It was the first time I saw birds other than canaries. I noticed there weren't any canaries in cages.

"Hey Trix, what's wrong with these animals?"

Trix sighed as he opened a cage to a weak black kitten with weepy eyes and a coa.r.s.e mew.

Marilyn's voice entered my mind with a spell of uncloaking she suggested I sign.

I signed and the spell and gasped with horror at the sight before my eyes.

Chi. Or lack of it. The room contained more grey particles than colours. Worse, it seemed they were attacking the color energy dots and swallowing them whole to turn them into grey types.

"Famine. What does your aura eyes see?" Trix soberly asked me.

Aura eyes? I frowned. I guess the term was apt.

I signed the truth of my sight, which made Trix's expression contort his brow into a troubled frown.

He nodded and explained that these animals were unlucky strays from the Third and Fourth District who had accidentally stumbled in the Transportation Field (that gold column of light at the end of the district)and ended up in the forest on the other side of the academy.

The academy's senior students were responsible for rounding up the strays and bringing them into the tower for healing or restoration and return to their districts via the Transportation Field.

On cue, a group of seniors entered the room, carrying caged small animals or wheeling in the larger ones on a trolley.

I groaned when I saw the group held the girl who had given me the challenge letter and those bully boys.

"Oh, just b.l.o.o.d.y fantastic." I signed with a groaned.

"Hey. It's Pretty Boy." The older one with slick back brown hair, narrow brown eyes and sharp hawkish features. Even his nose was pointy as one.

Trix stood back with one brow c.o.c.ked in a smirk and arms folded. It was obvious he was keen to see how our interactions unfolded.

"TPO dudes. Don't wimp out on our challenge later." I signed, eye-balling the hawk-face git.

"Not a chance." The Hawk-face git spoke, so I could read his lips.

The girl rolled her eyes and coughed to break are escalating aggravation. The seniors returned to their duty and turned to leave with a heated gaze to my face as their walked out of the room.

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"What challenge?" Trix asked, amused.

"None of your beeswax." I answered back and directed our conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Healing. What you going to teach me?"

Trix nodded and handed me a p.o.o.p-scoop and hand brush.

"First we clean up their messes then I'll tell you more."

I groaned and sighed. At least I was used to this work. My mind delved back to my Gat s.h.i.+em days when I cleaned out the fox and rabbit dens with Pesti.

Thoughts of my brother stirred my heart and mind into a disarray and impatience. Do we really need three weeks to train for the program? Can't we do it now? With my new powers, I'm sure I could be more than ready to a.s.similate into one of those machines, infiltrate that mansion and save Pesti no matter what the cost.

Ouch! I winched at the stinging pain to my cheek. Did Trix just slap me?

I gulped at the flash of dark red to his aura. What the h.e.l.l was he angry about?

"Stop thinking! Do as you're told if you want to save your brother!" Trix scolded me.

"What is your problem?" I snapped back.

Trix raised his hand and pointed to a series of cages that the seniors had brought in.

The animals were gasping for air.

"Trix. What's wrong with them?" I approached the metal cages and fumbled with the latches with worry.

"You were stealing their chi because your thoughts were on something that stirred this power." Trix soberly answered.

I stared, shocked. That wasn't right. I was thinking of my brother about how I wanted to save it at all costs.

My heart panicked when grey particles streamed from my aura and started gathering the little color energy dots from the animals in the cage.

"STOP IT. NO. STOP!" My body trembled. I didn't want this.

Trix said a spell to block my chi and stop the process. He opened the cages with a sweep of his hand and said another spell that made me drop to my knees with pain as I felt all the chi that I had recently absorbed drain out of me and return to their rightful owners.

Small compensation for my unintended crime. I panted for breath and a sigh filled with relief when I saw the animals were resting, their chi showing colour again.

The captain slumped to the stone floor before me, taking a moment to reclaim his breath before he explained the phenomena.

He had used his hīrā magic to steal chi from me and redirect back into the weaker beings, using his body as a conduit.

I listened on his basic explanation of hīrā magic. It

This type of magic was a relied on the heart to direct a caster's good chi outward, so they could heal another being, in exchange they received the bad chi into themselves as compensation. It was obvious that the more good chi exchanged would ensure bad chi absorbed, making it possible for the caster's body to be destroyed. Heart Cakra used the same process, but on a drastic scale. This knowledge made me nervous with concern if Leinard was truly okay after he had performed his heart cakra on me.

"Say, Trix. Is the Colonel okay?" I quietly asked.

Trix regarded me shrewdly before answering. "He's fine."

Somehow, I felt his answer wasn't correct but I wasn't going to get more out of him so left it at that.

He got me up and explained on our first real exercise and lesson in hīrā magic