We decided it was best if we all headed to Tayatts dorm room as our safe pce. This was rgely due to the fact Sapphire was very concussed and was leaning heavily on Ovara while Aria was shedding feathers from her wings at a less than desirable rate. Galrett one of Vanaress's guards made getting through the crowds very easy by just growing at anyone that refused to move quickly enough.

  Once we were safely at the door to her dorm, Tayatt opened it but still waited for one of her other guards to do a sweep. Sapphire tried to join her but we held her back.

  "Clear." Came the call and we all piled in leaving Galrett outside who nodded her head and ran off back towards her own Mage.

  It became very obvious how much everyone was on edge as the moment the door was shut and locked all the girls seemed to rex in their own ways. Ovara being the only one who didn't as she took Sapphire over to a circur dip in the ground that was full of cushions. I tried to follow but Aria held me back.

  "Well I don't know about you guys but I think I need some Mana leaf." Tayatt mumbled going into her room and returning with a couple of bags of a blue leaf.

  "You smoke?" I asked briefly surprised. I didn't smell it at all on her breath and usually it turns me off really quickly.

  "Oh no not like that." The Vattare replied. "It's actually something every Acolyte does as it has a medicinal effect and helps Mana regeneration. Care to try some?"

  I looked to Aria for confirmation as Sapphire was currently looking like she might vomit.

  "I've only heard of it never seen it before. What she says is correct to what I know but it's deadly to anyone that isn't a Acolyte or guard. Something about how it reacts with Mana in the body."

  I felt my Mana battery still trying to cycle enough to repce my earlier training. It was still lower than I wanted sitting around one third. "Sure I'll give it a go."

  "Great." Tayatt jumped to celebrate trying her best to focus on anything but what happened.

  La'lilly on the other hand was busy talking to one of Tayatts other guards in a hushed voice that I could still make out. "From now on we move with four guards on one guard off. That was too close, if we weren't with Acolyte John we would have lost Tayatt."

  Ah. Yeah we did use Arias shield a lot so that tracks. Crap Arias wings. She did have Sapphires resilient scales on her wings but she was hit a lot.

  Going around my angel so I could see her back I tried not to wince. Truth be told it could have been a lot worse but there were very obvious spots where zer rife had burnt her feathers back to the skin and one of the finger like bones was visible around the edges of her right wing. The sight wasn't helped by the red blood half dried against the white of her feathers.

  "Does that not hurt?" I asked indicating to her wings. A few of the other girls gasped having not seen them yet as she'd been in the rear most of the time.

  "A little. Doubt I'll be able to fly any time soon but it's a small price to pay for getting out of that scrap alive." She replied with a shrug then winced.

  Yeah that's not going to work for me.

  "Do you guys mind if I get a healer to come out. Someone I trust." I directed at Ovara more than anyone.

  "So long as their trustworthy." La'lilly replied. "We don't want any more trouble but your girls did take the brunt of everything back there."

  I gave her a nod as thanks and made my way over to Sapphire who was looking slightly better, if by better you mean not trying to dry heave into a bucket. "Hey Sapphire you with me still?"

  My mia just rolled her eyes. "I may be slightly dizzy but I'm fine.

  "Well we both know that's a lie but can you call your sister. Both you and Aria need healing and I really want to learn how to."

  Sapphire growled but gave a nod as she pulled her tablet out.

  "Who's the healer?" Ovara asked as she helped Tayatt cut up the Mana leaf.

  "Sapphires sister. A fellow Acolyte I think our senior with a specialization in healing."

  "Oooow speaking of, what type of specialisation do you want John?" Tayatt asked sneaking a little off cut of the leaf and eating it before Ovara could stop her.

  So it's kind of like an edible. Ovara silently scolded her and took the whole thing away from her Acolyte and over to the kitchen area.

  "Ummm I don't unfortunately know them all so I can't make a decision, plus it seems like we can't pick it so I'd rather not get my hopes up for something." I said back with a shrug. The gamer in me wanting to do the research for them but the nguage barrier was a bit of a pain.

  "Probably for the best." One of the Vattare I hadn't been introduced to called out.

  Tayatt just waved her off. "I want to be an illusionist. Create fake versions of everything to trick my opponents and if I'm really good I can make those illusions actually be physical. Either ignore them and face the problems or deal with them and give my girls a opening."

  "You just want to create a copy of John Tayatt, stop using other excuses!" Ovara bbbered as revenge for stealing the leaf earlier.

  "No! Don't say that while he's right here." Tayatt wined.

  "So you wouldn't make a copy of two of John just to test ride before the real thing?" Aria innocently asked.

  That pulled us all up short as we looked at the angel.

  "What?" She asked at all the stares.

  "We didn't think you of all people would say anything remotely sexual." I said back my image of angels being creatures of purity and rightfulness being smothered. Then again I did watch her gun someone down at close range.

  Again she shrugged wincing at the movement but trying not to let it show. Before she could respond though a chime came from the door. We all looked at each other with confusion. Sapphires sister couldn't have gotten here this fast right?

  "Who is it." La'lilly asked as she was the closest to the door.

  "Mage Liliana and Acolyte Amethyst." Came the reply.

  Wait Lilianas here! Why? Everyone looked between each other in surprise but a silent agreement was decided. They couldn't keep out a mage.

  One other the Vattares I didn't know opened the door and both shadow women from each of the mage and Acolyte came in to do a quick sweep. Not really doing much more than make sure of numbers as everyone was still pretty armed at this point.

  Liliana also didn't wait long enough for her own guard to give the all clear before she was inside and heading towards me. For a short woman she moved remarkably fast.

  "You called for Amethysts assistance, are you injured John?" She asked not waiting for my response before her hand came up to my chest.

  A wave of her Mana thudded against my shield, resisting only for a second before shattering it an all my remaining Mana. My girls both flinched but made no move to stop her. They couldn't do much in their current state and even if they were fine they couldn't take on a full mage.

  "No you are fine. Why'd you request Amethysts assistance?" She asked again.

  "For my guards." I wheezed out slightly winded at how abruptly she'd just weakened me. "They're both in need of medical assistance."

  Liliana looked between Sapphire and Aria. My mia having a fresh wave of blood dripping down her head while Aria stood tall trying her best to hide her wings. It didn't work because she was stood facing Liliana and not Amethyst as the white mia entered the room and had a full view of the damage her wings had sustained.

  "Void be damned!" She cried out, her hands already glowing green as she approached Aria. "Did you forget to dodge when someones shooting at you?"

  "My Acolyte was behind me." Aria said back with a bit of pride. "I wasn't going to move."

  Amethyst scoffed but remind healing Aria till my angel could flex her wings fully again. There were still a lot of bloodstains against her white feathers but even the patches of feathers that were previously missing had grown back.

  "I'll commend you for that but try not to take that much again. You don't have my sisters resilient scales mutation for actually being a tank." Amethyst scolded.

  "Actually she does." I pointed out.

  "Expin." Liliana said with a small amount of interest as Amethyst made her way over to Sapphire.

  "Both Aria and Sapphire have the storage mutation and resilient scales or in Aria's case it's more centered around her wings, so resilient feathers?"

  "That's impossible." Ovara voiced. "Guards can only have one mutation. A second would kill them before they could get a Acolyte to bond to."

  "That is how it normally works. But I have a feeling your about to tell us otherwise." Liliana smiled at me.

  "Yeah. Something about me causes them to share their mutations between each other." I responded.

  Amethyst had finished with Sapphire at this point and was looking between my two guards with doubt. "That could be incredibly powerful but what's the catch?"

  "Catch?" I said back confused.

  "She's talking about what do you lose in return. You haven't gone over it yet in css but for every benefit you have you become slightly worse in another way when compared to a different mage. So a very powerful advantage like sharing your guards mutations will come with a hefty price. I would suggest you figure it out soon so Sapphire and Aria can work around it." Liliana answered. "We must be off now as there are many more injured to tend to but think it over John."

  Like usual Liliana didn't wait for any response before teleporting herself, her guards, Amethyst and Amethysts guards all out of the room.

  Sapphire was besides me in an instant, her tail wrapping around me body possessively. Right. My shield is currently inactive.

  None of Tayatts girls made any moves towards us, the understanding between them that an undefended Acolyte was not something they should approach. I tried to bring my shield back up but my Mana battery screamed empty in my chest.

  "Easy John. Just take your time." Tayatt whispered. Sapphire hissed quietly as the Vattare tried to get closer and my Acolyte friend stopped almost unsure. Aria also made her way over to put her wings around us. It took La'lilly coming over and touching Tayatt to make the Vattare continue. "Just breathe. It will take some time but your Mana will slowly regenerate. Don't force it or you might end up casting a spell by accident and draining it back to nothing."

  "Don't be too offended Tayatt." Ovara called out as she handed her what looked like a sushi roll made out of the Mana leaf. "If you were the same we'd be blocking John from getting close to you as well. Too risky to have a shieldless Acolyte around another even if you are friends."

  That made sense.

  Bundled up in both scales and feathers it took way longer than I wanted before my Mana levels increased enough that I could reactivate my shield and even then Sapphire refused to let me go until she could feel my Mana reach around ten percent. It also answered one of my questions as the girls could feel my Mana battery without asking me.

  Once I was free I found Tayatt, Ovara and one of the other Vattares in the circur dip with a pte of Mana leaf sushi rolls all made up. Tayatt gave me a concerned look and it was quite obvious she was being held back by the other two. La'lilly and the st Vattare had relocated to one of the rooms with an open door so they could see their Acolyte and were stripping their weapons down for cleaning.

  The girls and myself made our way down to the dip and got comfortable with Sapphire wrapping her tail around my belly and resting her arms on my shoulders from behind most possessively while Aria pced her left wing behind Sapphires back with her thighs touching my own.

  "You okay now John?" Tayatt asked.

  "Yeah I'm good. So what's this Mana leaf like?" I asked in return trying to get onto a more positive note.

  "Depends." Tayatt let out a breath, a slight bit of relief coming through her voice. "It tastes like your Mana does. Mine kinda tastes like aduberries but yours will taste different, your guards can also try it now that their bonded if they want."

  Sapphire hummed. "I don't much care for the leaf myself and would rather use as much as you are offering to boost Johns regeneration."

  Aria shrugged again. "I would like to try some but agree with sapphire. Johns Mana should be a priority."

  "Don't be so conservative. I'm offering enough for all of you as a thank you for protecting me as well as John. Now Ivugro please split it evenly." Tayatt said indicating to the guard I now knew as Ivugro who possessed brown fur all over her body and a single gray streak in her hair that she kept over her right eye.

  Ivugro nodded and split the offered pieces between the six of us giving everyone two each. Now that I was closer they very much did look like sushi rolls with only the Mana leaf and rice inside no extra fillings.

  Sapphire released me slightly from her coils so I could grab one but didn't go for any herself, Aria picked up one of hers and put the other one next to my second one. Tayatt pouted but Ovara gave her a nudge before the Acolyte could comment. "Their worried Tayatt, they're not dismissing your generosity they just want John to be safe."

  Tayatt grumbled but nodded. "Fine then." She then turned to me holding up her own Mana leaf sushi. "Let's find out how your Mana tastes. No half assing it just stick the whole thing in your mouth."

  I raised my eyebrow at her innuendo but figured it was on par for her. Means she must be feeling a little bit better at least.

  I made a whole big deal of putting the whole thing in my mouth just for her sake and bit down on the roll with a bit of wonder as to what it would taste like. I shouldn't have been that surprised when the same minty feeling from when I'd first became an Acolyte invaded my senses in waves each stronger than the one before until it was all I could feel, then vanished just as quickly. My Mana battery seemed to surge briefly then hummed happily and I could feel it pulling in more Mana than before.

  "Wow that's intense." I coughed. "Reminds me of brushing my teeth."

  "Really mines sweet." Tayatt mused. "I kinda want to try yours but that will never work."

  Aria bit into half of her own and seemed to wrinkle her nose slightly at first then her eyes went wide as she breathed deeply from her nose. "Sapphire at least give this a go." She offered the other half of her roll to my mia who resisted but gave in at Aria's persistence.

  Sapphire hissed when the mint feeling hit her at full force, the blue mia scratching her tongue against her lips to dissuade the taste from spreading around until it vanished. Aria snickered when Sapphire gred at her.

  "I mean no offense John but I don't like your Manas taste." Sapphire growled.

  "Yeah it's strange. I don't hate it but I wouldn't go out and buy Mana leaf just to experience it." Aria added.

  I couldn't really fault them. I still liked it at least so that's something.

  When I went for a second piece I was stopped by Tayatt. "Wait for the regeneration to end. It has a small duration and doesn't stack, so just enjoy the feeling and have another when you feel it end."

  All three of the Vattare girls were lounging against each other like they'd had some tiger variant of catnip with one piece missing from each of their piles.

  "Sure." I said back leaning into Sapphires chest. "I can wait."