Whoosh! The arrow flew right in the middle of the flock of wyverns. A lucky shot impaled one right in the belly, causing it to tumble into the ravine below. The flock immediately scattered in all directions.
But it was not over, as they continued to sporadically harass the miners and engineers. Hikari drew her bow again. This time the arrow whiffed, causing little more than a few panicked squeaks.
They were in wyvern territory now. The flying terrors had become more numerous, varied and oddly enough, more organized.
Most annoyingly, younger wyverns. Smaller than their fully grown comrades, more numerous and yet is just as deadly to the troops and still requires a full ballista bolt to kill.
Worse still, the mountainous terrain was also infested by sandworms. Much smaller and nimble ones. Ones that were not foolish enough to attempt a prey that is many times their size.
The general did what he could. Placing Hikari in a dominant vantage point, overlooking the entire zone from the forward outpost to the next staging point that is under construction.
Larger foes and flocks of wyverns were broken up by her bow. The infantry armed with only spears and muskets stands somewhat of a fighting chance against wyvernlings and baby sandworms. Even Hikari was impressed by their valiant efforts.
Nevertheless, the death toll gradually mounted.
But in the end, they have secured the first choke point. The way to the first vein is open, and Hikari and her team of scouts have earned themselves another break.
When she returned to the forward post, general Rey greeted her.
"Good work, Hikari!"
Like Ria, he was not even the height of her boots and could fit inside it with much room to spare. Yet, he displayed neither fear nor even the least bit fazed as he tilted his head backwards to meet the towering giant's eyes.
"Good work to you too."
"A word, in private if you would."
"Oh? Certainly"
The general's forward post. A room dug into the side of a stone mountain. The walls had a layer of steel plating hammered in to prevent sandworms from burrowing through. An outer layer of steel to protect against the wyvern fire.
It couldn't fit Hikari, so she sat down and bent over such that both arms folded on the ground, resting her head just in front of the entrance. Rey was just barely taller than her head.
"What does the little general wish to talk about" Rey looked cute at this angle. Hikari couldn't help but tease a little. He was somewhat startled by a pair of humongous, albeit friendly, red eyes staring at him at point blank range.
"Its about the queen wyvern."
"About time."
"Yes. The official plan is for the slayer party to engage the queen wyvern. We are here to clear the way for them so they can enter its lair at full strength. But…"
Rey paced around in front of Hikari for a bit, before standing close to her face, as though trying to whisper.
"I would like you to prepare yourself in case you have to face the queen wyvern. The new armour set your house ordered. King salamander armour and a black steel sword big enough for you. I pulled some strings to prioritize its production and shipment. It should be here within a few days. Also, once you return to the trade post, my sister will be there to imbibe some sigils so you could use sand bending."
"Oh?"
"Then, I will send you out on solo missions to clear out the veins. Once you're done, absorb the mana in these veins."
"The veins sound important."
"Oh, they are worth a fortune. I imagine this might pissed off a lot of people, so it stays between us. If anyone asked, it was the wyverns who sucked it dry. I for one am quite obsessed with not being eaten alive."
Hikari paused for a few moments, she had a very subtle smile on her face which Rey could see very clearly being so close to her face. It was making me feel uncomfortable, as though he might be eaten at a moment's notice.
A sudden poke from Hikari's finger knocked him onto the ground. When he comes to, a pair of voluptuous spheres loomed over him.
"Wait.. this is …"
"Shh.. you gave me such a gift, I can't just not reward you."
"No! This is … "
Rey was smothered under the overwhelming softness. The smell of her shirt trapped under her armour for several days engulfed him.
Hikari could sense his pulse rising. His excitement building. But no growing protrusion.
"My, you have such strong will power. How did you do it?"
Hikari lifted herself up to give Rey some space to breathe.
"Huff! Huff! Its hornfieri herbs. Used to suppress desires huff* huff*."
Bemused, she ran her index finger up and down the side of Rey' tiny body, gently caressing him.
"Ah, I think I should ask Ria to order some of those. But for now… "
Down she goes again.
"Let's see how your herbs hold up against my charm.."
Rey was covered in warm darkness.Hikari started getting rougher with him, pushing the air out of his lungs and forcing him to take deep breaths of her scent, but only when she allowed it. It took some effort to overcome the hornfieri herbs, but she eventually overcame it as she could feel a tiny poking feeling through her shirt.
"My My, you are a tough one. You might be the first one to make me open my shirt~."
"Mmm…. mmmffff "
Rey's pulse went through the roof. The effects of the herbs could no longer stand up to being dominated by the soft yet immovable walls of flesh engulfing him.
"Cmon now, once you release, this will all be over."
Rey's remaining resistance drained away. At last, he wet his pants.
Hikari got up, observed her handy work with a smile of satisfaction before leaving.
__________________________________________
Hikari unleashes her blade storm in a wide area. The RazenHeir scouts stood in an oval formation along the road. Another sandworm attack. Although only the younglings remain, their numbers were a deadly threat to any caravan defended by only infantry.
"Incoming"
Hikari warns her smaller comrades as she senses the swarm tunneling towards the surface. The stable hands huddled behind their shields as the scouts tensely held up their bucklers.
A dust storm was created as the swarm of youngling sandworms abruptly emerged from the sand in unison. Most of them were instantly cut to pieces by the blade storm. The surviving ones found themselves biting into tasteless wooden bucklers, which the wielded skillfully discarded, leaving, preventing themselves from being dragged into the same.
"Something else is coming."
Hikari drew her sword and faced in the direction of a raging sandstorm barreling towards them. She readied her stance but the sandstorm stopped some distance away.
Then she felt the ground rumble. The swarm of sandworms converging on the sandstorm, coalescing into a mega drill honing into their target. Just before they emerged from the surface, the sand particles around and inside them were sucked towards one point, crushing them from the inside out. The surviving halves of their bodies squirms away.
As the sand clears, a woman with an incredible physique, towering over everyone except Hikari. Short hair, tanned skin. She was wearing little more than a few almond colored silky wraps to cover her modesty. No shoes, Only a pair of ankle bracelets with embedded mana crystals as footwear.
"Oh? So you are that wyvern slayer my cute little brother told me about."
The scars on her body tells her that she's a veteran of many battles. It was an odd feeling to be with someone somewhat comparable in size to her.
She walked up to Hikari, her head reaching her belly button. She then circled around her, intently studying her from head to toe, visibly impressed by Hikari's imposing stature.
"Hikari of house RazenHeir"
"Sheela hearthstone."
Hikari thought she was imagining it, but it appears to her that Sheela's initial intrigue was turning into excitement. And then, it turned into just shy of jumping for joy.
"Come to the arena. now. We have plenty of work to do."
Sheela was breaming with positive energy, so much so that it made Hikari uncomfortable.
"I have to escort-""Get on the carts, all of ya!"
Sheela grabbed the reins on the carts from the horses. The RazenHeir detachment was startled.
"Do as she says." Hikari shrugged.
With the column of cart and the two dozen men in tow, Sheela raced off, yanking her passenger along. Hikari jogged along, at a pace of galloping horses.
They reached the trading post well before dinner time. As soon as the motion-sick men were unloaded, Sheela continued pestering Hikari. She had been looking forward to a rest, but since she hadn't done much other than standing in a stationary guard, she didn't mind some training.
In any case, she too was looking forward to learning a new skill though she couldn't quite figure out the cause of her trainer's enthusiasm.
Sheela brought Hikari to an open sandy area just outside the trading post.
Several guards in blanch shirts and pants armed with a sword and a musket surrounded them in a sparse formation. A fairly common guard detail.
Curiously, there were also several members that had the appearance of homeless people. Grossly unshaven, wearing nothing but a rugged cloth that covers their modesty and only one of their nipples and a circular badge with a symbol of a stone carved in the middle.
"Ya ready to learn some sand bending?"
"I suppose anytime is good."
"Thats the spirit. Now, take off your boots."
Hikari was startled by the suggestion. Sheela's sudden and passionate request for her to remove her footwear made her rather uncomfortable.
"May I ask why?"
"Huh? What da ya mean why? If you wanna sand bend, you gotta feel the ground with your bare skin." Sheela was annoyed at the hesitation.
That was actually a valid reason. Hikari disassembled her boots and stacked the pieces neatly beside her. And then her socks. Once done, she stepped on her boot soles, her sweaty bare feet feeling the sand.
"Good, now let us begin."
Sheela walked forward, straightened her arms horizontally, placing her palms on Hikari's thighs.
Then the training began.
Unlike Ria, where she had to be extremely restrained with her mana movements, Sheela was able to tolerate her power. This allowed her to move more freely.
Also, as a mature mana user, her movements were more complex as well, it was vastly more difficult to figure out the patterns than with her Lady, who was still a novice.
But it was exciting, learning a new mana form. An uncommon occurrence as houses tend to be quite proprietary about their mana forms.
Before long, Hikari was fully focused on her training.