Chapter 508: 508. Yumina’s Breakthrough
After a nice bath, Tyla and Yumina finally walked out of the house, steam still rising faintly from their bodies as if the heat of the luxurious bath refused to let them go.
Tyla was wearing the same dress as before, though it didn’t look like a proper girl’s dress. It was more like something a boy would wear. But it had its own charm: the cloth automatically adjusted its size to fit her body, hugged her at the right places without looking tight, and came with hidden defense arrays stitched into the fabric. Comfortable, functional, and protective— it looked plain, yet extraordinary.
Yumina, on the other hand, had stuck with her own outfit. She adjusted her gauntlets and dusted off her skirt with a small sigh of relief. To be honest, she almost wore one of the overly sexy costumes from the house earlier —lace, frills, and daring cuts—but thankfully resisted. Of course, it wasn’t because she lacked courage, but because Tyla had been relentlessly tempting her to try. Her cheeks still burned at the memory of Tyla holding up a revealing dress with that innocent smile, as if saying, "Wear this, it’ll look great on you."
Yumina had almost caved. Almost.
Now both of them left the house and walked further into the strange landscape of the pocket dimension.
"The bath was really good..." Tyla stretched her arms above her head, her long fingers brushing against the air. "I feel so refreshed... and even those minor injuries I felt earlier are completely gone."
"I’m not sure if that bath was supposed to be that effective..." Yumina muttered, narrowing her eyes. "But it was surely luxurious. Too luxurious. Even noble houses rarely prepare something like that." She crossed her arms, thoughtful, then asked, "So... where are we going now?"
"I can feel another building over there." Tyla pointed off in the distance with certainty.
"Can you fly?" Yumina asked.
"Fly?" Tyla tilted her head, then instinctively lifted off the ground. Slowly, gently, as if she were weightless, she began floating upward.
"Wow..." Her eyes widened like a child’s. "I can’t believe I can fly..." She twirled in the air, her hair fluttering around her face.
Yumina clicked her boots together, activating the repulser enchantments on them. A soft hum buzzed beneath her soles, and she too began to rise.
"Can’t you fly without that?" Tyla asked curiously, tilting her head.
"I’m only a 5-star Master Mage," Yumina explained with a hint of pride, though she puffed her cheeks a little at the comparison. "I’ve yet to reach the Grandmaster Stage. Flying naturally comes at that realm."
"Ahh..." Tyla blinked, still floating effortlessly. "So I’m a Grandmaster?" She asked in surprise, her tone like she was discovering a new toy.
"Yeah... clearly." Yumina forced a laugh. "You can probably even use a domain too. What’s your domain?"
"Domain? Hmm..." Tyla squinted her lips in thought, as if reaching deep inside her blurry memories. After a while she shrugged. "I don’t know..."
"Maybe the next building might give us a clue." Yumina said.
And soon, their destination came into sight— a three-storey golden pagoda gleaming under the false sky of the pocket dimension.
"A golden pagoda..." Yumina whispered in awe.
"It seems so..." Tyla replied, calm as always.
"Then let’s go in."
Tyla nodded and walked up to the large ornate doors. Without even touching them, the doors creaked open, as if the pagoda itself recognized her and welcomed her back.
"Woah..." Yumina’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
The interior glowed with soft golden light, each level surrounded by floating spheres of multicolored light. Inside the bubbles were treasures: Charms inscribed with glowing runes, weapons humming with sharp intent, array disks with flowing patterns, and shelves upon shelves of potions and pills. The air itself vibrated with energy—dense, pure, refined.
"This..." Yumina’s eyes widened. "This is some sort of storage vault. For all your treasures, probably." Her heart thumped wildly. She had seen rich merchants, greedy nobles, and even royal treasuries, but never anything like this.
She turned toward Tyla, her gaze almost burning. "You... you’re insanely rich. I never expected the girl who saved me to own something like this..." Yumina muttered, shaking her head. If Yumina were a boy, she would have already tried to woo her on the spot.
What Yumina didn’t know, however, was the truth. This wasn’t Tyla’s wealth. This was just one of Tyla’s unused storages —forgotten, neglected, things she wouldn’t even mind giving away for free.
But Tyler, Nope– Now, Tyla didn’t remember any of that.
Instead, she walked forward and picked out a pill floating inside one of the glowing bubbles. The pill was red-gold in color, etched with faint dragon-like scales.
"This pill..." Tyla murmured, turning it over. "It has a dragon symbol on it."
Yumina nearly screamed. "What—! That’s a Dragon Blood Pill! A pill forged with pure blood dragon itself. Do you have any idea how rare this is?!" She grabbed her hair. "This alone is worth enough to bankrupt cities! Are you... are you secretly the daughter of some executive from the Bank of Atlantis?"
Her eyes literally sparkled.
"Hmmm..." Tyla looked at the pill, tilting her head. "I’m not sure..." Truthfully, it didn’t even feel that valuable to her. Something in her gut told her this was... normal. Ordinary. But when she saw Yumina’s star-struck expression, she decided not to say anything.
"You can try eating it," Tyla offered casually, holding the pill out.
"What?!" Yumina jumped back. "No, no, no! This is too rare! You should eat it! We might never see something like this again!" She waved her hands frantically, her face red from panic.
Tyla simply pointed to another bubble behind them.
Yumina turned her head. And froze.
Her brain almost short-circuited.
Because inside that bubble... there weren’t one or two Dragon Blood Pills. There were hundreds. Floating lazily in the golden light like candies waiting to be picked.
Her vision blurred. Her knees buckled. She nearly passed out on the spot.
"I... I..." Yumina staggered forward, grabbing onto a nearby shelf. "This... this is insane... this is the kind of wealth that only immortals in legends hold... and you... you’re acting like it’s normal..."
Tyla tilted her head again, innocent, almost confused by her reaction.
---
Yumina sat down cross-legged in the middle of the pagoda, her eyes darting between the glowing bubbles of treasure and the precious pill in her palm. The Dragon Blood Pill pulsed faintly, almost alive, and she held it like she was about to waste an entire generation’s worth of wealth. Her hands trembled, her lips pressed tight, as if swallowing it would condemn her to sin.
Tyla calmly fetched a soft meditation mat from the side, shaking off the dust before placing it beneath Yumina. "Here," she said simply, gesturing for her to sit.
"Shh... don’t talk," Tyla whispered, lowering herself until her face was just in front of Yumina’s. She placed her finger lightly on Yumina’s lips. "Go on and breakthrough. The sooner you do it, the quicker we can save your friend."
The sudden intimacy turned Yumina’s face crimson. She nodded, unable to form words.
Tyla gently took the pill from Yumina’s hand, pinching it between her index and middle fingers. Without hesitation, she pressed it against Yumina’s lips. Instinctively, Yumina parted them, and Tyla pushed the pill into her mouth with a motion far too casual for the heat it stirred.
As Tyla withdrew her hand, a thin bridge of saliva stretched between Yumina’s lips and her fingers.
Yumina nearly fainted from embarrassment. Her face burned hotter than dragonfire, but before she could squeak out a protest, the pill dissolved instantly on her tongue.
A violent surge of energy burst forth inside her, spinning wildly like a storm. Yumina quickly knelt, her hands forming seals as she sank into meditation.
Tyla stepped back and crossed her arms, watching. She curiously plucked another pill from the bubble and popped it into her own mouth. Nothing happened. She chewed slowly and blinked. "Hmm... tastes good."
Among the cluster of pills, she noticed a small folded sheet of paper. Picking it up, she unfolded it carefully. Only the ingredients were listed: one phrase jumped out at her— Azure Dragon Blood Essence from another world.
Tyla’s brows rose. "...Another world?" she muttered under her breath. Quickly, she tucked the paper back exactly where she found it. Best not to distract Yumina with details that might knock her out cold.
Turning away, Tyla wandered through the pagoda, idly examining the treasures as she waited.
Minutes stretched into half an hour. The entire pagoda seemed to hum, the air thick with spiraling energy as it all rushed toward Yumina. A blinding aura flared around her, shaking the floor beneath.
Then, silence.
Yumina opened her eyes.
1 Star Grandmaster Mage
She had broken through the Grandmaster Stage —her power surged like a flood. Not only that, she could feel the pill’s energy lingering inside her. If she digested it fully, she was certain she could reach three-star Grandmaster in no time.
But there was no time for leisure. She clenched her fists.
"Tyla..." Her voice rang with newfound power. She lifted her gauntlets and struck a pose. "Let’s go and kill those sons of beaches."
Tyla gave a weak laugh, scratching her cheek. "Yeah... sure... but first, maybe we should find a dress for you."
Only then did Yumina glance down. Her clothes had completely disintegrated during the breakthrough. She stood there, stark naked, gauntlets gleaming as she posed dramatically.
"ÆÆÆÆ"
Far away, in the snowy place of the pocket dimension, two snow camels twitched their ears at the distant girl screaming noise. Then, with great dignity, they rolled over and went back to sleep.