The departure did not take place as quickly as she thought.The queen first took care of checking whether her geographical knowledge was up to date and had her perform the new concentration exercises, allowing her to raise her mana by an additional point.
She also received more equipment from Xana-Eloba. A few belts and bags that she hung over a sturdy dress: you might as well be well equipped and elegant when going to meet another colony. She had several days' supplies and a few weapons, including a small sword and a dart thrower. This could still be useful if the monsters were not too numerous or too powerful.
The princess felt nervous. Besides the more obvious reasons for her fears, this was also the first time she would encounter a foreign colony, if one still existed. She had no idea how different smelling Zcarbbs would react.
She also took a few wax tablets with her to make sketches and notes of her possible discoveries. Despite her excellent memory as a princess, it was always useful to take some notes. Xaza-Yaban, Princess Archmage, had also entrusted her with some amber tablets containing information about the System. This was both for her to study and educate herself, but they could also serve as an object of negotiation in the event that Xèl-tar-Lomenia was reluctant to share her information. The queen had cast doubt on this possibility, saying that the question would be how to silence her rather than how to make her speak.
Everything was finally ready. Xicackna was inside the glass half-sphere of the teleporter, connected to the cage full of Humans by a strange machine full of pipes and levers. She was quite nervous as Xana-Eloba finished her presets.
“Well,” she said, “normally with these new parameters, I should lose less energy reserves than the other times. It must be said that we also need it for other work, for example to decipher their language. We have made a lot of progress since we understood that it was exclusively oral and that the odors they emitted meant absolutely nothing.”
“I… If you want, I can stay and help you with ‘Thoughts Observation’. Maybe I'd be more useful that way, don't you think?”
“Young prince Sobneka is already taking care of it. He recently developed the ‘Sniper’ class and has a ‘Telepathy’ skill.”
“Pfff!” Xicackna grumbled with annoyance. “What does a sniper have to do with telepathy?”
“The skills, even class skills, that we accumulate do not always have a direct relation with our class. For example, I have ‘Electricity Manipulation’. See, no relation to Engineer. Well, it serves me well for studying human technology: they seem to use it as a power source... In fact, now even half of my inventions use it too...”
“I know, I know... I was just a little frustrated that I couldn't be useful while being safer.”
“There is no risk.”
Then, troubled by her own reassuring statement, she couldn't help but correct it:
“Well, I was talking about my teleportation system, not the dangers of the mission itself. And then, my system is not that reliable: I estimate that there is still a 10% possible failure, but most of the time without deleterious effects.”
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Xicackna turned pale while Xana-Eloba blushed as she realized the effect her words could have.
“Anyway,” she tried to reassure, “with invisibility the mission should be fine. And then, in the 10% I count minor risks, such as finding yourself on the other side of the world instead of the targeted location.”
The analyst sighed then closed her eyes, gathering all her willpower.
“Okay… send me now before I’m totally scared to death.”
The Engineer approved and powered up the machine. The screams of the Humans vibrated through the air as the strange blue lightning that tortured them found itself forming circles around the dome housing Xicackna.
The air vibrated and Xicackna felt the energy of the System manifest around her, enclosing her, oppressing her. Then suddenly she opened her eyes as an electric shock passed through her spine.
The familiar boundary that the rock represented had disappeared, as had the dome that sheltered her. She saw and felt herself falling through an infinite void where multiple colors danced. Bright bluish or mysterious black flashes continued to dance around her, seeming to carry her away and guide her through the monstrous void.
A System window opened, informing her of her whereabouts.
Alteworld: intermediate zone
Dominant specie: Not-specified
Danger level: Maximum
She screamed in terror without even seeing the danger mentioned, flapping her legs and arms in the air.
Then, circles of color formed in front of her, like smoke rings that she passed through at full speed. Her mind tried to calm itself by finding comfort in the order that appeared in the colors: that of a rainbow. Perhaps there was something to be understood, concerning the physical rules which still applied to this mysterious place, or at least she convinced herself to find something reassuring there.
Then suddenly, she writhed in pain and stopped thinking, sinking into nothingness.
Xicackna woke up with a start and immediately made herself invisible.
She was lying in some grass and a lush and rather unkempt wood surrounded her. No danger was immediately visible and so she became that again. Had she arrived? She summoned the last window of the System to be sure.
World: « Infestation Z 12.480.6389 »
Dominant specie: Zcarbbs [D]
Good. At least there were apparently other Zcarbbs here. She didn't know how her planet - if it was indeed her - had received such a strange name from the System, but in any case, she didn't like it. To her knowledge, no one had taken the trouble to name their world because it was of no importance as long as other planets were thought to be inaccessible. Perhaps Xèl-tar-Lomenia, who kept a lot of information about the past of their people, would know more about it.
She stood up, leaning painfully against a log as her head spun. She barely held back from vomiting and promised herself that she would sharply criticize her big sister regarding the quality of her invention.
Having regained her senses, she began to analyze the surroundings. Without even using her Observation skill, Xicackna recognized the plant species present. That didn't mean much: it wasn't impossible that other worlds had similar vegetation, especially if they were inhabited by Zcarbbs.
None of the nearby trees, despite their height, were climbable. They all had trunks and branches that were too thin, which risked breaking under her weight. She would therefore not be able to gain height to find landmarks.
She waved in annoyance her wings, which were too small to allow her to fly. To think that if she was just a little older, she would have molted and had the ability to fly.
Sighing, she began to wander through the vast forest, searching for a path to secrets that might perhaps help the Zcarbbs of the Dungeon in their fight for survival...