Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Faster! Faster! And don't use your telekinesis. I hope you are good at that."
Hikari marches around the arena. A pair of boulders in each hand now.
Sheela has been pushing the pace.
The sand felt different beneath her feet.
Instead of holding her back, the sand was helping her push forward.
"Enough. Mana training time."
Hikari dropped the weights and gulped down a tankard of water.
She strides to the center of the arena.
Walking normally on the sand was no longer a challenge.
They sit opposite each other.
Sheela builds up and pulses.
Hikari builds up and pulses.
Repeat.
Repeat.
"Good, now try it yourself."
Build up, release and retrieve.
Build up, release and retrieve.
"Good. Good. You learn quickly. As expected of a student of the great master Sheela."
"Yes, master Sheela."
"Silence and focus!"
Pulse.
Pulse.
Hikari gets into a rhythm.
She repeats the motion over and over.
"Good. Now it's time to spice it up."
Sheela spreads her aura.
The sand moves.
Several stone pillars appear in the arena.
"Now repeat."
Build up, release.
The uneven stone pillars break up her mana.
"Control!"
Hikari builds up another pulse.
The uneven ground Sheela created was throwing her off balance.
She pulses.
She doesn't stop.
She saw the terrain in the wyvern peaks earlier.
Sheela had recreated it for her.
Release. Retrieve.
She drags her mana back through the uneven ground.
Release. Retrieve.
It gets easier and easier.
"Getting the hang of it, are we? Let's shake it up again."
Sheela rearranges the pillars in the arena.
Pulse.
The sequence was broken again.
Pulse.
Pulse.
Hikari keeps trying.
Sweating.
She keeps her concentration.
Pulse.
Pulse.
She gets it.
"Good again."
Sheela rearranges the pillars.
Hikari continues.
…
"Sit down. Legs straight."
Hikari sits down in the sand.
Day after day, she marched around the sandy arena.
She didn't realize how sore her legs were until now.
Sheela sits down in front of her.
Hikari straightens her legs as she asks.
The sand wraps around her legs and whirls, scrubbing off her sweat with the force of her movements.
"Sand is actually a very good cleaner. Once you become a better sand bender, maybe you should try it?"
The sand retreats.
Hikari's legs felt fresh.
"Your legs must be quite sore after training. So your master will now do something about it."
Sheela clenches her fist.
Sand beneath Hikari's left leg rises, pushing her leg up.
"Dang, you are heavy, but it's nothing your master can't handle."
Sheela shuffles herself in front of Hikari's raised foot.
She grabs it with both hands.
"Master Sheela."
"Hold still, will ya. Urk! Your feet smell. Don't get used to it; I'm only doing this because of how hard ya trained."
The sand floated up to her arms and coated them.
Her hands squeezed Hikari's foot.
Hikari purred.
It felt good.
She could feel the pressure.
Being at a fraction of her size, Sheela concentrated her mana into her hands to make up the difference.
"It's good."
"He. I know you'll like it. But dang! Your muscles are tough. What did you eat?"
"Ivory berries."
"Yuck. What idea was it to pick berries that grow on the wall of a magic tower? They do have good mana content, but yuck, are they inedible."
"Yes."
Sheela moves on to her legs.
She squeezes Hikari's glutes.
She leans her chest against Hikari's foot as she reaches further up her leg.
"I wish I had your muscles. I didn't know Ivory berries could make you grow big. They aren't supposed to. I should have heard about it if someone made that work."
Hikari thinks for a bit.
"Stew."
"Yeah. I eat that every day too. Very nutritious. The fancy sauces and mana method destroy all the nutrients inside the food. Boil them in the good old cauldron, and that's all good."
"You want to grow big?"
"Yep. You slayed that sandworm titan, don't you? That's amazing, ya know. Would have taken a small army of sand benders to hold it. I want to grow bigger so I can slay those titans too."
"Train hard."
Sheela squeezes Hikari's glutes.
Hikari purrs.
She moves back to the foot.
Her strong grip feels good on her toes and arches.
She moves on to the other foot.
"How do you train back at the RazenHeir house? I heard they use a kind of funny fire. I don't think they do much strength training, though."
"They don't."
"Dumb asses. Don't they know that building your body also builds your mana pool? Oh well, at least you take the physicals seriously."
Sheela raises Hikari's other foot.
She shuffles in front of it.
"How's the fight with the sandworms? My brother did give you some scrolls. Must have been a pain not being able to move freely in the sand, eh?"
"Yes."
"Once it bites you, you're dead. But you can avoid it. The small ones are actually also a problem. They are easy to kill in small numbers. But once they swarm you, you're dead too. Don't be fooled by their size. Their teeth can bite into steel easily."
Sheela quietens down.
Hikari looks at her.
"Master Sheela?"
She was startled.
She looks away from Hikari and continues to massage her foot.
"It's nothing. Nothing for now. Just focus on recovering."
"Yes, Master Sheela."
…
Thud. Thud.
Hikari marches around the arena.
Sheela had reduced her weight burden.
Half a sack of sand.
Hikari makes the rounds easily.
"Alright, that's enough. Stop."
"Master Sheela."
Hikari turned to her.
"I know, I know. You're not even tired yet, are you? But you actually got to fight on the front lines, so I can't push you too hard. Besides, we gotta get you up to speed with stone shattering."
"Yes, Master Sheela."
Hikari drops the weights and walks to the center of the arena.
She closes her eyes.
Sheela moves her mana.
The basic form first, and then a second set of movements.
Hikari follows.
Just like the basic form, her movements are clunky at first.
She tries to mimic it.
Sheela keeps looping her mana.
It seemed like her normal training anyway.
Basic form first, and then it branches into something unfamiliar.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Sheela had gotten quiet.
Hikari needs no further instruction.
Just practice.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Sheela stops.
Hikari opens her eyes.
She can't tell how much time has passed.
She could only see the satisfied grin on Sheela's face.
"He. Looks like this one is no cake for you either."
"How to?"
"Yeah, yeah. Be patient. You just got the movements down."
Sheela gathers the sand before her.
A pillar rose from the ground.
"Now follow my lead."
Hikari closes her eyes again.
The same motion she had been practicing.
The basic form first, the second step.
The pillar disintegrates into a pile of sand.
Sheela reconstructs the pillar.
"Don't worry about construction. You only need to destroy rocks for now."
"Yes, master Sheela."
The pillar forms.
It disintegrates.
It forms.
It disintegrates.
Sheela could do this like clockwork.
Pure blood.
She was born with the mana form and had practiced it since birth.
Hikari tries to keep up.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
The pillar forms.
The pillar disintegrates.
Again and Again.
"Ahh… I'm beat!"
Sheela lies back on the sand and stretches her arms.
They had lost track of them.
Hikari opens her eyes.
Snores. The energetic Sheela was fast asleep.
Hikari watches over her.
…
Thud. Pause. Thud. Pause.
No weights this time, but Hikari has to march blindfolded through a maze of stone walls.
"Feel the sand!"
Sheela barked.
They were Hikari's ankle height.
Enough for her to feel them if she knocks into one.
She felt her toes knock against a stone wall.
"Ya missed the turn. Try again. And don't ya use your mana sense and cheat."
"Yes, master Sheela."
Sheela disassembles the maze and rebuilds it into a completely new one.
Turns at uneven intervals.
The angle is unpredictable.
Hikari kicks down another wall.
She had it past two turns this time.
"Again!"
Sheela barked.
Another maze was reconstructed.
Hikari pulses.
The picture she created in her mind was still fuzzy.
She could sense Sheela in the center of the arena.
Her body was massive compared to the short stone walls she created.
The obstacles were deliberately made small so Hikari could properly train her senses.
Hikari kicked a wall.
Sheela reconstructed the maze.
Hikari kicked a wall.
Sheela reconstructs the maze.
Again and Again.
"Stop! Good work."
Hikari removed her blindfold.
She had cleared the round.
"Looks like you got it. It must still be quite fuzzy for you. But we are short on time to get you ready for the raid. You're gonna have to keep practicing once you're in the Wyvern Peaks."
"Yes, master sheela."
"Good! Have a quick chow; we still need to work on stone shattering."
…
Hikari places both palms on the boulder.
It was about the size of her head.
She focuses.
She repeats the shattering movements she practiced all day.
Start with the basic form.
And then the second movement.
Crack! The boulder breaks in half.
"Again!"
Sheela repairs the boulder.
Hikari was still impressed by how seamlessly she could repair the stone.
Crack!
Hikari could consistently break the boulder.
Crack!
Crack!
She can't fully disassemble the boulder into stone.
But she could already see how useful this would be in a cave.
Crack! Crack!
The boulder shatters into a dozen pieces.
Sheela nods.
"This is good enough for now. Now lie down."
"Yes, Master Sheela."
Sheela raised a clump of sand.
She assembles them into stone and covers Hikari with it.
"Now, use your stone shattering and break them into smaller pieces."
Same motion.
Different position.
Basic form first.
Several stones cracked around her.
"No need to aim. Imagine you're buried in a rock slide. Just blast it all round."
Hikari tries again.
Several stones crack.
"Good. again!"
Sheela reconstructs the stones.
Crack. Crack.
A series of cracks.
"More. Again!"
Hikari channels more mana this time.
Crack!
Shards of loose stone were projected into the air.
"That's too much. You're using too much mana than needed. Don't overforce."
"Yes, master Sheela."
Again.
Crack. Crack.
"Good. Once you crack the stone, they will flow past you harmlessly. No need to do anything else."
"Yes, master Sheela."
Reconstruct.
Crack. Crack.
Reconstruct.
…
"Ah…! I'm beat. That felt good."
Sheela lay back into the sand. Arms stretched out in all directions.
"Master Sheela."
Hikari offered her a tank of water.
Sheela sat up, grabbed the tank, and gulped it down.
She was soaked in sweat.
The sand where she lay down was damp.
So was the area around Hikari.
It had been a few hard days of constant training.
"Damn, you made a lot of progress. You really are a genius. Where did you come from?"
"They found me."
"The RazenHeir house? He. No sh*t. What were you doing before then?"
"I fight orcs."
"Orcs, huh? Plenty of training dummies for you. They're just like sand worms. None of them is terribly dangerous. But their numbers are endless. And they can do some real damage if they manage to overwhelm you."
"Yes."
Sheela tries to drink from the empty tank.
"Master Sheela."
"Ya?"
"Thanks."
Sheela's eyes opened wide like a goldfish.
A subtle blush rose on her tanned skin.
"It's nothing."
She turns away.
"Just a favor for my brother. I can't join him on the frontlines. So I'll leave it to you to bring him back safely."
"Yes, Master Sheela."
Hikari reaches out her hand.
She telekinetically grabs another tank of water.
Sheela has gotten quiet.
Hikari drinks.
"Umm… Hikari?"
"Master?"
"There's a rest day tomorrow. And… I need a favor from you…"
Sheela's voice had gotten shy.
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow, alright? So pushy. Have some patience, will ya."
She blurted out.
Hikari looked with curious eyes.
"Sure."
"Thanks."