Ares awoke to the light of dawn. He could feel the warmth of Lana and then he rolled towards her and wrapped an arm around her, resting his head into the crook of her neck. He could smell her morning scent, it was rather sweet, like milk, though it did have a slightly salty tone to it as well.

He reached down to grab onto her thigh and then rubbed the inside of her knee. He kissed her neck and she stirred before looking up to him.

“Ares?” She asked as she then turned over to face him and Ares reached up to rub her cheek.

There was much to do, but he had been speeding through everything that he hadn’t really spent much time with Lana. Of course she had been with him for the past few days, but they hadn’t really spent quality time together.

“Morning.” He said as he kissed her neck and then lay there beside him. “Did you sleep well?”

She nodded and groaned quietly. “I did, and you?”

“Yeah, I feel good today.”

Lana rolled over until she was on top of him, pinning him down. She closed her eyes and then fell back asleep right away and Ares looked up at her neck, feeling her breath tickled the top of his head. He supposed he deserved it for waking her up for no real reason.

After a short while he slipped out of her pin and then left the tent. He inhaled the crisp, cool air and then went out for a run before joining his troops for a heavy workout. His body felt so free, though there was that heavy feeling in his mind that had been plaguing him since he fought the thousands of humans.

His thoughts were broken when he saw Abdan as well as about twenty of his men, and then a team of his Roaring Tridents that were looking after the King, make their way to him.

“I see you are sweating, Ahreez.” Abdan said as he nodded towards Ares.

“Of course, every man should sweat at least once a day.”

Abdan nodded again and then looked around at the other soldiers, which obviously caused the twenty with him to be stressed out. Ares felt for them, though he realised no doubt many of his own soldiers had felt the same because of him. He just smiled at the thought.

“Would you like to join us?” Ares asked and then Abdan looked around to the soldiers that were still training.

“If it would be no bother.”

Ares smiled and then motioned with his head. “First is to warm up.” Ares said as he began to jog down the main street with Abdan, who followed soon after. Abdan seemed to have a decent amount of stamina and managed to keep up fairly well so Ares sped up a little. After that he showed Abdan a few bodyweight exercises before then lifting over a small rock and then taught Abdan a few different exercises with it too.

Ares made sure the other King didn’t push himself too much and during the workout Rori had joined them. Ares hadn’t seen Rori lift in some time, so when he saw that Rori was lifting twice as much as before he was surprised.

“You’ve gotten stronger, Rori-kin.” Ares said, a smile on his face.

Rori did not reply, focusing on his breathing as he continued to lift, keeping the weight up for some time before slowly bringing it down. “It is only thanks to your method, Ares-kin.”

“My method may have been good, but it’s still your hard work.” Ares chuckled and Rori nodded, leaving it as he said.

“Ares-kin, two Legates have come today to speak with you.”

“Speak with me? Why me?”

“You are the leader of the army, and it seems to involve such matters.”

“Here I thought I’d delegate everything away.” Ares sighed but then laughed.

“Not everything.” Rori replied and then went to help Abdan with his workout.

Ares wondered for a few moments as he made his way around to where they normally met near the shrine, only to see about a hundred others waiting for him. Each of them wore whatever make-shift armour they had with them, most of them oxfolk, but sprinkled with a few of the other beastfolk too. Ares narrowed his eyes but then slowly walked over to the Legates that were waiting for him, though the pair seemed to be quite fed up.

“I hadn’t expected to see you so soon.” Ares said. “Though I will say it’s always a pleasure to speak with you.” He bowed his head.

“Good morning, Ares-kin.” Oshgan, a large and powerfully built oxfolk man, said. He had been deemed fit to be the Legate of one village, the village that had the various smiths assigned to it.

“Morning.” Ares nodded as his eyes flickered around the other Legate as he greeted her. Ansha was a wolffolk woman that lived in the same village as the Flying Wolves. “I can’t help but notice that it’s rather… how would you say… crowded here?” Ares asked as he looked between the Legates.

Oshgan nodded, but it was Ansha who replied. “These are all of those that wished to join the army.”

Ares furrowed his brows together in confusion. “They want to what?” Ares eyed them up again and then tilted his head. “Join the army?”

Oshgan began to whisper. “Seeing the humans seems to have spurred them to such a behaviour…”

Ares tilted his head back and waited. Then he began to laugh. “Well…” Ares grinned. “It seems as though I should bring more humans about, shouldn’t I? It seems our army will grow one way or another.” He joked and then he nodded. “Alright, thank you. I’ll deal with this.” He said as he thought about it. “I’ll form a few Squads and return them back to the villages.” He rubbed the side of his head.

As he turned he noticed that the number had swelled and that another Legate was walking up the path, and then he noticed a long line that continued around the corner and Ares reached up to rub his forehead.

“Being popular is so weird…” He whispered to himself and then looked to the two Legates. “Well…” He shrugged.