"Ah. Ah…" Aloe grabbed her head as she hyperventilated. Upon gazing again at the unmoving body, she hesitated and took a step backward, which caused her to trip and fall down. "Oh, heavens…"

Even though she wasn't donning toughness, she didn't feel the pain of her butt hitting the ground. All she could feel and see was the death. She looked at her hands. They were slightly reddened from all the force she had applied.

The sensation of strangled flesh still echoed through her bones. The crack, even more so.

Aloe puked.

The few rations she had consumed were evacuated promptly, but what followed were three more assaults of pure bile as there didn't remain any more food in her stomach.

"Ah…" The girl sobbed and trembled as she stood on her knees. Her legs and the old man's corpse were now soiled by her vomit. "Not again, not again!" She cried leading her hands to her head again.

Her throat gagged again, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing came out of her mouth. Not even saliva.

It had been bad with Jafar, but that had been – to a point – outside of her control. This though… her very hands shivered in strength. They remembered the snapping well.

"I…" Her mouth tasted of foulness, but not that of vomit. "I killed him. I'm a murderer… A murderer!"

The murderer slammed the ground with her potency-enhanced fists as she howled. Her vision was blurry, and her extremities wavered like jelly. She hadn't tried, but she knew she wouldn't be able to stand up.

"Ah…" She groaned again for the umpteenth time.

Morning threatened to come by at any moment now. She didn't know for how long she had stood there on her knees. Only that at some point her calves had begun to burn.

She had killed someone.

This wasn't like Jafar. That had been an accident, this had been not. Plain old murder.

A logical part of her brain whispered that it was self-defense, another though, it whispered how the old man – assassin or not – wouldn't have been able to do anything to her. The only real danger was the needle, and she had already disarmed him. Anything beyond that point had been pure vice and deplorable murder.

Aloe wanted to pull her eyes out if just to not see this scene.

This had to change at some point, she knew. And as much as it hurt her, she stood up. Even with potency bolstering her body, she was down and weak. Every movement was hard fought as her heart screamed at her to just stop. To let everything go.

Perhaps it was morbid, but she knew she couldn't leave the corpse there to be noticed. She was on the run, and any clue she might give to her pursuers was dangerous.

But at the same time, Aloe had no strength nor the gut to do something with the old man's corpse. And unlike Jafar, she didn't even know his name. She had just killed a stranger like the murderer she was.

The petite woman grabbed the corpse by the armpits, which ended up being much lighter than she thought, even if she had potency on. Whilst she couldn't dispose of the body, she could fake the scene. Aloe moved the dead assassin so it was sat and the vomit splatter was placed in front of it. Him. Whatever.

With any luck, any passerby would just identify him as a hobo or drunkard. Maybe both. Then they wouldn't give it a second thought and continue with their days. At some point, the corpse would be discovered, she couldn't avoid that. But that was fine. By then she would be long gone, the dead man only needed to go unnoticed for a few hours.

A hideous part of her told her to loot the body, he would no longer need whatever he carried in his person. She was horrified at her own thoughts. Yes, that man had tried to hurt her, but not kill her. And looting the body was disrespectful to the dead. Even if it was her who had killed him.

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After that, she went to the same well as before and she cleaned her mouth from all the puke.

Her mouth tasted of blood, and at first, she thought that her brain was making her imagine things after killing the man, but after drinking some water she realized her gums were bleeding.

It would appear that controlling one's strength whilst using the potency internal infusion was hard. Without noticing it, she had almost shattered her teeth and jaw.

Aloe chuckled at the fact that she hadn't felt a grain of pain from that, only having noticed it from her taste and sight.

There was still a bit of time until shops opened, even if the sun had already risen, so Aloe sat on a nearby stone bench and switched to recovery. A few minutes, or virtual hours, of healing wouldn't do much to her, but it was better than nothing.

She felt so numb.

Reality itself was like a mirage.

As much as she hated herself, Aloe knew that what awaited her wasn't an oasis but more sand. So she didn't stop, the moment people started wandering the streets of the unnamed town, she stood up from the bench.

The bazaar couldn't compare to that of Sadina. It wasn't just a fraction of the size, the place lacked the vibrant foliage and colorful canopies, and the goods also were of doubtful quality.

Still, the food was good.

Because she couldn't know, how far away from the border was, or if she would find more settlements if she continued eastward, Aloe blended those questions through her speech when she bought what she needed.

"One more thing," she told the clerk she was buying jerky from, "where's the nearest town to the east?"

"East?" The grown woman said. "Why the hells would you want to go east, girl? Things are too touchy-touchy with Loyata as of late."

Aloe sighed as part of her façade. "My sister lives in a village past the border, and the journey has been quite daunting, I was almost out of resources before I made it here. I just want to know where I could resupply."

"I dread for the safety of your sister." The shopkeeper said and the petite woman just nodded. "I mean, if you continue the road to the east, you'll find a few villages here and there. But if it's a bigger place you are looking for, then Selen is just near there. It's a fortress city one day away from the border."

A few hours from the border. The cultivator corrected mentally, for such was the case for her.

"How far is this fortress?" Aloe held her meat and handed the payment. A bit expensive as dry meat went, but considering she still had a piece of gold on her person with her drupnarea, she would never be short of it.

"On foot?" The woman tilted her head from side to side deep in thought. "Two weeks, more if you are not ready for the highlands."

"I see. Thanks." She left the stall and went to others to be as ready as possible.

Across all her purchases, she did her best to hide her looks. Not only did she wear a cayora – a traditional headwear of adult women – to hide her hair, mainly because she was known to not use them, but she also bought some dust at an apothecary to make her skin seem fairer. Both were only botched and makeshift solutions, but it was better than nothing if she wanted to avoid getting recognized.

Her backpack was heavier now, but she would fare far better during the night with a sleeping bag and mantle. Not only was she now restocked in food to last her for weeks, even if she could technically reach Loyata in around four days according to the words of that shopkeeper, but she also had bought some vital art resources.

If her act of brutality had alerted the assassins, the murderer wanted to be ready. She bought a pot with soil and planted one of her evolved Blossomflame seeds there. It wouldn't grow in the few days it would take her to get out of Ydaz, but she intended to use her spare vitality to force it to grow with the flowing stance.

Forced Growth was what had gotten her here, so hopefully, it would also get her out.

Now, one thing she wanted was to get her hands again on Aloe Veritas' leaves. The only specimen in the world had remained in the greenhouse and had most likely perished in the flames like her whole life, so if she wanted a new one, she would need to evolve one herself from an aloe vera.

Problem, trying to infuse vitality into the aloe vera and its seeds that she had bought with the intent of Evolution had failed to bring results. She had already known this, that there were special requirements for some evolutions and in the veritas case: a book. But it was a frivolous expense, and it wasn’t like she found anyone selling books at this hour on the streets, so she left it for latter.

Food, water, clothes, refuge, and would-be-weapons. Aloe had everything.

Especially boots.

Who would have thought that after running nonstop for almost a week at breakneck speeds would have worn down her already worn-down boots? She had paid quite a hefty price, a whole fajati for the new pair, but they were well worth the price as her feet were starting to develop blisters. And that hadn't occurred yet thanks to the regeneration stance.

If nothing happened, she would be in Loyata in a few days and then she could escape by boat. As much of a murderer as she was, Aloe only wanted to spend the rest of her days without needing to worry about the assassins or the sultanzade.