serenity pulled the end of ash's cloth to attract his attention,
"What is it ?"
She extended her hand for him, so he just held it; as she stood from the chair, she said,
"Let's enter the shop then"
Ash walked her to the shop, although not knowing what she wanted, but did as she said. Once they entered, the smell of medicinal herbs was so strong it felt unusual. Ash covered his mouth and turned his gaze at Serenity.
"What exactly are you planning to do in here?"
"Buy herbs of course, what else would we be doing in a herbal shop"
"Herbs?!...you know medicine?!"
"By smell, yes."
"How?... The mixed herbal smell is too strong; it might not be a good idea to depend on just your sense of smell..."
"You will see.."
She smiled at him, then her face turned serious. She let go of his hand and took a few steps away from him, then tugged the ground twice with the tip of her shoes.
-Tak..Tak....-
Serenity turned her back slightly, pointing with her thumb at the road ahead.
"Let's go this way."
Ash got confused more than distracted realising what she said,
"That way, huh... eh!?... wait a second, how exactly did you know there is a way ahead of us?"
" hmm...let's see..."
'Using the sound echoing through the ground as a road to pass my magical energy, with so many people moving around, the waves keep connecting. An image of the place slowly started to form in my mind. If not afraid of being targeted or causing trouble, it's not a joke if I say I can see this whole island if I feel like it.... This amount of magic is closest to invisible, so it's safe.
She crossed her arms thinking about how to explain it in simple words; she tried to simplify things by saying,
"It's quite complicated but in short i use sound by inserting a tiny amount of magic in it's waves i creat an image using the vibrations of whatever it pass through "
"Just tell me you can see and i will believe it"
Althought he said it like it was nothing but inside he knew the exact meaning of her words , seems simple on the surface but hides a deep meaning ,'Just how much understanding for magic principles are needed to achive such mastry? .....I swear if she tells me she is not blind i would belive her without a dought '
"If you have such abilities why didn't you warn me when we took a wrong turn?"
"Oh ..that....to be honest i was distracted at the time i didn't really realise what was happening to me or around me i didn't pay attention, iam sorry.."
"It's not completely your fault...but still, why are we in an herbal shop?"
"Oh..i originally wanted to come hear but then meet you people and all that happened but.....here we are eventually "
"I feel somewhat deceived."
She grabbed him from his hoodie.
"Whatever, let's get going, pretty boy."
He started complaining but in the end he still obediently walked with her,
"Slowly, i just changed into this hoodie it's still brand new.."
She let go of his hoodie and turned at him with a bright smile on her face. She extended her hand towards him; he smiled back at her and reached out for her hands, locked their fingers tightly, and walked on their way.
The entire shop was filled with nothing but wooden shelves and drawers; the amount of workers was little, and visitors were so little you could count on one finger, but it was noticeably quiet.
"I feel like entering a library....isn't this overdoes of calmness compare to what was happening outside? "
"Most people only come inside then leave and then come again ,since a visit is from the moment you enter doesn't really matter if you buy something and most people avoid the first visit since it's like a mystery box it's unknown if you will pass it alive or not, not sure of your abilities better not start something you can't finish "
"Isn't it just a medical shop ?"
Serenity quit down her voice and started explaining what she know about this place, " you see people at this world call this shop a miracle shop , whatever kind of herbs ,medicine, maps information, weapons or potion you will find here if not know it doesn't exist with any other "
"What are the rules exactly? "
".... rules are very simple you see,...the first purchase is free for whoever comes second time you will pay with mony third time going forward you need to exchange what you want with something with equal value ,as long as you follow the rules you are a customer if not there are experts protecting this place the weakest among them is seventh circle"
"If you ask me It's a pot of gold ....no wonder they allow something liks this to exist ,It's not much saying it's an opportunity ...tell me if iam wrong, but...the only reason this area was not demolished is because this shop is in here?"
"You're absolutely right...with the exchange process just imagine how many rare treasures accumulated here over time , that was mainly the reason of cup of glory ,to cover for people who comes visiting and provides treasures"
"This sounds great and all, but how did you know about this place when even I don't know it even existed?"
"It's no surprise you didn't know since it's considered a national secret ,even students living here gor years have no idea this place even exist let along you"
"Still how did you know?..... , if you tell me with sound i won't buy it, better a convincing one"
"I will show you with evidence but later.... for now let's make use of this free ticket and get all we need "
She pointed at a desk right in front of them ,ash was confused why this one in particular,
"We passed many desks and people what's so special about this one?"
"Simple to buy something in here you need to know where it is or at least identify a whole shelve so you get the chance to freely choose whatever you want no limite to how many but you only choose box numbers and see what you get when you leave ,but if you were to fail you'll get kicked out for being dump, and if that happens don't even think about coming back"
Hearing this he thought ,' that's a complete scame, even if you reach it in here you still may get thrown out , the scent itself is enough to make you miss up ,not to mention all the drawers are closed there's no way you can choose corectly '
" looks simple but complicated in reality ,huh...."
Serenity tapped on the desk twice and the worker placed a tablet in front of her the tablet has two functions, first it works as an identifier to ensure your purchase history is well stored and second ,it resembles the shelves and drawers behind every worker , you choose a drawer and enter what's inside then take it you have zero chances to repeat the process "
"so it's either live or die"
"Exactly "
He still had some douts about whether or not to continue, "Are you sure you can ?"
She answered him full of confidence "A hundred percent ....see if there is something you like after all there is nothing like a no to free stuff, right? "
"Iam completely in favor with these words..still can you help me see if i can find some stuff in here....honestly iam so confused from the strong smell in here , it's irritating"
"Just tell me what you want and we'll see if we can get it"
" since it's hard for me to use most weapons and potions isn't exactly helpful either so if something helpful in breaking through it would be great ,iam kinda stuck right now "
After he stated what he wanted he thought ,'since her magical senses are strong she might be able to find me something useful, iam looking forward to what she will get me'
"Roger that we will finish here first then see if we can find your stuff, there is only herbs in here"
"Thanks alot, you're doing me a huge favor "
"Don't thank me just yet , i still need your help with the writing "
Ash got confused, but looking at the tablet in front of him, he seemed to have realized the problem.
"Is it because it's electronic devices?"
She nodded her head ,he understood after all a digital device will be hard to use if you're unable to see the light.
"Yes, sorry to trouble you," Serenity said.
"No worries just tell me what to do and i will do it"
"Ok, follow me then; I will start with the number one box going to the end, so write quickly behind me."
Serenity closed her eyes and started pointing at every box identifying exactly what's inside incloding amount in grams and numbers of individual ,everytime the box turn from red to green, fifteen minutes latee she has already identified all that's in the whole shelve ,
"This is brilliant.."
Ash's eyes widened as he looked at the whole screen green; he seemed to have realized something: 'No wonder she chose this wall; all the things inside are herbs. If I choose another one, there is a chance of encountering a weapon or a map, so it will be near impossible to identify even if you have strong mana sensitivity. The safest bet is using her strong sense of smell... She actually identified every single one, even for me. Some of these names I have never seen... I wonder how she knew all of this?'
The worker was a woman fully covered in black except for her white gloves and mask with only one teary eye drawn on it ,even the tear is a mana stone on itself, she started talking with a voice you can't identify if it's a bou or a girl,
"Dear customers please place your right hand on the device to mark your first visit"
Serenity and ash scanned their hands marking their first visit as a success, she held the tablet in her hand saying,
"According to the rules you passed the first trial so i will be your guid till you leave the shop, from here onward you can choose whatever amount of boxes you want but you're only allowed to open them when you leave and i won't answer any question regarding the content , if you agree we will proceed right now"
"Agreed" both answered firmly at the same time, ash especially was so excited about what other surprises serenity will show him from there onward.
Along their way serenity kept picking boxes non stop ,by this time she selected anout a hunderd of them and she was still going, serenity felt something was off since he didn't talk for a while ,she stopped counting numbers and asked him,
"What's wrong?"
He gave her an immediate answer "I feel like we're blundering this place"
"It's true though"
"S..so you know?"
Serenity was going to defend herself, but suddenly she felt something from one of those boxes that immediately caught her attention,
"Whatever...Huh?!...don't tell me , this thing is actually.....no! Wait!....there is actually another one....and another....oh my god..."
"You okay?!...What's wrong? "
Serenity gave Ash a sly smile, telling him, "I found the right thing just for you .."
"Huh!"
Serenity turned at the worker asking her for boxes ,"163, 189, 999, 1940 ,2024 give me those five boxes and we're over here we can leave"
"You sure about that,don't you want the walls as well?"
"No mocking seriously.... this is all i need if something new came up it would be my second visit , use mony then and i happen to have plenty , no problem at all."
"Haah....As you wish just tell me when you come next time , i still want to join the fun"
"My pleasure , i would actually make use of an extra pair of eyes"
After they finished they waited for their stuff at the front disk , the worker came and delivered a dimensional sac ,
"Inside this sack are all your purchases with their numbers still intact; feel free to check."
"No need..let's leave"
"Come next time"
Serenity dragged ash out of the shop , him not understanding what happened to her just following silently, till now all he saw was some calculated moves so he was just waiting for her explanation,
Serenity suddenly stopped walking at the entrance of an abandoned alley no one was actually there, her aura suddenly changed and the tone of her voice became deeper and sharper she turned at him with serious look in her eyes,
"You previously asked how i knew about the shop right.... now i will show you..."
Serenity released her thick mana for the first time in front of ash, although he could see her mana he could absolutely feel nothing,
strange lines started appearing on her body in less than a second her body was coverd in crystal like shapes of butterflies , it glowed with a blinding white color ash unconsciously covered his eyes
'Even my mask didn't hold it back, what's wrong with her magic?'he thought while removing his hand,he was surprised seing her whole body and aura changed completely, 'did the person really change right under my nose?'
right now she is a white haired, sexy midde aged woman wearing a long shoulderless black dress and a black cocktail hat both embellished with golden butterflies and elegant black lace gloves and a white fur scarf shawl covering her shoulders,holding a black lace hand fan.
She raised her hand for a crystal butterfly landing from the sky, reflecting on her white eyes till it eventually was swallowed by it,
"It's my first time telling anyone about this you see..... those butterflies are like my eyes and ears.... everywhere they watch and listen then deliver everything to me ....."
Ash started processing what he saw and heard from the girl in front of him , trying to organize his thoughts, he realised a few truths,
"Does those butterflies also have an illusion ability?.....if so ,you've been using them to hide your magic all along...No!....if my guess is right then this is not your true form at all... neither the human form from before..."
ash was shocked to the point of silene he wasn't able to accept what he was seeing or hearing, the person in front of him gave him a scary mix of emotions for the first time in his life 'just what the hell did i drag myself into? '
"Just.... who the hell are you?"