It's like a drug..

KATCHA!

Another pore opened up.

Andrea felt like she had been carrying a whole mountain all this time. She felt a throbbing in her head and decided it was enough. She opened her eyes and ended the manifestation.

Her forehead glistened with sweat and her bed sheets were all wet. Without her notice, she stood up from the bed and walked to the door but stopped with her hands on the wooden door.

Her eyes went wide open and her mouth opened in shock. She turned around to look at the bed. She had walked?! And there was no pressure at all!

Suddenly, a rotten smelly scent hut her nose. She shuddered and her face creased. Holding her nose tightly, she walked to the bed intending to look beneath it.

That was when she noticed some black goo on the exact place she had sat on the bed.

'That.. came from my body?' she thought while looking at her body in disgust.

That was when she noticed that her clothes were gone and she was wearing a grey robe. Her cheeks reddened when she remembered she has seen only the old man around.

BANG!

"Old Man Zen!" Andrea opened the door with a bit too much force. "Where are you?! I'm going to kill you, pervert!"

Seeing she was in a typical hall with light at one end, the most reasonable thing to do was walk towards it. However, before she reached the end of the hall, someone open a door behind her.

"Old Man.." she spun around ready to hir the old man. Her hand stopped mid air.

"You need a bath?" A sweet voice asked. The owner was a girl, younger than Andrea but clearly around eighteen. She had her fiery red hair tied in a single ponytail and wore a robe that accentuated her womanly figure.

"Uuh.. o.. okay," Andrea stuttered. The girl opened the door wider and signaled Andrea to enter.

Deciding such a little girl couldn't be dangerous, Andrea walked into the room. Andrea received even more confusion.

The door was too small and she imagined it to be just a tiny room if not, another hall.

The truth was the exact opposite. The room opened up into something akin to a backyard, but the walls at it's perimeters clearly showed it was within the house.

"Crazy right?" the girl asked.

Andrea nodded then looked at the girl in surprise.

"I know what you want to say," the girl stopped Andrea from questioning her. "I have affinity with space so I connected myself to your soul room when we met, it wasn't warded."

"Okay.." Andrea said with a bit of confusion. "What did you mean by warded?" she asked while looking around. The girl was leading her to a pool at the far end of the "yard".

"Take it as a password, your martial soul said that.." the girl answered, her eyes sparkling.

"Rina?" Andrea inquired. "Ooh no.. she's my friend, not a martial soul," Andrea tried to explain. The girl's lips twitched like she didn't believe it.

Remembering what the old man had told her to say, Andrea added, "She's kinda trapped.."

The girl relaxed visibly.

"How do I address you?" She asked while undressing. Andrea gave her a weird look. "Don't worry, i shielded the pool, uncle won't see you," she laughed.

"Haha.." Andrea gave an awkward laugh. "I'm Andrea and the other girl is.."

"Rina.. already met her," the girl cut her short. "This one is known as Sally, I'm Old Zen's niece." She added, already fully naked before jumping into the pool. Andrea took off her robes too, albeit nervously. She could clearly see the other side of the pool and wondered how there was a shield there.

'Magic's weird,' Rina's voice said.

'Couldn't agree more,' Andrea thought to her friend.

'And you were supposed to be in the pool already?' a voice chimed in sarcastically.

'You can do that too!' Andrea thought in amazement. She wondered how much more she could do.

'Well.. I can do this..' Sally chuckled. Before Andrea coul react, she found herself in the pool. The sudden change in environment was too much shock for her and she screamed.

Midway through her screaming she realized the water hadn't rushed through her mouth yet. That was enough to make her stop.

She opened her eyes and saw her head was encased in an air bubble. Patting her naked chest to reassure herself.

She proceeded to wash her body and noticed her skin was much smoother than before. When she scrubbed her skin, a black oily gooey substance seeped out of her pores.

'Those are just impurities imbedded in your body,' Sally's voice said. 'It is usual for it to come out when you breakthrough.'

Andrea nodded. She knew she saw her nod since Sally was scrubbing her back.

'That being said, I wonder where you lived before to have so much dirt..' Sally chuckled.

'Where I come from is anything else but clean,' Andrea laughed. She mussed to herself how she was laughing underwater.

'Can I practice down here?' Andrea asked Sally. The water was nicely cool and she could breath.

'Sure thing,' Sally answered happily. 'In fact, you'll find it more comfortable to do it here, I mostly prefer this too.'

'Just don't let me drown,' Andrea giggled.

She swam to the bottom and sat in a position she uses to in many video games.

Closing her eyes, she immediately "saw" her body. She immediately assumed the shape of a needle and started poking the pores.

Assuming such forms using her will was tiresome but she didn't have an alternative.

She suddenly remembered a toothbrush and decided to assume it's form. As soon as she did it, she move all round her body scrubbing as fast as she could. The idea was great but really tiring.

Soon, she had rubbed all her body, something started happening.

A light started right where her heart would be on her chest. The light was bright but not blinding, and it soon covered her whole body.

Since Andrea couldn't see a thing, she returned to her body to reduce the strain. As soon as she opened her eyes, she immediately felt the changes in her body.

For starters, the energy around her, mana, was no longer suppressing her.

Instead, it seemed to energize her beyond her imagination. She felt connected to it and her body felt purer than ever.

'Congratulations on becoming a commoner," Sally chuckled softly. 'Don't worry, the after effects of breakthrough are.. drowsing.'

'If a commoner has such power, how about the big fishes up there?' Andrea thought. She already felt like a god only to be told she was equal to a commoner, she swore to God even a naga won't equal her right now.

'Didn't I say it's an after effect?' Sally was now laughing. She could hear Andrea's thoughts after all. 'Its like a drug, so don't get carried away..'