The wyvern peaks. A barren stone formation shrouded in fog. Tall vertical pillars extending into the sky where the wyverns make their nests, impenetrable to even the most audacious climbers. At the very peak, a colossal cylindrical structure where the queen wyvern is reported to nest.
The miners have sufficiently cleared the road for the steel hulks, allowing them to work without cover from Hikari's bow. If a wyvern is spotted, they would immediately scurry behind its steel plating. The wyvern usually gives up after a clawing away fruitlessly at the steel armour. If it doesn't, firing several acid tipped bolts from the slits would drive it away.
Hikari walked at the front of the steam tank convoy. The road was only wide enough for a single file. They were headed for the jumping off point which will be Hikari's field base. It would be complete with a field kitchen to feed her and a workshop to tend to her gear.
From there, she would launch raids to clean out the surrounding area of monsters, split the loot between the house and Rey's army. Then the slayer team arrives in the queen wyvern's lair unhindered, slays it, and that's the end of that.
That was the plan anyway.
To that end, Hikari is going in with some decent kit. Her salamander armour, boosting her states by another notch. She could layer on her old wyvern skin armour or any hard material she might find in the caves to further bolster its defense further just like how an actual king salamander uses volcanic rock.
The short but intensive training with Sheela allowed her to map out the contours of the caves, break through rock formations if she ever gets caught in a cave in and detect monster nests or threats in advance.
She had to leave her claymore and long bow back at the RazenHeir camp with Ria as the confined space would drastically constrict their use. In their place a new sword about the length of her arm. It was made of dark steel as the blacksmiths call it, a moderately hard metal, very resistant to heat making them difficult to forge but at the same time making it very popular amongst flame users.
Along with the sword, a warhammer, pickaxe and flasks of acid bombs. In the undergrounds, monsters with hard mineral carapaces are to be expected.
They have reached the check point. Miners and soldiers at the end of their shift wait eagerly at the side for the sound of the cranking gears. Once all the hatches on either side of the tank opened, they rushed to unload the supplies with an enthusiasm uncharacteristic of laborers.
It was quite the wyvern proofed camp. Caves dug into the side of the canyon with iron gates, providing food, weapon stores and living space for soldiers and miners. Slits chiseled everywhere big enough for crossbow bolts with interlocking fields of fire. A wyvern landing in the middle of the camp would be peppered from all directions.
The entrance to the caverns below. Hikari peered into the dimly lit cave apprehensively.
"Don't worry." Rey popped his head out of the steam tank.
"Statistically speaking, the vast majority of cavern raids do not end in the entire structure caving in. They fail simply because they couldn't defeat the boss monster if you will. Yes, I know that locking horns head on with your foe is not really your thing. But if you can overpower Sheela, you can easily overpower a stalagmite beast."
"Is this really necessary?"
"Yes. Because unlike you, the rest of us can't wall jump ourselves up over the canyons, not even the slayers."
"But just a bit of trivia." Rey winks. "The mana veins were originally planned to be accessed from above. That's how the wyverns get in. The veins are at the bottom of a massive hole big enough for the wyverns to fly out of. My original proposal was to have us hold the mouth of the vein and let the queen wyvern come to us."
"It is quite the interesting bit of trivial." Hikari giggles.
"Well. Rest up now, we will camp here for the night. Later, you have some, Ahem*, 'surveying' to do once it gets dark. There's one mana vein just north of here for you to check before we dive into the tunnels. Wink* Wink*. Make sure there isn't a nest of wyverns in there waiting to pounce on us."
"Of course."
A man in robes and a straw hat approaches them.
"Interesting indeed. A shame we lacked the resources to realize the plan."
"Slayer master, what brings you here?" Rey's voice was tense.
"There's no need to be so tense. After all, who cares about the issue of having legal rights to a mana vein from which nobody has ever mined an ounce of mana crystal. Heck, I wouldn't buy any bonds for a mana vein shaft that I'm not convinced even exists." The man casually shrugs.
"Slayer master, the frontline is not safe. Please return to the main encampment. "
"Ha! You are one to talk. You don't even have a sword."
As the two men bickered, Hikari was befuddled by the straw hat man's load out. His sword was impressive. Fine crafted to exactly the optimal length to match his build. From inside the sheath, Hikari could sense a series of intricate runes and high grade crystals embedded into the blade.
But on the other hand, she could sense no mana presence from him at all with which to power those runes and crystals. Furthermore, his build was lean and perfectly balanced. Which is really strange as swordsmen tend to be ever so slightly asymmetric depending on which arm they swing their sword with or what kind of stance they take. Leading to subtle differences to a body builder meant for the theaters.
Plus, his robes don't seem to offer any defensive nor offensive value. Sorcerer robes at minimum are made from the skin of mystic beasts or have crystals embedded in them that would effectively expand the user's mana pool.
It's too baggy actually. Hikari's leather suits are usually tight enough that the contours of her muscles are visible. This is so that during high speed maneuvers which she assumes a wearer of extremely light armour does, that the baggy armour and loose pieces in general really get in the way.
Most ludicrous of all, the straw hat does absolutely nothing but impede his vision.
"Slayer master, for your safety, please return to the camp."
The slayer master turned and looked at her, his face full of intrigue.
"You can tell? Hmm.. It's impressive enough for a subject to retain even a fraction of their original cognitive functions after even mild mutations. Oh don't tell me, this is natural growth. That's a fascinating, ground breaking discovery! It should not be possible for you to exist." He excitedly paced around her, excitedly examining her from head to toe.
"Slayer master! She needs some rest."
"Hrmp!" Annoyed, he turned and walked off. Rey heaving a sign of relief.
"You seem scared of him." Hikari places her finger on Rey's head.
"Let's just say he has already disposed of two generals that crossed him."
"Wouldn't he be arrested?"
"Well, he had brushed off liability by claiming that the slayer's berserking is a risk that we must take given that he has yet to find a more stable alternative. Although I must say the timing of his slayers going berserk is awfully convenient in both incidents."
"I see."
"Be careful Hikari. He seems to have taken an interest in you."
"Hmm.. But what does he want?"
"A blood sample more than likely."
"That's it?"
"Yep, the man is obsessed with drawing blood samples out of all kinds of exotic creatures and studying them."
Hikari paused and thought for a bit. "I know."
She dashed off after the slayer master. With a skip and a hop, she caught up to him.
His bodyguards were so startled that they drew their swords.
"Ah! Hikari, what can I do for you?" He was pleasantly surprised.
"I'll get straight to the point. Would you like to buy my underwear?"
"Umm What!? Come again!?"
"Oh. You're not the first alchemist to ask for it. I just happen to have one with my period. It would cost you though. So what do you say?"
For a brief moment, Hikari saw his eyes open wider than a mutant goldfish, before his face turned back to outrage.
"What do you take me for!? Some kind of pervert? I had good impressions of you when I first heard of your achievements! Begone now!"
He turned around and stormed off.
Hikari shrugged.