Liam stepped out from the portal exit. His front end was staring at the portal with his hands still up flipping the portal off, chuckling. His chuckling ceased as he heard someone let out a cough behind him.
Liam’s hands dropped to his side and turned to tell his teammates what he did, but stopped as he stared at a tall muscular man wearing a blue buttoned up uniform. He had orange hair with black stripes that matched his round tiger-like ears and tail that swished slowly back and forth behind him.
He had an unamused expression resting on his face as he looked at his clipboard and asked with a bored tone, “Name and location?” His voice was a bit deep.
Liam blinked a couple of times as he stared at him, unsure what was going on. Since he and his team had to run out of the Tutorial Area quickly he didn’t know what to expect after walking out of the portal.
Liam looked around the room to get a better understanding of his surroundings. It was a white plain room with a couple of desks. Two beast-kin people with lion like features stood by the only door in the room.
A woman sat at one of the desks writing some stuff down. She had blond hair wrapped up in a bun and glasses over her green eyes. Some kind of horns poked out from her head and arched up a bit, not giving Liam any clue what kind of Beast-kin she was. She wore a business like dress.
Next to this woman’s desk was a table with a machine that kind of looked like a scanner. It was small and a design Liam had never seen before. A crystal ball sat on a stand with a couple of clear tubes running from the stand to the machine.
The tiger-folk standing in front of him sighed as he repeated, “Name and location?”
Liam looked back at him and responded, “My name is Liam. As for location…I don’t know where I am or where I’m going.”
The man raised a brow as he looked down at him.
Liam saw him give him an expression that said, I’m not sure if you’re trying to be funny or not, but I’m not in the mood for games.
The man then said, “Please don’t play games with me Sir. If you don’t tell me what location you came from I will have to send you back through the portal.”
Liam tilted his head a bit to the side and replied, “I’m not sure it is possible to do that. But if you are not asking where I am or would like to go to then it should be safe to assume that you’re asking where I came from. If so then I just came from a Tutorial Area.”
The Tiger-folk’s expression changed a bit as he looked down at Liam. His brows scrunched as he asked, “Are you telling me you are a newly integrated person to our world?”
Liam nodded. “Yes I am.”
The man eyed Liam up and down. A frown formed on the man’s lips as he stated, “If that is so then why did you appear here? Only newly integrated Beast-kins would arrive to an Arkadian location when entering our world.”
“Ah I am a beast-kin,” Liam responded.
“No, you’re not,” the man argued.
“Yes. I am,” Liam countered. “I’m a Ca…” Liam caught himself before saying exacting what he was. He quickly corrected himself by saying, “I’m a Cat-folk Beast-kin. You can see it in my eyes. See.”
Liam pointed to his eyes and allowed the irises and pupils to thin into slits before returning them to normal.
The man looked and saw what he was saying. However, shortly after that he stated in a soft growl, “So you’re half breed huh.”
As soon as the man said this he realized why the man’s bored expression turned into a slightly hostile one. This man was someone who he was warned about. He was a full blood supremist.
A cough echoed from behind the man.
Both Liam and the man turned to see the woman with the horns make her way over to them.
“That is quite enough Larry. I’ll take it from here,” the woman stated.
Larry, the Tiger-folk, glared at her and was about to say something, but the woman cut him off by saying, “You know newly integrated people are my responsibility. And since you do not seem to be in the mood to properly explain things nor look to want to give proper guidance, I will do it for you.”
Larry scowled and was about to say something, but then saw the two Lion-like men staring at him. He then looked back at the woman and replied, “Fine, take it from here and explain to this…half breed,” Larry narrowed his eyes at Liam while gritting the words, “how things are done around here.”
“Thank you Larry,” the woman smiled as she watched the man walk back to the desk.
Once when he sat back down she turned to Liam, stuck a hand out, and greet with the best smile she could give, “Greetings, Mr. Liam and welcome to the Arkadian Empire. I will be your guide and help you understand some rules you will need to know while visiting our Kingdom. My name is Lucilindiana. You can call me Lucy. I am an Impala from the Antelope-folk Beast-kin race. You said you were a Cat-Folk right?”
Liam slowly reached out and shook her hand while responding, “Yes.”
“Good, good. What race of Cat-folk are you?” Lucy questioned as she started to write something down on her clipboard.
“I’m not too sure,” Liam slowly said, trying to make it look like he didn’t already know. “What do you mean by race of Cat-folk? All of this is new to me, so I think I’m having a hard time understanding certain terms.”
“That is quite alright. For newly integrated people things like this will be very confusing. From what I know many people who come to our planet have different countries and their races are considered what country they are from. I know there are other planets that have a more complicated system when it comes to their races, but I will go out on a limb here and say you come from the former, correct?”
Liam nodded.
“Good, good,” Lucy said as she wrote something down. “What planet did you come from?”
“Earth,” Liam answered as a brow slowly rose.
“Alright, that’s good to know. We haven’t had many from that planet start here,” Lucy stated.
“I’m sorry, but can I ask why you’re asking me personal questions?” Liam questioned as he eyed her suspiciously. “Also where are we? Why haven’t I seen anyone else come out of the portal?”
Lucy looked at him with a slightly confused look on her face. “Did…did they not explain the procedure for entering our world?”
Liam looked at her with an equally confused look. With everything that had happened, he didn’t think to ask what would happen the moment he went through the portal. He had just thought he would appear and that was it. He wasn’t expecting to be questioned the moment he arrived.
“I apologize but no. My departure when I left the Tutorial Area was…rushed. No one had informed me what to expect,” Liam said while mentally kicking himself.
Lucy let out a weary sigh as she placed a hand to her forehead. “I swear. I don’t know what those Overseers were thinking.”
She then shook her head before looking back at Liam and saying with that smile she gave him earlier. “Oh, well. I’m sure I’m not the only one having to go through this. Anyways, when a new arrival walks through the Transportation Portal to exit the Tutorial Area, they arrive at a place that resonates with the race they are. For a half breed, one that has two different kinds of races or a Muddled Breed, one that has more than two races, the place they arrive at depends on which race is more prominent within them. For you, it happened to be your Cat-folk Beast-kin. What is your other race or races?”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“Human,” Liam said without hesitating. He still didn’t know what his other race was since the information still showed as sealed, so he went with what his physical features mainly showed. And that was Human.
“Human, got it,” Lucy said as she started to write it down. She then looked back at Liam and continued, “What I am doing here now is asking you questions I can run through our system so I can make sure you’re not wanted or banned from our Kingdom. This would be easier if you had an A.I.D., C.I.D., or a M.I.D.”
Liam thought about what she was saying. Those acronyms were different forms of I.D.’s that Galin had told him about. An A.I.D. was an Adventurer’s I.D. A C.I.D. was a Crafter’s I.D. And a M.I.D. was a Merchant’s I.D.
“Those are the different types of identifications that allow me to do adventuring, crafting, or merchant stuff correct?” Liam asked, making sure he did remember it correctly.
Lucy gave him an appraising smile as she said, “Yes. That is correct. I’m surprised you know about that, but not what happens when you first arrive to our world.”
Liam gave her a sheepish look before saying, “One of my Crafting Mentors told me about them.”
“Ah a Crafter I see,” Lucy started as she looked him over once more. “What kind of crafting did you get a mentor in?”
“Blacksmithing and Alchemy,” Liam replied. “I picked up some Tailoring, but never got a mentor in it. I have an interest in Enchanting and Rune Crafting though. I’m hoping to find a mentor in those two areas as soon as I can.”
“Interesting,” Lucy noted down before looking back at him. She then stated with a bit of a chuckle, “Well if you get any good at any of those then you’ll have a bright future ahead of you. Many who turned away from adventuring have made a name for themselves through their crafts. However, I’d advise you don’t get your hopes up too much. Just like Adventuring, the Crafting Market is a very competitive field.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you,” Liam said as he nodded his head.
A deep cough came from behind Liam, coming from Larry. It made Lucy shake her head before she stated, “Getting back on track. Since you do not have any of the three I.D.’s then we have to run your information through our system. Once when that is complete we’ll know if you really did come from the Tutorial Area or not.”
Liam’s brows furrowed. “What kind of system would allow you to know if I came from the Tutorial Area? I don’t remember seeing any device taking our information down when I was there.”
Lucy smiled. “That is because there wasn’t any device in the Tutorial Area. A device like that would be costly to transport there and to recalibrate to match the magic in the Tutorial Area.”
Liam looked even more confused. “Then how?”
“Do you remember something scanning you when you first arrived at the Tutorial Area?” Lucy asked.
Liam slowly nodded. He did remember something like that happening. He and his teammates were freaked out about when it happened. “That light that did some sort of assessment that helped determined what our starting class was and filled out my Character Sheet right?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” Lucy nodded. “When it did that, the magic not only created the character sheet for you to see it, but also sent information about you to the Magi-Net.”
“Magi-net? Also…it collected my information?” Liam asked as he stared at her feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Isn’t that a bit…invasive?”
“Ah I can see why you would feel that way, however you don’t have to worry about it. Magi-Net is still new and doesn’t collect a lot of information,” Lucy started to explain. “Magi-Net is a Magical Network that collects information about newly integrated people. Right now, the only information it can really collect is your name, what Tutorial Dungeon you were assigned to, and that you were in the Tutorial Area.
“A group of Artificers came across this really old magical system sixty or so years ago and they’re working on trying to repurpose it. I’m not to privy on all the details. All I know is that it helps us determine if you really did come from a Tutorial Area or not.”
“Artificers are repurposing a really old magical system to collect information on newly integrated people? Yeah that sounds safe,” Liam muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Lucy asked.
“Nothing,” Liam quickly said. “So how does it work? I’m sure it takes more than a piece of paper for you to get accurate information.”
“You are correct,” Lucy smiled. “After I write everything down I ask you, pertaining to this process, I will lead you to a crystal where you will channel some mana into it. As you channel your mana into the crystal the paper will run through a device. The magic inside the device will activate and it will verify if what you said is correct.”
Liam narrowed his eyes. “That sounds too simple.”
“I agree, but like I said, I’m not too privy to all the details on how it works, only that it works,” Lucy stated. “Now tell me, what dungeon were you assigned to in the Tutorial Area?”
“The Black Dungeon,” Liam answered.
Lucy started to write the answer down, but then stopped. She looked at Liam and asked with a slightly confused looked, “I’m sorry which dungeon did you say you took on?”
Liam caught the sudden tense in her body language. It was only for a moment, but he had caught it.
“The Black Tutorial Dungeon. Why? Is there an issue?” Liam asked.
“No, sorry. Its just…I haven’t come across anyone who was assigned to that one before. You are a new experience for me,” Lucy said as she gave him another smile.
Liam stared at her. The first time she smiled at him he thought it was forced, but now he knew she was in fact forcing that smile.
“Alright, come with me and we’ll run this information through to see if you’re telling the truth,” Lucy said as she lead him to the table with the crystal ball and scanner-like machine.
As soon as they approached it, she turned to look at Liam, pointed to the crystal ball, and instructed, “Once when I give the go ahead, channel some mana into the crystal ball and keep doing that until I say to stop.
Liam nodded as he walked over to the ball. He watched as Lucy placed the paper she was writing on onto a tray. She then looked at Liam and said, “Alright go ahead.”
Liam looked at the crystal ball and placed a hand over it. He then started channeling his arcane mana and felt it start to get sucked into the crystal ball.
The inside of the crystal ball lit up with the familiar violet color of Arcane Mana. As it did this, Liam watched as some of that mana entered through the clear tubes and make its way to the scanner-looking machine.
The machine hummed to life the moment the Arcane Mana entered inside of it. The paper on the tray then slide into it. Several different colors flashed inside and through several small holes. This kept going for almost a minute before the paper slide out from the other side along with a new piece of paper.
“Okay, go ahead and stop,” Lucy informed as she grabbed both pieces of paper and looked them over.
Liam stopped channeling his mana and looked at her.
“Alright, looks like all is in order. You did just come from a Tutorial Area and were assigned to a Black Dungeon,” Lucy stated with an appraising look. “Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on passing the Tutorial and entering not only our Arkadian Kingdom, but the World of Paracosm as well.”
She reached out a hand towards Liam.
Liam looked at it at first before gripping it and thanking the woman.
“Now that that’s over with. If you will follow me to the next room we can start the next round of screening,” Lucy informed as she turned around and walked towards the door.
“Next round of screening?” Liam questioned.
“Yes,” Lucy started as they walked up to the door. “Our Arkadian Kingdom have strict rules and policies we have in place before we let any outsides, whether they came from a Tutorial or a different country.”
The two Lion-folk men gave Liam a quick glance before Lucy, and he walked through the door.
On the other side was a hallway that ran both left and right. The walls were tannish and looked to be made of wood. It was made from different materials than the room he was in.
“We just have a few questions we would like to ask before we can determine if you are allowed to fully step foot into the Kingdom or not,” Lucy answered. “This rule and policy is set in place to make sure no one…unsavory arrives and tries to start issues or a war. You understand right?”
Liam nodded as he followed along with what she was saying. “What kind of questions do you ask? How long will it take?”
“We have a few questions that range from what your goals will be to what you are expecting from entering our kingdom. You know questions like that. After that I have to send the application to a team where they review the information I send. It can take anywhere from five to fourteen days, depending on the traffic of applicants,” Lucy informed.
“Five to fourteen days?!” Liam exclaimed. “What am I supposed to do for that long? What happens if I get rejected?”
“There is plenty to do while you wait on the island. You can apply at any of the three Associations. We have a market place, a library full of the Arkadian Kingdom History, crafter workshops, and a tower full of Dungeon Portals suitable for lower leveled Adventurers to at least level forty,” Lucy stated. “It is rare for someone to get rejected, but if you do we will just send you to another country through the transportation portal.”
Liam shook his head. “If that happens will I have to reapply for an A.I.D., C.I.D., or M.I.D.?”
“No,” Lucy replied as she stopped in front of a closed door. “Those are your personal identifications the associations make for you as well as your identifications to carry with you.”
“Alright,” Liam nodded as he watched her reach for the doorknob and opened the door. He then followed her inside the room.
The room was a small plain one much like the last room he was in. It had one table, two chairs, and a hanging light with a dim Yooperlite stone as the bulb. There were no other doors nor windows and instead of it being white, it was a tannish brown. The floors, walls, and ceiling looked to be made of wood.
“Please take a seat on the other side of the table,” Lucy requested as she closed the door behind them.
Liam did as she said and started to sit down. However, the moment he sat down, his ears wiggled as he heard something in the hall behind the door. It was footsteps.
It wasn’t one or two pairs. Instead, it was six pairs, and they were jogging.
Confused, Liam was about to ask if something was going on, but before he could, the door suddenly burst open as someone barked with a deep growl, “Don’t move!”