The first thing Axel noticed that morning wasn't pain, it was silence, not the oppressive kind he'd grown used to in that damned dungeon, and finally since he came to this world, he was "fine".
Outside the window, a low hum drifted in from the city, wooden wheels over tile, distant chimes marking the quarter hour, footsteps, people arguing, laughing... In short, life.
< Reminder: Assigned orientation begins in 43 minutes.
The system's message hovered briefly over the orb before fading.
He stood, stretched with a grunt, and washed his face at the cistern. The water was colder than he liked. Functional, like everything here. He dressed simply, a dark tunic, reinforced trousers, and a clasped cloak with a hood, and then stepped outside.
The streets near the outer residential tier curved gently, guiding foot traffic like irrigation channels. Copper-threaded lanterns pulsed rhythmically, and the air smelled faintly of treated wood and heated brass.
He also discovered something that made him stand out, he didn't realize it while he was being transported in the cart, but as he was walking he noticed his height, measuring 1.90 meters, he was on average a head taller than everyone he met.
Although it was true that he was still very thin and gave an appearance of fragility, for him it was still strange to be so tall, when in his old world, although he would also be considered tall, there wouldn't be that much difference with respect to other people.
What he did know was that he would have to start working on his body in order to gain some bulk because he felt too fragile.
"Sigh...that would be easier with the enhancers injected by the machines, but well maybe here there is something similar"
Some people stared at him because he was talking aloud, thought in a lower voice, enough to be heard by the nearest ones, and so he accelerated his steps.
He followed the route outlined by the system: four blocks east, two turns down a slope, and a corridor marked by a slanted rune for "orientation." Several others gathered by the entrance, some clearly nervous, others visibly bored.
A door opened with a hiss, and a registrar in dark robes stepped out.
"Come inside."
Axel entered with the rest. The room was wide but plain. A single emblem hung on the far wall: the Citadel's split-triangle seal, surrounded by glyphs that shimmered faintly. Benches lined with cushioning runes circled the space.
"Sit," they followed.
The registrar began without preamble. "You all are provisionally registered. That means you exist, but you're not trusted. Yet."
A few shifted uncomfortably. Axel didn't.
"You'll be assigned tasks. Most are optional but some aren't. Activity feeds classification. Classification feeds stability. No contribution means no recognition."
A projection appeared mid-air: a layered schematic of the city, color-coded in blues, reds, and gold.
"You're in Tier Four: Outer Civic. You'll stay there unless you earn elevation. Orientation groups cycle weekly. Basic behavior is monitored. Avoid flagged actions."
Then came the tablets, they were flat stones the size of a palm and were handed to each of them. When Axel touched his, it flared with his name and current status:
***
Name: Axel
Tier: Provisional – Outer Civic
Tasks Available: 3
System echoes: Null
***
A soft voice to his left drew his attention.
"They didn't assign you a classification either, huh?"
A girl with short, copper-tinted hair peered at him over her slate. She looked younger than him, a couple or years, maybe less. Her tone was relaxed, but her eyes were sharp.
"I'm Kaelin," she added. "You?"
"Axel."
She nodded, as if confirming something only she understood. "Are you new-new, or just transfer-new?"
He hesitated. "I'm... unranked."
"Oof." She smiled, not unkindly. "You've got the 'barely tolerated' badge. Same as me."
They were interrupted by the registrar again.
"Task boards are posted near exit halls. First come, first served. Completion is recorded automatically. If your sync remains idle after two cycles, you'll be flagged. If you're flagged, you'll be assigned."
Kaelin leaned in. "Translation: do something, or they'll make you sweep mana gutters."
Outside the hall, the task board shimmered to life. Axel scanned it quickly:
Inventory sorting — Archive Room 7B
Supply tagging — Central Depot intake
Flora indexing — Outer Wall Garden (requires clearance)
Kaelin chose the first without hesitation.
"Archives are warm. And no shoveling. You coming?"
He nodded. Not because he trusted her, but because he didn't want to spend the day alone.
Better be with someone tagged as him than with someone less 'anormal' that could be suspicious and complicate things for him
Archive Room 7B was tucked behind a residential block, near a learning hall.
Inside, the scent of parchment and faint ozone filled the air. Racks of stone plates, etched glyph-scrolls, and supply ledgers stretched across the walls.
A tall man with a scar over his lip handed them gloves and gestured wordlessly to the left wing.
"Sort by entry sequence. Don't activate anything unless you want a teleport accident."
Axel and Kaelin began working, placing stone records into sequence arrays, checking etched numbers, adjusting symbols.
She spoke while they worked. "So. You from the outside-outside?"
"Yes."
"Wild. I'm from the Mid-Tiers. My family's... complicated." She grinned. "I like the quiet here, though. Nobody expects anything."
He didn't answer but she didn't seem to mind, she was talking to herself more than anything.
At one point, Axel picked up a plate half-buried under others. It was chipped, dusty—clearly misplaced. As he lifted it, his spine tensed.
The glyphs were… wrong.
> Foreign node identified.
> Relevance: pending.
> Do not engage.
He set it aside, face down. Kaelin didn't notice.
By the time they finished, the light outside had turned amber. They returned the gloves and exited without ceremony.
> Registry activity recorded.
> Sync +0.001%. Classification: Functional.>
It was nothing, but at the same time, it was also something.
At least, if he was lucky enough, he would be able to obtain something from here.
That afternoon, Axel wandered back on foot, taking the long route.
The city breathed around him, structured, but not suffocating. Children chased illusion-lights near a fountain. An old woman scribed cleaning runes along her windows. An apprentice bowed to a patrol as they passed.
A boy, maybe thirteen, sparred with an older girl in a practice square, wooden blades flashing. Their teacher barked corrections from the side.
It was… ordinary. Remarkably so.
And for the first time since he woke in the ravine, Axel didn't feel hunted.
He sat at the edge of a stone bench and just watched.
Back at his assigned quarters, the orb pulsed again.
< Daily Sync Report: Stable.
< Surveillance Level: Passive.
< Detection Risk: Moderate.
< Emotional deviation detected.
Then, another voice, one he knew too well, as it was from NEX:
> Behavioral drift detected. Maintain primary directive.
> Adaptation allowed; integration, monitored.
Axel stared some time at the orb.
He laid back on the bed. The ceiling was plain stone, the corners clean.
He closed his eyes.
This wasn't safety, the feeling of knowing that right know he could be eliminated or imprisoned wasn't one he obliviousky would like, but at the same time it wasn't war either.
And for now, that was enough, he would just have to be careful, complete the assigned tasks, and maybe go with Sera to another place, she was the first person that acted kind to him and he trusted her in a degree.
He just hoped that these days would pass quickly and without any significant problems.