Enchanted ammunition is the bedrock of an army. They are a fraction as potent as if a pure blood knight casts it. But it's the only way a knight can cover such a vast front by sharing a fraction of his power with the lowest peasant. In case anyone is confused what's difference between a knight and an enchanter is. There is none. They fill both roles. A knight rotates between them. It's common for knights to use excess mana to enchant their own weapons they built up during down times.
Hikari steps out of her chamber.
It was the usual time for her morning run.
But she had more important work to do.
She walked to the newly established forge.
There were several carts filled with weapons and armour.
They weigh at least a ton each.
She pulled them to the north gate to a building comparable in size to her chambers.
The RazenHeir estate was just to her right.
The arcaneum was built specially for her.
A round tower. One large door for her. Several smaller doors for the helpers.
Several people showed up. Mostly women.
Much of the men had been sent to guard the Carla front.
The boys who are too young to march helped out in the forges and fields.
One by one, they carried the crates of musket balls and slotted them around the ritual circle.
The RazenHeir enchantors carried the mana crystals. A mix of low grade crystals from the spire city and those harvested from the ghouls.
It was sufficient for mass producing enchantments.
She walked into the chamber.
The Illenium coating on the inner wall shimmers in response to her mana.
The doors closed.
A brief surge of mana.
The enchantors clad in robes opens the door.
They picked up the musket balls and inspected them.
"Hikari, they are of very good quality given the grade of the mana crystals."
The headmistress remarked with a look of amazement in her voice.
"That's good."
"Take a rest now. We'll do the next batch tomorrow."
Hikari checks her condition.
"Let's continue. I feel fine."
The headmistress's eyes lit up.
"Ah. Your mana capacity must have grown greatly with your size. It's no wonder you find your previous load light."
She signals her fellow enchantors.
The doors to the chamber closed. A surge of mana.
The headmistress walks in and picks up a musket ball.
"The quality hasn't degraded. You must still have mana."
"Yes."
The headmistress checks the circle.
"No signs of overloading. Your control must have grown to match your mana."
Hikari channeled flames in her hand.
It briefly flickered before she snuffed it out.
She still feels an itching, lingering pain on her wrist.
"It's normal. Power surges don't come without drawbacks. Just avoid absorbing more mana."
"Yeah."
Then she notices the compartment containing the cannons.
"Those runes were etched by your squire. She's really good. It's just basic runes, but I can tell she has the skills of a grand enchantress."
Hikari took a moment to rest as the crates of enchanted ammunition were removed.
"Another?"
A helper runs up to the headmistress and whispers something.
"The mana crystals went missing? My goodness, the times are rough."
Hikari assembles her clothes and boots.
She still feels fresh. She could pump out more enchantments.
"Time to pull more carts"
Crunch. Crunch.
She hears a faint munching sound coming from not far away.
She senses a faint mana presence.
"A barrier?"
She leapt in that direction. Half expecting a fight.
She saw the back of a maid uniform. Her tail sticking out from the back of her skirt as she sat on the ground.
"Ella" She called out in a flat voice.
The half wyvern flinched.
"Hello Hikari! How was enchanting?"
She slithered to Hikari and licked the tip of her boot.
"lift your head."
Ella looks up at her. There was a speck of mana crystal stuck to her cheek.
"Hands and knees."
She flinched. Her tail shot straight standing on its end.
She reluctantly got into her position.
"Straight your back."
Ella trembled as Hikari stepped over her.
The giantess's shoes on either side of her pointed the opposite direction to where she was facing.
She let out a wyvern's roar as the massive balls of muscle descended on her back.
"Bad Ella."
"(curses in ancient runic language) Ella is sorry! Ella won't steal mana crystals anymore"
"Still can't take my weight?"
"Hikari is too heavy to be a wyvern rider! Ella cannot support Hikari's weight!"
"Then Train."
"(curses in ancient runic language) Ella is sorry! Ella cannot grow more muscle!"
"Train"
"(curses in ancient runic language)"
— Hikari —--
[arcane proficiency : 175 -> 250]
[Razenheir flames : 170 -> 250]
[mind : 1000+ -> 1000+ (+30)]
. . .
The Carla front still needs your attention. Ghoul mothers are quite the menace for common infantry as they keep spawning ghouls from a safe distance where the static infantry can't reach them. On the flip side, they are great for farming. The corrupted crystals they drop are quite valuable once purified. I don't trust the so-called holy order anymore than anyone else, but they would pay handsomely for them.
Hikari stood still as she observed a ghoul herd charge uphill towards a fortress.
It was the hill top fortress she had captured during the Carla campaign. Now, the RazenHeir flag flies over it.
Riflemen and pikemen spear them down as they attempted to scale the walls.
She looked around for
She saw ghouls crawl out of a spot in the ground several times.
"There"
She leapt into the air.
The ground beneath her collapsed as her weight crashed into the ghoul mother's burrow.
Its spine snapped as she grabbed its neck and yanked it backwards.
The spikes on the ghoul mother's back actually contain mid grade mana crystals. To harvest it, you're going to have to yank it out while it's still alive. That would double the yield you would obtain from a single ghoul mother.
Holding the ghoul mother in a choke, Hikari yanked out the spikes growing out of its back.
She could see the glint buried in the bone.
As the final spike was pulled out, she reached her glove in and pulled out its core.
The other ghoul mother unburrowed and scrambled away. Hikari threw her sword, impaling its leg into the ground.
The fight was short.
She bundles the spikes together. They remind her of the stalagmites she saw when she was below the wyvern peaks.
Munch. Munch. Munch. Ella munched on the spikes she pulled out from her prey.
On seeing Hikari staring at her, she froze.
Slithering to Hikari's boot, she licked the boot tip and held up the head of the spike she was chewing on.
Hikari could sense a strong mana presence concentrated inside the head.
Grabbing the spike with bot hands, she broke off the head from the tip.
"You can have this."
Ella happily grabs the pointed tip. With a breath of wyvern flame, she cleaned off the gory flesh stuck before munching down.
"Ella, do you want the heads?"
"(No, the mist crystals have unfriendly energy. Ella's head will hurt if Ella eats them.)"
Hikari unbundles the crystals and breaks off the heads.
It's easier to store in her harvest sack this way.
"You can munch when we get back."
Ella does a backflip in joy.