“High Minister.” An elven dignitary called out as he stepped into a large office, holding a folder in his hands. He wore a black suit with a white undershirt and long, black pants. His silver hair almost glowed in the light, while his eyes were oddly an almost pitch black.

“Come in.” Another man sat behind the desk, his suit a dark blue. His hair looked to be almost pure golden, cut short and neatly combed. He held his hand out, and the visitor passed the folder in his hands. “Has the situation changed?”

“No, sir.” The visitor shook his head while the High Minister opened the folder, pulling out several images. They seemed to be topographical shots of a heavily forested area, taken from high above. “Our satellites have confirmed that the foreign presence has maintained its position along the border. Aside from small groups leaving for what I can only assume are scouting operations, they have stayed within their base of operations.”

The High Minister nodded his head, letting out a long sigh. “I take it we’ve kept anyone from wandering too close?”

“That’s correct, sir. Per orders, we advanced the army and pushed into Solace territory to engage in small skirmishes, while the patrols have been able to keep anyone from entering the area.”

When he heard that, the High Minister gave another nod. Their satellites had captured the appearance of the unusual structure shortly after it first appeared. They had even managed to capture the images of its first activation. At first, they were preparing for the worst, believing that it may be a new Solace weapon.

Instead, a week later, those same satellites saw the structure activate once again. This time, an unknown group of people emerged, clearly indicating its function as a teleportation platform. Immediately, the army had been reinforced in that area, preparing for the possibility of a full-scale invasion.

They waited… for weeks, they saw nothing but the odd monster that seemed to wander out from the gate. Until finally, it became active once again. Elves emerged through the gate, along with… other creatures. At first, the High Minister had mistaken them for an unknown breed of elves, until he noticed the distinctly animal features, or the large wings on some of them.

No, once he was able to get a clear view of them sent back, he knew that these were foreigners from somewhere entirely different. By his initial estimation, the platform should be a path between worlds. Though, how it appeared on this end was beyond his understanding.

Several of his advisors suggested immediately making contact, establishing a peaceful relationship with this new group. But the High Minister was cautious. Instead of proactively seeking a first contact, he maneuvered troops to isolate that region. He wanted to observe, to simply wait and see what these foreigners would do. This way, he could gauge their reactions, and have a more clear view of what they were after.

For the first year, the foreigners established a small village along the edge of the forest next to the platform. The High Minister was able to quickly notice from the image reports that the foreigners would maintain a constant guard in a ring around the platform. What was odd about this was that the guard was facing inward. They were not defending the platform, but defending against anything that may emerge from it.

In the second year, after their homes had been established, they began constructing additional facilities. Stone towers that likely reached fifty meters high with an open roof. It was hard to tell the purpose of these towers, although they received heavy foot traffic.

Starting from the third year, they began to more actively search their surroundings, forcing the High Minister to expand the isolation zone. His advisors told him that he was being overly cautious, but he saw it differently. Each of the warriors from the foreign group showcased an astonishing level of power that was captured by the satellites.

Finally, in the fifth year, they pulled their searches back. The foreigners kept to their own area and gradually expanded their village, turning it into a small city built around the platform. This allowed them to get a more accurate idea of the different cultures found beyond the platform.

The primary difference that he noticed was that they seemed entirely incapable of using magic. While they proved to be masters of ki beyond anything the High Minister had seen, there was not a single sign of anyone using any kind of mana-based power. Initially, this had proven to be a relief, as it meant that these powerful warriors would not simply trample over the people of this world.

Now it had been three years after the establishment of this city. Eight years since the appearance of the gate itself. Finally, the foreigners had begun to move again, this time in smaller organized units. They did not simply return back to base after a day of scouting as they had in the past, but moved further on.

This meant that the High Minister now had to make his decision. But, in reality, there was only one decision to make. “Send a message to the diplomatic envoys. Tell them that their mission has been approved.”

Thanks to them having tracked down the Wood Elf that had first traversed the gate, they were able to learn a small amount of information, though she had been reluctant to say much. The only thing that she had made clear was that they were capable of communicating through quest objects. This made it easy to prepare a diplomatic team, which had been standing by for far too long.

Within one of the six Towers of Knowledge established within the foreign world, Jassar let out a breath of frustration. He was staring down at a series of documents. The research that everyone had been working on since their arrival. There were a number of interesting facts about this world that differed from what he knew.

Of the plants within the area, there were a large number that were capable of being transplanted into nearly any environment. Some had been taken to Fyor for tests, even, which had produced the most astounding results. These plants were capable of rapid mutation when grown within a hostile environment.

This mutation did not cause the plants themselves to become violent or rapidly spread, however. Instead, they were able to change their structures or adapt new features to enable them to survive in a number of different biomes. One flower could be taken to a desert, and its roots would grow deep while it created a large bulb that filled with extracted groundwater.

That same flower, when placed on an upper layer of Fyor, gradually became more sturdy. Its size increased, and it gained an almost lustrous shine. After six months of growing, it was no longer oppressed by the local gravity, and was capable of standing fully upright. Honestly, this was simply amazing. The potential found in these plants alone was mind-boggling.

What frustrated him was the people… or rather the lack thereof. In the eight years since his arrival, not a single native had appeared, even just stumbling into the area. When they devoted a full year to scouting their surroundings to locate resource deposits, they were not able to locate a single soul.

Now, they had met one native, the one that had originally come through to Earth. But she had vanished after returning to this world. This was enough for them to know that there were people here, the gate had simply been placed in an uninhabited area.

Ill fortune aside, it was now just a matter of time. The first contact teams had been assembled and dispatched. It was… regretful that it had taken so long, but there was little that could be done about that. Given that the storage enchantments from all known worlds simply failed to function here, there was a problem with preparing enough food to sustain a high level group.

As Jassar leaned back in his chair, massaging his temple, he began to worry that he might not be able to make the deadline that he had been given by his empress. Ten years, she said. She had given him ten years to govern this territory in an attempt to establish contact with the natives. If he succeeded, she would attempt to broker an agreement to allow him to remain in command of this city as a trade hub.

If he failed, however, he would be replaced. His replacement would then be given the same ten year deadline, the same deal. Only, the job would be far easier for his replacement, as they would have access to the decade of work that Jassar had already put in.

Sabotaging his own work in the final year was an option, but a terrible one. The only reason to do so would be out of spite, and if he was caught he would surely be imprisoned. As Jassar was thinking that, he heard a horn sounding from outside the tower, the improvised alarm that they had created, as none of their communication spells worked here.

Jassar jumped to his feet, moving to open a nearby window. Pushing his ki into his voice, he called out. “Report!”

“Travelers inbound!” A young dwarf shouted back, standing atop the stone wall over fifty meters away. It was thankful that they had at least been able to keep their use of ki. When he turned, pointing, Jassar’s gaze followed, before his mouth began to hang open.

In the air, just at the edge of the horizon, numerous figures were flying through the sky. These were not elves, nor beasts, but vessels made of steel. Each one appeared large enough to hold five men, and there were ten of them. Though, depending on how tight the interiors were, they might not hold as many as he first guessed.

They flew in a straight line towards the city, clearly having already located it long before their vessels came into view. First contact… well, second contact was finally here. Jassar rushed away from the window and down the stairs, almost tripping in his haste as he left the tower.

It took less than five minutes for the flying vehicles to arrive from the edge of the horizon. Each was shaped like a thick tube with a flat underbelly, four wheels protruding from the bottom and two long, flat panels on the sides. When they landed, a small door opened up on the left side of each vehicle, and three figures stepped out.

From all ten vehicles, this made a total of thirty individuals. Among the group, there were ten wearing rather slim, neat suits. The other twenty were wearing leather armor, a sword or spear strapped to their sides.

The first of the group, a woman with hair that was a deep ocean blue, stepped forward. She did not say anything, simply producing a piece of paper from air using a familiar ability, and passed it towards Jassar with a nod as he walked to meet her.

Jassar didn’t hesitate, opening the scroll and reading through it, allowing the translation feature of the scroll to assist him. “In the name of the High Minister of Demacry, Midan Highborne, I offer you greetings. We have come here as part of a diplomatic mission to greet you. May we be let in?”

Jassar’s heart was racing. Just as he had been worried about his mission potentially failing, these figures descended from the sky and delivered themselves to him. He nodded his head hastily, turning and calling back. “Clear a way!”

His sudden shout had put the armed guards on edge, until they saw that the various warriors and residents of this village began to pull back from the street. When he turned again, motioning for them to follow, they allowed themselves to relax once again. They had been briefed on the potential strength of these foreigners, and did not wish to be caught unaware should a conflict break out. Of course, the objective was to ensure that no such conflict occurred.