Hikari sat before a massive rectangular steel crate.
Her legs crossed.
The crate spans the length of her legs and requires both of her arms to carry.
Ria stands beside her.
"What's this?"
"The parasitic skin of the king black salamander. A piece of living armour that can grow and take the shape of its owner."
Hesitantly Hikari reaches to open the crate.
She could sense something swirling inside.
It had no heartbeat.
But it was alive.
The crate had holes punched onto the top.
A porous netting covering the holes to allow whatever that was inside to breathe.
As Hikari lifted the lid, Ria hid behind her back.
"Ria?"
Donk. The back of the lid hit the ground.
A swirling mass of black moss.
It takes the shape of its container.
Its shape shifts and turns.
As the lid opens, several buds appear, reaching up for more air.
Ria pokes her head out from behind Hikari's back.
"Is it safe?"
Hikari looks at the black moss.
"It's not attacking."
Hesitantly, Ria came out from behind her back.
She climbed onto Hikari's thigh to get a look over into the crate.
"It is exactly as the textbooks describe it. A living parasitic mass of fungus."
"Yuck."
"Yep. It makes my skin crawl looking at it."
"What do I do with it?"
"Well, wear it. It's your armour."
"Armour?"
"Yeah. That's how everyone else does it."
"Will it eat me?"
"Nope. It's a mid tier kind of equipment. Many adventurers use it. That hasn't happened to anyone yet. Out in the wild. It grows on the skins of the king salamanders right under its hard carapace and lives off the heat and mana of its host."
Hikari was rather unconvinced.
Reluctantly, she held out her hand, holding it just above
The black mass reacts to the heat.
It clumps up and bulges upwards, trying to reach for her finger tip.
Hikari holds her hand still.
It wraps around her fingertip.
It was harmless.
Hikari lets it continue, watching it closely.
Ria standing on the giantess's thigh was holding her breath.
It climbed up her finger onto her hand.
Hikari tries to move her finger which was now coated in the black moss.
She could move it normally.
It felt slimy.
But the fungus did not bite her.
Nor did it feel the sting of acid.
"How is it?"
"It doesn't hurt."
"Good. I have done extensive research on it. It is a living armour that is well known to be safe to use. Though its appearance does make my skin crawl. I wouldn't dare to wear it."
Hikari continues.
She places her palm into the chest.
Slowly, the salamander armour crawls up her arm.
Hikari feels a cooling sensation as the fungus absorbs her heat.
The slimy feeling could take some getting used to though.
Hikari lifts her arm out of the steel crate.
She had allowed only a portion of the black fungus onto her arm to try it out.
Simple motions with her arm.
It felt nothing more than a thick layer of slime over her at first.
It's subtle, but it appears to be adapting to her movements and following them.
Hikari continues to train it.
"Yep, that's the way. You have to move around with it to get used to your body. Once it does, it boosts your overall physique by lending you its strength by synchronizing itself with your movements."
"Yes."
Slow rotating motions with her arm.
Like how she would swing her sword.
Then she circulates her mana through her sword.
"It's absorbing my mana."
"Good. It means that you're getting the hang of it. The living armour also serves as a mana bank. It absorbs mana from the user while they're resting. In combat, once the user starts depleting their mana, the salamander skin releases back to its host."
"Neat."
Hikari picks up her sword and holds it.
The salamander skin readjusts itself to even out the strain on Hikari's arm.
"It's nice."
"I'm glad you're liking it. You have been getting bigger and bigger. The salamander armour can help you support the weight of your body. When your body generates heat from intense battles, it can absorb some from you. It even serves as a mana battery. No wonder it's a popular armour even amongst the most elite raid parties."
Hikari places her other hand into the black moss.
It eagerly climbs her hand.
She has to retrain it.
It didn't take long for it to learn.
Ria jumps off her thigh.
Hikari stands up and looks at the entire crate.
"Do I let it onto my skin?"
"Yes. That is the recommended way to use it. A layer of cotton would insulate the heat and mana transfer between the salamander skin and the user. But wearing a layer underneath is recorded to be perfectly fine as well."
Hikari just keeps her clothes on.
She is in the RazenHeir camp.
The palisade would not shield her if she stands straight with her upper body over it and removes her tops.
That would certainly cause a commotion.
She bends down.
Both palms sink into the crate.
She feels the rough bedding at the bottom.
The salamander skin swirls excitedly as it senses their new host.
It climbs up her arms.
The excess mass crawls onto her shoulders and then expands downwards down her chest, her abdomen and her legs down to her ankles.
Hikari stands straight up.
Her back aches a little from holding that position.
The skin moves very very slowly along her body.
She does her stretching exercises.
Ria runs and leans against the palisade to make space for her.
Hip rotations.
Rotate left. Rotate right.
The sticky skin slows her down.
She keeps repeating the same motion.
It is learning.
Hikari picks up the pace.
The pace it was learning was slow.
But it's not a problem.
It was her rest day anyway after the intense days of training with Sheela.
Tomorrow she marches for the mouth of the wyvern peaks.
Slow moving drills to relax her muscles is what she would do anyways.
Plus, she gets to train her new armour.
The salamander skin finally got the horizontal rotation down.
It took her thrice the amount of reps she usually does.
Time to move on.
Legs movements are the most important.
She lifts her left leg.
And then her right in a high knee motion.
Her flats stomp against the ground.
A set of fifty leg raises on either leg.
Her normal rep count.
The salamander skin made it harder actually.
It was supposed to be a rest day so she stopped here.
She picks up her sword.
Basic drills.
One foot in front of the other.
Raise the sword over her head.
Vertical slash.
Slow motion.
There was no need to do it fast.
The point was to relax her muscles and get the salamander armour to adjust to her body.
Fifty reps.
She puts down her sword and wipes the sweat off her temple.
The rest of her body doesn't feel so sweaty yet.
The salamander skin was absorbing the excess heat from her workout.
"Nice."
She continues.
Horizontal swings.
Fifty reps.
She picks up her water tank and drinks.
She was getting into a groove.
Squats.
Fifty reps.
This is the motion that gives her the explosive jumping power she uses so often in combat.
She could feel the salamander skin reinforcing her leg and back muscles.
She would have to recalibrate her jumping force out in the field.
"Ria."
Hikari turns to see Ria looking up at her.
Her lady rooted against the palisade through her workout.
"Umm.. Ahem! I see it's working well for you. You'll be fighting in the mine caverns where you won't be zipping around a vast battlefield like you did in the Carla campaign. It'll be the perfect time to get used to your new armour."
"Yes."
Hikari checks herself.
"Ria."
"Yea?"
"It's soft."
"Ah, you're right. But fret not. You see, in the wild, the salamander skin wraps around its host which accumulates the hardened rock over the salamander skin as its armour. The salamander skin is a glue layer. It can support harder heavier platings over it. Your wyvern skin will do just fine."
"Ah."
Hikari positions herself in front of her pile of wyvern skin.
She tries to assemble them on her.
"Ivory berries."
A fail for the first try.
The additional surface from the salamander skin throws the size off.
The layer interferes with her telekinesis too.
"Oh, did I mention that the king salamanders are magical creatures that could channel mana. There are many hybrid spell blades that have made great use of the salamander skin. You are one yourself aren't you. No wonder the Lord RazenHeir picks this particular armour."
Hikari nods.
Looks like she has more homework to do.
Before attempting to assemble her armour.
She sits down in front of the pile.
She juggles the pieces of wyvern skin armour.
Feeling confident, she mixes in her throwing daggers.
The same thing with her physical movements.
The salamander skin takes time to get used to her mana movements.
Simple circular motion.
No fancy thrusts and swings just yet.
Ria watches her practice.
Her giantess knight's abilities never cease to amaze her.
Before she knew it, Hikari was able to freely move a dagger in random directions.
Hikari stands up.
Now to try assembling her armour again.
The pieces of wyvern skin floated onto her body and began assembling themselves.
They managed to form a complete piece.
Hikari gingerly checks herself.
She was quite proud of her achievement.
Until she spotted a long crack in her armour from the side of her leg down.
"Pffff!" Ria covers her mouth, holding in her laughter.
"There are more pieces in the tannery. They should be ready."
Hikari pulls them over.
She tries assembling her armour again.
It happens every time she has a growth sprout.
Having her armour in pieces helps a lot in readjusting her armour to her new sizes.
But there's a jigsaw puzzle she has to solve every time.
"There."
Hikari checks herself again.
No gapping slits this time.
She retries her movement set.
"Its tight."
"Ah. I remember now. Adventurers don't usually make tightly knit armours like your wyvern skin. Perhaps try just tiling your wyvern skin over the salamander skin without connecting them with the weaving runes?"
Hikari nods.
She tries again.
She merely uses the weaving runes as markings this time.
She tiles them tightly, but without activating the weaving runes, she left tiny slits in between the armour.
The salamander skin was sandwiched between them, gluing the pieces together.
Hikari checks herself.
She was well covered.
She tries her normal movements.
It felt even better than her old way of wearing her wyvern skin.
There was a limit to how far the weaving runes could stretch.
"Now we don't have to worry about the weaving runes on your wyvern skin anymore. They have to be replaced a lot when you overstretch them."
"Nice."
Hikari picks up her sword and gives it a few swings.
She was more than satisfied with her armour upgrade.
"You march off tomorrow to clear the mines. Make me proud out there. Hope you, hehe~ come back with something… spectacular."
Hikari giggles.
"I will."
—-- King salamander skin —--
weight : ~350 kg, physique + 100, mana + 175, defense + 170