For these lessons, I opted to do another level. I think of this as the starting hub, kind of like Diablo 2’s towns. You get here, do some dialogue and stuff, get what’s going on… then head out to the tower. Maybe you save some townpersons from bandits or something just to show off the combat mechanics, and to introduce yourself to some people.
There is also a recovering well and a save/teleport point, since I just considered that the player might want to go back to town, restock and yadda yadda (if I ever implement a shop or something). Or just save.