Aqua stretched her limbs in the air as she let out a satisfied moan, "That was relaxing, which is quite surprising, may I add." Aqua smiled as she turned toward the group.
She inspected everyone who stood in front of her before she turned heel to face Azure and Sheira again. "Alright, give me some space so I can put these carriages here."
Sheira and Azure nodded as they moved aside. Aqua inhaled deeply as she opened her pocket dimension once again. In an instant, carriages fell one by one. She had made sure their descent was gentle so as not to break their axle.
"Ok, now for animals…" Aqua hummed.
"Aqua… before you do something insane again. Could you make sure whatever pulls our ride is not too extraordinary?" Sheira grinned as she leaned her head to the side.
"I guess. What would you consider normal?" Aqua brought her hand to her cheek and tapped it with her finger.
"I think just something similar to Earth Drake, please don't summon a Dragon Lord or something… I have an inkling you probably could do it." Azure interjected.
Aqua sighed. These two women thought that she didn't have common sense. While it was true that her understanding of what is common differed wildly from their own, it did not mean Aqua was not capable of adjusting.
She put her hand inside the spatial pocket and rummaged through. Her fingers wrapped around 3 small objects. These should work well; they will just need a slight bit of illusion. Aqua grinned as she retrieved three small statues.
She raised one of the small stone statues towards the sky and inspected it, "These are my own mystic engineering creations. I call them H.O.R.S.E. They are artificial constructs that are capable of pulling an immense amount of weight."
"Aqua… I told you… Nothing too extraordinary!" Azure inhaled deeply. "I guess you have a way to do it, considering your smirk."
"Of course, just like I applied illusion on us when entering Red Dawn, I will apply it to these constructs." Aqua handed one statue to each girl. "I guess this is as good a time as any to let you feel how Mystic Constructs work."
They inspected their statues. Sheira nodded before she lifted her head to meet Aqua's gaze. "So, how do we activate it?"
Aqua huffed, "For Mystic Engineering items, you merely need a small amount of mana to activate. You can either produce your own or use the World Soul's mana."
With a nod, the duo of elven girls inspected their statues. Aqua nodded, "Alright, observe how I do it. Then follow my lead."
Aqua slowly closed her eyes as she produced a spark of mana. Then, as it touched the statue, it crumbled much like Airship's Idol. The ashes swirled and danced around her hand before they rushed ahead in a mass of smoke and dust.
The dust colagulated and melted into a liquid of stone and mana, then multiple tentacles burst out of the puddle, the stones flew upward as they covered the tentacles of mana. Soon, the shapeless mass of stone turned into a being that resembled a horse made of marble.
Its skin was made of smooth marble, and its joints were connected by pale blue light that gave the floating appearance as if it were floating in pieces. Yet despite its appearance, Aqua only nodded in satisfaction.
"This is a H.O.R.S.E. It is an ideal land transportation unit that I had constructed myself!" Aqua placed her hands on her hips as she inspected her creation. "Come on, try it."
Sheira leaned forward as her hands went limp, "Aqua… Didn't we say nothing extraordinary… What even is that?"
"What do you mean? I don't have anything worse than this."
"Sure… I could have guessed that Mommy would do that." Sheira nudged Azure, who curiously stared at the construct.
While Sheira was bewildered, Azure couldn't help but wonder about military applications if they were able to produce beings similar to them. After all, they seemed alive despite clearly being made of stone.
"How easy are they to make?" Azure approached the first H.O.R.S.E and dragged her hand over its marble skin with Sheira following closely.
Aqua crossed her arms as she plunged into thought, "Quite easy if you have mastery of Aether and Engineering. I will teach you if you are interested when you master the basics."
"Really?!" Azure jumped in excitement as she hit Sheira's nose with her elbow.
"Oow! You find a wife and now hit your friend! Rude!" Sheira protested, yet Azure ignored her as she continued. "I am so excited, so to activate, I just need to spark it with mana?"
Aqua nodded.
Azure took a deep breath. She had learned how to split aether and release mana; however, this time she needed to do it in the smallest possible amount. She gripped the Aether as was taught by Aqua, and then she slowly ripped it.
Her mind was instantly filled with a kaleidoscope of color. However, it was minor and thus manageable. She felt the created mana get pulled toward the statue, and then it shattered in her hand. Instinctively, she tried to reach out and catch it, but she realised it worked as intended.
She closed her empty fist as the statue formed the stone construct.
"I did it!" She couldn't help but yell in excitement.
"Good job, Azu! I knew you could do it!" Sheira clapped in excitement before she raised her own statue. "Now observe! As I, the most amazing and beautiful princess Sheira, summon the horse!"
Azure cringed as she let out a sigh. Sheira was always such an eccentric girl, yet when she saw her being her old self, it filled her with warmth beyond imagination, and when she gazed at her heroine, she felt the same.
Her companions made her feel warm and safe; it was a truly wonderful feeling she would have forever lost if she had not met Aqua.
Sheira's statue crumbled much like the pair before her. Soon, a pale stone horse stood in front of her.
"Now, I will apply illusion to them." Aqua approached the 3 constructs. They stood motionlessly, yet in her eyes, they were truly beautiful even if not alive in the truest sense of the world.
Aqua traced her fingers over their marble frame. Mystic Engineering is truly beautiful.
Aqua clapped her hands. Then, a thin veil of mana blanketed the constructs. It shaped and twisted. First, it took the appearance of a lizard-like creature. It forced the entity to appear as if it had shorter legs and scales.
Its head became more triangular, and its marble skin was replaced by green and brown scales. The height of the beast was reduced from almost 2 meters to a mere 1 meter in height and increased to 3 meters in length.
Aqua placed her hands behind her back as she leaned close to each H.O.R.S.E.
"What do you think, do they look like Earth Drakes?" Aqua's lips formed a thin line as she smiled.
"Very much!" Sheira scratched her chin as she approached. She poked at each construct before she pulled her finger away. "So… how did you make it feel like their scales?"
Aqua relaxed her posture. "Illusion is meant to trick all senses. While my illusion is pathetic to my teacher, I still can cover most things under its veil. And for how I made the scaly feeling, well, I merely replicated how dragon scale feels on a lower level."
Azure chuckled, "Of course…"
"I don't think anyone could notice something off about this… this might be some of the best illusion I've ever witnessed, it puts even Mom to shame."
"Hmm.. your actual mother?" Aqua tilted her head.
"Yes, Jealous? I now have a Mom and a Mommy," Sheira made a smug expression as she nudged Aqua.
"Not at all. I am not competing with your biological mother, even if you can consider me your mom due to the rebirth you have undergone." Aqua clasped her hands together as she approached the empty carriage.
Sheira waited for Aqua to get some distance from her before groaning under her breath, "Aqua! Stop being dense, react to my teases!".
Aqua's ears twitched. Sheira… you know I can hear you.
Yet she couldn't blame the girl. She had experienced such teasing before, and in a way, it was another thing that brought her joy through nostalgia.
Aqua moved in front of the carriage and, with great ease, lifted the vehicle. She pulled it over to the first Horse and attached it.
Azure stared at her as if she was looking at the greatest invention ever made, yet Aqua did not mind her gaze as she pulled the other 2 carriages to their horses. She used the provided strappings to set them up and attach them to the mighty constructs.
Aqua took a step back and clapped her hands, "All done! We are ready to go to the capital."
"Yay! Finally!" Sheira said excitedly as she rushed into the front carriage.
"Azure, let's gather everyone and depart." Aqua motioned for Azure to follow as she turned her back to the girl and headed toward the group of humans.