"We better do it quick," Sothe hissed as he turned around, "There are at least twenty more closing in on our location!" Acting on instinct, Emory teleported in the center of the fallen troops and formed a dense disk of magik around her stomach. A moment later, it pulsed outwards and reduced the corpses to dust using Obliterate. But to use it with this level of precision was more than just incredible, it was the work of a goddess. She teleported back to the group who was huddled behind a fallen tree as they looked at her with amazement.
A few minutes later, a group of twenty-five Mantoan came into the clearing from a few different directions. They surveyed the area for five minutes before spotting the fallen tree and deciding that it must have been the cause of the sound. Once they left, Soren's group breathed a sigh of relief.
Soren whispered, "There's something else I should have warned you about. The Apleem have magik detection surveillance. I'm pretty sure you didn't trigger the alarm this time but keep that in mind for the future."
"I'm sorry for being so hasty," Emory apologized, "I thought if I took them all out without a sound, we'd be in the clear. I'll wait next time before acting."
Stealth wasn't a skill Emory had used much due to her great power. It wasn't that she bulldozed her way through problems all the time, just that the systems she lived in respected power more than words. Even as a child, she didn't need to sneak into restricted areas because she had little oversight. The idea of stealth was a concept she knew but didn't practice.
Once the scouting party had been gone for around twenty minutes, Emory, Ilyana, Soren, Sothe, and Titania continued moving forward. For better or worse, the commotion had shuffled around the Mantoan and cleared a path for the group to take without running into more. Still, it was a slow process traversing through the difficult terrain of the rainforest. Though it was sickeningly humid, they didn't encounter water in any form, making Emory wonder if the Mantoan even needed any. Perhaps they could take in water from the air, meaning a humid environment would be more than enough. There were still so many questions about the Apleem no one had answers for.
As they progressed further into the forest, Emory would continue to take out the occasional Mantoan though no groups bigger than twenty anymore. When they encountered another large party, they took the long way around them to avoid alerting them. Emory freely gave magik to the party which allowed them to continue journeying farther than they would have normally. Of course, since they ran into a few large groups, they would have been slowed down without her magik. Finally, after traveling ten hours, they reached the ten-mile mark.
Instead of setting up camp on the ground, they found a couple close, large trees and climbed up to the canopy. Traveling through the trees would make too much noise, but it was much safer to rest off the ground. Emory took a peek above the trees to see the surrounding area but could only see more forest. When she came back to the canopy, Ilyana and Titania had moved closer to her.
"So how old are you?" Ilyana asked, "To have such great control of your power, you must have been practicing for centuries."
"I'm only eighteen years old. I actually had a bit of a complicated upbringing, so this power is relatively new to me as well," Emory replied.
"Only eighteen? You're less than half the age of everyone here except Soren who's regarded as a genius," Titania spat, "I guess the legends about the Ancients were right."
Ilyana questioned further, "But that spell you used to clear out the Mantoan was Obliterate, right? That takes years to master with that level of precision, and a fully formed core takes a decade even in the harshest conditions."
"It was Obliterate," Emory nodded, "I formed my core in about a month. I would like to say the training I received from my parents is the cause of my speedy progress, but there's another key reason. Grab my hands; it's easier to show you than tell you." Ilyana and Titania grabbed Emory's extended hands and closed their eyes. When they opened them, all three girls stood at the edge of Emory's mana pool. Both of the Elandrian looked out with wide eyes and jaws dropped.
"Besides my visions, I have another gift," Emory continued, "This is Limitless. It still costs me stamina to use my magik, but the magik cost is free."
"Look at how much magik you have! I can barely believe my own eyes!" Titania exclaimed.
"This gift is more legendary than any other magik related power!" Ilyana gasped, "This is truly the power of a god!"
Emory explained, "It's pretty handy to have, but it comes with a few drawbacks. Even though I have unlimited magik, I can still get magik poisoning. Also, as you've noticed, it's not very subtle." She released their hands, and they all returned to reality.
"What about your other sphere?" Titania wondered, "Are you ridiculously strong there as well?"
"My Chaos sphere is only level three, but I just started practicing it only a couple weeks ago," Emory answered.
"A few weeks ago!" Ilyana shrieked quietly, "If Soren is a genius at channeling magik, you are certainly a goddess."
Titania agreed, "I'm forty-five, and I'm the same total level as you! All of us are four-three or four-two but you're the only one still younger than twenty. How exactly do you train?"
"She uses the same core enlargement technique that we use," Soren chimed in from a neighboring branch, "Of course, she uses far more magik than we do since she can control much more than we can."
"That makes more sense now. That technique can be very dangerous without supervision; you're lucky you didn't get hurt," Ilyana nodded.
"Since I didn't know I had the Arcane sphere until a couple months ago, I practiced with raw magik from a young age," Emory shrugged, "It was one of the last things my parents taught me."
Titania remarked, "Even with all that in mind, what you've done has still been an incredible feat. You should be very proud of yourself."
"I've never seen Petrine in person, but I've seen a few Laxtros. With your power, you can definitely fight them one-on-one with your power," Ilyana commented, "Have you ever fought one before?"
"Actually, I defeated one a couple weeks ago named Selena, but I couldn't finish her," Emory answered nonchalantly.
"Selena? Soren, did you know about this?" Titania asked with shock in her voice, "Emory, you do know who Selena is, don't you? She's not just any Laxtros; she's probably the second strongest."
Soren chuckled, "I was there when she did it. I'm pretty sure she tore off one of Selena's arms as well with just brute strength and magik. Though you did have to pay a steep price to do that."
"And I'd happily pay that cost again," Emory stuck out her tongue, "Besides, I've improved dramatically since then. Even without my Meta Form improvements, I think I could beat her without pushing myself that far again. How much stronger is Petrine than Selena?"
"That's tough to say, but I would guess in the realm of ten times stronger," Titania scratched her head as she came up with the answer, "Our directive is that if Petrine shows up on the battlefield, then we are to abandon the fight immediately. Other Laxtros, we'll engage but Petrine is a hard no."
Emory slumped her shoulders, "I don't think I've gotten that much stronger, but there's always my Meta Form."
"Why would that matter?" Ilyana raised an eyebrow, "Besides blending your spheres, you already have unlimited magik."
"My Meta Form is a little different than the traditional version," Emory answered, "Without going into full detail, my effective sphere level in Meta Form is twenty-four. I can't stay in that form long, but it should be long enough to make her drop out of the fight."
"Twenty-four? Well, I'll rest easier tonight knowing that," Titania breathed as she moved up against a tree trunk.
Soren nodded, "That's a good suggestion; we should all try to get some sleep. Sothe, I'll take over the watch. Ilyana, you're second, then Titania, and finally Emory. This way, we'll all have two-hour watch duties." The others nodded and laid their backs against different tree trunks. Despite the sky still being bright, they all forced themselves to go to sleep. After all, it would still be nine more days until they reached the facility.