Once again the crowd cheered and applauded, though not nearly as heartily as they had for Emory. Athos returned to his throne, though not before flashing a thumbs up to Emory on his way back. After he sat down, the gong rang once again, causing the Legion to rise from their seats and file out of the hall. Soren walked over to Emory's throne which was slowly collapsing as she stood up.
Soren congratulated her, "That was a wonderful speech. Short but powerful. Thank you for speaking to them. I can only begin to imagine how much hope you put into our leadership."
"Blame my conscious," Emory stuck out her tongue, "It wouldn't let me sleep last night until I wrote something down. So, today wrapped up a lot earlier than yesterday. What are we going to do?"
"There are no events tonight at the festival, so let's get dinner. Then you pick," Soren offered. Emory nodded and filed out of the hall with Soren. At least a hundred members of the Legion remained in the foyer and lit up when they saw the pair.
"Thank you, Lady Emory!"
"You're so beautiful, Lady Emory!"
"Great speech, Lady Emory!"
The crowd moved out of the way for the two but continued to laud Emory as they passed. Once they exited the building, they sprouted wings and took off into the sky to escape the crowd. They soared around the city for a little bit, causing a small spectacle wherever they went. Eventually, they landed near a rather busy vendor, though orders seemed to be going out nearly as fast as they were coming out. Soren ordered two combination platters and waited only a few minutes before he returned to Emory with two trays and silverware. In each tray were three pita pockets filled with a different meat in each one and the kernels they had a couple nights ago. Instead of eating at one of the tables around the stand, the pair returned to the skies and flew back to the top of the Grand Hall.
While they were eating, Soren asked, "So, before all of this happened, what did you do for fun?"
"I used to play tactical games on my phone," Emory sighed as she thought back on her life before military school, "Oh, a phone is a device used to communicate with other people over a long distance, though it is also like a little computer in your hand." She dug around in her bag until she found her phone and handed it to Soren.
"How interesting! Do I have to infuse it with magik before I can use it?" Soren questioned as he looked at the phone from all angles.
"No, silly, it's powered by electricity. Here, let me unlock it for you," Emory giggled as she took the phone back and unlocked it before returning it to him, "Just use your finger to press on the pictures. Of course, most apps won't work since I'm way out of the coverage zone."
Soren clicked an image of a deck of cards, "Oh look at that! I just clicked it, and a new screen loaded. That's simply amazing. But you said you were outside the service area; what does that mean?"
"Hmm, how do I describe it?" Emory put her hand on her chin as she thought aloud, "In order to connect to other people, a signal is emitted to a satellite and then transmitted to the other person. These satellites orbit our planets and moons and link to each other through quantum entanglement communicators. Since we're hundreds of light years away, my phone doesn't have a satellite to connect to. It's the same for my standard issue AI assistant too, which has been reduced to a VI here."
"What a wild world you all created without magik! All our long-distance communication is done by telepathy. I can't imagine relying on something else for relaying information. What if you run out of electricity or if your device is broken?" Soren tried to understand.
Emory laughed heartily, "Phones are very durable, so they don't break very easily. And more importantly, they don't work on the outposts outside of the Sol System. That's why I have an AI as well because it works with quantum entanglement signals from a large communication array that we built on the shelters. As far as running out of battery, you can recharge the phone, though you have to have the necessary electrical connections to do so. Which is another reason why I have the AI; it's powered by the electrical impulses of your body."
"Since we had magik, we grew along a different path than that of technology. The Apleem, though, use a combination of magik and technology. Well, now that we've finished dinner, what do you want to do?" Soren posed to Emory.
"I know I should relax, but with the war heating up, I think it'd be better to train or study," Emory grimaced, "I think I've decided to go with Chaos, though I'm a little nervous still considering that Petrine has it as well. Would it be better to counter her Chaos with Luck or my own Chaos?"
Soren chuckled, "Don't worry about that old crone. Assuming you ever have to fight her, any sphere will be fine as long as it's maxed out. She's terribly strong. So, Chaos? That's a good choice. When do we start?"
"Now," Emory hopped up and pulled a large book out of her bag, "I have a spellbook here. Let's get to it."
"A spellbook? It's been ages since I've seen one of these. Still, the first step to cultivating a Dark sphere is getting in the right mental state. How do you normally focus on channeling your magik?" Soren brushed himself off before sitting cross-legged in front of Emory.
"I empty my mind of all thoughts and picture a blank canvas," Emory explained as she sat in the same way he had, "Still, quiet, calm."
Soren nodded as he took the book in her lap and opened to the first few pages, "Do that except don't empty the negative thoughts. Let your mind go to the darkest places of pain and sorrow. Then, when you're full of those feelings, release them with your raw magik in the form of a wave near your feet. Imagine inflicting all those feelings on your enemies."
Emory closed her eyes and cleared her mind of all positivity. A minute later she sent out a wave of what should have been raw, clear magik, but instead, a hint of red, purple, and black swirled around through the wave, though it disappeared after a few moments. She repeated the pulse every couple of seconds for two minutes with the colors lasting longer each time. Then she opened her eyes to see Soren's look of utter surprise.
"You're a natural caster!" Soren congratulated her, "You're getting the hang of it already. It's no wonder that you got to level four so quickly."
Emory smiled, "Thank you. I studied all the spheres thoroughly before I knew I had one already. Is it alright if we continue doing this for awhile?"
"Of course, if that's what you want to do," Soren grinned, "Once the colors stabilize and stay present for the entire pulse, we'll move onto the next step." Emory closed her eyes again and focused on the negative emotions inside her. For the next ten minutes, she sent out a pulse of raw magik each five seconds or so, and with each one, the colors grew stronger. They grew so intense that they began to mix with each other, creating deeper and richer colors. By the end of the ten minute training, the colors had completely mixed, giving the magik a color similar to the Blood sphere but with a hint of purple, and lasted the entire time.
"Once again, that was simply amazing. Did you know it takes most people a week just to get to this stage with Dark spheres? And you did in what, fifteen minutes. You're a certified genius!" Soren cheered as he looked at the spellbook, "The next step is to pull it up from the ground in a thin veil and surround yourself like the Arcane Shield."
Emory started trying to pull the wave up. It took several attempts before she could even pull it up at all, but once she did, she brought it up a little more every try. Within an hour, she had managed to pull a veil from the edges about a third of the way up her body. After two hours, the veil now reached a little over halfway. But after four hours and the veil reached three quarters of the way up, Emory had to take a break as she panted heavily.
"Wow, that's a lot of work," Emory sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "Who knew learning a new sphere would be such an intense process."
Soren scoffed, "It took me three weeks to get as far as you have in a few hours. Learning a new sphere when you already know one is challenging, especially for us since the Arcane sphere is native to us. If I am considered a genius for how far I've come in a short time, what does that make you?"
"I just have a ton of magik to play with, so I can force my way forward," Emory blushed and waved her arms, "If you had as much as I do, you would have finished faster."
"I'm not so sure. It takes a great deal of focus to control this much power. After all, that's the reason our attacks in our true form are generally wide and wild," Soren disagreed.
"True form? Is that what you all call the form you take when your two spheres merge together?" Emory asked sweetly, "We call that Meta Form."
Soren nodded, "Yes, exactly. Then you know it takes decades to learn how to use that form accurately. With your gift, you have the secondary effect of that form all the time. Yet you control it like a master."
"Thank you for your praise. I'm trying my best," Emory smiled, "Okay, that's enough rest for now. I want to finish this step before I stop for tonight." She closed her eyes and began to focus again. It was about an hour before it got tall enough to create a dome over, albeit not a closed shell. But just as they reached the second hour, she completed the shield, though only for a few moments before it faded. She stood up and pumped her fists a few times before the world began to spin, and her balance wobbled. Soren rushed over and caught her as she collapsed, catching her a couple feet above the ground.
"I may have overdone it a bit." Emory sighed as her eyes fluttered open and closed.
"You think?" Soren joked, "You shortened the training time from a month to an evening. You've pushed yourself hard enough for today, don't you think?" Raven wings popped out of his back as he picked up Emory and flew down to the front door again. After they landed, he set her back on her feet. Together the pair walked through the Grand Hall and up the stairs to her room.
Soren bowed to Emory, "Sleep well. I mean it, no late-night writing again."
"I won't," Emory agreed sleepily, "Thank you for helping me, Soren." Their hands held together until Soren finally walked far enough away for them to drop by their own. Emory threw her robe on the floor and crawled into bed, half asleep already. Yet instead of sweet rest, lights of every color blazed in her mind until a familiar feeling washed over her. Then she opened her eyes in her dream.