Chapter 2 First guard

After my sightseeing Liliana managed to move my ass into a shuttle so we could enter the giant space station. I was still struck by the sheer size of the thing and spent the majority of the trip staring out the window, completely missing that Miss Sasquatch rejoined us as well as two elf-looking creatures that didn't utter a word. It wasn't until I stepped foot on the metal hull of the starfish station that I had the brain capacity to say anything. "I'm not in Kansas, anything, am I?" "He speaks. Thought we'd broken you back there." The small sheep woman laughed while carrying what I could only describe as a mini-gun, almost the same size as her. Still not the weirdest thing I've seen today. "Come, we need to get you settled, and the fastest way to do that is to get your first guard. Once you have one, you are allowed to wonder, but be warned. An Acolyte is not allowed to go anywhere without at least one guard at all times." Liliana wa,rned holding herself with all the poise of a military leader. Liliana and I were currently bunched in the middle of a personal bubble that consisted of Selevana, the shadow woman in front with Felou, the sheep girl beside her, the sasquatch whose name I didn't catch in the rear, and the two elves, one on each side. "Do Acolytes get attacked often?" I asked as we headed down corridors one by one, with everyone we encountered giving us a wide berth. "Yes and no. Something you will learn about with time, but for now, just know that the easiest way to remove an acolyte from power is to kill them before they fully understand what they can do." Liliana replied. Charming. Power puts a target on your back, not too different from my home planet. "Any recommendations you can give me about guards? Am I just allocated on, or do I get to choose?" To my surprise, the elf guard to my left responded to my question with a gruff male voice. I didn't think he was a girl at first glance, I swear. "There are three main things you want to look out for. Every guard is trained for a minimum of two years before they can even qualify for a guard role, and even the requirements are steep. The first thing is their mutation. Once someone has completed the requirements to become a gua, they are doused with a controlled amount of pure mana. This grants the mostly positive mutation that can be improved by the acolyte they bond to. This means that most candidates who are in a position to become your guard are better than anyone who has just trained." I so wanted to ask what all their mutations were, but he continued without pause. "Second, you need to make sure your team is well-rounded. Simply put, having three medics is pointless if you don't have the firepower to stop your opposition." A little bit of strategy is needed. I'm good with that, spending hours online does develop some form of strategic planning. "And third." The male elf finally turned to look at me as we entered a comically large room filled with creatures of all sizes running drills while instructors hurled insults. "You'll always have one of them with you at all times, even when you think you should have some privacy. This mainly represents females as even if they want to bed a man for a night, a guard must be with them, either participating or just watching." "Don't tell him that. I still want a round with him before he realizes he's prime meat." Felou complained, throwing a wink over her shoulder at me. I almost stumbled, but Liliana managed to catch my arm. "Humans have a one-to-one ratio in male to female births, I believe. Most species do not share that trait, being around one to four in females, favoring if they're lucky. It is something you will have to get used to." The plant woman clarified without giving me a chance to respond before a shout echoed through the room. "MAGE ON DECK!" That started a mad scramble as everyone stopped what they were doing, some even stopping mid obstacle course to line up in front of our little group. I did notice that the majority of them were female, just like Liliana said, but I was unprepared for how much attention was aimed in my direction, even with Liliana's guards blocking most of their view. Once it felt like the entire room was silent, Liliana stepped forward to address the potential guards with confidence befitting someone who'd done this many times. The sasquatch and shadow women both fell into step beside her as the elves stayed with me. "Human." Again, the male elf got my attention. "This is a big choice, make no mistake. You are new to the relationships between different species, so I will tell you this. Whoever you pick first will have a resounding effect on he rest of your team and your future family, both from what they are and how they treat other species. If I may be so bold, do not pick a male of any species to be part of your guards. Most are incredibly possessive, and it tends to drive a wedge between the entire group." I gave him a nod to signal I understood before the other elf nudged my shoulder and indicated towards where a large portion of the potential guards were lining up in a row, starting from Liliana. "These are the top twenty of this class. Pick your first guard." The dryad almost demanded. No pressure at all, right? Not like my entire future was riding on this. Well, I did choose to follow a literal plant woman into space because she promised I could use magic, so in the grand scheme of things, this wasn't too big of a choice. Just keep telling yourself that, John. As I made a move,e both the elves mirrored each other to my left and right., It was kind of creepy, but another thing I'm going to have to get used to, I guess. The twenty potential guards were of all shapes and sizes, from more of the sasquatch species to a mouse-like girl that only came up to my waist. Each one had a small hologram in front of them depicting their name, race, favorite weapon, and a short description of their mutation. None of the options were male, so I didn't need to heed the elf's warning there, but I had no idea what I should pick. Taking a breath and closing my eyes after I'd walked past all my options, I was about to pick a random number and just go with that option when my mana battery lurched in my chest like it was trying to pull me somewhere. The elves noticed surprise but didn't make a move to anything ing so I mentally followed the direction it was showing me. It was an interesting feeling following, man, yet oddly natural at the same time. Kind of like a string that was tied to my very bones. Halfway down the collection of oguards gs it stopped pulling, only leaving a faint thread that connected with one of the women. Seems like my decision to me. Not that I was going to argue with this metaphorical organ, as the woman it had picked out was stunningly beautiful. Deep blue hair left to flow down her shoulder, slightly ruffled from working out, revealed knife-like ears and twin horns of a mud brown that curved away from her head before pointing towards the ceiling. Similar blue mirrored her eyes as her slitted pupils followed my gaze to a scar running from her left cheek to behind her left ear. The military fatigues she wore hid her figure but not the fact that her hips tapered off into a single long tail of a snake with faded white scales below her belly and matching blue around the sides and back. Scales also covered her arms up to her shoulders, but didn't seem like they would hinder her movement at all. A lamia. And here we thought they were a fantasy race,e ot aliens. Name: Sapphire Species: Lamia Favorite weaponAnti-matterer rifle Mark 5 Mutation: Resilient scales Notes: Accuracy scores within the top 1%. Disciplinary marks: 1 So she's needed to be disciplined. I checked the girls on either side, and neither had on, so I'm guessing it's not a common thing. Still not going to change my mind or my mana's at this point. "Well then, Sapphire, think you can be my guard?" I'll behonestt I didn't know what I was supposed to say, ay and everyone else thought the same, as I got looks from all the other potential guards. Luckily, Liliana teleported beside me after I said it. She also managed to bring sasquatch with him, but at this point, that doesn't seem hard for her at all. "Not my first pick." The dryad muttered as she browsed the information before straightening up. "Guard Sapphi, as of fifteen minutes from now, will be the sole guard of Acolyte Doe. Use this time to gather your personal effects from your bunk and a load out from the armory. Information about his accommodations will be sent to you shortly. Choose carefully. Dismissed!" Sapphire nodded before diving to the ground and slithering much faster than I expected out the door we just came through. Snake got it. Without another,r word, the bubble of Liliana's guards formed around us. "Time to go." The woman in question said already moving out of the training room. From behind, the yelling of the instructors resumed like we hadn't been there at all. Once we were through the door and back into the hallway, this time heading in a different direction, I decided to speak up. "Did I make a good decision?" No one responded for a bit of time before Sasquatch behind me piped in with her gravely voice. Lamia llikesmen a lot. For a species, she's a good first pick, but her weapon being a long-range one is quite limiting, and you should have asked about her disciplinary mark before you made your decision. Never seen her mutation before,e so you'll have to ask her yourself." "For someone of a primitive planet with no knowledge, it wasn't a bad pick. There have been plenty of mages who picked guards no one else would have and have become successful; however, the same can be said for the reverse. Here in the Acolytes Res, you will be given a large degree of freedom as you will learn once you start attending classesThere arareots of reasons for this, and I don't have time to go through even half of them right now." Liliana continued with a purple light, leaving her hand and impacting my shield. She let out a smile. "I have a feeling, however, that you are going to be a fast learner." Right, the teachers can attack the students with weak spells, almost forgot about that. "Anything you can tell me now?" I asked Lilia about it, and I aimed it at the others slightly as well. "Don't die." The elf who hadn't spoken yet pitched in. She was she, although her chest gave that away more than her voice. "And don't make your guards' job harder than it needs to be." Got it. Although that still begs the question n why I need a personal guard at all. Especially if, like Lilian, I get multiple and they create this person bubble at all times. Before I could voice these questions, I was brought to a door in what looked like the motel part of the ship. Every fiveish meter had another door with very little to tell them apart. "This will be your accommodations for the duration of your training. Decorate it as you see fit, but outside of this door, you are to be accompanied at all times by at least one of your guards." Liliana made sure to stress the last part as she handed me a card that unlocked the door. Reminded me of some fancy hotels. "You sure we can't stay for a bit, Liliana? I'm sure we could all use a thank you for bringing him here." Felou asked her gun to the side as she playfully pulled down one side of her top with her free hand. Selevana slapped the offending sheep girl before I could get a good peek while the rest of the group rolled their eyes collectively. "Ignore her," Liliana grumbled, giving me a slight push into the now open door. "You will have ample opportunities later for that type of thing. And for what it's worth, good luck, although I have a feeling you won't need it."