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Althea stepped up, “Yeah we are. I’m ready for something good to eat and somewhere nice too sleep. I never thought I would miss the tent so much.”

I glimpsed at her, “You and me both.” I shouted at the Eltari, “Are all of you ready?”

Hod raised a wing ending in his three talons, “Village ready.”

The village gave a roar after Hod finished speaking. The overseer stepped into his own dimensional rift. A violet strip appeared in the middle of the air. It ripped open before a blue sentinel walked out. Wielding the violet tipped spear and blue armor, the new sentinel sliced through dimensions, opening another portal towards the mountain top.

On the other side of the portal, the overseer fiddled with his status screen. As he did, the mountain reformed back into a normal dungeon entrance. Within seconds, he finished the task before opening another rip in reality. He stepped through the portal, disappearing from sight.

Not wanting to waste any time, Althea and I stepped through the portal. The sight of Springfield spread out before us. The dilapidated buildings and blood streaks didn’t paint the prettiest scene though. I opened my status menu before sending a message to Torix about the Eltari coming. He might have everything ready for them when we arrived back.

That was the goal at least. Glancing around, sand no longer covered the mountain top. It was back to normal, with a forest taking the sand’s place. The view around the mountain refreshed my memory of the place too. The giant gray cloud looming over Springfield’s center, the growing forests colored a sickly yellow, even the surrounding suburbs, it all came together to make the town what it was.

Which was pretty much a shit show at this point, but it wouldn’t stay that way forever. Armed with that knowledge, Althea and I herded the Eltari out of the dimensional rift. As they came to Earth, they showed no signs of displeasure. In fact, they all glowed with a brightness I could hardly understand. Some of them whispered among themselves,

“This place is so big.”

“I thought it would be hotter. Why is it so cool?”

“What are those giant, puffy balls of white?”

Althea chimed, “Those are clouds. They’re like water that’s waiting to fall out of the sky.”

One of the younger members of the Eltari kept the chain of questions coming,

“Water falls from the sky?”

I grinned, “Yeah. It’s called rain.”

“That sounds…wonderful.”

I spread my arms, missing basic stuff like that, “Yeah…yeah it is.”

Once the Eltari filed out, we had an enormous throng of winged bird people. They chattered about trees, grass, dirt, all kinds of stuff I never imagined people would chatter about. At least not with such excitement. Before they got caught up in the newness of the experience, I used my Words of Strength skill,

“Now Eltari, follow Althea and I. We will take you to your new home.”

Hod raised a wing, “To new home.”

Many of the Eltari raised their arms while shouting, “To new home.”

Any of the anxiety that was in the Eltari before leaving melted as Earth mesmerized them. The buildings mesmerized them. The temperature mesmerized them. The wind mesmerized them. Shit, I think even the smell of real dirt mesmerized them. Compared with their bleak, abysmal planet, Earth had it pretty good. I couldn’t blame them for their eyes glazing over.

Still, we had a mission to complete. Staying out in the open like this was a recipe for disaster, even with a blanket of trees as cover. We walked down the mountain and towards a nearby sewer entrance. Althea and I crushed any zombies coming nearby, each of us decimating them with ease. Hod helped some as well before we funneled the Eltari into the sewers.

Many of the Eltari looked at the journey like a group of tourists. The sights, the smells, the sounds, everything was new to them. They soaked in the change in atmosphere like kids going to a zoo. Althea, Hod, and I kept them moving as the giant line of Eltari moved through the labyrinth of tunnels. Most of them handled the process with ease. Their own home had been a series of tunnels after all. This wasn’t so different.

After about three hours of walking, we finally reached underneath the steel legion’s encampment. The Eltari’s anticipation of seeing their new homes saturated the tight tunnel. With each passing moment, they looked at each other while wondering what would happen. Before letting them out, I shouted down the tunnel,

“You all will wait up here while I let the others know that you’re coming. I don’t want someone firing at you guys for no reason.”

The message echoed down the tunnel Before I left with Hod. He would be their ambassador of sorts. Not the best pick, but he was the best they had for now. Althea stayed behind, making sure the crowd didn’t do something insane.

Once we were above the surface, Hod and I walked up. Stationed a few blocks down was a group of steel legion troops. Between an old candy shop and a bookstore, they looked out of place. Safety cones were dispersed around them, leading the way back to the base. They stood in a formation for handling the inflow of Eltari. At their head was corporal Briggs, the current puppet that Torix used as their leader.

I paced up with Hod. Several of the soldiers gasped before one of them raised their rifle. I reached out my hand and jerked the rifle out of his hand with telekinesis. Lifting it, I bonked his head with the rifle as I shouted,

“Don’t fire at me you dumbass.”

I tossed his rifle aside before the other steel legion troops calmed down. They whispered as I approached,

“He’s a mage now?”

“I thought he was some warrior.”

“What’s that thing with him?”

“It’s level 1100. The Harbinger’s over level 1300. Damn man.”

“What the fuck.”

I zoned them out before walking up to Briggs. Briggs gave me a salute before I gestured with a hand as I said, “At ease.”

He lowered his hands, speaking in a gruff voice, “Sorry for the soldier pointing his rifle at you sir.”

I waved his concern away, “It’ll be good when he’s mowing down zombies. Anyways, you guys ready for a bunch of this guy-” I pointed at Hod, “To be walking into camp?”

Briggs shuffled through his thick, gray overcoat before fishing out an obelisk. He pointed it at Hod before opening his status. He typed out on the interface as he spoke,

“I’m sending a picture to the rest of the legion. It’s a guild wide transmission for our current Earth forces. I’m attaching a message letting them know these creatures aren’t hostile, and that they are the coming reinforcements.”

I blinked with a bit of surprise, "Wow, Briggs...Good Job."

He gave me a curt nod, "That's what I'm here for."

I turned, walking back towards the sewer, “Good. I’ll give the Eltari a rundown on what’s going on. We’ll be coming up in about fifteen minutes.”

I reached down the tunnel before giving the Eltari a rundown on what was happening next. They’d walk into the camp, be siphoned off into random houses nearby, then they’d be allowed to settle in. By tomorrow, they should be given some schedules or training along with some rudimentary education. That should ease the transition some.

After finishing my little rundown, we walked the Eltari out of the sewer. As they passed the houses, roads, and shops nearby, the city blew their minds. Their shacks didn’t have shit on your more advanced, rock shacks for instance. After getting tired of all the ooh’s and ah’s, I got them moving. The group of soldiers acted as guards during the different turns the Eltari needed to take for getting into camp.

The process went smoothly until we actually reached the camp. Once inside, it was the steel legion’s turn to ooh and ah. The average Eltari was around level 80-90, a far cry from the 200-250 range that most members of the legion sat at. Even then, they started out with a tremendous potential when compared with humanity.

What confused me was the different starting levels. After doing some research while we walked, it had to do with the ambient mana they breathed in. The toxic air made them stronger and more like an eldritch. This sacrificed their sanity over time for that advantage. Building on top of that base of eldritch was more difficult that building on a blank slate, according to Schema’s resource index at least.

That meant adjusting their starting levels to reflect that difficulty. Besides for that, the Eltari were looked at as unknowns instead of normal people. I guessed it was probably due to their origins. These various oddities made them bizarre, and the steel legion were fascinated at their differences.

Some people feared them though, and I couldn’t blame them. Their empty eyes and large talons made for a fierce appearance after all. That fear manifested itself as a tension floating over the camp. It wasn’t until a few of the legion’s soldiers heard Hod speaking that the tension leveled off then dissipated. Hod had a way of disarming people, and it worked wonders in this situation.

With the legion set to ease, the Eltari packed in like sardines. Once at the center of the encampment, the Eltari stood in massive crowd, a group of several thousand. Their village’s size was far larger than I imagined it would be. The ambient mana they breathed in must have reduced their need for food or something like that.

At the far end of the group, several desks were lined up for processing the new occupants. They allotted identification numbers, names, and obelisks to each of the Eltari. They described how to use the maps in the obelisks too, making sure they each understood where to go. Once ready, the family, pair, or loner Eltari would be carted off by a single legion member.

Surprised at the speed of their progress, I walked up behind the rows of desks. With efficient and purposeful movements, they sped through the process. It was a satisfying sight. Behind them, Torix and Kessiah were standing, overseeing the entire event. After breathing out a sigh, Hod and I walked up. Torix grinned at me,

“Good to see you, disciple. This is the ambassador for the Eltari then?”

Hod opened his hands, “Hod speaker for village. Hod hope Hod not disappoint Dry Man.”

Torix’s grin died right then and there. Confusion covered his face as his eyes and nose scrunched up. Hod continued, “Hod rude. Hod not introduce self. Hod is Hod. Hod glad to meet Dry Man. Hod also glad to meet Lady Friend number two.”

Kessiah frowned, “I’m lady friend number two now?”

Hod put his hands on his hips, “Hod proud of naming abilities. Hod name second Lady Friend he meets Lady Friend number two.” Hod tapped his temple, “Hod know what friends thinking. Friends surprised with Hod’s smartness. Hod not blame you.”

Torix’s jaw fell as he stared in utter disbelief. Kessiah glanced in different directions, blinking her eyes. It was like she was making sure this was all real. Torix murmured,

“I...This…It’s impossible. He can’t be serious.”

I leaned over, a look serious as death on my face, “Oh trust me, he is.”