What Leona felt could only be described as pain from existing.
"Why… why does everywhere hurt…?!"
She was attempting to climb the trail again without help but it was going much worse than she expected. Her hamstrings and calves were burning up with pulsating soreness.
The way down was a walk in the park as she even took the time to appreciate the now clear vision of the coastal city with fishing boats and transport ships coming and going from the port, which was previously hidden behind morning fog. But now that she was hiking back up, it felt like she was going through verdant hell.
Her short breath was accompanied by a painful sensation across her entire body.
"Ugh…" She slowly sat on a boulder on the side of the trail and swallowed the thick saliva that was building up inside her mouth. "I should've taken a break before coming here…"
She looked at the expansive ocean as the sun rays left a glistering spark across the blue surface. It was a beautiful sight and one she wouldn't have witnessed had she stayed in Arcadia.
The cool breeze hitting her body covered in sweat made her feel refreshed as she let out a slow yet long sigh.
"Miss Leona?"
The familiar female voice made her look downwards at a girl carrying a basket choked full of food on her back with the help of two leather straps for each shoulder.
"Yuna?"
"What are you doing here by yourself?"
"I could ask the same of you."
"Oh, this?" She adjusted the basket by tilting it a bit forward. "This is food Father asked to buy. I'm on my way back now."
The basket in question was about the size of the shrine maiden and yet she carried it like it was normal. Leona raised an eyebrow as she asked.
"How did you climb all the way up here with that on your back?"
"A bit of reinforcement magic with wind magic to support the basket." She smiled wryly. "It's not that heavy. Want to try it?"
"Really?"
The small girl let go of the basket and set it on the ground where she tried to lift it up with her legs but no matter how much force she exerted, the large vessel did not move an inch.
'What the-! This is heavy!'
She let go of the leather handle and fell down on the ground.
"Miss Leona? Are you okay?"
"Yuna… h-how is that not heavy?"
She looked at her with a pitying look which prompted Yuna to raise an eyebrow.
"Huh? It isn't? As long as you use magic-"
"No, but didn't you train physically in order to climb all the way up without relying on magic?"
"No? This is just to build stamina. We still need to actually move our bodies to climb up, but we don't necessarily need the strength to do so as we can just rely on magic."
"Wait… then why did he tell me to not use magic?"
"Oh that is simply to build this stamina in the first place. After all, using magic to ease the burden on your body won't improve your stamina."
"Huh… that is an interesting way to put it."
"Well in any case…" She put herself beside the basket and put both leather straps around her shoulders and started to lug the vessel uphill. "Take care to not tire yourself too much Miss Leona."
"Thank you, Yuna, I will."
"See ya!"
The petite girl was hiking like she wasn't carrying anything. In the meantime, Leona remained sitting on the boulder for a few more minutes until she was finally ready to climb the trail once again.
"Alright… let's do this."
Slowly but surely she was making her way uphill. With the staff's aid, the burning sensation on her lower body was somewhat manageable as she continued on for the next half an hour or so. However, as it was the first day of her physical training, it didn't take long until her body just decided to stop.
"Ugh!" She felt a pang of pain coming from her leg as the muscles started to cramp up. "Aaargh!"
Her right calf was assaulted with a violent cramp that rendered her imobile. She was clenching her teeth from the pain while kneeling down and massaging her muscles. They throbbed as the heat started to spread across her leg.
That sort of pain was something she never felt before. There were times where she had to exert herself physically but nothing to this extent.
'This pain is killing me…' She thought while rubbing her calf with the bottom of her palm. 'Healing magic would come in handy right now…'
Looking ahead of the trail, she could see that Yuna already left her behind a long time ago and the girl had become a dot in the distance.
"Ugh… how does she walk so fast…?"
Her tired body felt heavy as she sprawled on the grass on the side of the trail. She was blinking her eyes slowly.
'Maybe if I rest for a bit more… just… a bit…'
The cool breeze, the soft sounds of the forest critters and the gentle rustling of foliage made it all the more harder to stand up as she found herself sleeping beneath the shade of a nearby tree.
Back at the top of the hill, Krieg was sitting by a tree as he was dusting off dirt and debris from his clothing. Setsuna and Miyamoto were quietly sitting on a patch of grass on the sides of the training grounds under the shade.
After taking off most of the dirt, he turned to the shrine maiden and asked.
"You're telling me that I went berserk from this 'mana reinforcement'?"
"Yes.These cracks in the ground and the destroyed tree over there were your doing." She turned her head at the partially destroyed training grounds. "However, it's not entirely your fault. I was responsible for your training and I didn't foresee this happening. For that, I apologize."
She bowed.
"It's not your fault." Krieg said while looking at his right hand. "This rage, this anger… it's not the first time I felt it but to act on these feelings is… unforgivable for a knight." He clenched his hand into a tight fist. "I vowed to use my strength to protect Leona and I will do anything to wield this power in order to do so, but… this felt much different from before."
"Can you tell me what you felt?" Setsuna asked with an intense curiosity. "Anything you can remember will be of help for the next training session."
"It was from deep within, as if someone or something was telling me to do it."
The shrine maiden folded her arms with a pensive look on her face.
"If I recall, your grandmother was no other than the silver dragon. But she wasn't exactly known for her temper but her kindness…" She tilted her head slightly. "This doesn't make sense… unless…" She glanced at the swordmaster beside her. "You mentioned your wife was prone to aggression, correct?"
"Yes. Whenever she went on without spending mana she would become increasingly irritable."
"Interesting… I think Krieg going berserk has something to do with his mother rather than the dragon blood running in his veins."
The knight looked at both of them.
"My mother?"
"Yes." Setsuna extended both her open palms in front of her body before raising the right one first then the left. "You have dragon and oni blood coursing through your body. I'm not sure to which extent each of them affects your body or soul, but it's safe to assume it has something to do with those."
Krieg scratched the side of his head.
"I don't quite get it."
"Think of it like a pot filled to the brim with water." Setsuna had both of her hands closed before opening them. "If it starts to boil, it'll spill hot water everywhere. The same can be said to your mana. Somehow you managed to reinforce your entire body with the aspect of a dragon while still regenerating enough mana to cause overload. Which brings to the point I wanted to make—I think onis have a stronger reaction to mana overload than humans do."
"Huh… I heard Leona mention something about it but I never thought I'd be capable of whatever that is."
"Excess generation of mana inside one's soul has tangible effects on the body like fever." She explained further. "Same can be said with mana reinforcement. The idea behind it is to turn mana into aether in order to aid physical endeavors but somehow you were able to add layers to it much like dragon scales, hence the name, dragon aspect."
Seeing how puzzled Krieg looked, Miyamoto extended his hand slightly in front of Setsuna.
"Might I ask for a breather? I think it is enough information for the poor boy."
"Ah, apologies. I tend to get carried away talking about magic theory." She had a faint smile on her face. "I think a break should do wonders for all of us."
"I'd appreciate that." Krieg leaned against the tree trunk and looked up towards the sky amidst the rustling leaves before staring down at his own right hand. "What have I become?"