The first thing Enas saw from passing out was ironical: complete darkness. She felt suffocated and realized that there was heavy rubble on top of her. However, the bricks were not squishing her, just barely above her while being held by other debris. She found the position strangely comfortable.
'Why can't I just stay here forever? Do I have to go back into this twisted world?'
She found the answer as soon as she thought of the question. Of course, she had to go back, to rise to the top of this world. But first, she would have to rise to the top of this carnage.
Motivated by the memory of Traser's body being burnt to a crisp, she knew she had to leave before someone checked on him and subsequently find it from her doing. Finding the only trouble from the debris was her own sore body, she was able to quickly escape her enclosure to inspect the situation in the basement laboratory.
She looked around the brick walls to find some of the walls had black charred lines going through them originating from her position. Other less sturdy walls have collapsed from the pressure and fell on the once organized lab to make it look like a storm has flown by.
Carefully walking over the fallen bricks, it looked like the place was going to come down any second. She didn't know how long she has been passed out for but she definitely felt the changes that were made to her body from the vial that she drank. Secretly thanking the Devil as her savior she was almost to the elevator platform when something shiny flashed her peripherals.
Looking over, she found the decrepit body of Traser split in two with one side only containing his arm and leg while the other side had the rest of his body. His body was completely charred similar to the brick walls and she shuddered at the magnificent power that she unleashed. On his hand was a decorated bracelet which was what caught Enas's eyes.
Thinking that it wouldn't hurt to keep it as long as nobody that knew Traser would see it, she went over to his still wide-open eyes and snatched the bracelet with a smirk on her face.
"Serves you right for deceiving me." She didn't hesitate to also grab the storage ring that she had on his finger as well.
Coursing her Star Energy into the bracelet, she was astonished and satisfied with what she had in her hand. It was a low-end transformation bracelet! By using this bracelet, one would be able to make subtle adjustments to one's appearance. Although it won't be much, it would help her a lot when escaping this place.
Going to the elevator with the bracelet on, she activated the elevator copying what she remembered Traser did and it started to go to the highest level. Once there, she took a look out the window to find out it was daybreak, meaning she was unconscious for the entire night. She had to leave fast before the other alchemists arrive.
Looking around the room, she was able to spot the bathroom. Once she got inside and saw a mirror, she headed towards it and gasped in surprise. What stared back at her wasn't who she remembered. Her once silky brown hair was gone, replaced with long golden locks that sparkled like the rays of the sun. Her natural elven green eyes changed to a fiery orange that had the temperament of a star. Enas looked all over herself to find any more changes but besides a little finer features, that was all that changed.
Grunting, she personally didn't mind the change since it was not like she was attached to her previous look, but she did foresee how much she would stand out now and attract unwanted attention with her unique features. She would need think about that later, right now she needed to go catch the carriages that would leave soon.
Injecting Star Energy into her bracelet, she watched in the mirror as her pointy ears changed to normal ones and nodded in satisfaction. That much physical altercation was the max the bracelet had to offer. After that, she left the tenth floor to the first floor without any resistance. When she opened the door to leave the building, she tried her hardest to make it look as natural as possible but a few early birds spotted her with puzzled expressions.
'Wasn't Traser supposed to open in another hour? Why was she there?'
Luckily, none of them pursued her but most likely will cooperate in finding her once questioned by the local authority when Traser is found dead.
'Thank the stars that whatever light came out of me didn't burn my clothing or I would be a sitting duck in that shop.'
She moved quickly with her hair covered by the turban and sped to where the guard said the carriages were to take off.
"10 more minutes before departure!"
A booming voice echoed near Enas and she hurriedly ran towards it to make it in time. When she first heard carriages, she had thought that they were regular horse-drawn carriages. But what was in front of her was anything but primitive.
It was what she can only describe as a wooden hotel. Each carriage stretch three stories high and she was able to see lights flicker on and off in some of the rooms. In the front was a bespeckled man with a monocle and a happy expression. She could only think that he was the conductor of these carriages and went over to him.
"May I acquire a room?"
"Hoh young lady! You are quite fortunate, one more second and I would have left without you."
"Yes, but it seems as if I came here on time, are there any more rooms?"
"Hmmm, I don't know. Oh geez, it seems as if the carriage is going to make a late departure if I don't hurry and conduct the ride…"
Exasperated from his guy's antics, she knew that this person was the one person that decided if she were to be captured or not whether he knew it or not. She reached into her storage ring that she 'borrowed' from her 'alchemist friend' and procured a silver coin and handing it over to his outstretched hand.
"It seems as if there is a room available! Lucky you! A regular room for 2 silver coins and a luxury room for 5 silver coins."
Reaching into her storage ring again, she paid for a regular room. He called over one of his lackeys to take her to her room.
"Right away, Sire."
Both of them left the conductor while he left for the first carriage in the line of five. As Enas followed the man to her room in the carriage that was built like a motel, she realized just how rich Traser was. A luxury room was only 5 silver, much less than a potion that he sold on the first floor!
Once she arrived at her room and the assistant told her how to work everything in it, she shut the door and quickly let loose the turban on her head to let her hair free from confinement. As she relaxed on her bed, she was able to finally fully inspect what was inside Traser's storage ring.
"1000 platinum coins?! With this, I won't have to worry about buying anything in the mortal world anymore." Truly a rich man as Traser kept most of his monetary gains on his person at all times. One platinum coin is worth 100 gold coins so Enas became filthy rich overnight.
"Let's see what else… trash….trash....more trash…. Oh wait, this is a star fragment right?!"
Most of the items in Traser's ring were alchemy in nature. From plants to recipes, they were all useless to Enas unless she wanted to sell them. But one item was of use to Enas and that was Star Fragments!
They were similar to coins but for the cultivation world. One could use the Star Energy contained within the fragment to cultivate and make themselves stronger, use them to trade for artifacts, or even use them for various niches like alchemy. These fragments weren't actually part of a star but certain stones that absorbed Star Energy and collected for use.
"100 large star fragments huh? I guess Traser was richer than I thought." 50 long years working hard in his potion shop went all to benefit Enas in the end. She transferred all the coins and Star Fragments to her storage necklace and planned to sell the ring. Naturally, the ring was inferior with only had around 500m of room while her space was nearly infinite.
She felt a jolt that sprang her off from her feet. Rushing over to the window and removing the blinds, she looked over from the top floor and found out that they had started moving. Looking over to the very front of the carriages, she was able to barely make out what was moving them.
Two huge brown snakes slithered in and out of the sand at the head. It didn't look like they were connected to the carriages by ropes before she remembered not finding any wheels at the bottom of the carriages. Looking down, she saw that the snakes had a small body part jut out to act as wheels and carry all the carriages.
Amazed by the scene, she watched for a bit longer wondering how the snakes were able to move and carry the carriages at the same time. These snakes were amazing but she had business to attend to so she retreated back to her room and closed the curtains.
Doing a cursory look with her senses, she wasn't able to find anything out of the ordinary. With that, she started to really evaluate the benefits of drinking the blood vial. Before, she had an extremely hard time cultivating the manual that her dad gave her when she was young. She suspected that this was one of the core reasons why she was so neglected and unwanted. Being able to only reach the Third Stage of Power Realm was a joke at the age of 17.
However, after checking her Star Diagram, her second star was shining modestly! That meant she was in the Second Stage of Sensory Refinement! It was already a great boon for her, and with the vial making her natural attunement towards the light coupled with her new cultivation manual, her potential made a reversal!
What made it even better was the burning hot feeling that was coursing across her skin. Summoning her manual and reading its first stage, she closed her eyes and started to follow its instructions. The assistant told her it would take 3 days to reach the next town since Meltar City was on the outskirts of the desert. She had time.