you just wanted a chance to live on an alien planet there are also the trade guilds and other places of employment listed. I'll let you go over the entire list for yourself.

"The second datalog is just a guideline of the basic rules in place within the empire. I think it should probably go without saying that if you break them you'll make the town guards really angry, so I wouldn't suggest that.

"Uh… I think that's about everything. There's additional information included in the first datalog that will unlock in around three days, and we'll be hosting a seminar at that time for everyone who wants to attend as well. Until then you're free to explore both the town and the wilderness outside the boundaries of the town as well."

With that, it seemed as though Christine's speech ended. Trey turned to Devon and said, "You know, I think I enjoyed this opening speech a lot better than the one our old overseers gave."

Devon smirked, "Who'd have ever thought that a warm welcome would be more enjoyable than essentially being told to fuck off."

"So what do you want to do? Did that mysterious invitation of yours come with any specifics?"

"It didn't. I guess for now we can just see what's around. Still," Devon did a quick headcount of the people in the plaza and came to the conclusion there couldn't have been more than 2000 of them, "Is it just me or does the number of people here seem small?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. It does."

There had been at least a hundred other tutorial blocks, potentially many more they didn't know about. Of the alien options to choose from, the Empire of the Amber Dragon had been the second most chosen option by initiates of the tutorials. Assuming all the other tutorials had a similar headcount as their own had, the number of people in the plaza seemed disproportionately small.

Devon scrolled through the datalog they'd been given and found the answer to his question, "Oh, it says here that tutorial initiates are randomly split between thirteen different 'starting' worlds. Guess that's how they prevent a massive explosion of alien population in any one place."

"Good thing it gave us the option to travel together," Trey said, "It would have been annoying to choose what seemed like the same destination only to end up on two completely different worlds."

"Yeah, that would've been a pain."

The two of them moved slowly with the crowd outwards as people left the plaza. A good amount of people flocked to the sentries stationed around the perimeter of the plaza and Christine in the center with questions. Christine in particular seemed popular, probably due to her likable personality.

Devon continued to scan over the datalog of useful information as they moved. Bothering their hosts with questions when they hadn't even finished reading over the information packet was simply inane.

It's sad, really. This document was so well thought out, yet people completely ignore it to waste other people's time asking questions that are already answered.

As Devon saw it, the document answered the vast majority of potential questions. There was detailed information on the topography of the region, local and imperial culture, as well as a list of other 'starting' worlds and means to travel if someone wasn't content to stay at Linouah.

Of course, the most important information was about employment. Most of the details were along the lines of what Christine had already told the crowd, but it was nice to see more details. There was also provided lodging for the first week, with addresses and even map references.

So basically they give us a week of freeloading before they start treating us as unemployed. This system seems very well refined. Unlike the vishan, I'll bet this place sees initiates come through somewhat regularly.

It was also clear the document had a fair amount of human input on it. There were several paragraphs detailing how something differed from earth.

Devon groaned, "Looks like the day-night cycles on this planet are several hours longer than what we're used to. But even worse is that the timekeeping system is completely removed from the day-night cycle."

"Well, I imagine it would be hard to keep an accurate record of interplanetary trade unless everything was kept on an unbiased timetable. At least, I assume there's something like interplanetary trade."

"Doesn't change that it'll be a bitch to get used to."

Trey shrugged.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. Trey went abroad for a month on a culture study thing. I bet that prepared him for this type of thing a lot better than I am.

Once they made it out of the plaza and into the streets Trey asked, "Anywhere in particular we should head?"

"Let's see if we can't find any kind of vantage point. It's nice to have a map, but it'd be even better to get a firsthand feel of the place."

As they walked through the city they couldn't help but be taken in by the scenery. Much of the architecture was foreign, but even still the place had a quaint feeling. Most of the buildings were either made of wood or brick, and the place gave off the general vibe of an alien fantasy setting.

"I was kind of expecting something more advanced than this, honestly," Trey said as they walked through a street, "Seems a little… low tech. At least for a civilization that has several planets under its rule."

"The travel brochure says this is something they call a frontier world. Maybe this town was set up using only the resources from this area. Despite how rustic the place may seem they do appear to at least have plumbing and running water."

"Still, it's hard to shake the fantasy feeling. I guess I wanted the wider universe to be more outside my expectations."

"Again, we shouldn't attempt to judge technological advancement based on a frontier world. For all we know, this is like the boonies to them."

"You think they use magic for all their daily necessities instead of electricity? That'd really complete the fantasy aesthetic."

Devon sighed. It seemed his friend was more infatuated with the idea of being in a fantasy world than he wanted to let on.

We've already been using magic for more than a month by now, shouldn't you be used to this sort of thing by now? Well, I suppose there's a difference between using magic to survive in the wilderness and seeing magic in more ordinary situations. Still…

"Is it just me, or does the place seem a little empty?" Trey asked.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

There were ordinary people walking the streets, but less than he'd expected. But that wasn't the biggest concern on his mind.

"We're being followed," He said under his breath.

Trey shot a gaze to the side at him, then said, "What do you want to do about it? You think they were sent by the one who extended you an invitation?"

"Maybe. Only one way to be sure. Let's step into an alley so we don't draw any undue attention."

They walked for another half mile through the streets before they found the perfect place and stepped off into the wider than average alley. They didn't have to wait long before a small group of people crowded the entrance of the alley.

"They don't really look like any halfway decent welcome party I've ever seen," Trey commented.

Trey's statement was punctuated by several weapons being drawn from tiles.