The Rich Cultivator

"Alright... playtime is over." Tyla exhaled softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. The intoxicating sweetness in the air still lingered, but her expression had turned serious. She reached for Yumina, who was still lost in that hazy, enchanted trance.

"Don’t resist," Tyla whispered gently, her hands firm on Yumina’s shoulders.

Yumina’s eyes fluttered open halfway, her voice soft "Be gentle..."

But before the words could linger, Yumina vanished —Tyla had already sealed her within the safety of the pocket dimension.

Tyla stood alone in the middle of the flower field. Her breath came out as a pale mist, and her eyes, now glowing faintly, swept across the endless stretch of pink, frost-tipped roses. Her divine sense surged outward like a flood breaking free of its dam. The ground trembled faintly, and every flower quivered under the overwhelming pressure of her aura.

Yet, the cursed blooms were stubborn. Despite their trembling stems, they continued to release that alluring, thick fragrance into the air. The scent grew even denser, as though the field itself was challenging her authority.

"Hmph." Tyla’s expression hardened. "You think you can mess with me?"

She reached into her pearl and took out her trusty copper pot, along with a small charm carved with the symbol of the sun. She dropped the charm into the pot.. Then, taking a copy of it from the copper pot, she tossed it onto the snowy ground and infused it with her divine sense.

The charm flared to life— radiant and searing. A blazing orb appeared before her, glowing like a miniature sun, its heat melting the thin layer of frost around her feet. The nearby flowers hissed as their petals burned into ash.

One by one, Tyla continued to throw the charms from the copper pot, creating a path of glowing suns that blazed through the misty forest. Each charm left a trail of scorched earth and smoldering flowers, cutting a line through the field.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the last of the glowing orbs dimmed, leaving a clear path through the corrupted rose garden. Tyla stepped beyond the field, the smell of burnt petals still clinging to her.

She sighed deeply, exhausted yet relieved. "Finally... that’s over."

But her relief didn’t last long. A sudden realization struck her —her eyes widened in panic.

"Oh no..."

Without hesitation, she vanished from the spot and reappeared inside her pocket dimension, materializing on the snowy plains where she had planted a few of those roses earlier.

Her suspicion proved right.

The two Snow Camels she had left behind were no longer quietly resting. They were... mating. Enthusiastically. The air was thick with the same sweet scent.

"Oh, for heaven’s sake..." Tyla groaned, facepalming as she watched them. "Seriously? It hasn’t even been an hour!"

Even though she planted few roses, the effect of those cursed roses was unmistakable. Their aphrodisiac pollen had spread across the snowy field, turning the normally docile camels into wild lovers.

"Atleast they are not from same genders." Muttering curses, Tyla hurriedly took some several containment arrays. Golden runes formed circles around the roses, glowing softly as she activated them. A thin, transparent barrier shimmered into existence, sealing the plants in isolation.

Within moments, the air cleared slightly, and the camels— now thoroughly spent —collapsed onto the snow, breathing heavily.

"Yeah... we won’t be traveling on you two anytime soon," Tyla muttered dryly, brushing snow off her hands. "Guess you’ve earned your... rest."

Shaking her head, she walked toward the small house inside the dimension. Inside, on a bed of soft fur blankets, Yumina lay sleeping peacefully. Her face was still flushed red, her breathing steady but shallow. The faint traces of the rose’s influence lingered in her aura.

Tyla knelt beside her, brushing a few strands of Yumina’s silver hair away from her face. "You really have no idea how much trouble you cause," she whispered softly, though there was no real anger in her voice— only affection and exhaustion.

She stood and sighed. "Looks like I’ll have to leave this forest alone."

Outside, the storm clouds above the Silverbite Forest began to thin. The misty air was calmer now, the once-turbulent aura settling. Tyla stretched her arms, feeling the cold breeze touch her face.

"The cold doesn’t bother me, because I can control the temperature resistance on me.." Tyla muttered, she now realised another one of her trick.

"I can’t fly— it’ll drain my aura too fast," she muttered to herself. "And if I use an artifact..."

She trailed off, glancing toward the shelves of stored relics and tools inside her pocket dimension. After rummaging for a while, she pulled out something sleek and silver— a sleek hoverboard, designed with runes engraved along its edges.

Within an hour, Tyla had calibrated it, checked the prana flow, and stepped onto it. "If I use this, the prana stones will run out fast. But–"

Then her gaze fell to her copper pot resting nearby. She smirked. "That’s not a problem."

She didn’t use her copper pot before because Yumina was with her.

Deep within the Silverbite Forest, the Giant Ice Bears stirred. Their massive bodies loomed between the snow-covered trees as they sensed movement in the sky.

A faint hum echoed overhead.

The bears growled, plucking enormous, frozen trees from the ground, ready to hurl them at the intruder.

But before they could throw anything —barrels of fish began raining from the sky.

One of the bears caught a barrel with its paw, sniffed it, then tore it open. The scent of fresh fish filled the air. Immediately, their aggression vanished, replaced by gleeful munching sounds.

High above, Tyla flew across the forest on her hoverboard, refueling its energy with glowing prana stones. Every few minutes, she tossed a new barrel of fish down toward the hungry beasts below.

"That should keep them busy," she said, smirking as she glided through the icy winds.

The cold air bit against her face, her cloak fluttering behind her like a shadow. The horizon ahead began to change color— from endless white to a haze of smoke and glowing orange light.

Finally, the silhouette of tall towers and steam vents appeared in the distance. The air grew warmer, filled with the scent of burning metal and oil. Sparks crackled from machinery, and the rhythmic clang of hammers echoed faintly.

Tyla narrowed her eyes, seeing the faint outlines of Dragonions— humanoid beings with scaled skin and mechanical arms—working in rows, their movements efficient and tireless.

"Industrial zones..." she murmured under her breath, stepping off the hoverboard as she descended closer to the ground.

The sight was both mesmerizing and intimidating— massive furnaces glowing like small suns, pipes releasing steam into the air, and dragon-like creatures flying between the metal towers.

From the serene, snowy wilderness to this roaring, mechanical world— Tyla had crossed into a different realm entirely.

"This should be... interesting," she said softly, her lips curving into a small, confident smile as the hum of engines filled the air around her.

----

She held her copper pot tightly and focused.

The pot began to tremble faintly in her hands, as if reacting to something unseen. The vibrations grew stronger, pointing slightly toward the further inside.

"Am I close?" she murmured, narrowing her eyes. She stored the copper pot back into her pocket dimension, feeling the faint tug of guidance fade away.

Just as she took a step forward, her vision wavered. A sharp dizziness hit her like a wave, making her knees buckle. The world spun —colors blurring between snow white and molten orange.

"Dammit... what now?" she muttered, holding her head as her surroundings twisted strangely.

Before she could regain balance, a faint mechanical whir echoed nearby. Out of the shifting mist emerged several figures— tall, armored Dragonions. Their scaled skin gleamed faintly under the dim light, and their eyes glowed with a mix of gold and crimson.

Each one carried a strange mechanical device—a metallic claw-like weapon pulsing with faint rays of blue light. The sound it made was sharp and rhythmic, like energy being compressed and released over and over.

Tyla instinctively tried to move, but her body refused to respond. The dizziness intensified—her aura and prana flow stuttered, and scattered. Whatever they were using, it was interfering with her energy circulation.

"A human... and she’s radiating grandmaster-level energy?" one of the Dragonions muttered, lowering his claw device cautiously.

Another one, larger and more composed, spoke quickly. "Doesn’t matter. We have no time to waste. The guards will notice this disturbance soon."

Before Tyla could even gather her divine sense, one of them hurled a set of glowing chains toward her. They wrapped around her wrists and ankles in a blur, crackling with golden inscriptions. Her aura instantly dampened— she felt her energy being sealed away, like a candle flame trapped inside a glass jar.

Tyla tried to speak, but her tongue felt heavy. The last thing she saw was the metallic mask of the leading Dragonion leaning close.

The blue rays from their weapons intensified. A sudden flash of light burst before her eyes, and her body went completely limp.

Her vision darkened, her consciousness fading like snow dissolving in sunlight.

Within moments, the Dragonions lifted her with ease, vanishing into the shadows between the iron towers of the industrial zone.

Even Tyla didn’t expect such an ambush. She, who had escaped countless traps, because of her superior divine sense, now found herself taken by surprise.

She had been kidnapped.