Zac and Marty walked through the streets of Maroon City toward the teleportation tower. For the past several minutes, Marty hadn’t said a single word.
His mind was still stuck in the warehouse, thinking about what happened again and again.
"If you want to ask sothing, just ask it," Zac finally said.
Marty really wanted to, but still the thing he saw in the warehouse made him hesitant.
"I... You..."
"Just spit it out."
Marty took a deep breath and made himself courageous to speak. "How can you be so emotionless?"
Zac raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I don’t get it, you killed them, Zac."
"Wasn’t that what we planned to do?"
"Yes, but..." Marty struggled to find the right words. "The way you did it, how can I say it, you didn’t show any remorse or even look affected by it."
"Any normal person would at least show so reaction after killing soone. But you... You looked like a seasoned killer who had done it nurous tis before."
The image of the warehouse flashed through his mind. "The bodies you cut apart are still making my stomach turn."
"And the expression you had while doing it is still giving creeps." Worry and fear were evident in his voice.
[You should probably talk him out of it.]
Zac let out a sigh. "Look, Marty. I’ve already said this before, but I’ll say it again."
"The world we live in isn’t governed by law or justice. It’s ruled by strength, and strength alone."
"If you’re powerful enough, your words beco the law. You can kill, trample over others, cheat them, torture them, and do whatever you want. As long as you have enough strength, everyone will turn a blind eye to your actions. So will even support you."
"That’s the reality Variants live in."
"Rember this: rcy toward an enemy can beco cruelty toward yourself."
"If you want to beco a great Variant, if you want to survive as one, then you need to accept that reality."
"Otherwise, death will be the least of your problems."
Marty fell silent. The worst part was that he already knew everything Zac was saying. But knowing the truth and accepting it were two entirely different things.
[Give him so ti. He just had his first slaughter party.]
As always Zac ignored the system and continued walking
After another half hour, they finally arrived at the teleportation tower. "This is it," Marty said and entered the building along with Zac.
Inside, dozens of people were gathered around various counters. Marty quickly found the travel catalog. "Here. This is where we need to go."
"Cape Town?"
"Yep."
Zac’s eyes landed on the price. "Wait. Fifty thousand kyros?"
"What?" Before Marty could respond, a staff mber approached them from hearing Zac’s loud yelling.
"Good afternoon, gentlen. Can I help you with sothing?"
"We want to use the teleporter to Cape Town."
The employee smiled and responded. "Heading to the Central City, I presu?"
"Yes. But isn’t fifty thousand kyros a bit too expensive?"
"Actually, it’s quite cheap."
"You call this cheap?"
The employee chuckled and started explaining.
"Think about it this way. Cape Town is thousands of miles away from here. Even if you traveled on a flying beast, the journey would take months to reach cape town. But through the teleportation network, you’ll arrive there in minutes."
"Now consider the travel expenses, the dangers along the journey, and most importantly, the amount of ti you’re saving."
"When you look at it that way, fifty thousand kyros is actually a bargain."
Marty nodded. "When you put it like that, it does sound cheap. So where do we pay?" he asked.
The employee pointed toward a counter. "Register your nas over there and pay the amount. When your turn arrives, you’ll be called for teleportation."
"Thank you, sir."
The two followed the instructions and completed the registration.
Three hours later, their nas were finally called.
"Three hours?" Zac complained as they stood up. "Is this what people call a few minutes? We’ve been sitting here forever."
Marty shrugged. "Still better than traveling for months."
[That’s right, patience is a key to virtue.]
"Don’t talk like you are a saint."
The two of them followed the staff mber into a massive hall. An enormous teleportation circle was carved into both the floor and the ceiling, while countless glowing gems were embedded throughout the chamber.
At the center of the circle stood a gigantic gray crystal, radiating overwhelming energy that filled every corner of the hall.
[-5 Info Points.]
Zac frowned. "Why did you deduct points?"
[See that giant crystal over there? It is called a space crystal.It is one of the essential treasures used to comprehend the spatial elent. Try to get your hands on it as much as you can and as fast as you can.]
"Why do you sound so impatient? Weren’t you just talking crap about patience?"
[I can’t tell you without consuming your points. Besides, you’re nowhere near ready to learn the secrets of the elents.]
[The only thing I can tell you is this: among the countless elents that exist, Space is considered one of the strongest and most difficult to comprehend.]
[It is also one of the most versatile elents in existence. Against nearly ninety-five percent of all other elents, it holds an overwhelming advantage.]
"So you want to collect space crystals so I can comprehend the spatial elent?"
[Do I really need to explain everything twice? Try understanding it the first ti I say it.]
"Fine. But I can’t just walk up and steal it. That crystal belongs to the association, plus I need to get teleported."
[Whatever you say.]
Zac glanced at the massive crystal once more before looking away. "We’ll worry about that after I join the academy."
After a short wait, everyone scheduled for Cape Town was instructed to enter the teleportation circle. As Zac and Marty stepped inside, a staff mber handed each of them a plastic bag.
Marty blinked. "What’s this for?"
The staff mber smiled. "You’ll know soon enough."
Before either of them could ask another question, the teleportation array began activating. The intricate symbols lit up one after another with energy surging from the Space Crystal into the formation.
The entire hall started glowing, and soon, the light beca blinding. Everyone inside the circle was beginning to dissolve into tiny white particles.
A second later, Zac also felt his body doing the sa.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing inside the teleportation hall.
"What just happened? Is it done already?" Marty asked Zac.
"I think so."
Before they could think further, a voice suddenly echoed through the hall. "Welco to Cape Town."
Zac and Marty looked at each other and made their way to the outside. The mont they stepped out of the building, both of them froze.
Their jaws slowly dropped from astonishnt.
The town looked nothing like llow or Maroon City.
The buildings were shorter and built in a distinct Viking architectural style. The streets were crowded with people, leaving little room to walk. Even the atmosphere felt different. People of various races and backgrounds moved through the bustling streets, creating a vibrant scene.
Most importantly, the mana in the air felt noticeably richer than it had back ho. Even the temperature and weather were completely different.
"So this is Cape Town..." Marty muttered under his breath.
Before either of them could admire the city any further, their stomachs suddenly lurched with their faces turning green.
"Oh no..."
Without hesitation, both of them opened the plastic bags and started throwing up.
After what felt like an eternity, Marty looked at Zac, who was holding an equally full bag in his hand.
"So that’s why he gave us these." He wiped his mouth and rinsed it with water from a bottle he had brought along.
"It seems teleportation can cause travel sickness too," Zac said.
[It’s your first ti traveling through space. Of course it was going to happen.]
"You could have said that before."
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