Emory asked sincerely, "Are you sure you want me as your opponent? Just a couple of months ago, you could barely break my shield."
"I'm sure," Shepherd growled, "I've had just about enough of your sass. It's time you learned your place." He pulled his massive greatsword off his back and pointed it at Emory.
"Very well. Don't hold back, and don't forget that I warned you." Emory shrugged. She wrapped herself in her cloak of magik and even created shaped blades of pure magik that extended from her fingertips. Shepherd closed his eyes before a large pulse of magik shot out from his body. A cloak covered his body as well while the whites of his eyes covered the entirety of his eyes, a clear sign he had already activated his Meta Form.
Emory spread out her feet and extended her arms before motioning for Shepherd to come at her. He surged forward with his greatsword first to try to end this bout in one hit. But as his sword came into Emory's range, she parried it away effortlessly with two fingers. Unfortunately, Shepherd's forward momentum carried him forward, right into Emory's outstretched palm. She only released a seemingly small pulse of magik, but it still pushed him back fifty feet. He yanked his feet out of the ground and closed his eyes momentarily. Then ten clones of Shepherd puffed into existence around him, each with their own sword and armor. They spread out and surrounded Emory from all sides, so she widened her stance and fully extended her arms. As she expected, they all charged at once, which was a crucial mistake.
With one hand, she deflected one of them into another using her magik blades. As the second one reached her, she pushed off the first pair and kicked this one in the chest, causing it to explode into particles. Like a whirlwind, she spun around and destroyed two more clones with a single swipe of the magik blade by bisecting them across the stomach. Then a straight kick impaled another in the chest again, and only four copies and the original Shepherd remained. Those remaining pounced on her from behind when she turned on her front foot and released an arc of magik from her back foot, destroying the remaining clones instantly. Shepherd, thinking he had an opening, swung down his sword from her blind spot; it stopped immediately after connecting with her cloak before an ethereal wing smacked him away fifty feet again.
Emory asked with a hint of pride, "Have you had enough yet?"
"I'm just warming up," Shepherd lied through gritted teeth as he picked himself off the ground, "Let's see how you deal with this."
A beam of crackling magik ejected from the tip of his blade faster than any attack thus far. Yet one tiny beam from her fingertip countered his attack and shattered the beam into a flash of bright light. Shepherd lowered his gaze and bolted forward to try to make use of the temporary distraction, but Emory slammed her foot into the ground and chucked him into the air. Then, she used her fingers like guns and shot out several miniscule bolts that crashed into him midair like a cluster grenade. It took all his focus to block the explosion from the bolts and land heavily back on his feet.
Emory sighed and retracted the magik blades from her fists since she clearly overestimated how much he had grown relative to her own growth. However, Shepherd saw this as a sign of her weakening and leaped into the air with a downwards slash. She caught it with her ethereal wing without trouble before pushing back and sending him back into the air. The force was so strong that Shepherd spun out of control and landed in Innes's open arms. Shepherd grumbled as Innes set him back on his feet, and he grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands. The next second, twenty more Shepherds popped into existence, each with their blade pointed at Emory. Twenty-one beams scorched through the air at Emory in the same breath.
She raised her hand as a pulse of magik exploded from her body, shattering the beams for a second time. The pulse continued forward and struck all the Shepherds across their chests, destroying the clones instantly and driving the real one back into the ground. Her wings flapped hard, pushing him two feet into the ground. Still, she let him pull himself out of the ground instead continuing to attack him; after all, she hadn't even broken a sweat while he wheezed as he pulled himself out. Once he was out, he steadied himself and aimed the sword towards Emory.
"I'll give you this: you don't give up," Emory conceded, "But surely, you can see the gap between us. In a real battle, I'd have finished you off several times."
"How did you grow so fast? Are your training methods that superior?" Shepherd huffed.
"Being on the frontlines made me this strong," Emory glared, "Training every free minute made me this strong. I haven't even used my True Form, yet here you are, huffing and panting. You've only been measured against others that have been stumbling around with magik. Are you ready to give in now?"
Shepherd panted, "I have one more trick up my sleeve. It will finish the job." He roared at the top of his lungs, creating a surge of magik that swept back the debris around him. When he turned back to Emory though, she saw blood trickling down his nose. Instantly, five hundred Shepherds appeared on the battlefield and in the skies surrounding Emory. She shook her head slightly, raised a single finger into the air above her head, and began forming a ball of magik just above the finger. After a couple moments, the orb was the size of a basketball and pulsed with power. All the Shepherd clones shot beams out of their extended swords, creating a solid dome of magik towards Emory. As they approached her, counter beams shot off the orb and collided which caused a blinding glare that everyone except Shepherd and Emory to look away from. A clang rang out from the epicenter of the explosion, and as the dust settled and light dimmed, the whole group could see the result. In one hand, Emory held the blade of the greatsword. Her other hand was pointed like a spear, just an inch away from Shepherd's throat.
"I yield," Shepherd breathed, "You are stronger than I am." Emory bowed her head slightly as she released the greatsword.
"I hope you will take my opinion a little more seriously now," Emory firmly stated. Shepherd gravely nodded as he bowed in respect. The spar had taken only fifteen minutes, but for Shepherd, it felt like hours. He put his greatsword on his back before falling to one knee as he tried to catch his breath. The cloak around him vanished as he struggled to regain his composure. Not only had he been easily bested in single combat, but he had also lost to someone more than a decade younger than himself. His ego was more bruised than his body.
With a tap on his shoulder, he felt his magik surge as Emory generously restored him to full power. He was dumbfounded by the sheer amount of magik she seemed to control so easily. She brushed past him to join her friends who had varying levels of excitement on their faces. It wasn't that they were unhappy; they all just had different levels of being able to conceal the joy on their faces. Tethys, though, didn't attempt to hide or contain her happiness, especially since Greg's complexion now looked paler than a ghost.
Emory snapped her fingers which caused them all to reappear back in the room they started. This time, Shepherd sat while Emory stood at her end of the table. She tapped her wrist a couple times which brought up a picture of the Uthid on a big screen behind her.
Emory cleared her throat and began, "These were the biggest threat the Apleem sent last time. With one of the Mantoan facilities offline, I would guess we'll see more of these troops than before. However, I expect them to be stronger than they were last time on two fronts. First, most of these didn't use magik when they came the first time; however, we know that they are capable of using poison magik. So, I would expect more of them to use magik this time around. Second, many of them didn't wear armor last time. Assuming they use magik and have armor this time, it will take an effective level of six or seven to even damage this time around. What it boils down to is our troops will need to use Meta Form to deal with them this time."
"But we can't fight an extended fight in Meta Form," Innes pointed out, "So what's the plan?"
"Starting today, the armies will train in Meta Form exclusively. We need to push them to extend the length of time they can stay in their forms. Additionally, we will need to be conscious of which groups are fighting Mantoan and which are fighting Uthid, so we can rotate groups around. Finally, there are a couple new technologies we will be trying out," Emory replied as she tapped her wrist again. Two items appeared on the screen, a large circular tube and a small disk.
"The disks are magik-based landmines. The day before they arrive, we will scatter them around the outposts. We're not sure how effective they'll be against the Uthid, but they should completely incapacitate a Mantoan," Emory continued as she pointed to the screen, "These tubes are magik cannons, the pinnacle of innovation. They compress the user's magik into a fine point that explodes on contact. Again, we have no idea how effective they will be against the Uthid, but they have a range of a mile, meaning we can see how effective they are and decide whether they'll be worth our time or not."
Shepherd raised his hand, "Where did you come up with these technologies? The designs are unlike anything we've seen in the field or have researched."
"I came up with some rudimentary drawings that I sent to the forger here at the outpost," Emory explained, "She did all the work transforming those scribbles into these weapons. Unfortunately, they take quite a bit of time to make, which is why I had you all start making them yesterday. For now, all four outposts are making the cannons, and as soon as we know the Apleem are on their way, we'll take a day to make as many mines as we can."
"The training and these weapons will definitely help, but will it be enough?" Gatrie grimaced.
"It'll have to be," Gwen pounded the table, "I'm not looking forward to a fight, but I don't plan on losing one either.
Sam chimed in, "I agree. If we lose here, we leave the Sol System largely defenseless."
"Then it's settled," Emory nodded with determination, "We stop the Apleem approach no matter what. Let's get the troops started on the new training regimen as soon as possible."