Another day, another dollar. At least that's what I have to keep telling myself, as the alternative is to hate my job even more. Then again, we all love money, don't we? My musings were the result of more overtime at my current job that caused me to miss the release of a new video game, and to top it off, I needed to come in early tomorrow morning, so there goes any chance of being able to play it tonight. Stupid job and stupid society that makes me work. I took a breath, downing the last of the beer I had in a can that I'd managed to snag on my way past a convenience store. I shouldn't complain that much, as living off grid would mean no video gam, so I had to take the good with the bad. Not that I had to like the bad, just put up with it. Throwing the can into an almost empty bin, I took the stairs leading up to my apartment, hoping to maybe squeeze in an hour of gaming before I went to bed. That's the reason coffee exists, right? Because of my distraction, I didn't notice the door to my apartment was already partially open, or that there was someone in my room already. "Hello John." A feminine voice that seemed to flow in the breeze called out from inside. I froze halfway in the door, locking eyes with the woman who'd spoken. She was very obviously not human or a really good cosplayer with green skin that bordered on being brown and dark gray eyes that seemed to take all the light with it. But the thing that took my full attention was her light green hair that almost touched the ground and had bright red roses peaking out from underneath. She looked like a dryad from my fantasy games. "We have come..." I closed the doo,r cutting her off. Um, mm, what the hell, I don't drink that much. Did I? Because there's no way I knew someone pretty enough to pull that off or good enough to make that work. Peeking back through the door revealed she was still here, sitting on my La-Z-Boy couch with a slight eyebrow raised in my direction. Ok, Jo, hn, what are your options right now? She could be some type of salesperson? Although that's a lot of effort she would have taken in her appearance just to make me buy something. No. What about a prank? Someone who knows me put her up to this? Ha, like I have any friends IRL. "Are you done?" A voice that sounded like she gargled gravel for fun asked from behind. I jumped in a very pitiful way when I noticed a sasquatch standing just behind me. "My mistress is waiting." She growled again, indicating the door. And that's how I ended up in the middle of my apartment with what I was hoping was a female sasquatch behind me blocking the door, and the dryad woman still on my chair smiling at me like she wasn't breaking or just confusing the hell out of me. There was also this shadow thing over in my kitchen cooking while it hummed to herself, but at this point, I had so many questions that weren't in the top five. "As I said before. Hello John, my name is Liliana Goldenleaf. I am an instructor aboard the Acolytes Rest ship and a full-blooded mage within the constellation." This situation just kept getting more and more confusing, so I did the only thing that made sense. "Well, my name is John Doe. Human of Earth and owner of this room. Pleasure to be having guests at this time." The joke fell flat as the three of them all waited in silence. The shadow even stopped her hum. Maybe sarcasm isn't a thing outside of Earth. The silence was broken by the dryad woman giggling into her hand. "Well, you are taking this better than the previous human we introduced ourselves to." I must have looked as confused as I felt as the shadow piped up. "That human pulled a weapon on our lady. A mistake we hope you don't repeat." It was my turn to laugh, although I tried to hide it the best I could. "Let me guess, the other human lived in a location we call America?" "That rings a bell." "Now we are unfortunately on a deadline, so you'll have to forgive me for this next part." Liliana Goldenleaf interrupted, rising from the couch and standing right in front of me. She was a little shorter than my six feet, but the way Miss Sasquatch tensed up behind me stopped any comment I was going to make. Or just anything for that matter, I didn't want to test if the muscles I could see on her were real. "This might hurt." Hurt was an understatement. The moment the dryad's hands touched my arm, it felt like she was pumping liquid iron into my veins straight out of the forge's oven, yet just as quickly, a cool sensation like I'd just drank water after eating a mint washed it away. Once both sensations fell away, a phantom organ that felt like it had remained dormant my whole life seemed to rise from within. "Shit." Liliana cursed, pulling something from her pocket and breaking it open. Whatever it was, my new organ seemed to love as I felt it flowed into my lungs like it was feeding a greedy child, and just like a greedy child, it seemed to be taking in way more than it should. "Mana deprivation," Liliana mumbled as Miss Sasquatch grabbed my shoulder and threw me onto the wall. I couldn't growl her as a wave of the mint feeling exploded out of my new organ pushing everything that wasn't nailed down in every direction and leaving me feeling quite refreshed, considering half my ass was creating a dent in the wall from where I'd been thrown. The girls were all huddled in the middle of the room with a seeming bubble of protection from the mess that was now my apartment. Whatever I had done to cause it was remaining very silent now that it'd thrown its little tantrum. "That went well, all things considered," Liliana said cheerfully, completely at odds with the sasquatch and shadow women who were glaring in my direction with weapons I was unfamiliar with drawn. "Can I get an explanation?" I asked, pulling myself off the wall and wincing. Going to have to think of a good excuse for my landlord, as saying an alien decided to use me as a bowling ball wouldn't go over well with insurance. "I just jump-started your mana battery. So, congratulations, you are now considered an Acolyte according to the Constellation. The bad news, however, is that you need to come with us to learn how to properly use mana. This is not a choice." The subtle threat at the end was given with the sweetest smile. "So aliens exist, mana exists, and I'm some sort of space wizard that needs to go with you or else. I think I'm following." I was never a fan of VR games due to them giving me a headache, but if I could fling fireballs for real, then I'm pretty sure I'd do anything besides sell my soul to a demon, but even that's not fully off the table. Not like I have anything here either, mine's John Doe for a reason. "Good, then we shall depart immediately." Now I was expecting to be shown to her space shuttle that she arrived in, which was using some kind of alien tech to remain invisible in the car park, but no. Liliana just snapped her fingers, and my apartment disappeared from under my feet, only to be replaced with the metal of a ship's hull and a window three times my size overlooking my planet. Okay. Magic, got it. I'd seen images of Earth online, but nothing compared to seeing it in person; it took my breath away. This was helped by the fact that ten minutes ago, I was on said planet trying to find an excuse to dive into a fantasy world in video games. My abductors gave me a few seconds to adjust; however, a new voice didn't. "Ooo, oh Lili, and you found a male this time!" An excited ball of floof tackled into my hip. "And he's so soft. What is he?" She abruptly ignored Liliana's response. "What are you? Wai, you must be one of those fleshy things with pink skin. Oh, that reminds me, we are in your solar system right now. You must be an acolyte unless Liliana took a liking to you. Liliana! Did you bring back a male for us? Crap I need to clean my room if he's going to see it." And with the same energy, the small creature that resembled a sheep hybrid darted off in a different direction from the one she came from. Well, that just happened. She didn't even let me answer any of her questions. "Throw my ass into a black hole, that girl needs to stop for a second." Liliana shook her head. "Once you've caught up with your surroundings, follow me." I took one last look at Earth, but didn't want to keep the woman who could simply teleport us out of the atmosphere without blinking, waiting. She didn't wait, and I had to run slightly to catch up, noting that the shadow women had followed. The sasquatch had fortunately left us at some point. Not that it stopped my skin from crawling just being near something that was effectively impossible to all my knowledge. I tried to put Liliana between us, trying to argue with my mind that a woman made up of plants is more possible, but Miss Shadow moved so she was between us before I even got close. I tried to act nonchalant about my plan being ruined, but it wasn't enough. "She is my guard, Mr Doe., It would be surprising if she weren't standing between us." The mirth in her voice was noticeable. "Because you so need a guard," I responded, making sure there was enough sarcasm to be unmistakable. Liliana chuckled before leading us into a room that expanded as we entered. "Every acolyte has a guard, and the longer you live, the more you will acquire.e It will be the first thing you get when we arrive aboard Acolytes Rest. For now, however, you will be two weeks behind most of the students in your class, and I aim to give you at least the basics in the four hours we have." Liliana turned a full 180 and slammed her hand against her chest. The impact was reinforced with a wave of pressure that caused me to mimic her like I was suddenly in the army. Not completely untrue, I suppose, if half of what she said before is correct. "Now I'm going to drill you with a lot of things very quickly. If you have any questions, I advise you to hold off and ask your first guard to clarify so that we can get through a lot right now." "Got it," I responded, making note of the guard point. Just treat this like a new gam, John. Play it for a bit, then find a guide somehow. Nothing to it. "Good. First thing you need to know is that anyone can have a gun, and while having a guard is good, they can't stop everything. N, ow strike me." Liliana commanded with a smile. I stumbled first looking at the dryad wo, man, then her shadow guard. Both looked completely unfazed at the request, so I took a step forward and punched her like I was giving a fist bump. Just before my fist connected with her shoulder, a green bubble encompassed her, er, stopping my strike, then disappearing. "I should have been clearer. Selevana will not do anything unless you act without my permission, so you need not worry about her. You doo, however, er need to commit to this training or we will not get far. Again!" Good to know. This is the time I swung fully in an arc that would have hit her chest if the green bubble hadn't appeared. I hissed as it connected, feeling like I'd punched a brick wall. "Very good. Every Acolyte needs to know how to create a shield and keep it active at all times. Know this, your instructors are allowed to throw weak spells at you both during class and outside to make sure you have it active at all times, as well as to make sure your guard is paying attention." She finished up by throwing a punch into my gut that drove the air from my lungs and sent me reeling back a couple of steps. "Now create your shield acolyte." Electricity danced around her palm as she readied herself for another strike. Of course, I panicked, drawing on the only feeling I had with mana. This fellow was unfortunately the small explosion I'd had back in my apartment. Selevana acted instantly, driving a dagger into my thigh. "Mother fucker!" I screamed, the mana I gathered within my organ throwing itself at the attacker, forcing ot out of my body in a splattering of blood. "Not bad. But I did say make a shield, not try and attack me." Liliana scolded me, pushing a wave of green mana into my thigh, stitching the wound back together. "Think less violence, reorientation Mana follows your thought ts so think protection this time. It would have been helpful if she had said that from the start instead of trying to electrocute me. Taking her advice, I thought of all the games I'd played where you had a shield and envisioned one surrounding my ski, ready to deflect anything just like her one had done to me. "You seem ready." Liliana didn't wait for me to finish properly, and an arc of lightning was propelled into my chest. However, this time it bounced off, foffcFarcoffing the far wall before fizzling out. I was so happy with my accomplishment, not I didn't notice the organ between my lungs start to ache. The ache soon turned into a hunger like I hadn't eaten in three days before abruptly going silent, along with my shield. Liliana was fortunately expecting this as she cut her stream of lightning off as my shield failed, leaving me gasping for breath. "Well done. You just accomplished something that takes most acolytes a whole week to figure out." She said with almost a hint of surprise. I tried to glare at her, but it came out as more of a sigh. ,, Oh don't give me that. I needed you to experience your mana battery hitting empty, so this ticked both those boxes. Here." She pulled something from her pocket and broke it just under my nose, and just like before, the thing in my chest hungered for whatever it was, pulling all of it in through my nose until it was satisfied. Thankfully, not exploding this time. "Thank you," I mumbled. "At least you have manners. Now, so long as you focus, your shield will stop anything you designate hostile, but it drains your mana to do so. That is what you just experienced, and A mage without mana is just an ordinary creature, so it's in your best interest to let that happen." She then ran me through the exercise a few more times until I could feel my battery better. She seemed to know when it was halfway and stopped her attack then before breaking another one of whatever those things were that kind of resembled a glow stick to bring me back up to full. The plan, it seemed, was that an acolyte's shield would stop the first attack, but you would focus on evading any more attacks while trying to remove whatever was attacking you in the first place. Lilianas' method of thinking was that if you were defending and lost half your mana, then you were only going to lose the other half the same way, so once it reached that point, a change in your strategy was needed. I tried to ask what would happen if you were in a battle with multiple people, but she brushed it off a unimportant right now. Thankfully, after the eighth time, I could somewhat correctly tell how much mana I still had after she attacked and could summon my shield at will. I was still struggling with keeping it active without thinking, but Liliana said I'd done incredibly well for someone from a primitive species that didn't know mana existed. She also explained that my mana battery was very similar to a muscle. The more I use it, the bigger it will get, but if you don't use it, it will wither. At this point was drenched in sweat and trying not to show that I couldn't get enough air into my lungs, and my saving grace was the little ball of fluff returning. This little ball of fluff was a girl that resembled a sheep, fit with yellow glowing eyes and wool that made it hard to know if she was wearing any clothes. "We are coming up on The Acolytes' rest now, Liliana." She said with all the professionalism of a soldier. This was then ruined by her next question. "Are you sure we can't take a round or two in the bedroom with him before we dock?" Even in my exhausted state, I still gawked at her. I mean I'm not that bad looking but not start an orgy over. "No, Felou. I will give you some time in the red light district when we get back if you behave. repliedana replied nt at all surprised at her proclamation. Yes, definitely for females to go to the red light district. Maybe space has different rules and interests. Another question for when I get a guar, das Liliana was already moving towards the sheep girl whose name I now knew was Felou. "Come, acolyte Doe. You won't want to miss this." I tried to give some type of salute, which failed miserably due to my arms not listening to my commands. My legs, however, probably wanted to get out of this training room so I wasn't subjected to any more 'mana battery training' anymore. The girls all gave a small snicker but didn't say anything out loud as I fell into step beside Liliana. Selevana did push in between us without flinching, giving a pointed look in my direction. Guard got it. Will my guard be the same? Like, do I have to speak to everyone from a ten-foot distance? Going to make it hard to find some friends. Not like being new in an alien civilization was going to be hard enough. "Acolyte Joe. Have you ever been outside your planet?" The shadow woman, as, ked, breaking my train of thought. "No. Haven't been out of my country, let alone my planet." I responded, having taken a second to get my breathing to a more normal rate. A smile broke across Selevana's face, one that sent a trickle of fear down my spine. "Well,l you're in for a treat." Before I could ask what she meant, the wall closest to me opened into a viewing window, and my future came into sight. Floating in the middle of this new solar system was a giant space station that resembled a starfish. If starfish had their sun burning in the center and enough ship-destroying guns spread across every inch of their wings that an American would salute out of instinct. Planets continued the slow orbit around this celestial body, but neither the sun itself nor the other ships held a candle to the station's size. It made me think who thought building something around a god dam sun was a good idea. "This is the Acolytes Rest. Your home for the foreseeable future."