Interspecies Trader

As soon as I arrived at my destination after using the gate, I was hit by a violent feeling of nausea.

"Urghhh…!"

It was bad enough that I almost fed the ground with my breakfast. I put my hands on my knees to recuperate with large breaths, the way I have been taught and practiced so many times. This was weird. These were the symptoms felt after teleporting by someone inexperienced, something I hadn't been subjected to for many years now. Yet, I was a fully graduated – though recently – spatial mage. Teleportation was my thing. It was my bread and butter. I experienced it so many times it was impossible to count the exact number.

Come to think of it, the air felt weird. I sniffed a few times, only to realize that it smelled different from anything I knew. Did some air mages create a weird spell and pollute the whole capital city?

I finally looked up after feeling slightly better. And was hit by another shock. Around me were only fields, small in size but extending in all directions. Slightly further away was a strange-looking isolated house, right next to a sort of… orange dome? I looked up to follow the dome, which I soon realized was made of ryl. Its size was gigantic, covering an area large enough to hold several cities. From where I was, I couldn't even see where it ended on the other side and could only guess its full length by considering its curvature.

In that same direction, far into the distance, was a city-like area, full of buildings built in an architectural style I had never seen before, not even in books.

This was by no means the capital city I knew about. A slight possibility passed through my mind, too terrible to acknowledge. I quickly tried to teleport to a place I knew, even if it were to cost me all my ryl. However, nothing happened. The coordinates couldn't be established. I couldn't feel any interference anywhere and, except for the low amount of ryl in the air, I couldn't sense anything abnormal.

There was only one possibility of what could have happened to me.

"No… No… No way, no way, no way! This can't be happening! No, please no!"

I tried again and again, with different destinations in mind. Nothing worked. I was seemingly way out of range of any of the places I knew. Reality hit me like a hammer in the head.

I was the victim of a "gate incident", an event with a probability so low it was negligible. What's more, the gate failure sent me to a place so far away I couldn't reach any of my known destinations. There was only one possible conclusion. The teleportation gate had sent me to another planet.

I felt my whole life crumble in front of my eyes, including my hellish fifteen years of training as a spatial mage apprentice. My brilliant future was no more.

"Noooooooooooooo!!"

The shock was too great and my vision darkened. For an instant, I felt myself floating weirdly, and then, nothing.

**********

As soon as I woke up, I was assaulted by a severe headache. I pinched the top of my nose with one hand while pressing hard against my forehead with the other hand. This usually did the trick to fix my migraines and this time wasn't different. It was a crucial trick to survive my harsh apprenticeship.

"داतिCमि気ה?"

The sudden voice I heard so close to me almost gave me a heart attack. I jumped hard, or tried to do so, soon realizing I was being bordered by sheets. I opened my eyes, getting face to face with a blonde woman looking at me with concern.

My heart was beating so fast I thought it was attempting to exit my chest. Fortunately, I didn't sense any hostility in that woman's gaze and managed to slowly relax enough to understand my situation. I was lying down in a bed, in an unfamiliar place, facing an unfamiliar person. My memories progressively came back to me, up to the point I realized I was sent to a different world. Judging by the current situation, being a house full of items that seemed foreign to me, it wasn't just a bad dream. As despair slowly crept its way into my heart once more, the woman called out to me, forcing me to pay attention to her.

"मि? داतिCमि気ה?"

I didn't understand a single word she pronounced.

"Sorry, I have no idea about what you said."

"मि? Y配다…"

I saw her moving the ryl in her body and focusing it on her ears. I understood her aim and did the same.

"How is it now? Can you understand me?"

"Yes. How about you?"

"Perfectly."

This was the standard way of handling communication issues between people. It seemed it was true even in this place. By focusing ryl on our ears, it would automatically transfer people's words into intentions. With a bit of practice, it was possible to transform these intentions back into words. This was something even a child could do. It was very handy since it allowed anyone to communicate as long as they had the slightest amount of ryl control.

The woman smiled beautifully and, if I hadn't been so close to despairing, my heart might have skipped a beat for a different reason. After being isolated from women for most of the past fifteen years, I was aware of how little immunity I had toward them.

Still, now that I had calmed down a bit, my ingrained reflexes came back to action.

Object: blonde woman in her early twenties.

Wealth level: wearing a grey skirt and a top of unknown manufacture and values. No accessories. Ownership of living quarters unknown. Living quarters of unknown value. Wealth is impossible to quantify. Could be a tramp or a queen for all I know.

Power level: amount of ryl in her body estimated to be between 300 and 600, rank 0, metal quality. Muscle power: less than 10. Estimated to be a metal mage. Adding a two-factor multiplier to account for hidden moves and trump cards. Estimated maximum power level at 1220: small fry. Harmful potential: very low.

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