Focus.
Hikari holds her new sword in both hands.
The blacksmiths wrapped a layer of wyvern skin around the handle for a better grip.
It was fortunate that a sword found in the middle of nowhere had a handle big enough for her to grip it with both hands.
She raises it over her head and swings down in a vertical slash.
She feels its weight as she gradually brings it to a stop at the end of a swing.
Another stroke.
She raises the sword over her head again.
Swing.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Hikari wipes off her sweat.
She swings again.
Back to basic drills.
A new size and a new sword.
She needs to adjust to the rhythm.
The reach was modest compared to her old claymore.
But the sword is much sturdier.
She could tell.
Her skin is harder than steel.
If she reinforces it with her telekinesis, it makes her body impervious to cannon fire.
But if the sword in her hands were to be swung at her, she was not confident that she could deflect it with her bare hands without risking injury.
Time for a break.
She sinks the blade into the ground and gulps down a tank of water.
Loose tops and a short skirt.
There were enough cloth pieces for her to assemble a decent outfit to cover her modesty.
She feels the rough ground beneath her bare feet.
A new pair of shoes would take the shoe smiths more work.
Her boot soles would take another shipment of strips.
While her muscles rest, she circulates her mana.
A strange feeling.
The mana she absorbed from the mana vein courses through her.
A different form compared to her RazenHeir flame and the Hearthstone form she learnt from Sheela.
It was not merely mana she absorbed this time.
She tries to make sense of it.
Perhaps a different kind of flame.
Perhaps she might summon a wyvern with it.
She tries to channel it into her hand in an attempt to materialize something.
But her mastery of the new mana form was too thin for her to focus enough of it to make anything.
There was a brief chill.
Perhaps it was just her imagination.
Perhaps it was just the wind drying her sweat.
"Hey! Hikari!"
A loud voice from afar.
A massive body barrels towards her.
It stops just in front of her.
The sandstorm clears.
Tanned skin. Short brown hair. Little more than a thin rectangular breach hanging from her waist.
"He! Looks like you're back from that excursion and back to training."
"Master Sheela."
"Hello there, my good student! How ya doing? You look like you're in good shape and ready to receive more of your master's teachings?"
"Yes, Master Sheela."
"Good! I see you training barefoot. That's the way!"
Hikari looks down at the ground awkwardly.
She sees her rough toenails.
The dirty soles reveal themselves as she lifts the side of her foot uncomfortably.
"My shoes are small."
"Ha! Who cares? Don't need them anyway."
"Hmm?"
Sheela stomps her foot.
Hikari feels the shockwaves through the ground.
"See. You have to feel the earth. Your shoes will just get in the way."
"Yes, master Sheela."
Hikari still feels uncomfortable at the thought.
She is used to fighting in her boots.
The soles cushion her foot as she jumps, reducing the strain on her muscles.
"You don't seem so convinced yet. Ha! No matter! Come to the arena."
"Yes, master Sheela."
…
Hikari stood across from Sheela.
The sandbender studies her from head to toe.
"Hmmm….! I'm not imagining it. You have gotten bigger. Much bigger."
Sheela approaches Hikari, tilting her head backwards to meet Hikari's eyes while standing in her shadow.
"Haha! Am I a great master or what? Some training from me and it even makes your muscles bigger!"
"Yes, master sheela."
"Again. Tell me how great a master I am!"
"Master Sheela."
"Ok! Ok! Time for a quick health check before we begin."
Sheela channels.
The sand behind Hikari moves.
A mound of sand rises, coalescing into a solid rectangular shape.
"Sit."
Hikari sits down and feels her bottom resting on a solid surface.
The stone mound was wide enough for her to sit comfortably.
Tall enough for her lower leg to rest vertically on the ground.
Hikari was amazed at how the sand bender, half her mass, could conjure a stone platform big enough for her just like that.
Sheela knelt at Hikari's feet.
"Master?"
"Quiet, let me focus."
She placed her hands on her feet.
Like hers, Sheela's hands were muscular but well-kept.
They had the build of a warrior but not the scars to go with it.
The sand bander channels her mana into Hikari's feet.
The spread was uneven.
The movements weren't as smooth as before.
Hikari tries to relax to make it easier for Sheela to work.
But her expanding body had made it difficult even for herself to channel her mana properly.
"Phew! That was tough. Yeah, expanding your body does rejiggle everything and makes it really hard to do whatever it is that you were doing before."
Sheela fell backwards into the sand.
She was sweating and panting after a meditation session more intense than what she was used to.
"It's bad."
"Sure is. I remember that time when I underwent muscle growth. Never wanted to do that again. After the process, it was as though I had to relearn my entire skill from scratch again."
Hikari opens her palm.
A sputter of RazenHeir flame licks the sky.
"Still works."
But Sheela was right; the cast wasn't as effortless as she remembered.
She had known how to use the RazenHeir flames for years, and it no longer felt like second nature.
"Don't worry, it'll come back. Now lift your foot."
"Hmm.?"
A pause.
Hikari carefully lifts her foot to avoid kicking up sand.
The dirty, sandy sole was right in front of Sheela's face.
"Hold still."
Sheela conjures a stone pillar that allows Hikari to rest her ankle.
She conjures a mini tornado of sand, wrapping around Hikari's foot and lower leg.
Hikari feels the sand scrubbing against her foot, removing the dirt and sweat with the force of friction.
"There!"
Her feet felt fresh again.
"Master, Sheela."
"He! Impressed by what your master can do? You've seen nothing yet!"
Sheela grabbed a bit of sand in each hand and rubbed her palms together.
Hikari senses mana building up in her muscular arms.
With a sudden thrust, both her palms hit the bore of Hikari's foot.
"Mmm!"
A pleasant surprise, Hikari feels the force of Sheela's fingers making a dent in her skin that was thicker than the carapace of a sandworm.
With a surge of mana, Sheela squeezes.
Hikari moans in pleasure.
Relax.
A surge of mana.
Squeeze.
Relax.
Squeeze relax.
She moves down to the arches.
Same force.
Hikari's skin was softer there, so she felt the pressing force more acutely.
"Mmm"
Squeeze.
Relax.
Squeeze.
Relax.
"Mmm"
Hikari wriggles her toes.
"Don't move."
"Sorry."
Squeeze.
Relax.
Squeeze.
Relax.
Sheela moves down to Hikari's heels, which were the toughest part of her feet.
Hikari could still feel the pressure, but the tough skin on her heels was too stubborn for even the sandbender.
"Alright, looks like I need some extra firepower."
Sheela stretched her arms.
She holds out her hands in the same stance Hikari does when she telekinetically grabs something.
A long piece of cloth flies towards the sandbender.
It looked like bandages.
The cloth wraps around her arms and hand.
Sheela flexes her muscles to test the resistance.
It was no simple cloth wraps.
Hikari could sense the faint presence of runes inscribed inside the cloth.
"This will do."
The sound of her knuckles cracking.
The stone pillar supporting Hikari's ankle expands, lifting it higher up.
Stomp.
Sheela takes a stance, her eyes focused on the heel of Hikari's foot.
"Here I come."
Her palms bash against the heel with the force of both arms and the weight of her body.
Hikari feels it this time.
It felt good.
Hikari wriggles her toes in response.
The fingers grab the foot with the residual momentum, making a shallow dent in the heel.
"Mmm."
That hits the spot.
Hikari moans in pleasure.
Back to the bore.
Squeeze, release, squeeze, release.
"Mmm."
The extra strength from the wrappings around Sheela's arms.
It was the best massage Hikari had had in a long while.
"Huff* Huff*. Phew! That's a tough foot you got there. That'll crush a sandworm nice and good for sure."
Hikari scrunches her toes; her foot was asking for more.
"Feels good."
"He. You didn't doubt your master could give a good massage, did you?"
"No."
The pillar holding up Hikari's foot disappeared into the ground, resting the foot back on the ground.
Another pillar raised her other foot.
Sheela stretched herself, getting ready for a second round.
A sand tornado engulfed the foot, scrubbing it clean.
"Here I go again."
Thud!
Sheela's fist smashed into Hikari's foot with a force that would break walls.
Hikari tilted her head back and moaned with pleasure.