At first, I decided to let the girl win. It was gamer etiquette 101. Winning was fun and all but it was important for the veteran player to let the rookie experience the sensation.

After about an hour, I began to realize that I had made a major mistake. Kalli was improving faster than planned. I sent her a taste of my frustration.

Are you sure you don’t have video games in your world?

She replied by sticking her tongue out at me. We might not have these games, but we do have games. And I made it my policy to never let boys beat me. Sorry, but I’m not about to start now.

I sat up straight and decided to bring my A-game. She snorted at me when I won the next game. Then she won the next two games. I growled.

Okay. Enough Bumper Cart. It’s time to teach you about RPGs.

Kalli snickered at me. You just don’t want to lose again. Do you?

I won that one game.

She raised an eyebrow. Did you? Did you really? Or did I let you?

The opening cinematic of the role-playing game started and distracted the girl from taunting me. We were playing my new Joycast on my M-Phone which I had expanded until the screen was 50 inches and stuck it magically to the wall.

Kalli squealed with delight as she defeated yet another boss. I can see why you like this so much. You can explore dungeons and get fancy weapons. The quest system in this game is a lot like the guild. Don’t you think?

I had never really thought about it. I watched as Kalliphae’s hero made his way back to the castle to report his success to the king. She gave me a curious look. Why can’t the hero be a girl?

I shrugged.

There are female heroes in some games. Would you like me to put one of those in for you?

She thought about it for a second before shaking her head. No. I think I’ll beat this one first. I want to know what happened to the missing wizard.

I didn’t get a chance to reply as I heard the familiar sound of a key entering the lock on the front door. I knew I was seconds away from my mother entering the apartment. I looked in horror between the large screen stuck to the wall with magical adhesive to the impossible video game console resting on the floor. Of course, the most incriminating thing in the apartment was the girl sitting next to me. I looked up at the clock in horror to realize that it was after midnight.

Crap. We’ve been playing games for 6 hours.

Kalli panicked too. Oh no. Mrs. Hodgins is going to kill me for being late.

I didn’t get a chance to do anything else as my mother entered the room. She was holding a bag of groceries. She stood framed in the doorway as she paused to make sense of what she was seeing.

I had to give credit to my mom. She took a very surreal situation in stride. She ignored the large TV with the unreleased video game playing and greeted Kalli, “Oh my. Melvin never has guests over. And a girl at that. Hello, my name is Samantha. You can call me Sam. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

For the first time since I met her, Kalliphae looked shy. She slowly climbed to her feet and awkwardly curtsied, “Hello, ma’am. It’s very, um, pleasure to meet you.”

My mom, for her part, seemed to be enjoying the situation, “Aren’t you just an otherworldly beauty. Please, you don’t have to call me ma’am. I'm not that old. Just Sam will do. Now tell me, how did you and Melvin meet?”

Kalli and I both froze when my mother said otherworld. She turned to look at me. Do you think she knows?

There’s no way. Mom is a muggle.

Kalliphae looked confused. What is a muggle?

It means unawakened. Never mind.

Mom gave us a knowing look and smirked at us, “I’m sorry for interrupting your date here. I did bring food though. Are you hungry, uh…? Oh, I didn’t get your name yet.”

Kalli managed to compose herself somewhat, “Yes, ma’am. I mean Sam. Yes, Sam. Um, you know what I mean. My name is Kalliphae, but you can call me Kalli. I met Mel at school. I don’t want to impose on you. I can eat when I get home.”

Ever the host, mom sat on the couch and started rummaging through the bag, “Nonsense. I never get to host Melvin’s friends. This is the least I can do. So, are you two…”

She trailed off unhelpfully. Kalli and I looked at each other for a moment in confusion. It dawned on us both at the same time. Kalli turned beat red and started waving her hands around in a panic, “No ma..err Sam. Melvin and I are just friends.”

I nodded helpfully, “Yep. Just friends.”

Mom raised an eyebrow and seemed unconvinced, “Okay, you two. Just make sure you don’t get up to any shenanigans when you hang out alone while I’m at work.”

If it was possible for Kalli to turn any redder, I think she pulled it off, “Sam. I’ve never engaged in any shenanigans. Ever.”

Mom looked at me in confusion. Kalli looked wounded for a moment before laughing nervously. Did I say something wrong?

No, not really. You basically just announced that you’re a virgin.

She heaved a sigh of relief. Isn’t it normal for people under the age of majority to be virgins?

I sighed.

Not in this world?

Kalliphae turned red. You mean to say that you…?

Did she just trail off in my head?

I tried to keep that thought to myself as I worried my mother was having an effect on the girl. I replied.

No. I’m also a virgin. It’s not like any girl wants anything to do with me.

My insecurity about myself was starting to bleed through and Kalli picked up on it. That's not true. I mean I’m sure there is a girl out there for you.

I gave Kalliphae a long look trying to make sense of what she was telling me. She turned her head away, suddenly interested in the food that my mom was pulling out of the bag. She asked my mother, “Do you have one of those boxes I can borrow? I need to communicate with my housemate that I am late getting home. We lost track of time while playing video games.”

Mom raised an eyebrow and fished a small flip phone out of her bag, handing it to the girl. Kalli stared at it for a moment before silently handing it to me. I sighed and dialed the number, wondering what my mother was thinking about the whole thing.

When the phone rang, I handed it back to Kalli who walked over to the kitchen to communicate in private. Mom didn’t mince words when she spoke in a low voice, “She’s a bit of an odd one isn’t she?”

I grinned, “She’s great huh? She’s actually from Scotland. She’s still getting used to things here.”

Mom’s smirk returned, “Like cell phones?”

I retorted, “She comes from a small village. They don’t need them.”

Mom wasn’t giving in, “And her accent?”

I sighed, “I don’t know. I didn’t want to be rude by asking.”

While she dropped it, I could tell that mom was suspicious. When Kalli walked back I informed her.

You’re from Scotland if she asks you about it.

Kalliphae gave me a panicked look. Where is that? What do I do if she asks me about it?

It turned out that it didn’t matter. While mom did ask the girl questions, she was just trying to get to know the girl. It wasn’t until we were about to go that a problem presented itself. Mom asked, “Where did this weird TV come from?”

I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “Oh, that’s Kalli’s.”

She looked at the girl who was halfway to the front door, “The girl who doesn’t own a cell phone has a state-of-the-art gaming setup? How is she planning to take a big-screen TV home.”

Kalli stared at the TV and turned back, saying, “It’s ok Sam. Melvin can just hold onto it.”

Mom laughed, “Nonsense. Also, it’s way too late for a young girl to be out alone. I’ll drive you home.”

So we hauled my 50-inch cell phone out to the car and loaded it into the back seat along with my new video game console. Kalli and I squeezed into the front seat alongside my mother. Our car was a 1979 Chevrolet Malibu Classic. The only classic thing about it was the fact that it was still roadworthy. I was pretty sure the state would pay us more money than the thing was worth to take it off the streets.

When we made it to Mrs. Hodgins' house, mom walked with us to the door as I hauled my electronics in for Kalli. She showed me her bedroom with pride while Mom and Mrs. Hodgins chatted by the front door.

As we spoke she took the nesting doll out of her bag and held it up to the light. Do you think there’s a dragon in there?

I appraised the item for the first time.

Item:

Inferno Dragon Egg

Components

???, Magic, Mana, Liquid Fire

Item Rank:

B

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Hellquist

Definitely a dragon’s egg. And it thinks of you as its mama.

Kalliphae glared at me but asked. How can you tell?

I can see it.

On the ride home, mom smiled at me and said, “I like her.”

Congratulations. You have reached level 6.

Nightmares were becoming a regular thing for me. I was usually worried about Kalli or my mother. This time, I had a dream about myself.

I faced off against a man with pure white hair and a grizzled beard. He wore a traditional wizard’s pointy hat and sat behind an elaborate wooden desk while appraising me. I stood my ground defiantly. I couldn’t figure out which wizard this was supposed to be, but I knew I had to learn from him. I opened my mouth to speak, and to my great surprise, words came out, “Teach me.”

He stood abruptly, causing me to flinch, “Prove yourself. Boy.”

The dream deleted itself from my mind and I slowly regained consciousness to sounds of feminine giggles in my head. You talk in your sleep you know?

I do not.

It was the only thing I could think to reply with. She mimicked. Teach me. Teach me. Did you dream you were in bed with an older woman?

I blushed, an image forming in my head of what she was insinuating. She freaked out. I didn’t mean for you to think about it. That’s gross.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and walked over to the bathroom.

Get out of my head. I’m going to the bathroom.

A sheepish reply came from the girl. Okay.

They picked me up in the jeep again. The two were in a heated argument when I slid in next to Kalli. Mrs. Hodgins chose that moment to involve me in the feud, “She probably picked up that terrible habit from you. Mrs. Kalliphae here was up half the night playing that video game. She was impossible to wake up this morning.”

I grinned. I was creating a monster. I pointed out, “Well, it is Sunday Mrs. Hodgins. You can always sleep in on Sunday.”

“Not when we’re going to the guild you can’t”, Mrs. Hodgins retorted.

Kalli was grinning and informed me of her progress through group chat. I made it all the way to the ice castle last night. I was going to take the boat and sail across the forbidden sea, but Mrs. Hodgins made me turn it off.

Mrs. Hodgins interrupted our private chat to tell me all about her adventures at the guild, “So it turns out that there is a big library in San Diego. That's a long drive for now, so I took a job managing the smaller guild library here in Vista. Even though I will be the highest level scholar in charge of this library, the registrar told me I can level fast just by researching the magical books. I also got an F ranked clearance to read restricted books. I’ve been told that will quickly go up as my faction increases with the guild.”

“Have you seen any cool books yet?”, I asked curiously.

She shook her head sadly, “Most of the day yesterday was spent undergoing orientation. Even though I don’t plan on joining any groups or going on quests, I wanted to understand how all of it works. There are also openings at the guild where I can work as a registrar or receptionist. This will allow me to interact with the public and meet new people. I admit that it will be difficult to get used to being paid in gold though.”

I was interested in how the magical world interacted with the unawakened, “How does that work anyhow? Is there a way to convert gold into dollars?”

Mrs. Hodgins nodded, “There are several magical banks that have an exchange rate into every currency in the world. They are also magically protected and insured, so it's safer than a normal bank. I am going to have to set up an account.”

I looked down at my fanny pack, “Why not just get a magical bag and store your money in there?”

The older woman smiled at me as if I were some child, “That's fine for pocket change dear, but when you save large amounts of money, you don’t want to keep it on you. If somebody robs you, they would walk away with everything.”

Recalling my experience at the police station, I pointed out, “These bags have safeguards in place that prevent people from tampering with them.”

Mrs. Hodgins raised an eyebrow at me, “Are you certain that would work against someone powerful enough to break enchantments? Money is always safer in the bank.”

When we got to the guild, our identification cards updated themselves.

Melvin Murphy

Summoner: Level 6

Status: Student

Guild Rank: D

Restrictions: None

Guild Fame: 997

Kalliphae Hellquist

Pyromancer: Level 9

Status: Apprentice

Guild Rank: D

Restrictions: Magical Contract (2)

Guild Fame: 762

Kalli gawked at my ID and asked. When did you level up? You’re going to out-level me at this pace.

I groaned in response.

I missed the dream again.

She laughed. You were obviously having a dirty dream. Maybe it's better if you don’t remember.

We followed Mrs. Hodgins through the guild and she led us to a small library on the first floor that was full of old-looking books. I asked her, “Can we check these books out?”

Mrs. Hodgins shook her head, “Not until you are A rank with the guild. Until then, you have to do all of your research in the confines of this room. I can, however, make you copies for a fee.”

I gaped at the woman, “How do you do that?”

She beamed at me and walked us over to a clunky-looking table. There were two pillars sticking out of the top. One side had a stack of parchment with a quill floating above it and the other side was empty with a magnifying glass hovering over the spot where a book would rest.

The scholar announced, “This device will copy any book in this room. It only works on a single page at a time and mages have to supply it with mana regularly, but for the low price of 1 gold per page, you can own your very own piece of a magical book. I plan on purchasing everything in this room when I have the money.”

After the quick tour, we made our way back to the main hall where we saw Shara walking in the door along with her two guards. She marched up to us and asked, “So, what are we doing today?