Archmage Keller looked out over the assembled regiment of imperial soldiers looking down on them from his podium as if he himself were their emperor.

“You all know your mission. Now that the Empire has conquered the known world, the only avenue left is to explore and conquer an unknown one. You have been assembled for just that purpose. Once I open the portal, you are to move through it, and secure the other end. Once the other side is secure, we will send engineers and supplies to build a fort. You know your roles, you have received your hazard pay. Now all that is left is to get the job done.”

Keller turned to the expedition commander, who was standing below him; slightly off the podium. Nodding at the man, Archmage Keller abdicated the podium, moving to stand with the mages as the commander took his place on the podium. Anyone who was watching Keller as the Commander delivered his pre-battle speech would see a look of avaricious calculation on his face.

“...And finally, this is a portal anchor.” The commander announced, pointing to a two-foot cylinder of white crystal with a hint of rainbow sheen. “For anyone who somehow missed the previous briefings, we will be using this to maintain the connection between this world and the other. Protect it with your life. Without it, we are permanently stranded.” The commander looked out over the assembled troops who remained ramrod straight; not speaking or moving as they maintained discipline. Drawing his sword, the commander raised it into the air. “For glory and honor!” He cried, eliciting a resounding “Hurrah!” from the assembled soldiers.

“Barbarians.” Keller muttered, taking this as his queue to begin the spell. Turning to his fellow mages, Keller nodded, and they began chanting. Keller’s eyes rolled up euphorically for a moment as he raised his hands. Despite his otherwise nasty disposition, Keller felt genuine happiness in these moments; in grand magical workings such as this.

As Keller’s body reached the limits of its capacity to hold the mana being gifted to him, Keller began to channel it through his upraised hands; shouting with effort as he struggled to compress such a gargantuan amount of mana through his thin, spindly arms. In front of him, a small ball of blue light manifested. Slowly, as more and more mana was channeled into the ball, it expanded. Within a minute, it had reached the height of a man. Two minutes after that, it had become an archway; easily five men wide. It was at this point that a man in the robes of a mage initiate placed a portal anchor into a receptacle net to Archmage Keller. Keeping one hand facing toward the portal, he moved the other down to rest on the anchor. The crystal changed from white to blue, retaining its faint rainbow sheen.

“Soldiers! Quiiiiccckkk march!” The commander called out.

Archmage Keller strode from the room without looking back as the soldiers entered the portal.