—----------- Sheela HearthStone —------------
Physique : 352
Mana : 340
Mind : 250
Defense : 403
Primary attribute : Earth
Height : 3.1 metres
Weight : 1.2 Tons
Martial proficiency :n/a
Arcane proficiency : 179
Firearms proficiency : n/a
Hearthstone potency : 200
Sheela brought Hikari to an open sandy area just outside the trading post.
"Ya ready to learn some sand bending?"
"Yes."
"Thats the spirit! Now, take off your boots. Heck. Just take out everything. Leave the undies on though, I don't wanna draw too many pervs."
Hikari was startled by the suggestion.
"May I ask why?"
"Huh? What do you mean why? If you wanna bend the earth to your will, you gotta feel it with your bare skin." Sheela was annoyed at the hesitation.
Hikari paused. Then she disassembled her pants, the sides of her boots and her socks. Once done, she stepped off her boot soles, her sweaty bare feet feeling the sand.
"Good, now let us begin."
Sheela placed her palms on Hikari's thighs.
Hikari followed Sheela's mana movements.
Unlike Ria, her movements were much more complex and difficult to follow.
Hikari fumbled a few times.
Sheela broke off her contact, resting her hands on her knee caps. Her breathing was heavy.
"Phew! man! You're much tougher than you look. Try to reduce your mana flow. You're making my head spin."
"Ok"
Sheela straightened her back, stretching her arms.
"Actually scratch that. I don't get your body at all. It's normal. When you grow so much, all the fibres and mana channels get jiggled up."
Sheela rubs Hikari's thigh with both hands.
Then she moved to Hikari's other thigh.
She moved down to her kneecaps. Rubbing all around the leg. Then the shin and calves.
"Herda's tits! You are strong. "
Sheela got on her knees and began rubbing Hikari's feet.
"Oohhoo.. Wow…. aahh…. " She closed her eyes and moaned as she ran her fingers through the entire surface of the tops of Hikari's feet. The heel, the ankle, the sides and the toes. Sheela ran her fingers over them over and over again.
"Sheela?"
"Ah!" Sheela flinched, opening her eyes.
"Oh wow! Phew! Your muscles are really something. Tell me! What did you eat huh? I'm about to teach you some sand bending. The vaulted secret of the hearthstone house or something like that. Why don't you share some of your secrets?"
"Umm sure. Let's see. Wheatgrass, ivory berries, any kind of meat or strength elixir is fine. Some mana crystals."
Sheela was unimpressed.
"Thats just the common ingredients. Fine. If you don't wanna share, then you don't wanna share. I'm only gonna teach you the basics anyway so that you don't get yourself stuck under a cave in."
"I'm not lying"
Sheela meets her gaze. A shiver went down her fine.
"Well alright then. Looks like you don't know either."
A wall of sand emerged around them.
"Don't move, I'm going to implant the mark now."
Sheela pressed her lips onto the top of Hikari's feet and channeled her mana.
—----- Hikari —-----
Hearthstone potency : 0 -> 56 (new)
Hikari opens her eyes. Sheela was laid back on the ground sweating.
She looked down at her feet, one rune on each foot, resembling the hearthstone symbol. The runes glowed with power as her eyes moved over them.
Sheela's stomach growled.
"Well! There ya go! Two hearthstone runes. Your skin is really thick. Not even the sandworms could bite through that. Anyway, the runes should last for at least three months."
Several men in the almond hearthstone waved to her. Sheela got up and ran towards them.
"Lunch time! Oh, and you eat well too. Your training begins immediately."
For the next two days, Hikari and Sheela sat in the sand.
The way Sheela moves her mana, it was completely unfamiliar to her.
It's not surprising since the two houses have completely incompatible mana forms.
Slowly but surely, Hikari was able to match Sheela's movements.
Hikari opened her eyes. Sheela was standing in front of her, her expression filled with bewilderment.
"Whao, were you part of a geomancer guild or what."
"How did I do?"
"What do you mean 'how did you do'. Do you have any idea how difficult it is just to get the basic form down?"
Hikari felt good about the compliment.
"Ahaha, you really are a genius. Or maybe I'm just such a great teacher. Haha! I knew I was a genius. I thought I would be scribbling scrolls for the rest of the campaign. But looks like we can do something a lot more interesting."
Sheela smacks Hikari on the kneecap. She had regained some of her boyish energy.
"What now?"
"Huh? Call me master Sheela! Then ask questions."
Hikari paused.
"Master Sheela. What is our next step?"
"Good question, my student. Well, even though you got the basic form down in just two days, it's still some ways before you can use skills. So we're gonna cheat."
Sheela got down on her knees and placed her hands on Hikari's bare feet. The latter stood still,
Quieting down, the sand bender focused her energy into her hands through Hikari's skin and into the sigils she implanted earlier.
Hikari felt a hot sting on her foot as Sheela's
"Move your mana."Sheela instructed.
Hikari got her mana flowing, following the pattern that she had been practicing.
Sheela quickly picked up on the rhythm, creating a sort of resonance between herself and Hikari. The burn intensified as the sigils on both of Hikari's feet rang.
Hikari she endured.
When she opened her eyes again, Sheela was laying face up on the ground, beads of sweat covering her muscular body.
"Huff* Huff* Boy is your skin thick. I think not even the great siege cannons could dent it. "
Hikari stretched her legs. Her legs felt rather stiff after standing for such an extended period. She leaned forward to inspect Sheela's handiwork.
"Master, what did you do?"
"Try it. I think you have gathered quite an audience. The biggest crowd I have ever seen."
Hikari began moving her mana in the way she had been practicing for two days.
It's a strange feeling, but she could somehow hear the earth beneath her.
"I know you can see them with your mana sense, but try to use only the vibrations you feel with your feet."
Hikari hesitated. Her mana sense that could pick up a sorcerer charging up from a mile away or assassins approach as she sleeps.
But she did it, focusing instead on the sigils on her feet.
"Their heartbeats. The vibrations. Can you feel them?"
"No."
"Keep trying. Mana senses can't detect such minute physical movements that don't use mana."
Hikari focused in. Filtering out the noise around her.
Ba dum! Ba dum! The sound of her own heartbeat.
It overwhelms everything. She can't detect anything else.
Ba dum! Ba dum! She still only hears the sound of her own heart.
She closed her eyes, cupped her ears and reduced her mana flow to a minimum.
Then, something in her mind clicked. Ba dum! Ba dum…. Ba dum! Ba dum…. Echos. The aftershocks of her own heartbeat. She could hear them.
Then another heartbeat, just slightly weaker than hers, emanating from just in front of her.
Slowly but surely, her detection range spreads out. The buildings in the trading post to the south. The hills to the north and west. The trees. Below the ground, the sound of flowing water on a rocky surface.
She continued listening. Soon, she was able to discern the sound of the wind from the sound of the earth.
"So how many?"
Sheela teased her. She was laying down on her side in the sand, as though she was on vacation. It was quite entertaining for her to observe Hikari train.
"I still can't tell"
Yawn! Sheela stretched herself, visibly tired from the training as well.
"Chow time!" She tucked her legs inwards, and then straightened her body, launching her into the air and creating a cloud of sand as she landed.
Grrr! Hikari's stomach rumbled as well as Ria waved to her in the distance, beckoning her for dinner.
Day five of training.
Sheela stomped the ground, launching a boulder the size of a horse in a high arc towards Hikari.
Channeling mana into her palm, she sinked it directly into the barreling clump of stone and released. The boulder shattered into a hundred pieces, most of which hurled past her harmlessly.
"Good! Now let's ramp it up."
Sheela stomped the ground again. This time, it was a barrage of boulders of different sizes.
Hikari took her stance, both arms filled with mana. She grabbed the smaller boulders, quickly shattering them before the next one landed.
For the biggest boulder, she grabbed it with both hands. But it didn't shatter. Her foot skidded backwards as they absorbed the full momentum of the huge boulder.
"That's no good. You used up your energy on the smaller ones. Again!"
Hikari nodded and took her stance again. Another barrage of boulders flew towards her.
This time, she adjusted her mana distribution perfectly, just enough for the small boulders, leaving enough to effortlessly smash the large one into bits.
"Yeah, yeah, you have good mana control. So let's mix it up a bit."
Boulders of all shapes and sizes flew towards her, pushing her calculation speed to the limit.
Hikari fumbled and staggered as she struggled to keep up with the barrage.
She had progressed so quickly that Sheela was getting carried away.
"Let's see if you can still keep up!"
The bombardment intensified. Hikari could no longer keep up her precise control and just kept the boulders as fast as she could. Her heart was pumping. Neither of them had had this level of fun in a long while.
A cloud of sand was thrown into the air as Sheela finally dropped onto her back due to exhaustion. Hikari too was breathing heavily, sweating all over.
"Ahhh… that was good. Huff* Huff* You sure are a tough nut."
Hikari walked to the side of the arena to grab their water tanks. She instantly gulped down an amount of water that would fill a fountain. Then she walked back to Sheela.
"Have a drink, master Sheela"
"Master eh? Hehe, that sounds pretty good."
Sheela sat upright as Hikari handed her a water tank.
"He. Not bad for my first real student. Or maybe I'm just a god tier teacher"
"Indeed you are, master Sheela."
Glup. Glup. The water in the tank disappeared down her throat.
"Say, are you a grandmaster or something. How did ya end up with the RazenHeir house."
"Hm?"
"Oh, I didn't mean anything like that. It's just that with your skills, I imagined you from one of those fancy shmancy houses at the top of that big spire over there."
Sheela points to the spire mega structure, Its ivory walls flanked by clouds, its deep blue mana crystals glinting in distance.
"Oh, the Razenheir house rescued me."
"They sure hit the jackpot. With your level, I'm pretty sure you can make the slayer party easy."
"Not today though."
"He, Herdial is untamed land. Plenty of dangers and riches to be had. With my teachings, you'll take em all down easy peasy."
"I'm sure I would." Hikari laughs.
"And before I forget." Sheela started fidgeting, avoiding eye contact with Hikari.
"I have a special request, if you don't mind. Well, after the training that is."
"Oh?" Hikari was bemused at the request.
"What would that be?" She teased.
"I'll tell you afterwards! Hey, stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong!" Sheela got exasperated.
"Get back to training you slacker! How many peeping toms are behind that bush by that watch tower!?"
"five"
"Correct? On top of the tree?"
"two"