Sheela knelt before Hikari, resting each of her palms on each of her feet. The big toe was as wide as two or three or Sheela's fingers.
Suddenly, Sheela was thrown back.
"Ugh…" she groaned.
"Are you alright?"
Hikari bent down and extended her fingers, helping her get back up. After regaining her balance, Sheela circulated her mana and stabilized her breathing.
"Gee, you sure have grown bigger again. I reckon you have doubled your mass in under just a month. Your mana levels have gotten a bit overwhelming even for me."
"Yea, I feel strong."
"Hmm, that might not be a good thing though."
Sheela took a stance, legs shoulder width apart and channeled her mana.
Hikari could see the flow of energy in her body in great detail as though her body was transparent.
No, Hikari wasn't just able to see through her, she felt connected to her. She was connected to the sand beneath her feet and the sand in turn was connected to Sheela.
"You have too much mana flowing through your body. It's a complete mess in there. It happens whenever you expand your core and your body. At this rate, you might get mana poisoning"
The sand bender got into a rhythm. Moving a small fraction of what she could channel up and down her body. The energy moved up from below her and back down into the sands.
"Simple mana exercise, I'm sure your house has taught you this. Withdraw as much mana as you can into your core and follow my lead. Let the sands guild you."
"Yes, master."
Hikari focused in. Her breathing slowed. Her muscles loosened.
She felt nauseous as the myriad of conflicting energies swirling within her clashed against each other. It felt close to getting mana poisoning again
Badum! Badum! Badum… gradually, her heart slowed. She was falling into a meditating state.
She almost lost balance as the most minute unevenness in her mass was felt as she drained her body of mana. She could feel the crushing weight of her body on her feet despite their huge surface area.
The energy from the sand began flowing into her, making a full round trip of her body. Up and down. She thought she was imagining it but the sand below her feet seemed to shuffle just slightly to support the tiniest of shifts in her balancing point.
"Thats it. I bet ya had a good fight out there in the peaks. This is where we wind down to avoid injuring ourselves."
Sheela lifted her right arm and did a slow, smooth circular motion. Whole masses of sand below her swirled and yet the ground remained flat, completely still.
Hikari followed, getting in sync with Sheela's movements. She could feel the entire structure that was the size of a small castle moving in sync with her.
Yet the hall was still. Quiet.
Gradually, they winded down. The sands slowed and stopped.
"How do ya feel now?"
Hikari opened her eyes. Her body felt heavy but at the same time she was more in control of her mana flow than before.
"I feel great"
"He! See? What do ya think? Isn't ya master great? Ya really think all your master knows how to do is wrestle?"
"Master Sheela is knowledgeable."
"Knowledgeable? He! I like that. My little brother had always been the think tank. Looks like I can do a bit of that too."
Sheela gave Hikari's thigh a fist bump.
"I can feel it all the way from my chambers the moment you step foot in Fort Escher. It's not that you grown much bigger, but also-"
Sheela stumped.
"I can't explain it. But umm… I don't know, your aura has gotten much much stronger. Like I can literally sense it now. It takes one of our benders at least a decade to develop any level of feeling for the sand."
Hikari gave her a confused look.
"He! Whatevers, you got really strong. That makes me excited. We haven't had a round since you disappeared eh? I still wanna get you back for the last time."
"Master.. I don't think-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're too big for me to wrestle now. Heck, I think you are a match for even our biggest golems. But hey, Ya think all ya master has is muscle?"
"No, master."
"Good, now let me show you."
Sheela turned and channeled her mana. The runes on the opposite end of the room glowed with a light smoothing green color.
Two solid platforms emerged from the sand below. The sands flooded onto each platform, coalescing into solid stones of irregular shapes before receding.
"Cairn stones. First to stack them vertically wins. I hope you don't think sand bending is all about who can move the biggest mass of sand."
"Interesting"
"He. I hope you don't regret this. Not even my grandfather beats me at this."
Hikari nods and turns to the stones.
The stones on both platforms began moving.