"So, what's the job?"
"We slay the queen wyvern in her lair. Well not us. We're just hired as part of the force to clear the route to the lair. The wyverns had been getting more aggressive of late, attacking merchant convoys and farmland "
"I see."
"You're not disappointed? I thought slaying a wyvern queen might excite you. I can just picture you standing on top of the slain wyvern queen with your boot on its head."
"You don't risk your life for money."
"True. I too want you to know just how irreplaceable you are."
Ria took a step towards Hikari, looking up at her with admiring eyes.
"About the pay."
"Well, we would probably make enough gold from this raid just to get by. It's not going to be easy finding the gold to pay for your exorbitant tuition in the academy. Especially because of your size. You eat as much as two infantry platoons at least. The territorial tax revenue is not going to cover your costs at the academy."
Hikari rolled her eyes in embarrassment.
"More importantly, we gain prestige with the Herdial guilds to have access to better missions. Oh and look at this."
Ria fished a silver badge out of her pocket.
"Silver rank. Awarded to the RazenHeir knight Hikari for her supporting role in taking down the cultist flesh titan. Or so the letter says. "
Ria laughs. "Yeah sure. They were just trying to save face that their prized sky fortress lost."
"Silver?"
"Its more of a symbol of status. Certain investors wouldn't bother speaking with you regarding raids if you don't have at least gold and above. Though, the titan you slayed at Carla ought to have qualified you for gold and above."
"I see."
"This mission is a bit of a warm up for us. Once we obtain gold rank, I can begin to fish around the Herdial nobility for more lucrative raids."
"My sword is ready."
Ria smiled widely and nodded.
Back to studying their gear.
Hikari picked up an elaborately decorated lantern, the hexagonal base fitting onto her palm. As she held it in her palm, the core behind the translucent glass gave off an eerie light.
"The Eldarsoar artifact. We salvaged it from the Titan's corpse. Metharia. Chances are slim that she might still be alive. I guess we'll hold on to it for now."
"I'll try learning it."
"The mana form? Sure. I heard it's extremely difficult to master a mana from just the artifact without the aid of the progenitors. I hope you can do it so that their legacy can live on."
Hikari focused in on the object, moving her mana around the complicated runes and symbols etched on the inside of the lantern.
"Its hard"
"He. Don't be too hard on yourself. Even grand sorcerers would have trouble with that. Just focus on what we should do for the wyvern queen raid."
Hikari put down the lantern and picked up her bow. She tugged the bow string to test its elasticity.
"It's not strong enough."
"No worries about that one. It's just a siege ballista without the mount. Probably not hard to have it restrung even in Herdial. As for the bolts, we can probably even borrow some from the Herdial army."
Hikari picked up her handcannon. It was similar in design as the one she raised against Carla. Telekinetic and Razenheir runes inside the chamber and barrel. The shorter barrel meant less runes, reducing both the power and range of her shots.
She dropped a cannon ball into the barrel, pointing it towards the ceiling. The flaming steel ball popped out of the barrel, falling back down into Hikari's hand which smothered the flames.
"Still works."
"Phew. That's a really expensive and delicate piece of gear. It's gonna take at least three months for them to repair the barrel on your other one."
Hikari turned her attention to the humongous piece of stone. It was glowing with swirling red energy. One could feel the silent screams of the thousands sacrificed to craft the stone.
"Ah, a shard of the Titan's core. One went to Herdial, another went to the territory, and the last went to you for delivering the final blow to the titan. Officially, Herdial reported two shards. They secretly negotiated with us to publically let them take the credit for the titan kill. They needed something to cope with the political disaster of losing their sky fortress. I can't imagine how much this would go for at auction."
Hikari picked up the shard with both hands and stared into it for a few minutes.
"I'll consume it."
"Eh? Consume it? Oh, I mean…"
Ria mumbled to herself for a moment.
"Yes of course, Hikari. It's your kill after all."
Hikari put down the stone and turned towards Ria.
"We're short on gold aren't we?"
"Ermm… yes. But you let me worry about that. I'm your lady after all, I shouldn't make this your problem."
Hikari thought for a bit.
"Sell the black spider silk dress."
"The black dress? Hmm… that dress is rather expensive. The material can be sold but…"
"The blood crystals and high heels too."
Ria dropped her head and kept quiet.
Hikari sat down. Using one finger, she lifted Ria's head by the chin.
"It was fun. My feet towering over you in those heels. But there are few things that could grow my power like a titan core."
Ria's eyes lit up.
"Yes. Of course. We should focus on what's important. You are so perfect even without them."
Ria planted a kiss on Hikari's finger.
"I'll put them up for auction right away. In the meantime, I'll prepare the ingredients. I remember reading an old cargo manifest on your growth mixtures. Let's see, wheatgrass as the base, any source of distilled protein will do, ivory berries for their mana content"
Hikari ran her finger along her cheek and over her head, stroking the back of her hair.
"Are you sad you won't get to see me in that dress anymore?"
"No, not at all. You are so perfect no matter what you wear. I'm just ashamed as your lady to have to sell your dress like that. Once you slay the monsters, I'll be sure to get the best prices for the monster parts so I can buy you an even better dress. One that would really make men burst in their pants."
Hikari giggles.
"By the way, have you ever seen me grow before?"
Ria moans as blood rushes to her head.
"Not now, time is short. When I'm done, you'll be the first to see me."
"Oh… you promise?"
"Yes, my lady."