Chapter 2: Chapter 1: An Unfortunate Misunderstanding
I stood before the Emperor and the court. Unfortunately, this was not how I imagined our first meeting to be. Shackled and under constant watch from a cadre of Empire mages, I had to stand upright in the tribunal next to my companion, Mordain.
A single wrong move and they would likely take no chances and just outright kill us. What I had done, even though in self defense, was one of the most serious crimes in this country. I had killed a mage and in doing so; effectively stolen his powers and became one myself.
Everyone's gaze weighted heavily upon me and the pressure of it all made me feel very small in my shoes. The Emperor stood up, ready to make his judgement based on the testimonies of all who were present. This did not bode well, after all, I had only just gotten to this world less than a month ago. I did not have any friend save for Mordain and no one knew him.
"The Emperor has conferred with the magistrates! Judgement is at hand." Proclaimed a short stubby man, using magic to echo his words to all those in the assembly.
"As the laws dictate, any being who kills a mage and usurps his magic must pay the price! The sentence is death. Selections for the recipient of the magic will take place 3 nights from now."
Can I get an appeal please? I vainly thought to myself.
Suddenly, Mordain spoke up.
"Emperor! Reconsider. We would be willing to serve you. Our gratitude towards you would make us more loyal than a retainer simply being granted magic".
"Silence prisoner! Who do you think you are addressing th-"
The Emperor cuts off the man mid sentence with a wave of his hand.
The Emperor's voice booms deep. "It is an interesting proposal. Service to the Empire is for life, do not think you'd get away making these promises lightly!"
I nodded solemnly along with Mordain and we were escorted back to our cells to wait.
Morning came slowly, it felt like an eternity. You know those times when you're waiting for an appointment or in line at a store? It was like that but worse. It was also hard to trust that they would keep their word and not actually kill us.
Mordain slept like a baby, he must be used to this kind of life I thought. Grizzled, in his late 50's perhaps. It could be he simply did not care if he died. I suppose now that I think about it, I could have easily gotten myself out of this. Wouldn't take much to simply portal my way out. I'd feel like I'd be abandoning Mordain though and I owe him.
"Get up you scum." A guard opened the heavy wooden door facing directly in front of us and went to his belt, looking for the keys to the cell.
"Lucky you, you've got a meeting with the minister this morning. You better behave."
"Well, let's not keep him waiting I suppose." I prodded Mordain, forcing him to wake up.
The guard and a few more, including what looked to be 2 Imperial Mages, escorted us upstairs for a few floors into a small but elegant office. I tried to count the floors we went up to get a bearing of where we were but I lost track after 127 steps.
Inside the office, multiple canvases adorned the walls. An oval carpet lay under an elegant desk, made from some dark wood, or perhaps just tinted that way. The design of it was quite enthralling and felt like it belonged to someone important. Behind the desk, a small blonde woman coughed vexedly to bring our attention upon her. The guards forced us to sit down, still shackled of course, and stood behind us.
The woman's features were fair. She was no model but she was easy on the eyes. Her hair was not too long but not short either, it was braided and ended a little higher than her shoulders. Her eyes though, scared me. She had a menacing air about her. Her complexion was rather pale, she must spend most of her days in doors, doing all kinds of paperwork for the Emperor.
When she spoke, it was soft and sweet.
"Welcome. It seems like we will be registering you two."
She pulled out a large tome, bound in leather, that seemed to be hundreds of years old.
"This is the official mage registry for the Empire. It's compulsory. Everyone is recorded for posterity and record keeping. This goes all the way back to the first Mages."
"There must be some mistake" Mordain spoke up. "I'm afraid I'm no mage, but I can fight using weapons."
"That's fine. But this is mostly for your friend there. We also keep a record of all Empire assets. Don't think about deserting, we have contingency plans in place".
I waved my hands left to right, trying to convey no intention of doing so. "No-no plans for desertion. Where do I sign?"
"Here. And here. This line as well. Very good. Now, the other matter at hand. You're an unknown element. We don't know what you can do, therefore we have a test for you".
Ugh. There it was. The suicide mission they expect us to die on.
"Yes? Do you have details"
She procured a small scroll, sealed with wax and bearing an insignia of some kind.
"Your orders are written here"
I stood up, taking the scroll from her outstretched hand. Using the pocket dimension, I searched until I found what I was looking for and pulled it out. Instantly, the H&K45 materialized in my other hand.
"Let's get this over with."
And that was how I ended up in service to an Empire in another world.
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Notes:
An H&K45 is a semi-automatic handgun from German Manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It has a 10 round detachable box magazine and uses .45ACP ammo. Quite a few law enforcement agencies use them.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Alteru
Alteru I wanted to find a way to introduce the elements that we'll be dealing with rather sooner than later. That way you can gauge if this is for you or not. The next part will be a bit longer as we're going through how we got here in the first place.
Once again, thanks for reading and hope you'll be back for more! Would love your comments and opinions. This is a bit of a mix between Western Fantasy and Isekai type writing so I'm not always sure how I should go about it.
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