“So, this is it?” Tessa was staring at the portal in front of them with a raised brow and a disappointed expression. “For some reason, I was expecting something… more?” Even she wasn’t sure what she had truly been expecting to find.

It was an utterly normal-looking portal, the same as any other she had ever seen. The one on the other side of the room, on the other hand, was clearly abnormal. That was the one that went to Earth. She had known without even needing to ask when she first saw it.

The surface of the portal was covered in a shimmering protective field that kept anything from getting close to it. While interestingly enough, it also had an arching ring made of the onyx mana crystal. However, there was a twist to it, ever-changing sections of the arch seemed to drift out of phase with their dimension.

It was a similar effect to what they had seen with the upper parts of the tower in Dungeonville on Earth. Except, there it had been a constant effect and not something that changed constantly.

Either way, everyone standing there wanted to know why the portal to Earth was so much more exciting than the one to Pretaria? By all accounts, the sibling’s homeworld was a special place. It kind of felt like the roles had been reversed somewhat.

“Whatever, it’s weird, but we’re just wasting time staring at them like this,” Zack said, walking towards the working portal. “Let’s go through and find out where this one takes us on Pretaria, otherwise the trouble we’ll be getting in later will have all been for nothing.”

“I would have preferred a few more minutes to digest the musk-apple fruit thing we just ate. Having food torn from your belly is never a fun experience.” Tessa complained.

The siblings could agree with that sentiment, and it was the main reason the group had split the one fruit they did eat. If it got pulled from their stomach, then less was better. Instead, they had stored several of them in the dimensional storage slots in their items. It might have been a waste of an open slot, but there was something about the familiar fruit that calmed them down inside.

If they could bring some back, then they might even be able to share that feeling with Edith. Assuming they didn’t eat them all first, of course.

With a small bit of apprehension about the coming pain, Zack stepped through the portal and onto Pretaria once more.

“There’s no pain. The fruit didn’t get taken from inside our bodies,” Zara muttered while rubbing her belly. “I know Pretaria is somewhat outside of the control of the system, but maybe it counts as a world that has undergone its Change?”

A light of understanding dawned in Tessa's and Zack’s eyes. “Trade between worlds can only happen once the other world has undergone its Change. If that is the case, then it would make sense that the fruit and other foods would no longer get ripped from our bodies after it happens.” He grinned maliciously. “Good, I can’t wait for it to happen. There are going to be so many researchers out of a job it will be glorious!”

Tessa rolled her eyes and kicked his shin.

“What was that for? It’s not like your dad will be out of work! He focuses on so many different things, I doubt he’ll even notice the loss of one or two topics.”

“That’s probably true. Besides, with people being able to actively bring back materials, it would open so many more avenues of research than it closed.” She turned away and pulled out a handkerchief to cover her mouth from the dust and mold that seemed to be everywhere. “Now, where are we?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Zara stared at her blankly. “Really? We’ve been here the exact same number of times as you.”

“Yeah, but we found a book of maps last time we were here…” She trailed off, a wrinkle appearing in the middle of her forehead as she concentrated. “Did… we bring any of that back with us?”

He shook his head. “Nope, I’m not sure when or where, but it all got left behind, likely during one of the teleports, if I had to guess. We were a little too busy to notice after either of those happened.”

Her mouth hidden behind the handkerchief opened in a silent exclamation.

“Whatever. We knew this wouldn’t be easy. The odds of it creating the portal in the middle of the citadel or Pretain somewhere were incredibly low.” Zara was already looking around the dusty semi-enclosed area the portal had taken up residence in. “Though it certainly would have been nice if that had been the case.” She finished softly.

“I don’t think we’re far from Pretain,” Zack said hesitantly, looking out and up at the night sky. “Or rather, I think we’re at least in the general area. Remember when we were here last time, how the sun appeared when we teleported to the citadel? Well, it was daytime on Aperra as well. So, if we assume the time between them is similar for those zones…”

Zara began to nod. “Then since it was dark when we left, and it’s dark now, we might be somewhere near Pretain. That still leaves an awful lot of ground to cover, but it at least gives us an idea of where we might be.”

Tessa snapped her fingers at them and pointed to the opening of the small enclosure. “Guys, does it look like the dust is starting to move… against the wind?”

“What was it that mean lady said?” Zack asked, stepping closer to the opening for a better look. “The dust is actually made up of spores or something like that which attack everyone?”

Even during the few moments he had been speaking, the thick layer of dust-like spores that covered the ground had begun to move. At first, it was a gentle rippling, the same as what had first attracted Tessa’s eyes. Then it had grown into a violent wave as it surged toward them.

Zack took aim, while the other two launched their own individual spells without delay. Zara’s stunning bolt from her arm guard ripped through the wave, doing nothing more than splitting it in half. Since it wasn’t a true solid, her one-attack spell was of minimal use at the moment.

Tessa’s flame shot on the other hand was another matter entirely. A deep bass-like screaming hum filled the air as the wave of spores recoiled in pain as her flames attacked the core of their very being.

Zack glanced down at his extended hand and mentally shrugged. He was already prepared to attack. He might as well see how effective or not his attack was against them. With that thought in mind, he fired off a quick, elementally attuned arcane bolt and watched it tear through the fleeing pile of dust.

He scratched the back of his neck in disappointment as a cloud of dust filled the air from where it had been displaced. It was impossible to tell how much damage his attack had done. Unlike Tessa’s attack, they weren’t fleeing in fear from it. Instead, the entire still-burning wave had come to a halt.

“Zack, I think you might have made it mad!” Tessa hissed at him.

“Me? You’re the one who lit it on fire!” He protested. “In fact, do it again. Those flames are looking a little thin, let that sucker burn.”

She shrugged and launched another flame shot out into its midst. The wave of gathering spores and dust trembled as another deep bass-like hum they felt all the way to their bones shook the air in the enclosure.

Tessa suddenly coughed out some blood and fell to one knee while clutching her chest. She was the lowest level among them, and her constitution was the lowest as well.

“Maybe, hold off on doing that again for a bit. Even if it is hurting them, that noise their making is also doing something to us as well.” Zara said, her own face having gone several shades paler than normal. Her constitution was probably only a little higher than Tessa’s.

While it seemed to be doing some form of damage to the thing outside, it certainly wasn’t killing anything. They hadn’t gotten any experience from their attacks.

Tessa winced and nodded. “Yeah, that might be a good idea. I didn’t even think about it until that last… Scream? Whatever it is of theirs came back and hit us.”

“I’m more curious as to why they attacking us this time, when they ignored us last time?” Zack wondered, stepping back from the opening. He had no real desire to see what this kind of monster could do to a person firsthand.

They all shared a glance and turned to look at the portal they had come through. It was the most obvious thing they could think of that had changed from their first trip.

“Do you think the portals put off some kind of energy the spores like, and it’s all over us right now since we just came through it?” Zack postulated hesitantly.