Hikari stared in the distance at the wyvern peaks.
She held her new sword that she savaged from the second mana vein in one hand, trying to get used to its weight.
The support team had left in the morning towards RazenHeir territory.
It was a standard precautionary measure to evacuate all non-combatants towards the climax of the raid.
"The train is here. Good luck, Hikari, I'll be waiting for you in the fortress of Escher. You have probably seen it during your morning runs."
"Be safe, my lady."
"I will, you especially! Don't forget, a feast awaits you in Escher."
Hikari watched as the RazenHeir knights and her attendants escorted her onto the train.
"Man! I wish I could fight the wyvern queen alongside you. But I'm grounded, because reasons."
"Master Sheela."
Sheela stood beside her, her head was now just above the height of Hikari's thighs.
She had a bundle of almond silky almond cloth in her hand.
Then, she knelt in front of Hikari.
"Lift your foot."
"Master?"
"You heard me."
Hikari lifted her left foot. Sheela wrapped one of the sheets of cloth around the middle of Hikari's foot and under the arch. The runes on the cloth glowed as the cloth tightened around Hikari's foot on its own.
Hikari rotated and scrunched the foot, trying to get used to the cloth.
"One more layer, I don't think one would hold the weight of your foot."
Sheela wraps another layer over the first. Hikari could feel a very slight squeeze from the cloth.
"I see that your boots are too small for you now. Good. This is a chance for you to get used to fighting barefoot. The cloth would squeeze your muscles, giving you extra strength on the bore and the heel. They're sweat absorbent too, so your feet won't stink so much."
"It's nice." Hikari looked over her shoulder at her foot.
"The other one."
Sheela wrapped two layers of enchanted cloth onto Hikari's right foot.
Hikari then placed both feet flat on the ground, scrunching her feet alternatively to feel the balance.
As one foot was slightly lifted off the ground, Sheela ran her hand under the bore of the foot.
"I know you might feel a bit uncomfortable without your boots. But the skin on your feet is harder than Adamantium. They're harder than your actual boot soles. I bet you can stomp a spiky sandworm carapace without feeling a thing."
Hikari lifts the soles of her feet behind her one at a time, studying and testing the foot wraps.
"I see"
Sheela stood up.
"Well, my train is here too. Good luck, my student. Make sure to bring that brother of mine back."
"Thanks, master Sheela." Hikari bows.
"No need to thank me. In fact."
Sheela paused.
"Promise me. Visit me in the Heartstone estate some time. "
Sheela appeared serious.
"I will."
She smiled and boarded the train.
As the train moved out of the station into the distance, the camp quietened down.
Back to training with her sword.
It was slightly smaller and slimmer than her old claymore but heavier.
She tried scratching the surface of the blade with her dagger. It didn't scratch.
She had a sense that her own sword was out matched in terms of hardness when she dueled the creature.
Even the Runium sword of her predecessor couldn't match it.
"I can't activate the runes, and the mana resonance is not very good. At least I have a sturdy dueling sword."
Her camp was now empty except for several RazenHeir scouts. If she falls here, it's up to them to recover her sword as she did for them.
She paused for a break.
She stared at the wyvern peaks. The sound of the desert wind blowing over the empty path leading outwards from the camp.
From where she stood, the foggy wyvern peaks were as still as the day she arrived.
She drew her sword again, her feet one front and one facing diagonally.
Her sword lifted over her head, she did a basic sword stroke.
Again. Again. It was not ideal, she could feel a slight wobble as the sword reached its low point.
"I really need to go back to the estate and drill"
She paced around barefoot, shifting the weight of her sword as she went.
After some training, she stopped for a break. She picked up a ration pack and took a bite.
Back to training.
"Ah, the legendary knight Hikari. The bane of wyverns that scotch the sky, and the sandworms that split the earth. Pleasure to make your acquaintance again!"
The slayer master in his straw hat walked up to her.
"Greetings"
"Sorry to disturb your training, but there's just a bit of business I wish to discuss with you."
Hikari looks at him.
"Ria just left"
"Oh no need, I assure you this is not going to be something illegal like looting the mana veins."
The slayer master claps his maps. Two men pushed a cart containing a round glass vial of a swirling orange potion the size of a cauldron that the normal infantry uses.
"An experimental potion I concocted to match your physiology, boosts your physique and defenses temporarily by a huge amount, with a lingering permanent boost. Don't worry, you're not gonna grow a third arm or something crazy."
"Free?"
"Yes of course, you are to be the guinea pig."
Hikari shakes the vial and pops open the cork, and gives the potion a sniff.
Mostly common ingredients that one would find in a strength potion.
She took a sip. The thick liquid slides down her throat. It was clearly not poisoned.
She drank the whole potion.
After waiting a while, she flexes her arms a bit.
"How is it?"
"I feel less tired"
"Hmm… right… I see…" The slayer master took out a paper and began scribbling.
"The subject digests the Ryulibutten roots… no signs of muscle expansion…. No visible side effects… " he mumbled to himself.
"There!" He folds his notes up neatly and hands it to one of his men.
"Did you like it?"
"It fills me up a little"
"Well, that's not what I intended. I'll brew something stronger next time. Anyways, I have a little mission for you."
Another two men pushed forward a cart full of scrolls.
"The spell inscribed on the scrolls will activate a rune inscribed into the slayers that puts them to sleep. I swear on Herda's blossoms that I'm not making the slayers go berserk on purpose. In fact, I'll pay you for each one that you knock out."
Hikari nods as she keeps the scrolls in her pouch.
"I'll leave you to it now." The slayer master turns around and leaves.
Hikari continues drilling with her sword.