Several sessions passed before the trainees could start working on spells. Most of them had figured out their gifts, and with their newfound control of magic in its base state, we could work on combat and spells.

With a spell, I covered a practice dummy in a veil of magic. Helios would probably be mad if we damaged it, especially if it started a fire. Fire spells, and presumably fire gifts, could quickly start a fire if allowed to get out of control. "Now that most of you have control over summoning and maintaining your gifts, let's practice using your gift. For those with Enchantment gifts, get one of the practice weapons. If your gift is infusible, it should naturally do so." I dragged over a few more padded stand-ins and coated them in magic. "I will teach you weak points and tactics later. Those are useless if you can't use magic to hit an object."

"If you can't infuse your magic into an object, just hit the object with a sphere straight from your hands. You don't need a spell for now, as most monsters are burned even by healing magic gifts." Saki assured. "Though, some, like Hoshi, can be healed with magic."

"It still hurts a lot and burns through my dark magic." I allowed myself to release a slight snort. "It heals wounds but causes more pain than it is worth sometimes."

Without further instruction, the nine instructees stood and divided themselves among the three lines, though many had a look of unsurety plastered across their face. The four with enchantment gifts stood at the back of the lines once they retrieved one of the whicker practice weapons. Admittedly, I was surprised that some chose knives instead of full-length swords. Most of the time, I only saw people with swords. Then again, I usually avoided encounters with the Stellan military.

I walked among the practicing trained personnel. "While you're practicing, watch how you feel. It can be hard to tell how much mana you have left without practice. If you suddenly feel tired, stop using your gift. If you keep using it, you will collapse and be unconscious for many hours. And if you somehow use all your mana without collapsing, you can completely burn out yourselves and never be able to use magic ever again." I surveyed the soldiers' stoic faces. "I can sense magic, I will keep an eye on your mana levels until you have a feel for it."

The uniformed personnel took turns attacking the provided humanoid targets with magic. Some had success right away, while others struggled.

"Watch your aim!" I barked at Major Photovoltaic as I narrowly dodged a bolt of purple lightning. "Hit the target! Not me!" I restrained a glare. I cared little about his rank, or anyone's rank. But annoyingly, all I had were their ranks and family names. As much as I was tempted, I wanted to refrain from derogatory nicknames while Helios watched.

The major huffed but focused on the magically armored mannequin, managing to hit it with a weak bolt of purple lightning. With the successful hit, he moved to the back of the line and allowed the next person to attempt.

"Good job!" Saki cheered to all of them while I examined the trainees's progress.

The teal-eyed Stellan, Captain Lunatide, looked agitated that his gift was a stream of bubbles. Honestly, his agitation amused me. Officer Quartz hit hard with his pink enchantment magic. His previously flimsy training sword twanged every time it made contact with the shielded mannequin and threatened to piece it. Nurse Moonflower's green magic and Sergeant Shinestar's navy magic both refused to infuse into the swords, but the sergeant excelled in hand-to-hand combat. Shinestar struggled to maintain her magic while attacking, but she easily landed her attacks. The nurse, in contrast, was better with magic but struggled with combat.

I nearly jumped as Corporal Keesho's punch rang loudly against the barrier, her fist covered in stone. Though untrained in magic, the soldiers were well-trained in combat. Those with magic that allowed for physical attacks with fists or a blade excelled compared to those with ranged gifts, like the white-eyed Private Albedo. Her ice bolts surrounded the target; only one of the six fired hit.

Lieutenant Apollo practically played with his magic, switching between fiery blasts and punches with surprising efficacy. Likewise, Private Umbra's swordsmanship shined, though her hits on the barrier were silent. Based on her focused grey steelly-eyed stare, she attacked the targets with full force.

Though, I was pleased with how they were progressing. Within a few days of training, all the Stellans could at least manage some form of magical attack. Not that I would admit that to anyone. I paused. They would at least be passable if Mas— the dark mage decides to attack again. It has strangely been a while. Usually, he attacks us every few days, it's been longer than usual. Then again, Saki and I typically search for monster attacks instead of staying in one place.

Saki continued to praise the group. "Excellent work."

I said nothing but paused as I sensed familiar dark energy. A blaring siren confirmed my suspicions. As I rose, I looked over the tense soldiers ready to fight. "It's time to test your skills. I assume that alarm means a monster attack."

The guards rushed to the courtyard doors with Saki and me. "Use what you practiced!" I barked as I spread my wings and leaped into the air with a single bound. My armor surrounded me just in time for a hawk monster to land their tackle and screech in pain as the yellow magic burned it. I whipped my head to face the hawk monster as it struggled to stabilize itself in the air. Its singed feathers created lines of wispy smoke like a child waving burning incense. I grappled the beast before it could escape and extracted the remaining dark energy.

A bolt of ice narrowly missed me, a breath away from hitting my armor. "Watch your aim!" I barked down at Private Albedo. The young private flinched and gave me an apologetic smile before she immediately returned her attention to a monster as it tried to attack her.

I glanced at Saki as she used a wave of magic to destroy several weak monsters at once. We briefly locked eyes, and with that quick contact, I could tell she would rather be in the air with me instead of protecting those on the ground. But, at the same time, she knew she needed to be down there to instruct the people from the class in active combat. She was the better teacher. I didn't care for teaching anyway, for me, the aerial defense was more important.

With an inhale, I prepared a spell, then launched the blast forward with my exhale, defeating multiple enemies at once with the spread attack. As I flew through the cloud of dark magic, I glared at the portals high in the air. Annoyingly, many of the monsters were small, flighted creatures, or large heavyweight opponents. Each of the large monsters landed with an earth-shaking boom.

With a huff, I focused on the small monsters, slashing them mid-air and taking their energy. Though the larger beings offered more dark magic, the Stellans easily combated them in groups. Small monsters could easily overwhelm someone if allowed to cluster. If I could catch enough of them, the smaller monsters would supply more magic than a single larger monster.

I glanced at the Stellans below. The ones not using magic struggled to damage the armored monsters. The dive-bombing aerial creatures were effective in their attacks, injuring Stellans with sharp claws or poisonous bites and stings.

As I batted another small monster out of a dive bomb on a random soldier, a flash of amber-gold caught my eye. Helios glared at me, his golden eyes shone with anger-fueled magic. A sword of pure magic glowed in his white-knuckled hands. "Save your fury for the enemy." I huffed as I absorbed the energy from the defeated fly monster.

For a second, I thought I heard him mutter about me being the enemy. However, I ignored him. I have more important things to focus on. Like this attack and getting energy from the monsters while I can.

With a huff, I dove towards a large monster. Air rushed past my ears as I charged a spell and I glared at a massive bipedal beetle monster. Its sharp mandibles and thick armor offered a challenging opponent for the magic-less group that tried to combat it. I blasted the beam spell into a joint in its exoskeleton as I dove with my claws extended. It bellowed in pain, then ceased as I absorbed its dark magic.

The Stellans looked up to me with wary gazes. However, I ignored their looks as I swiftly slashed a bat-like monster out of the air. The dissolving body landed at the feet of one of the watching Stellans, providing a distraction for me to fly up and out of their attacking range.

I growled at the ongoing outpouring of enemies from the aerial portals. The few Stellans I had managed to train, while better equipped than the standard Stellan, were no match for the continued onslaught of monsters. He must be only attacking this one place today. This amount of monsters is highly unusual.

"How do we stop this?" Helios barked up to me.

"Defeat enough monsters, make it look like a loss, or be destroyed," I stated with a huff. "Either you make him stop or he will destroy as much as possible."

Helios growled, continually furious. "Where are they coming from? Can we stop them at the source?" He focused on the open portals.

"You can block the portals with magic barriers, but with how large they are, it's costly for a single person to maintain blocking one. All six? Forget it." I snorted. "I'd collapse from magic exhaustion before casting half the magical walls."

The stellan general growled, then surged forward with a flap of his sunset-colored wings. The leathery membranes snapped in the air with every beat, as if he was making the very air mad.

He's going to get himself killed. I audibly huffed and focused on another monster as it tried to attack me,

I gritted my teeth as I followed the mad Stellan to the nearest portal. The familiar scent of the massive maces of caged monsters wafted through the portal.

The dark energy tainted the air was tantalizing: a scent I had not smelled in years. A tiny part of me wanted to return, but I pushed that aside. Saki needs me. I wondered how the dees were doing, but the rest of me focused on the insane general as he barreled towards the portal.

Helios slashed monsters as he weaved among the stream of creatures, his sword like a shooting star with each attack.

I caught a few he missed or failed to destroy, absorbing their energy for myself. "What are you doing!?!?" I growled.

"Going to the source!" Helios disappeared through the swirling black disk.

I hovered in midair, my face frozen in a look of disbelief. Good riddance. I huffed, then growled at my feelings. Though the flow of monsters out of the portal has lessened, the multitude of monsters could easily overwhelm a Stellan untrained in magic. He's going to get killed.

With an angered roar at myself, I dove through the portal. I emerged into a brightly lit room, the pale lighting distantly familiar as it glinted off the bars of the metal cages. Ahead of me, General Helios fought in a pile of small monsters. I could barely hear his roaring anger over the excited small creatures as they attacked their overwhelmed target.

I could almost hear Master's voice whispering in my mind. "Kill him. Kill him, I know you want to. Win the war for our side."

Part of me wanted to kill the golden-eyed jerk who'd idiotically dove into a portal where monsters were actively coming from. I built up magic in my throat, then released the magical pulse as a furious roar.

The wave of magic destroyed the mountain of monsters atop Helios, though the force knocked him to the ground. I panted heavily, I knew my magic was low and nearly depleted. Dark spots peppered my magical armor and shadows danced in my vision.

"Kill him!" Master's voice whispered in my ears as Helios struggled to stand. His arms wobbled as he tried to push himself off the ground, his sword still glowing in his white-knuckled grasp. He was bleeding heavily and was probably poisoned from a monster bite. Easy prey.

With a growl, I ran over to the wounded Stellan. I bit hard on his cape as dark spots danced in my eyes. It took much of my focus to resist my primal urges to shred the wounded General.

I spread my wings as I dragged the Stellan back through the now-closing portal. He dangled from my jaws, weakly squirming as he tried to stab me with his sword. His poison-weakened swings clanged harmlessly off my armor. I dove for the ground, tiredly angling towards Saki as I spotted her in the middle of the fighting.

A few soldiers shouted as they noticed my descent and a few arrows plinked against my armor.

Saki's voice yelled something incoherent among the sounds of battle, but the soldiers moved to give me space to land. I unceremoniously dropped the wounded general onto the bare grass.

I back-winged but still landed hard on the ground. My arms gave way as my weakening armor shattered in a snow of glittery magic sparkles. My head hit the dirt hard enough for grass to get into my nose and mouth. Gritting my teeth, I turned my pain into power and growled as I stood. My claws itched to rip through something as my ragged breathing whistled through my clenched teeth.

"Hoshi? Hoshi!" Saki's voice rang in my ears among the pounds of my dizzying headache. My brain barely registered her approach.

"Kill them all," Master's imaginary voice ordered in a whisper.

I released a guttural growl as I pushed the temptation aside. Dark spots danced in my eyes as I saw Saki hesitate. I could feel my mind and body struggle to function with my low light magic level.

The dark magic wanted to take over to keep me standing but I kept it stored away. I needed it to live, wasting. it was not an option.

I roared in pain and staggered back, claws extended. However, I restrained myself as I felt the familiar tingling of Saki's magic. With a blink, I had not realized my eyes had glazed until Saki's star gift helped me focus and keep my dark magic from gaining dominance.

"Thanks, Saki," I shook the grass and dirt off of myself. Before she could ask, I spoke, "I'm fine, just low on light magic." I briefly glanced at the many closing portals in the sky. "Heal Mister Grumpy General. The monster that attacked him likely poisoned him." I spread my wings, ignoring the soreness. Running out of light magic wasn't deadly for me. Unlike my dark energy, I could simply sleep to recover my star-given magic. "I'll work on cleaning up the stragglers."

I could feel Saki's concerned gaze drill into my back as I leaped into the air, but I ignored the feeling. She needed me to protect her and fight monsters, not Stellans. And if my estimates were accurate, the dark magic I absorbed during this battle would last me a few months.

Most straggling monsters were efortlessly dispatched by the Stellans, despite their wounds. I finished a few off, such as a massive burrowing bird-headed snake and a saber-toothed wolf.

The Stellans eyed me with various levels of aggression. Before they materialized any ideas, I returned to Saki and landed near her. Though I stumbled, I didn't collapse as I had before. "They're all gone as far as I can sense." I tried to hide my tiredness under a gruff and stoic demeanor. I glanced down at the general, who weakly sat on the ground. His pale face glanced at me with a mix of agitation, but a hint of gratitude.

"I'm going back to my cell for a long nap before some of the soldiers think of me as the enemy. Don't use up too much magic healing everyone." I disguised a yawn with a snort as I entered the training room doors, then into the storage closet masquerading as a room. I left the squeaky door partially ajar as I reclined on the cold floor next to Saki's cot.

Sleep swiftly consumed me in its nightmarish embrace and pain-filled darkness. I only stirred when Saki entered, then swiftly returned to my slumber after Saki curled up against my side with a blanket. The nightmares lessened with her curled against my side.