"Keeping it from you?" The Receptionist said, gasping dramatically and placing her hand over her mouth in faux surprise,
"I would never do such a terrible thing. It’s not my fault that you simply didn’t ask the right questions. You can’t expect all of the answers to be dropped into your lap, now can you?"
Belladonna rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the complete shalessness of this woman. If a lack of sha was a power source, this receptionist would be able to power an entire country for months on this example alone.
"Yeah yeah, I know. You want to be all mysterious and what not. But really, isn’t it your entire job to tell people about the towers services?"
"Among other things," She said with a smile, before shrugging nonchalantly, "Although I don’t see how I am not doing that right now."
"I ant you were supposed to tell before I- You know what, nevermind. I know you are just ssing with ."
"Aww, you figured it out so soon? That’s not fun." She said with a pout, before giggling wickedly. She was so honestly so much trouble, that Belladonna half suspected that she might be Sylvi in disguise.
Actually just that thought alone was already disturbing her, so she quickly put it out of her mind and moved on before she could be reminded of that horrible, mind bending dream realm.
"Can you just show to the teleporter so I can get back to Gracia. I have a eting with so friends." Belladonna said with a sigh, causing the Receptionist to sigh in return.
"Fine, fine. Ms. Grumpy. Follow then." She said before stepping out from behind the desk and waving to Belladonna for her to follow. With a wave to Fla’mbae, who was still standing guard in the corner, Belladonna followed the receptionist out.
She led her through a few twisting corridors, before ushering her inside of a small room that had a runic circle carved into the middle of it, and two hip sized pillars that were topped with magic crystals either side of the circle.
The Receptionist nodded to Belladonna and left her to the care of the teleportation operator, who was a tall woman with the legs of a shaggy, brown cow and small, nub horns poking out from her forehead.
Belladonna gave the woman a once over, already imagining how many sleazy and irritating n ca at her with lines that involved sothing to do with ’milk’ and despaired for this poor woman in her mind.
The Cow-woman seed to hear such thoughts, as she smiled at Belladonna and spoke in a motherly tone.
"It’s about three tis a week. So at least I get so days off from it." She said with a sigh, before gesturing for Belladonna to stand in the middle of the magic circle.
Belladonna complied, her eyes greedily taking in as much as she could - of the circle and not of the attendant - as she studied the runes closely. Although she could already teleport with her [Shadow Veil] having other forms of teleportation never hurt, especially if she could replicate this herself or make so teleportation scrolls. The main gripe with scroll making was ti, knowledge and resources.
The last one was the biggest pain.
"Place your hands on the crystals, allow your mana to flow into them. They will help generate the energy needed for the teleportation.
Hmm... Mass doesn’t seem too bad. Ah, a storage enchantnt, that does help things. So where is it you are going exactly?"
The operator mumbled to herself, making a few adjustnts to a projected magic circle that floated in front of her, projected from a crystal topped pillar similar to the ones Belladonna was touching although clearly not exactly the sa.
"Gracia. A few days cart travel, longer by walking. Last minute travel, need to get there fast." She said, feeling the need to explain herself. It was like the guilt you felt when ordering a food delivery from sowhere that was only ten minutes away from your house.
You felt like nothing more than a lazy slob when doing it, but that never stopped you.
The operator laughed to herself at Belladonna’s thoughts, and nodded softly. Her hands glided over the projected circle, changing a few runes and altering the position of others on the projection. In response to her movents, Belladonna could feel the circle beneath her feet changing in the way the energy flowed, and even the way the runes were laid out.
The floor itself shifted beneath her feet, removing runes and replacing them with new ones, obeying the direction of the magical projection. She couldn’t even figure out what material it was made of, to allow it to shift like that, before the operator spoke again.
"With that distance and your mass, minus the energy provided by your source. It would be a cost of 20 Nux to teleport."
The price was a complete gut punch that nearly sent Belladonna to her knees. 20 Nux was insanely expensive. For reference, a single Nux coin was worth 100 Regil, and was the lowest coin that was used by the noble class. So in reality, this single teleportation to a city that was only a few days away cost a grand total of 2000 Regil.
That was a fifth of the literal Dragon’s Hoard of gold that she had received. Now she really understood why the elf had said that they didn’t use it often, especially if it increased by mass and distance, which is what it seed.
Poor in one world, rich in the other. Why couldn’t she just be rich in both? Why was that so hard?
With a heavy heart, Belladonna handed over the money, although she couldn’t help but ask why it was so damned expensive.
The operator chuckled, seemingly used to hearing this question, as she gave Belladonna a well practiced and prepared speech.
"The Tower of Mystica’s teleportation formation is unique. While others rely on circles at either end, limiting the destinations one can teleport to, this operates on simple distance and direction, allowing anyone to teleport anywhere.
Unfortunately, because of that, it requires a lot of energy. You provide so of it, and the tower provides the rest using certain items. Items that are not cheap, and which your kind donations help pay for. It is for this reason that we only allow such a service to our mbers, and do not allow debt or I owe you’s.
Now, if that is all, are you ready to teleport?"
Belladonna smiled in defeat and bobbed her head softly.
"Wonderful," The operator said with a wide smile, her hooves clopping against the floor.
"Then thank you for your kind donation, and for choosing the Tower of Mystica for your transportation needs. I hope to see you again. Now, I suggest you hold your breath."
"What?" Belladonna said with a frown, however her body was quickly swallowed by a blinding light as she lurched through space.
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