Emory yawned, leaned up, and stretched out her arms as the alarm clock rang. After getting ready for the day in her typical military jumpsuit, she headed out to check on the status of the various stations being built. First, she checked on the main structure and found Tethys there doing the same. "Good morning, Tethys," Emory greeted her, "How are things going here?"
Tethys nodded, "Progress is slow but continual here. We've built about thirty percent of the outer wall and fifteen percent of the interior. Once the other buildings are finished, we can allocate more people to this task instead of just the overflow people."
"Still, that's substantially better than I expected," Emory admitted, "Have you been to the other stations yet?"
"Not yet. I must have only started a little bit before you," Tethys shook her head.
"We'll go together then," Emory smiled, "Also, I think there will be too many people if all of them go to the main structure. Let's plot out some points of interest and send out a scout team today."
Tethys paused before gingerly saying, "Isn't there already a scout team going with you today?" Emory stopped walking and gave Tethys a bewildered look.
"No, I'm going alone to meet Athos," Emory frowned, "You heard what I told you he said. 'Come alone.'"
"I know, but is that really the best idea? He's obviously powerful and we don't know if he's a friend or foe yet, despite what he may have said," Tethys explained.
"Bringing others may only provoke him," Emory argued, "He sent them away last time without incident. Why jeopardize that luck?"
Tethys sighed, "That also means he'll be too much for you to deal with as well. What if this was an elaborate plan to get you alone?"
"I'm going alone, and that is final," Emory firmly stated. The air became tense as the pair walked in silence to the crafting station. When they got closer, they found Mags making some final adjustments, but the structure was finished and the interior was furnished with a forge, leatherwork table, and several table-mounted saws.
Mags shouted, "The cooling station can't be that far away from the furnace!" Three people helping her huffed before picking up a large metal container closer to the blast furnace.
"Looks like you're almost done," Emory noticed, "Once everything is in its proper place, how long until you're ready to make items?"
"Well, we should be finished setting up in an hour. Then it depends on what you want. Metalwork will still be a few hours, but I could make something on hide right away," Mags admitted.
"Good," Emory smiled, "Do you have any sketch paper out yet? I have to go out later this afternoon, so I want to get the first project's design done before I go." Mags nodded and grabbed a sketchbook out from under one of the tables.
Handing it to Emory, Mags remarked, "This is your special project, right? How is this going to work again?"
"When you're ready, call for me and I'll inscribe the magik, just like any normal enchantment," Tethys assured her unconvincingly. Mags scrunched her face before she shrugged her shoulders and began preparing different tools.
Mags asked, "So what you want this on? Metal, stone, leather, or the whole gambit?"
"I want a couple small leather ones made," Emory made a small portrait with her hands, "And then eventually, I'll need one on a collapsable metal disk as well. The small size should fit into a bag and fold out to a two-foot radius." Mags had pulled out a second sketchbook and jotted down some notes as she nodded.
"Sounds good. Tethys, I'll let you know when I'm ready," Mags commented as she went back to oversee the finishing touches. Emory and Tethys walked towards the research center with Tethys a couple steps behind.
Finally, before they reached the center, Tethys questioned, "Are you sure about this plan you're cooking up? I mean, I know you're largely keeping us in the dark for our safety, but it seems risky."
"Honestly, I don't know how big of a deal it would be. I know my family has some special status on the Council, but I don't know how far that will get me," Emory sternly confessed, "On the other hand, I've met two of the leaders. Even if I only increase my level to three, I'm more than confident I could take on the majority by myself."
"Once Gatrie's team has the RRS operational, we could talk to Sam about it, I have to admit I'm a little nervous about the enchanting part," Tethys agreed.
"That's why I want to start small," Emory conceded, "The spellbook explains that the power of the seal is dependent on your general magik level, but I don't know what that means. Maybe there's only so many uses before it loses the seal?" They walked up to a frame that resembled the main structure but was as thick as the RSS shelter. The research center would be used for two main purposes: to study the system and as an anchor for the defensive array the military was setting up. An advanced, early detection system was always a plan for the Collective, but the events of Proxima Centauri B had moved that timetable up significantly. Humanity was barely a type-one civilization on the Kardashev scale, so while they understood the Sol system very well, they knew very little about the surrounding systems. In truth, the famine and Mantoan catastrophes had changed their perspective drastically, pushing them from a big fish in a little pond to a little fish in a big pond. Thankfully, one lesson humanity had learned this time was to go as humble explorers instead of fearless conquerors; the Mantoan had seen to that wake-up call.
Given that this building was only twenty-five percent finished on the first floor, it would still be a few days before it was operational. Once Emory made sure there were no major problems, she and Tethys parted ways. Emory returned to the ship to grab the teleportation spellbook to bring with her to Athos even though he had only said he would teach her the Arcane sphere. Still, she hoped this would be her ace card to play in case one of the other squads needed help. If she could learn how to teleport herself or others without the symbols as Athos had done, she would be even better prepared for emergencies. But if she couldn't yet, she would make inscriptions at all the bases, though this could lead to problems with the Council of Witches. No one knew why the Council kept a very tight leash on teleportation, but Emory expected some of them wouldn't be happy if they found out what she had done. Besides, the spellbook, she only packed another spellbook, her Arcane book, before heading back out to the camp. Like she expected, Tethys stood at the entrance waiting for her.
Tethys spoke cautiously, "Emory, I really don't think this is a good idea."
"Your objection has been noted. Maybe when you see the fruits of this relationship, you'll learn why I had to do this," Emory remarked coldly, "The squad is yours until I return. Please call if you need my help."
"I understand. Please be safe and smart," Tethys looked dejectedly. Emory nodded as she headed out to the plateau they had gone to yesterday. Since they had trekked this way before and without anyone else to watch out for, it was a quick twenty-minute journey. Surprisingly, Athos was already sitting in the area they had met him before, yet the overgrowth had been cleared, revealing a stone tablet etched all over with spell glyphs. Standing up, the elder man motioned for Emory to come closer with a great smile on his face. He called, "Come to the tablet; I want to show you some history before we get started today."
"I saw some of this yesterday, but I didn't expect it to be this large," Emory admitted as she approached, "What is all this?"
"Well, that's a tricky question. Originally, we Elandrian came across these buried pillars, imbued with magik far beyond the range of our people. Seeing as they were beneficial to magik cultivation, we made some modifications to serve as probes for our scrying. But what you did yesterday, I haven't seen them light up before then," Athos carefully explained.
"I didn't do it intentionally," Emory gasped, "What does that mean?"
Athos rubbed his chin, "Honestly, there's only one explanation that makes sense. Clearly, one of your parents was hiding a deeper secret and passed on their heritage to you. Though all I've really solved is the fact that you are more than a Hexblood. Still, without a doubt, you are part Elandrian, so I will still teach you."
"About that, I was hoping that you could teach me something else before we work on the Arcane sphere," Emory chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck, "You see we only landed here because we're preparing to fight a race we call the Mantoan. But the humans sent four groups out, so I need a way to get to my friends instantly."
"Ah yes, the Mantoan. A rather nasty bunch, wouldn't you say? But they're only foot soldiers; the Uthid and Laxtros are the ones you need to worry about. At your current strength, you might not be able to take out Uthid, let alone Laxtros," Athos explained.
Emory's jaw dropped, "The who? What do you mean the Mantoan are only foot soldiers?"
"The Mantoan are part of a larger group we call Apleem, or the Dark Ones," Athos answered, "On your home world, the Uthid resemble humanoid versions of scorpions while the Laxtros resemble spiders. Currently, we Elandrian and our companion races are at war with the Uthid and Laxtros and have been for millennia. Think of their power level like this: any Uthid could defeat at least a hundred Mantoan."
"I'm trying to process all this new information, so please forgive me for the questions. So, when humanity pushed back the Mantoan, we weren't fighting their main army? And their main army is hundreds of times stronger than the one we faced?" Emory began heaving.
"Yes and yes. Honestly, we expected you to be much farther along in your development," Athos sighed, "Unfortunately, this war has prevented us from checking up on humanity's progress. The Spider Queen is a fearsome foe."
Emory, with tears welling up in her eyes, stuttered, "What should we do then? I just want to protect my friends, especially because I was the one who brought them along."
"Now, now, child, don't worry," Athos comforted her, "There is a way to turn the tide, and you are the key to that plan. Tell me, how much do you know about the Arcane sphere?" Wiping her face, Emory dug out the Arcane spellbook from her bag.
"I've read it all, but I don't understand the fourth and fifth levels. With no one to teach me, I really only understand the first three levels, though I feel like I've hit a brick wall on the third level," Emory sniffled.
"That's okay. Rather, it's remarkable you've made it so far," Athos commended her, "You see, the fourth level will be your secret weapon. I bet you didn't even know there was another way to make Hexbloods: with that spell! But you don't need to be on level four to defeat an Uthid, so we'll compromise."
Emory smirked, "I guess the stories about fae making deals wasn't just legend. Okay, what's the bet?"
"A deal, not a bet," Athos corrected her, "If you're truly determined to save your friends, you must master the third level in seven days, including today. If you do this, I will teach you to teleport."
"Of course I am. Thank you, Athos," Emory bowed.
"Well then, let's see your bolt," Athos stood ready to defend, "Just a plain bolt for now. I need to get an understanding of how pure your magik is." Emory nodded and created a small prismatic orb in the palm of her hand, nothing too flashy. After Athos motioned with his hand, she projected the orb with a flick of her wrist, firing it off like a rocket, but when the ball got close enough, a wrinkled hand surrounded with similar colored magik plucked it out of the air like a flower. He rolled it around in his hands for a few moments, yet all Emory could notice was his glowing white iris. Up to this point, his eyes had been blue, like hers, though she assumed this change was due to his use of the Arcane sphere. Athos mumbled after smashing the orb in his hand, "You're closer than I thought. This orb was about eighty-five percent pure. I would guess, given your mana pool, you can probably deal with an eighth or nineth level user, right?"
"I think the highest I've fought was nine," Emory smiled, "We ended in a tie."
"Remarkable. As I'm sure you have learned, the Arcane sphere is superior to most other spheres in a head-to-head contest, and with your vast mana pool, you can make up the difference in skill. But once your bolt is a hundred percent pure, any bolt you create will be on par with a tenth level caster," Athos explained carefully.
"So, you mean in Meta Form, my skill could reach fifteenth level?" Emory wondered, "But how do I purify my bolt?"
Athos chuckled, "That's both an easy thing to say and a hard thing to do. When you use your Arcane sphere, you need to use only magik from your own mana pool, not from outside magik. Once you reach the third level, you will do it automatically. But you can't reach that level until you can purify your magik on your own. For Hexbloods, this can be difficult since they may not be used to producing magik from themselves."
"That does sound difficult, especially since I don't realize where I'm getting the magik from," Emory frowned, "Do you have any tips?"
"I can tell that you are adept at drawing in magik. What you need to do when you use your Arcane sphere is not draw in magik, just use the magik within yourself. In fact, I'm guessing that since you have such a large mana pool, you've already been doing this subconsciously," Athos further elaborated.