Hikari channels her mana into the ground.
The sand coalesces into a mound before her.
She pokes it with her finger.
It went right in.
"Hm."
After practicing it several times, she can move the sand on the ground like Sheela.
But she still couldn't turn the mound of sand into a solid piece of stone.
Manipulating the sand is a pretty useful skill, she thought.
She was still figuring out how to use it properly in combat.
Looking at the mound of sand, she channeled mana into her hand and pushed.
The mound exploded into a wave, splattering before her.
"Hm."
She just reinvented the oldest trick in the book.
Throwing a fistful of sand at her opponents to blind them.
A horse stopped behind her.
"Scout master."
"Hello there, Hikari. I don't think you expected me to show up. I see the town has already been evacuated. Seems like the raid is reaching its conclusion."
"Yes."
The scout master nods approvingly.
"You certainly did something out there, I'd imagine. The wyvern pass is clear. Well not quite, we still sh*t in our pants when a wyvern fly past. But it's clear enough that we are escorting another merchant convoy through. Haven't received a bonus since his Lordship marched for war. I hope I can at least smell it now that the trade route is clear."
Hikari's chest bounces as she listens.
The scout master examines her closely.
"Say, am I imagining it, or did you get bigger?"
"Bigger."
The scout master's face was unchanged.
"Ok. Sure."
"I-"
"No, no, it's fine. I don't have to write a report on this. I'm sure you had a great time out there in the Wyvern Peaks. You can tell Her Ladyship yourself; she seemed very fond of my reports of you of late."
Hikari scratches her cheeks.
"Glad to see that you're doing well. I'll be heading back to camp hidden in the mountains. We'll have to stay there until the raid ends. I'll see you in Escher then."
"Yes, scout master."
The scout master pulled his horse and rode off.
Back to training.
Hikari picked up her sword.
Ten swings. The weight was no longer an issue.
A few days of light drilling allowed her to wield the sword properly in battle.
The sword seemed like a fine replacement for the ones she'd broken before.
The only issue is that she still can't seem to channel mana into it properly.
She tries again.
Ten swings reinforced by her telekinesis.
Without being able to channel mana directly into the sword, it wasn't nearly as efficient as before.
Its hardness and weight let it work well even without it.
She tries to channel her RazenHeir flames.
The strange metal blocks it completely.
Its runes lie completely dormant and stubbornly refuse her.
She sets down the sword and continues her meditation.
Her mana flow had gotten better.
It was stronger. Her control wasn't as fine as it was before she set off for the wyvern pass.
But the increase in raw power was apparent.
Breaking through a long plateau felt good.
Her mana coursed through her.
Telekinesis check. Mana sense check. RazenHeir flames check.
She was in good fighting shape.
She stops.
Since she might have to fight for her life at a moment's notice, she conserves her energy.
She has little else to do but think about when to start cooking her cauldron again.
She'd done her laundry that morning and sat quite comfortably in clothes that still felt fresh, since she hadn't exercised much.
She really wanted to work out to fight the boredom and train her new size.
Then she thought of something.
The mana she absorbed in the mana vein.
She sensed it wasn't just raw mana.
She tried to channel it, remembering the cold still vivid in her mind.
Nothing special happened.
It felt slightly different from her usual mana exercises.
"Hm."
She shrugs. Perhaps it was just raw mana after all.
She hears a quiet ring in her ear.
It came from her sword.
Traces of mana. The sword finally responds to her.
"Interesting."
She gripped the sword's handle and channeled mana from her vein into it.
The sword responds to her. The resistance was stiff, but a hint of mana was seeping into the sword.
She stood up and took a stance.
She channeled her mana into her sword.
Ten swings. It didn't feel any different.
She could sense the runes in the sword ringing with just a hint of mana.
But nothing was happening. The sword didn't feel lighter or heavier.
No flames, arcs of energy, or any effect that boosted her offensive power.
Hikari shrugs. She'll figure it out eventually.
"Excuse me…"
A young soldier approached her.
"Yes."
Hikari turned.
He wet his pants as he met her gaze from above.
A pair of his friends set down a strange-looking cylindrical device that looked like an ale barrel but half the size.
The young soldier held up a piece of paper.
Rey's handwriting. Hastily scribbled, unlike that of Ria's.
Made worse now that he was doing it out on the frontlines.
Bring me my… pouch…
Was all she could make out.
"Pouch?"
The soldiers nodded and left the strange-looking barrel.
Hikari picked it up. It felt a tad heavy for its size.
Looked like a container of sorts.
It was fully armored. Its sloped surface protected it well from musket shots.
Hikari gently shook it, but it was tightly packed inside.
She put it down and went back to rest.
She had done the minimal training for today.
Nothing to do but empty her mind and stare blankly into the distance.
Herdial was indeed a beautiful place.
It's golden plains.
Wildlife teemed among the sparse vegetation.
A wyvern dove down onto a furry creature, which hastily burrowed into the ground before the wyvern's claws scratched the sand.
It still wasn't time to cook.
She felt a little hungry, but she knew she had to sit around a little longer.
The next column of slayers lined up to march.
They marched at very sparse intervals.
She overheard the men talking about still having to dig and clear rubble to make room for those giants as they dismounted their steam tanks.
From what she could make out, the bulk of the slayer legion had already assembled.
They were strung out along the raid route because space in the mountainous peaks was scarce for housing them in their dormant state.
The tunnel to Wyvern Peak had been drilled.
The advance party of slayers had already been dispatched to scout the ground.
She watches the parade.
She stops training each time they assemble, because that's what interests her most.
An army of giants, each half their size. But their numbers could still be tricky for her to handle.
In their dormant state, she struggles to gauge their power accurately.
Some of their heavy weapons were of a size she couldn't completely ignore.
Perhaps forcing her to expend a parry or dodge to meet them.
She notices the chains. The slayers had gone berserk more than once, and the wizards were taking precautions.
The wizard at the fore readies the column for another march into the sandworm pass.
It looked like another uneventful march.
Something was off.
A ringing in her ear. A strange sound. A strange presence.
The slayers' chains rattled as the giants pulled at them.
The wizards panicked and threw powder bombs at the slayers' faces.
One wizard ran up, trying to use a tranquilizing scroll.
The slayer roared. Breaking apart his chains, he crushed the man with his fist.
Panic spread; the wizards ran.
Tranquilizer darts were fired.
They didn't affect the previous ones, but they hadn't received any new equipment.
One by one, the slayers broke out of their chains.
The foot soldiers, ill-equipped to handle them, broke and ran.
Hikari picks up her sword.
She was looking for a good workout anyway.
A slayer notices her presence and leaps towards her.
Hikari stabs her sword into the sand to anchor herself.
Kick. She thrusts her leg, sending the slayer crashing into a building.
Another slayer charges her, holding a spear in both hands.
Hikari knocks the spear into the ground and stops his momentum with an elbow to the face.
The polearm is completely bent with a swing of her heavy sword.
Boom! A cannon shot.
Hikari turns.
The cannon shot hits her chest and bounces off, dropping into the sand.
A slayer flanks her.
The shorter slayer swings his great sword at Hikari's kneecap.
Clank! Hikari parries downward, knocking him to the ground.
Clank! She parries cannonballs flying at her.
The camp was in chaos; men were ripped to pieces by the slayers.
The lucky ones hid inside the steam tanks.
The slayers pound away at the metal hull like beasts.
Too late to keep them alive now.
She raises her boot and stomps the slayer's skull flat underfoot.
All of the throwing daggers rose from the ground.
She releases the full volley onto the slayers.
Their armor blocks some of her daggers.
The others pierce deep into their flesh but do not stop them.
Hikari charges.
A dual-wielding slayer confronts her.
She lowers her body, aims her sword at the soft spot just below the chest plate, and cleaves right through him.
The blunt sword spills his messy organs everywhere, revealing all of the complex surgeries the tortured giant had undergone.
A telekinetic blast splatters the blood, keeping Hikari's shirt clean.
A slayer lunges at her, thrusting his sword.
Parry. Hikari drags her own sword along its edge and cleaves him vertically in two.
She turns to parry two cannonballs.
Another slayer barrels towards her.
Duel axes raised over his head, the giant jumped, aiming for her skull.
Hikari stepped back, causing him to land in front of her.
She thrust her sword right through his skull and into his torso.
Pulling her sword out, she charged towards the slayer wielding the cannon.
The giant managed one shot, which she parried.
As she closed in, it raised its cannon with both hands and tossed it directly at her.
The move briefly startled her.
A quick upper swing of her sword knocked the cannon upwards.
She smashed the cannoneer's skull with a downward swing.
It was done. The slayers were dead.
But not before wiping out more than half the camp.
"What the f*ck happened here?"
The slayer master screamed.
His bodyguards kept their swords.
Hikari noticed the two dead slayers near the slayer master's camp.
Hundreds of tiny cuts eventually bled even the giant to death.
"Rey."
If the slayers are going berserk, Rey might be in trouble.
She rushed back to her camp.
It was a wreck. A dead slayer lay in the middle.
Its skin was charred all over from RazenHeir's flame.
Two scouts lay dead. Their comrades covered their bodies with their cloak.
Hikari didn't have time to worry about that.
Her wyvern skin and salamander armor were intact.
She hastily put them on and brought along the curious barrel Rey had requested.
Then, she ran around the ruined town to retrieve her throwing daggers.
The sandworm pass lay just ahead.
She bent her knees and charged forward.