22 Two Years’ Worth of Effort Part 2 (1/2)

Zaleha tried to reduce her anxiety by taking a deep breath before touching the body of the first prototype spaceship fitted with the FTL-engine. She had gone through 2 years of crazy training regime to hone her ability to the fullest just for this moment. Having His Highness Ancestor King Roland standing by her side observing, aggravated her nervousness. This was the final step before deployment which was scheduled for tomorrow. A number of researchers and workers were waiting a hundred meters away from her location, waiting for her to complete her job.

A few centimeters before the touch, she stopped abruptly and turned to the Ancestor King, ”Your Highness, can you please stay a bit further away? 500 meters away will be better.” Zaleha was a little anxious. If only the calm Sis Melati was here, she could vacate the Ancestor King as soon as possible if something went wrong. After all, the mighty immortal king was not impervious to injury. She heard that he was as weak as a chicken. However, she can't say it outright. The immortal king will certainly be offended.

”Why? Are you not confident with your own abilities?” She could see the Immortal King smiled calmly at her.

”I do. Just in case.” Zaleha lied smoothly with a slight discomfort in her heart while blinking her large doe eyes. Sweat can be seen glistening on her milk coffee colored skin. Truthfully, this will be the first time she magnetized her super strength-super speed combo to an item with this kind of mass. She was successful after thousands of tries with different masses. However, prior to this moment, she was lacking in control for the longest time. Once she touched something with her powers, it immediately sped on without reserve until its power was drained. The imbued super strength characteristic automatically bestowed on items magnetized had incurred countless damage. She was probably the most unpopular witch in Neverwinter.

Two years of hard training managed to control her powers well. The immortal king had also created a device to funnel and control the 'speed' imbued by her. It could be use with a switch at times of need by the flight operator and connected with a magic stone reservoir. This will in turn assisted the FTL engine to burst into a higher speed value as compared to the theoretical 3.8 SOL. This was a classic example of a merging between technology and magic.

”We will proceed. I believe in you. Your hard work will not fail you.” The immortal king was more confident than the witch herself.

Zaleha took a moment to concentrate before proceeding to touch the body of the spaceship. She funneled in her energy in waves, a little at a time. Shimmering bluish light was emitted from her touch, as it spread on the body of the dreadnought, just like the movement of an everlasting ripple from a drop of water, covering every inch of it.

The immortal king waited patiently at her side for a good half hour.

Zaleha opened her eyes with confidence.

”It's done, Your Highness.” She said as she can see the smile on King Roland face.

[Thank god I have not failed my sisters and His Highness.]

...

Khora walked towards the flying vessel accompanied by twenty researchers. They were the last group to board before the spaceship will embark on its first journey. Their first mission will be to orbit their planet and go to the moon using the primary engine and FTL-engine for data collection. Their second mission is to test the efficiency of the FTL-engine boosted with Zaleha's ability by making a jump to the nearest planet and return. Theoretically, their test-run will take three months if everything turns out fine.

Her own presence was needed in the flight test to observe the stability and integrity of the artificial domain she created. In her hands, she brought along more than thirty samples with differing parameters in them. The white circular plates were stacked individually in two vertical metallic holders. Beside her, Vayu observed the majestic spaceship with an awed expression.

”The final design of this spaceship is way different from the ones in the ocean.” She turned to her best friend beside her.

”Of course it will be different, Vayu. The ones you used to see was for sea operations. This one is for space. I heard from other sisters, this spaceship is supposed to be the first flying aircraft inside our atmosphere but was modified to cater to outer space. Sis Anya is a genius!” Khora updated her bestie with the latest gossip.

”I wonder if we will be alright.” Vayu was slightly worried.