Without using their magik to speed up, it took fifteen minutes to reach the edge of the forest. Under a massive tree with beautiful pink flowers, a womanly figure stood motionless. As they got closer, the woman uncrossed her arms and appeared to be smiling.
Emory greeted the woman when they got close enough, "Myrrh! It's good to see you again."
"The goddess returns!" Myrrh grinned, "It's good to see you again as well. Your aura has grown even more alluring since I saw you last. Who is your friend? I've never smelled one like him before."
"Myrrh, this is my friend Soren. He's an Elandrian," Emory motioned to Soren.
"Pleased to meet you, Lady Myrrh," Soren bowed, "Emory has said only the best about you."
"Goddess, you brought one with such good manners. I was a little nervous when I sensed you approaching with an unknown figure," Myrrh smiled.
"No reason to be nervous, Myrrh. We're allies, after all. I would never bring someone to harm you," Emory continued, "Soren's people are also our allies against the Apleem. They've been fighting against the insects for over a thousand years."
Myrrh nodded, "Yes, I suppose everyone is gearing up for the fight. At Sam's request, I've cultivated some plants that they avoided when they were here last time. It should be ready for harvest in the next few days."
"Thank you for that," Emory bowed to Myrrh, "I'll send Sam and some others to collect it in a few days. Did she also mention that more humans would be arriving soon?"
"Indeed, she did. As you can see, I've created a bit more space for you all to account for this," Myrrh confirmed.
"Thank you again. But actually, I came to ask how you would like us to deal with the Apleem?" Emory asked, "In my mind, it's inevitable that they will attack us here. If they did, I would like to keep them away from you as much as possible."
Myrrh sighed, "I figured as much. I will clear a large section a few miles northwest of your outpost. However, I'll leave the grass, so I can help out if need be. If you can contain your battlefield to that area, that would be very helpful, but if you can't, I understand. How soon do you think they will arrive?"
"Hopefully not for a couple of days at least," Emory groaned, "Tomorrow the first wave of troops will be here, so I'd like them to have a day to settle in before the battle starts."
"That's a solid strategy. But don't forget, even if they land tomorrow, I'll be here to help. And as long as the spiders don't come too, you're more than strong enough to take them," Myrrh encouraged Emory.
Emory blushed, "You're so kind, Myrrh. Thank you for all your help. I need to help my team prepare for tomorrow, but you really should come visit the outpost sometime. Sam would be thrilled to show you around."
"I'll think about it," Myrrh considered, "Take care, Goddess." She leaned against a tree, and in a moment, she faded away into it. Emory and Soren walked back towards the outpost in silence at first until Soren had a bubbling remark.
"She is indeed powerful. If she was able to leave this planet, she could spread across the local systems like wildfire," he commented.
"It's a terrifying thought indeed," Emory agreed, "But you can hear it in her words; she hates the Apleem. And given the enemy we face, we can't afford to turn down allies."
Soren nodded, "That's true. It's simply remarkable how quickly you've managed to assemble so many allies. The Apleem won't know what hit them."
As they continued walking, they talked about Emory's vision for training the incoming troops. Soren was a little taken aback by how fast she planned to develop their forces, considering she hoped to have a functioning army in three to four months. But she seemed confident in the training method she prescribed to the whole team. Yet Soren wasn't convinced, so when they returned to the outpost, Emory took him to watch one of the group's training. The movements and techniques seemed straightforward to Soren, even familiar, until something clicked. These were the same sort of exercises he used when he was training in seclusion, brutal and tiring but immensely beneficial.
"Emory, where did you learn these training techniques?" Soren inquired, "These greatly resemble the ones used back home to promote rapid growth. They're advanced drills not meant for the faint of heart."
Emory raised an eyebrow, "My mother taught me them before she was killed. Back before I knew I had the Arcane sphere, I would practice them with raw magik for hours on end. I didn't know how effective they were until I taught my friends and saw their growth skyrocket."
"How strange," Soren said as he rubbed his chin, "Though now I see where you get your projections. Still, it will be tough to train millions of troops at the same time."
"Maybe I'm a little optimistic. Still, I'm not starting from the ground floor like these guys. Not that it's a bad thing, I just mean the soldiers have a solid foundation while we were sent out after a few weeks of training," Emory countered.
Finally, they met up with Elffin, Gatrie, and Sam back in the command center. At first, Elffin was beside himself being in the company of the legendary Fae, but once he calmed down, Emory started going over the plan with the three of them. Just like on Temia, Elffin would focus on training while Gatrie prepared defenses and Sam scouted the new area Myrrh made for them. Then Emory dug through her bag for the pairs of gloves she and Soren had picked out for them.
She handed a pair of rough, furry, leather gloves to Sam and explained, "These gloves will merge into your shifted form and give you a decent defense bonus." Then she found a pair of black leather gloves for Gatrie and continued, "When you fire lightning from your hands, it will spread out like a shotgun blast and get a little faster each time you connect." Finally, she brought out two sets of chainmail armor that Athos had put in the bag before he left. Placing them on the table, she waved her hand over them to reveal their properties.
"Level five protection enchantment: Arcane. Active Skill: Intangible. Passive Skill: Shapeshift."
"Level five protection enchantment: Arcane. Active Skill: Elemental Body."
"Sam, I think the first set is for you. It's the only one that will adapt to your shifted form. Intangible is pretty straightforward; for a certain amount of time, all attacks pass through you. While it's active, you can't make physical attacks either though. Once you've activated it and the time limit has expired, it will take about an hour to cooldown before you can use it again," Soren explained since Athos had relayed all the information about the armor to him.
"Thank you both for this!" Sam was almost moved to tears, "Normally my clan folk can't even wear armor into combat. You have no idea how much this means to me."
Soren smiled, "Training can only get you so far without the right equipment. Now Gatrie, you have the standard elite armor ability, but that's not a bad thing. Actually, it may be easier just to show you. Go ahead and put it on, then to activate it, you only need to channel a little bit of your magik into it."
Gatrie hastily threw on the legs and chest piece before closing his eyes to meditate. The armor began glowing blue and yellow dim light that grew brighter every moment. Then his body started glowing as well, illuminating the veins under his skin. Quickly the luminescence covered Gatrie entirely like a super infection of sorts. After a minute, the light became tolerable to look at which allowed them to see the change to Gatrie's body.
"This is great! In this armor, I don't just control lightning; I am lightning!" Gatrie cheered as he moved his arms wildly, "This is what I imagine when I think of my best self. Thank you both so much!"
Emory nodded, "Only the best for my friends that I dragged into the cosmos. I suggest you both practice with your new gear today or tomorrow, so you have a better understanding of how they work. I need to rest before I bring the troops to the area tomorrow. Any of you need anything?"
They all shook their heads, so Emory stood up from the table and walked towards the barracks. Soren ran after her since he was also drained from the day. Despite only being late afternoon, they crawled into beds next to each other. Emory closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep in a few minutes while Soren followed closely behind.