Congratulations. You have reached level 3.

As usual, my torrid dreams erased my memory of any system messages that presented nocturnally. That night my brain was stuck in a Groundhog’s Day loop. The same tragic dream played on over and over, becoming grimmer and grimmer as I was doomed to repeat them. Kalli was the central focus of every dream.

We were attacked by an imposing carousel of dangerous monsters, each one more deadly than the last.She always imposed herself between me and the danger, ordering me to flee.I watched in horror as she died in front of me every time.I could do nothing.Not even my regeneration trait was working.

Mercifully, the final dream of the night was different. I stood in front of a dark cave that the light of day seemed unable to penetrate. For some reason, I desperately wanted to go in but was impeded by a feeling of sheer terror. I knew that there must be a reason for this yet I couldn’t come up with one no matter how hard I focused.

The only thing that escaped the darkness was Kalli’s voice, “You must rescue me. I know I told you not to, but you need to break the rule.”

I woke suddenly sprawled out on my bed and drenched in sweat. I gasped for breath and struggled to sit up. The bed compensated by making me sink deeper into the soft mattress. My bed had been so comfortable. I had marveled at how awesome The Cradle spray was before drifting off to sleep. Of course, now that I needed to sit up, it was not working as advertised. I calmed myself and pretended I just wanted to sit up just a little bit, hoping to trick the mattress. Whatever I did, it worked and I was able to roll out of bed.

What was I dreaming about again?

It had something to do with Kalli.

Oh, that’s right. She’s not here.

My heart sunk. I missed her. I heaved myself to my feet and made my way to the restroom. It was unoccupied. I wished she was in there even though it would mean I had to wait.

I should be happy that she isn’t here forcing me to hold it while she takes her sweet time.

It didn’t matter. I still missed her. I decided that I might as well check on Kalli while I relieved myself.

Good Morning, Kalli. Did you sleep well?

I felt her yawn in my head and her muffled reply. Mmm, Morning Mel. I just had the best night’s sleep. Mrs. Hodgins gave me my own room with the biggest bed I’ve ever seen. I don’t even have to share. Wait a second. What is that sound? Are you relieving yourself?

I attempted to stop myself mid-stream but wound up making a mess.

Ack. Can you hear that?

She didn’t reply until after I got myself under control. The mental message came back half amused and half irritated. Hear it. Feel it. Well, not feel that exactly. It’s more like I could feel the relief you felt. This is why I left the group when you tried to link with me while I was in the privy at Lavender’s house. It's considered bad manners to interact with someone while they are doing that, what did you call it, number 2?

I turned bright red at the thought of transmitting feelings while doing my business.

Do I need to leave the group when I go to the bathroom?

Her irritation had died down when Kalliphae replied. No. That would be impractical. We have to be close to one another to initiate a group, so if we left every time we did something personal, we wouldn’t be able to stay in a group. The general rule is to give each other privacy. If you focus on me and I'm indisposed, just think you’d like to speak with me and wait until I reply. I’ll do the same for you.

It was a good thing that Kalli was so knowledgeable. So far every decision I had made had been met with catastrophic results. I thought I knew what I was doing when I gave myself the Monster Vision trait. I figured that it would be like video games and I’d encounter some slimes to help me level up.

Kalli’s excitement brought me out of my thoughts. Hey, guess what. I leveled up. I’m level 8.

That’s cool. Congratulations.

She radiated happiness. You don’t understand. This is the fastest I’ve ever leveled. I think this adventure is going to help me level up a lot.

I wondered if she meant the adventure where she got summoned to a strange new world. I didn’t say anything as I walked into the living room.

“Good morning, honey. Did you oversleep again?”, my mom greeted me from the couch where she had yet to get out of bed.

I had forgotten, she was off work. I jumped into dutiful son mode and said, “Good morning, mom. Would you like me to make you some breakfast?”

She yawned and smiled at me, “Give me some more of that wonderful pizza. Where did you find that place? It was amazing.”

I ran to the kitchen to heat her a slice.Mom was a pizza snob so cold or microwaved pizza was out of the question.

I bet she would love Kalli heated pizza.

I put a few slices in a pan and tossed them in the oven. Since she was home, I wouldn’t be able to slip any more food in the fridge for mom. I didn’t want to eat any more of the pizza she did have so I decided to run back to the room for a quick meal.

The BUFF didn’t let me down. I was craving pancakes so I sent the box a mental image of the perfect breakfast stack. When I opened the lid I was greeted with 3 fluffy pancakes with blueberries cooked in, topped with whipped cream and bacon-infused butter.

I ordered a soda to wash it all down and ate quickly so that mom’s pizza wouldn’t burn. She was sitting up when I made it out with her food. She looked down at my offering in surprise, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

I grinned sheepishly, “Actually, I want to stop by McDonald’s on the way to school. They are having the monopoly promotion again and I’m totally going to win this year.”

“Oh, right”, she grinned, “You’re going to become a millionaire and take me away to a tropical island paradise, right?”

I matched her smile and replied, “You know it.”

Mom picked up the pizza, careful not to let the cheese drip off, and said, “Let me eat this real quick and I’ll drive you.”

I shook my head and waved her off, “Actually, do you mind if I walk to school?”

“Why would you want to do that?”, mom asked in confusion.

Under normal circumstances, I would do just about anything to not have to walk somewhere.It’s not that I wasn’t used to it.Walking was the only free way to get anywhere and I had become good at it.

In this case, I had several reasons for wanting to walk. I didn’t want to face the music. I was still in detention for one more day and Mrs. Hodgins was bound to have a lengthy lecture prepared for me about nearly getting Kalli killed. I knew I deserved it, but the wound was still fresh. I needed time to come to terms with it.

The second reason was simple. Mom only got one real day off per week. While she had to do the paper route every single day, her other jobs afforded her two days off per week, and they only overlapped on Fridays. If mom got dressed to take me to school now, she would probably spend the rest of the day running errands. That’s the kind of mom I had.

So I lied, “There’s this new book I’m reading that I really want to enjoy. I’m just in detention in school right now, so I’m not missing anything.”

“Can’t you just read in detention?”, she countered.

I hadn’t thought of that. I countered, “I just want to enjoy the nice day is all. I got this one on my old MP3 payer, so I can listen to it while I walk.”

That one got her. Mom also liked to listen to audiobooks while she walked. She had found some cheap digital players and got one for each of us. She smiled and said, “Sure. Just walk fast okay. I know you have to do your homework in detention. I don’t want you to fall behind.”

I laughed and pointed out, “We both know that I already did it.”

It was true. School assignments were a joke. It didn’t seem to matter what classes I took. High school just wasn’t much of a challenge.

“Sviszt”

…

“Sviszt”

…

“Sviszt”

Something was wrong. I knew the spell. I was doing it right. Right? The effect was working. It just wasn’t very impressive at all. While I could make it snappy by putting all of my mana into the spell, there was no way I could do anything to a griffon with it other than annoying it with pancake breath.

Kalliphae’s voice interrupted my thoughts. Where are you? I’m at the library.

I’m on my way to school.

Did I just feel disappointment? Why aren’t you here yet? Did you miss the carriage? Do you want me to come get you?

I felt nervous. I didn’t know if she could feel it. I had been practicing holding my feelings in. I wanted to see Kalli, but another part of me wanted to be alone and not face the consequences of my actions. Seeing Kalli would remind me…of.

What will it remind me of?

Kalli was confused. What?

I sent a comforting vibe to her. Class starts soon. Are you excited?

I could feel her excitement. The excitement of the first day of school.

How long has it been since I had that feeling?

It must have been elementary school when I last felt that way. There was something else coming from Kalli. It felt like anxiety. I soothed her.

You’re going to do fine. Don’t worry and just be yourself. They are going to love you.

There was no feedback for a few minutes, then in a low voice even for a thought, she replied. Thanks, Mel.

I tried my best to go slow. I stopped everywhere that I could. I practiced what little I knew about magic. I focused on my mana. I felt it flowing through me.

Is mana like The Force from Star Wars?

That didn’t make sense. My mana was my own. The Force was a mystical energy force that flowed between all living beings. Did mana do that? I tried to feel around for mana in the air. Nothing immediately leaped out at me. I shrugged.

It must be different.

The thing I could do with my mana was focus it through different parts of my body. I spent my walk testing it out everywhere. To say it enhanced whatever it touched was an understatement. When I focused it into my eyes I went into what I called Binocular Mode. With it, I would see things in great detail that were very far away. Or, with a simple tweak, I could look at something small, like a blade of grass, and see even the tiniest detail.

Some body parts did not benefit from the infusion of mana. Along with my tongue, there were several other appendages that did nothing but swell. I wasn’t sure what happened to Kalli when I attempted to treat her wound with mana, but I decided not to try that again until I learned of any possible side effects.

Kalliphae updated me throughout the morning on the different classes she had. I have physical education first.

I groaned inwardly at the thought of having that class first thing in the morning. While I didn’t live in an area where it snowed, it was still plenty cold in the morning and the PE uniform did not provide much insulation. I’m freezing, Mel. Why does this uniform include shorts?

She understood in short order as she was soon sweating when the instructor lead the class through a series of stretches followed by several laps around the track. I was even more amused as her classmates attempted to teach the pyromancer how to play basketball.

Kalliphae was having the time of her life. I could feel it as I watched her play in my mind’s eye. She also informed me, The other kids are very friendly. It’s very different than the orphanage.

I wondered if she had somehow wound up checking into another school.

By the time I arrived on campus, Kalli was in her second class, math. Because she had no transcripts, she had been placed in a basic class until she could be tested. I had been worried that she would have to learn everything, but it turned out that her world had math too and it worked the same way that it did in ours.

I peeked in through the glass doors of the library and spied Mrs. Hodgins behind the counter checking in some books. I tried to sneak in, but as soon as the door swung open her head flew to the side as if she was possessed.

Mrs. Hodgins said nothing as I bowed my head and worked my way back to my office. I was about to slink into the stacks of books out of her reproachful gaze when she stopped me with my name, “Melvin Murphy, we need to talk.”