—----------- Shella HearthStone —------------
Physique : 352
Mana : 340
Mind : 250 * ( instinctive caster. Can't learn spells in general. But can bend sand like its an extension of her body. )
Defense : 650* ( when she covers herself in a condensed layer of earth )
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
—----- Hikari —-----
Hearthstone potency : 0 -> 56 (new)
Hikari opens her eyes. It had been two days of nonstop mana training with Sheela. Getting used to a new form is difficult, but she saw slowly getting the hang of it.
Sheela was standing in front of her, her mouth was agape, her expression was 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. 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?"
"Good question. 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, it was normal for her feet to be serviced.
Quietening down, the sand bender focused her energy into her hands. Two identical sigils lit up on each of her hands palms.
Hikari felt a hot sting on her foot as the sigils were being burnt into her skin.
"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 sigil was being imprinted from both sides.
It was an unfamiliar feeling to Hikari for her skin to be pierced like this. The last time was when Lady Razenheir inscribed runes onto her body as part of her training.
But she endured.
When she opened her eyes, Sheela was laying face up on the ground, beads of sweat covering her muscular body. She had finally exhausted her energy.
"Huff* Huff* Boy is your skin thick. I think not even the great siege cannons could dent it. "
Hikari sat down as well. Her legs felt rather stiff after standing for such an extended period. She leaned forward to inspect Sheela's handiwork.
"So, what did you do?"
"Try it. I think you have gathered quite an audience. The biggest crowd I have ever seen."
At Sheela's advice, in order to feel the raw elements better, Hikari had stripped down to just a boxer and a loose top.
"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 sniper charging up from a mile away had been perpetually active for the last years. Indeed, she's not sure how even turning it off means.
"Their heartbeats. The vibrations. Can you feel them?"
"I can't, they are too faint."
"Keep trying. Mana sense can't detect such minute physical movements. Only activation of spells. But a sand bender can."
Sheela made a good point. She tried again, focusing in on the ground, trying to ignore the constant gush of information she received from her other senses.
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 four of training. In another three days, Hikari would be dispatched to clear the mana vein.
She would need at least one day of rest, which meant she had two days left to master at least the very basics.
Detection, the ability to detect vibrations in the ground whether is from landslides or foes.
Stealth, Hikari's heartbeats have too large of a signature. Sheela taught her how to create constant vibrations of a frequency that clashes with the heartbeat which would scramble its sound.
Hardening and smashing. Landslides and tunnel collapses are a likely occurrence, hardening and breaking up the stone and sand at will could be a life saver.
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.
"Lets 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, she could feel Sheela's as well. It seemed that neither of them has 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."
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"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 in 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 and then raised 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"