Nighttime loomed over Meltar City, and Traser's Potion Shop closed down for the night. Slightly renowned within Gale's Desert for its secret recipes and potions, many people come far to receive their magical effects while others are shipped their products via their extensive trading network that covers the entire Gale's Desert.
Enas could see a few people roaming the streets at these late hours with a few patrols doing their routes. During her free time, she scoured around the town accumulating information in her new territory and even procured a map. As she thought, she was in Gale's Desert and Meltar City was on the edge, around 300km from the city that she escaped from.
300km! No one without sufficient food or water could make that journey. Enas knew she only survived because the transmigration progress gave her some energy. Looking at the map some more, she discovered that the city she was in was one of many within a network inside Gale's Desert.
The carriages in the morning made the long trek through the desert to arrive at the next town and the process repeated itself until you were where you wanted. Hundreds of cities were populating the Gale's Desert yet the outside world was oblivious to the fact.
Enas found it it was because of a phenomenon known as the Gaint's Sandstorm that covered the entire desert in a dome. The sandstorm was so harsh that top cultivators all tried and failed to go past it, never to be heard from again. But the people of Gale's Desert found key points that allowed passageway to and fro the desert simply dubbed Entry Points. From there, they sent spies to the outside world to gather information while also staying hidden. They kept it hidden from outside cultivators to keep their advantage in case the other side was hostile.
Enas actually found an undiscovered Entry Point aiding in her salvation when she entered Gale's Desert. This was one of the reasons that Meltar City had such low security at its borders. Being at the edge of the desert meant that there was only one passageway to the city with other cities being thousands of kilometers away. Any known cultivator heading to Meltar would be instantly known to the higher-ups of the city with one pathway to leave unless you wanted to brave the sandstorms and monsters in between the roads.
Casually walking through the street, she found that the potion shop at night seemed a bit eerie. Brushing off the uneasy feeling, she headed inside with the security guard's approval.
"Miss uh..."
"Enas."
"Miss Enas, we have been waiting for you! Right, this way, please." Allowing the receptionist from her first visit to lead her, they ascended the stairs far past the floor she was previously. The decor and items on display just got more grand the more she progressed.
"Master Traser has been eagerly awaiting your arrival. It seems as if your potion was all he was thinking about today."
Enas chuckled at the talkative lady that was in front of her. Reaching the sixth floor, she saw rows of alchemists concocting potions while others seemed to be tidying up their station for the night. They went past those alchemists and approached a door that led to what she assumed Traser's office.
"He is waiting for you."
The receptionist stood next to the door and tells Enas that Traser is ready inside.
Opening the door, she spots Traser behind his desk overlooking some papers and stops once he spots Enas.
"Ah, the respected guest has arrived. I take it that you have brought your potion with you?" Traser spoke quickly as if making sure that Enas wouldn't forget such an important item. Swatting away a stray piece of brown hair from her face, she confirmed that she brought said item.
"Yes of course."
"Haha! Then let's head over to my lab shall we?"
Traser laughed while heading towards his bookcase on the far side of the wall. Pressing a discrete button, the bookcases opened up revealing a loose platform that hovered in mid-air.
Traveling tools and vehicles are a commodity in the cultivation world usually pricing very high for the more rich and powerful of the bunch. From flying chariots to swords, these are some of the ways that cultivators move around this vast land with little energy cost.
The tool in front of Enas was one such object called the Levitating Platform. Simple in its use, it would slowly levitate in any direction the owner would desire. Because of its speed, it was less used as a vehicle and more of a quality of life item. Even so, such an item would be astronomically expensive for any cultivator to acquire.
Stepping on the platform with Traser, the alchemist injected some of his Star Energy into the platform making go down akin to an elevator. They kept on going down and by Enas's calculation of the platform's speed, they were going further than the ground level.
Finally stopping, she was introduced to a large space where various alchemist equipment was cluttered about.
"This is my private concocting room where I make the more unique and expensive potions. Now if you hand me over your vial I can get to testing it." Traser was organizing his equipment not noticing that Enas was snooping around the room. When he was finally set up, she looked up and saw Enas was reading something that she picked up from the floor. It was blending in with the brown floor but Enas was able to spot the outline and pick it up.
Her eyes were as round as saucers when she read its contents.
Page 3:
"...the blood-red potion not only has incredible light properties but from what I was able to make out from my short encounter was that it probably has the effect of entirely rewriting a person's genetic code to be in tune with its properties. That means that whoever drinks it would acquire its light properties and a natural affinity towards the light. This has to be the legendary potion that I have been looking for all my life! I have to get it no matter what even if I have to kill that young whelp that brought it in. Stupid greenhorn is naive enough to bring such a potion to an alchemist and expects them to not rob it from their decaying corpse. It's a pity though, she was quite the looker..."
The rest of the page had a diagram of the potion with arrows pointing towards different areas marking them. She just finished reading when she spotted a fist coming her way at speeds unimaginable. With her quick thinking, she rolled away only to be stopped by a wall.
"You cannot run, although I am not a fighter, I have reached the Hyper Acceleration Realm. My speed is something you can't outthink nor outmatch."
Receiving a third sense telling her to move away again, she rolled herself towards the corner just as she felt the wind from Traser's punch graze her foot. Crying out in pain she tried to stand up and look for an escape but she was trapped in the room by her own doing.
"Hmmph, I was a little careless leaving my research notes out. I didn't want to kill you if you just handed the potion for a good price but it seems as if it is too late for that now." He had his eyes trained on her, ready to lash out if she moved an inch. He didn't want to miss again, just missing once was already an embarrassment to someone of his cultivation level.
"M-Master won't let this go!"
"Hmph, you are a thousand years too young to try and trick me. I could tell you came up with that lie on the spot. Even if you do have a master, does that matter once I get the potion? I will become the greatest cultivator on this continent with that potion!"
Thinking he saw an opening, his palm jutted forward with the intent to kill. She was nearly paralyzed by his overwhelming pressure before she snapped herself out and dodged once again. Red with embarrassment that his hand was in the wall, he forcefully pulled it out and turned on her once again. This time, however, he stopped at what he saw, giving a somewhat maniacal laugh as well.
As Enas was dodging, her wobbly turban finally fell off from her head making her loose locks fall everywhere. Coming out of its hiding spot, Traser was finally able to see what made her different.
"Hahaahaha! So that is why you were able to dodge my attacks! I thought I was going crazy when my attacks were being avoided by Power Realm scum like you. I've heard great things about the Elven Race, mostly about their extreme agility and talents with nature."
Traser was coming at her with a hungry glint in his eyes. Elves were mostly a myth in Gale's Desert and with his somewhat low position, he didn't have privy to much information on the outside world. His demeanor changed in an instant wanting Enas more than ever and Enas gave a strained smile as she thought of her only way out of this prison.
"W-Wait wait! I'll just give you the potion. You see, my storage necklace is bounded to me so only I can get it."
Those words made Traser stop his approach. A linked tool would make it impossible for others to use it even if the owner is dead. Traser would have to find a master enchanter to get rid of the enchants and that would take precious time away from his study of the rare potion and elven blood.
"Fine, take it out and give it to me. If I see anything else, your head will turn into paste got it? I wouldn't mind you accompanying me to my chambers as well. Not that you have a choice in the matter."
Enas saw Traser lick his lips as he spoke those words making her shiver uncomfortably. This only made her resolute that her choice is the right one.
Taking out the blood-red potion for Traser to see, he had his eyes glued to it even drooling from his mouth at the sight. Once she saw him in a trance, she lifted the potion and downed its contents in one fell swoop. She put all her faith in the Devil that she met and hoped that the potion would help her out of her predicament. Even if it didn't, she would be happy to die knowing that the bastard alchemist won't get the potion or her.
"NOOOOOO!" With his eyes turning bloodshot, Enas couldn't react with her groggy state to the sudden hand around her neck that tried to squeeze her life away.
"SPIT IT OUT NOW! THAT WAS MY POTION! MY POTION! MY ENTIRE LIFE'S WORK IS FOR THAT POTION! SPIT IT OUT!" Struggling to hold on, it felt like her energy was sapped when drank the potion. Finally taking in the effects of the potion, Enas' eyes rolled back and turned pure white, glowing inconspicuously.
Before Traser could react, rays of light emitted through Enas's skin and orifices making her look like she was going to explode in light. As she was passing out, she saw a glimmer of Traser and how his face had a burning hole right through it before another ray passed by him, cutting him in half and instantly cauterizing the flesh.
She smiled before she fainted as the walls around her started to rumble.