"What are these?"
Hikari picks up her throwing dagger.
One rune. The one that augments her telekinesis.
The core was made of steel as usual.
She can tell from the weight.
But it was coated with a powdery layer.
"Grey salt. They interfere with the mana flow of the entities you would find in the mist."
"You can't use your flames down in the mist anyway. Without that additional rune, these daggers are much cheaper to mass produce at the forge."
Hikari sits before a spread of weapons.
Specially prepared for delving into the mist.
Her normal arsenal strapped to the wall.
Ria and Rey stand beside her.
Ella sat behind her, licking her paws.
"Nice."
She picks up her cannon balls.
Coated with grey salt.
They were small.
Tiny from her perspective.
Their core was empty. Making them very light.
"These are much smaller than your usual ones. When fighting mist entities, the mass of your attacks don't matter."
Rey was able to hold one of them in his hand.
They were the size of a billiard ball.
"This is what we use in the fortress of Ellis. Small, light. Easy to mass produce and transport. Issued to every common soldier manning the walls. Toss a bunch of them to disperse a mist wraith."
"Nice."
Hikari picks up her ballista bow.
The grip has been thickened to accommodate her new size.
But the bow length remained short.
"I doubt the bow can withstand a full draw from you. But it's perfect for clearing targets at mid range. The short draw means you can fire rapidly."
Hikari picks up the ballista bolts.
Wooden shaft. Steel tip coated in grey salt.
"The order of Silora has concoctions that are very effective against the mist entities. The coating station is set up in Carla. We'll prepare it before sending you down into the depths."
"Nice."
Hikari picks up a piece of clothing.
It was covered in grey salt.
"We'll add the grey salt to your inner shirt as well. Only for patches of it. It does interfere with your mana flow but helps enormously in breaking the flow of mana attacks by mist entities."
"The inner side is still normal cotton. Otherwise, the discomfort adds up during extended stays in the mist."
"Nice."
Hikari picks up a long black piece of rubbery material.
It was the size of her foot.
"Whats this?"
"Your new boot soles. The cavern caterpillar soles have lost their stiffness and their stickiness. The druids of Herdial can restore them, but Moradale just happened to have some zeppelin parts for sale at a lower cost."
Hikari tries bending the boot sole.
It was softer.
She pasted it against her sock bottom.
It curves with her movements.
"It's nice."
There was a silvery layer on the boot sole.
"That Gel is from escher actually. Its vines grow along the pillars. We harvest its sap, let it harden. Makes excellent horse hoofs as well."
"Because Rey is an expert in feet isn't he."
Ria teased.
"Where did that come from?"
Rey looks away.
"Oh, you know exactly where it comes from."
He ignores her and walks towards crates of herbs.
"Freshly harvested wheat grass. Staple food for giants. The slayer count had been cut. Wheatgrass is the one thing that is cheaper now due to the surplus supply"
He walks to another crate.
"The Cilix plant. Regulates body temperatures. Showering and changing is impossible down in the mist."
He walks to another crate.
"Plidor plant. Use it in sufficient concentration and it turns into a strength potion with some blowback. But in moderation, it's a decent energy potion."
"Nice."
"Hikari has been full of praise hasn't she? Good job Rey!"
Ria claps her hands.
Rey gives her a look of skepticism.
"There is still one more item."
He walks to a chest.
Ria and Hikari look on in anticipation.
Donk.
"Enchanted Foot bindings used by the hearthstone house. They are thicker than the pair Sheela gave you before you entered the wyvern peaks. They squeeze the muscles on your lower leg and boost your agility. You can recharge the runes using the hearthstone pendant Sheela gave you. Since you're not going to use your flames down in the depths, they shouldn't burn."
"Nice."
Ria claps.
"Thank you. Thank you. I can sense your deepest sincerity."
He gave a gentleman's bow.
"Oh! What a sensitive man you are. Perhaps you would like a more substantial reward."
Ria signals to Hikari.
"Wait- what-"
A slit appears in the giantess's sock.
She peels it off .
"Wait- wait- wait, that's not."
Rey protested.
Ria's face began turning red.
"I'm curious. Rey. How did you come to realize that you can ask Hikari for her sock? And not just that, asking to be wrapped in it and shipped back on a train. Wouldn't you like to show me?"
Rey begins running for the door.
"Come here."
A pair of giant fingers pinched the back of his shirt.
"No- hold up."
"The stinky one?"
"Lets go with the one you're wearing. We actually don't want him to suffocate. We can replace the patch he gets off on."
"No- No- wait.. Hold on!"
He turns and sees Ella's tail thrashing behind her.
…
Hikari sits in her chambers.
It was quiet.
The faint sounds of soldiers drinking outside.
Tomorrow she marches for the Carla shaft.
She meditates.
Her armour is ready.
Her cauldron boiled.
Extra rations for her.
Herb mixtures.
She was still feeling sore in places.
Her feet were stiff from towing wagons in her boots.
She circulates her mana.
She had been using them sparingly.
The short battle in the swamp.
Her destructive power is overwhelming.
But she still feels the blow back.
She continues.
Her RazenHeir flames.
She suppresses the flow to the minimum.
It works.
It was the mana form she had the most practice with.
The heart wyvern heart.
She could feel the constant pulse of its power.
The searing heat of forges.
The biting cold.
Staggered, inconsistent pulses.
Raging inside her.
She focuses.
It stabilizes.
The hearthstone form.
Neutral.
She feels them residing through her body.
It fights with her other forms.
But it does not attempt to overwhelm them.
The power of Eon.
It felt like a cold flame residing in her body.
Disrupting her mana flow.
It lets her sense the presence of demons.
Though she hadn't been able to cast a single useful spell with it.
She feels like she wants to get rid of it.
The cauldrons bubbled.
Three of them. The third just arrived.
She walks over and opens the lid.
A rush of steam.
She pokes the stew with her ladle.
"It's ready."
She turns off the heat.
A quick shower and change of fresh clothes.
She would be away for a few days.
A fresh set would be waiting in her wardrobe when she gets back.
She sits down and eats.
Ella walks into her chamber.
She was carrying a bundle of weapons.
Throwing daggers and ballista bolts.
Freshly forged. The runes were carved.
She drops them in Hikari's armoury area.
She disassembles her sorcerer robes.
They smell fresh.
She doesn't regulate heat by sweating.
The half wyvern slithers up beside Hikari.
The latter fills her bowl.
Ella eats.
Her tail rests on the ground.
"Thanks."
Munch. Munch.
Ella looks up and blinks at her.
She puts her head down and continues.
The half wyvern cleaned her bowl.
Hikari fills her bowl again.
They ate.
Hikari chews.
She remembers the chewy feeling of wheat grass.
It makes it hard to swallow.
But it makes the cramps and sores go away.
"Ella's full."
She licks her bowl clean.
Hikari finishes up her bowl too.
"I need some rest."
She stands up and stretches.
Thud. Thud. Thud!
She collapsed onto her couch.
Her head leans back.
Her feet flat on the ground.
A brief nap.
She needs to digest.
It was a generous ration today.
Bland as usual.
But it made her full.
Satisfying even.
Shuffling sound on the ground.
She strains her eyebrows.
The feeling of the half wyvern slithering around her chamber.
"Ella."
She paused for a moment.
Then she continues.
Her movements got smaller.
But she continues.
Hikari shrugs and just rests.
She replays the fight in the swamp in her mind.
Especially the mist.
Her mana sense is strong.
She could detect a mana form activating from a musket's range away.
But the mist clouds her detection.
And then that anointed one appears.
Her aura was unlike anything she felt before.
The way she dispels the mist.
Her blunt swordsmanship.
"Let's just sleep."
She clears her mind.
For a brief moment, she fades into unconsciousness.
She wakes up again.
It was too early for bedtime.
"I guess I'll train."
She opens her eyes.
"Ella?"
The half wyvern curled up facing her.
Head close to the ground.
Her pawns in front of her.
Wings folded as tightly to her body as she could.
Her tail on the ground, curled around her.
Hikari's running flats on the ground facing her.
Her nose inches away from the tip.
"Ella likes living with Hikari. Hikari is very good master to Ella."
Hikari looks into her eyes.
Golden swirling flames.
Yet her expression seemed oddly gentle for a wyvern.
"Oh that. I-"
Before she could react, Ella sticks out her tongue.
She inches her face forward, keeping her head low.
She licks the flats.
The tip and the sides.
Traces of mud stains on the sides which the washing bay didn't scrub away.
She leaned further.
Her face over the opening.
She runs her tongue the length of the sole.
Hikari's toes wriggled.
A chilli down her spine.
"Ella."
"Does Hikari like it? Hikari's paw gets dirty a lot. Ella cleans it for Hikari."
"Yes.. it's good."
Ella glances up and sees Hikari's expression.
It made her more excited.
She runs her tongue.
Up and down the sole.
The sides and the tip.
"Ah…"
Hikari rubs her thighs.
"Hikari likes it. Ella is happy. Ella is happy living here with Hikari. So Ella likes making Hikari happy."
Ella licks.
"Ah.."
Ella licks.
Using her horn, she nudges one shoe closer with a head butt.
"Hmm.."
Ella licks the remaining one.
She nudges the shoe closer.
"You want me to wear them?"
Ella nods.
She nudges the other shoe closer.
"They're soggy."
"Ella is sorry. Ella will fix it right away."
"Don't burn my shoes."
"Ella is sorry for making Hikari's shoe soggy. Hikari must punish Ella. Ella is bad Ella."
Ella sticks out her tongue towards Hikari's sock.
She tastes the underside of the toe section.
"My goodness…"
Hikari's socks were disassembled.
She leans back and props them up.
Ella sees the meaty soles that were bigger than her face.
She licks.
Heel to the bore.
She licks again.
Shifting the angle.
Her tongue doesn't cover the full width.
She withdrew her tongue as it wasn't wet enough.
She licks again.
"Hikari has big fight tomorrow. Ella will relax Hikari. So Hikari can fight well."
"Ahh… Its relaxing"
Ella licks.
A breath of flame against the sole.
"Ella."
"Yes Hikari."
Ella licks.
"The mist."
"Yes Hikari. Hikari's armor is thick enough Ella thinks. Hikari has to save mana."
Ella licks.
"Ella will be watching over Hikari. Ella knows how to fight in the mist. Ella can train Hikari more later. But Hikari's is strong enough for tomorrow."
"Thanks to you."
Ella licks both soles in quick succession.
"Ella is happy. Ella knows Hikari likes getting strong."
"My body is stable."
Ella licks.
A breath of flame.
She claws away the dried saliva stuck to the sole.
"Ella like helping Hikari. It makes Ella happy. It makes Hikari happy."
Hikari giggles.
"Back."
Hikari slides her feet into her flats.
"I must train now."
She wriggles her toes in her flats.
"Socks."
Ella licks the top of her feet.
"Ella will clean. Hikari no need to worry about socks."
"Hmm..?"
Ella kept licking.
Hikari wriggles her toes.
She looks down at the wyvern laying flat on her belly.
Her wings folded.
Her tail thrashing around on the floor.
"Ella?"
Ella licks.
"When Hikari's back from mist. Ella has surprise for Hikari."
"Really?"
"Yes. Hikari be safe. Ella will be watching over Hikari when Hikari is in mist. Ella can fight in the mist."
Hikari giggles.
"Alright."