I gazed up and down the ranks lined in front of me. There were fewer faces among the ranks. With a nod from Magastron Kosmos, I stepped forward to address the troops.

"Each of you will be divided into one of five classes based on magical skill." I internally grinned as some of their stoic faces reflected amounts of shock upon hearing my voice. "If you cannot summon magic, form a group on the left. You are class one with Courage."

I calmly waited, but no one moved.

"Soldiers! Move to file on the left if you have no magic capabilities!" Helios ordered in a gruff tone.

"Yes, sir!" The military personnel moved per Helios's orders.

I nodded and waited until the movement stopped. "The rest, you know and can use spells different from your natural form base magic, form lines to the right. We will sort you into class four or five with Coriolis or Helios." I nodded to myself as my original trainees and a few others formed a set of ranks to my right.

I focused on the remaining soldiers in the center, "Summon your magic into your hands. Based on your proficiency, we will place you into class two or three with Cometa or Leopardalis."

The personnel slowly obeyed, various colors and strengths of magic appearing in front of them. Some held the energy in their hands, others had it float in front of them, though one person's magic formed on their forehead. Those with excellent control over their gift entered class three, while the others were in class two. Once I finished sorting, I faced the group on the right and approached. "Show me your star gift, then hit those targets with three different spells. If you don't know enough spells, stay here." I gestured to the targets set up a fair distance away.

Three people remained in file while the other twelve formed lines in front of the dummies.

I watched them closely as they showed their base magic and launched spells with varying levels of accuracy and force.

"You're better with spells, Saki." I glanced at my partner.

The young Stellan slowly nodded, then stepped forward. She quickly sorted the recruits based on their skills. Saki placed our previous class from the south base into class five with another person from the west base. The remaining places into the fourth class.

I looked back at the generals. "Alright, that's everyone sorted." Saki rejoined my side. "You schedule everything and tell us when I have to be there. Though make sure you schedule time for Saki to sleep."

"Thank you, Hoshiryu." Magastron Kosmos nodded.

I returned the nod, then walked with Saki back to my original spot off to the side and sat there.

Courage gave me a side-eyed glare as she stepped forward. "A schedule with be released shortly and posted. Dismissed!"

A stagnant routine consumed the next few weeks.

The day began early, with summoning magic with class one. Many people quickly graduated from this class, and it soon went from the largest class to the smallest as time drew on.

Class two immediately started after the first ended, and here we focused on the basics of magic, such as the concept of star gifts and meditation techniques. Once the students could consistently keep their magic stable when summoned, they immediately moved to class three.

The third group focused on using a star gift, regardless if they had a manifestation or an enchantment gift. One student had an interesting magic, as it was invisible to the eyes. I could still sense the magic, and his gift turned everything it touched invisible. We also covered topics such as the dangers of mana deficiency.

The students seemed mildly concerned at the news that if they did not notice the subtle hints of low magic, they could lose their magic forever. I think many of them were more concerned about being unable to participate in the monster base raid.

The trainees moved to class four after they gained enough proficiency and understanding on magic. Thankfully, lunch was served and provided a much-needed break between the third and fourth groups. This class focused on spells and spell theories from the book Saki had. She took over the lead in these sessions, as she is better at spells than me, especially elemental ones. I am masterful in shaping my magic, but other than light spells, I have mastered few elemental spells. The original Stellans in the class quickly moved to the final class, but were soon replaced by students working their way up the skill ladder.

The final class only grew over time as more and more students increased their proficiency in magic.

Eventually, I started teaching some monster tactics and the best maneuvers and spells to counter the different monster types. Some of the tactics I taught were obvious: use water on fire monsters, fire on ice monsters, exedra. But I also provided details on monster movements from knowledge accrued from Master's control, how to tell if a monster is secretly sentient, as well as how to deal with underhanded tactics.

However, I think the limited sparring was the recruits' favorite activity. Courage would kill me if I let anyone hurt themselves. However, once the instructees reached a considerable proficiency with magic, we started mock spars with weak and harmless temporary paint spells. The soldiers got a little competitive, but they were being evaluated.

Weeks passed with the same schedule every day. Admittedly, I lost track of the days as they ran together.

With the insistence of my southern base guards, I slept on the pushed-together bunks in the corner. There were a few scratches in the mattresses from my nightmare-induced twitching, but I knew magic could easily repair them.

My entourage was initially off-put by my bouts of nightmarish fits. However, they accepted my explanation of the dark mage punishing me nightly by tormenting my dreams. I don't know if this news weakened or strengthened their resolve.

Either way, they seemed to make a game of waking me up when they occurred. My least favorite was a blast of water from Lunatide. Sometimes he soaked the bed so much, the mattresses were still damp the next night. The group also quietly snickered about me wetting the bed when they thought I couldn't hear. They're lucky I can't hurt them and keep Saki safe. I wanted to slap them so many times.

Eventually, the generals posted the assignments for the raid on the monster base.

Per our agreement, Saki and I were on the main strike force with Courage, Helios, Quartz, Shinestar, Umbra, and Illus, the soldier with the invisibility gift. I expected Helios but was not happy with Courage's presence. I barely restrained a growl at the news.

Despite weeks of attempts, Courage continually failed to summon an ounce of magic. Though her military skills were great, the head general would likely serve as a liability for the toughest monsters in the base, like Nageneral.

"What skill level is the head general?" Quartz asked me as we reentered our quarters.

"She's one of the last people in class one. And it's not because we need a general in every class." I crawled into my makeshift cage in the corner.

There was silence.

"And she's in strike force one!?!" Apollo's eyes deepened as he tried to contain his rage. "I thought we were to be chosen based on skill!" I could feel his magic start to spark, but he skillfully controlled it even as his fury flowed.

"She's the head general." Keesho sat on his bunk. "She has the final say, and I doubt the other generals could find enough reasons to all veto her assignment."

Apollo released a huff as he slung himself onto his bunk.

"You're still on strike force two. We all made main strike forces." Photovoltaic looked up to the near-tantrum lieutenant. "Count your gifts, not your nothings."

Apollo breathily mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?" Helios barked from the doorway.

The soldiers immediately stood at attention, though Apollo needed an extra second as he hit his head on the ceiling before hopping down from his top bunk.

"Well, lieutenant?" Helios got in Apollo's face.

"I was saying I was grateful for the opportunity, sir!" Apollo held his salute.

"Good." Helios released a slight huff. "The ships leave on the fourth hour tomorrow." With his ultimatum delivered, Helios slammed the door as he left.

My roommates relaxed but heard the general do the same to the women's quarters next door.

While the men in the room frantically prepared, I meditated to ensure I would have the most magic possible for the battle I knew was coming tomorrow