Congratulations. You have reached level 7

Congratulations. You have reached level 8

Congratulations. You have reached level 9

Congratulations. You have reached level 10

Congratulations. You have reached level 11

Congratulations. You have reached level 12

Congratulations. You have reached level 13

Congratulations. You have reached level 14

Congratulations. You have reached level 15

For the first time since I awakened, the exquisite sensation of leveling up was not lost on me. It’s hard to gain 9 levels and not notice. My whole body shuddered in my bed and I quaked as the feeling of complete satisfaction washed over my body.

My dreams that night were different than normal. I was a young girl growing up in a small village. I didn’t speak English even though I understood what people around me were saying.

The house I lived in was a short distance outside of a town in a secluded forest. It was quaint, but it was home. I was the only child of a poor couple. My father worked in town as a butcher’s assistant and my mother stayed home to raise me.

We had little, but I was well-loved. I was not able to go to school like a normal kid, but my father brought home books for me to read. I don’t know where he got them, but they taught me a great many things about the world I found myself living in. I learned of mana. I discovered the secrets of blood.

The dream faded and when my vision came back into focus I was in another place. I was a different girl. A familiar girl. I walked through a dilapidated building that I knew to be my home as a young Kalliphae. Whenever I walked past an adult, they scowled at me and scolded me. I couldn’t make out the words, but I had a distinct feeling that I was not where I was supposed to be.

When I made my way outside, the situation did not improve. The other kids chased after me and pulled my hair when they got too close. I distinctly felt Kalli’s panic before we both woke up bathed in sweat.

We both knew that the other was awake, just like we both knew we had shared the same dreams. Kalliphae informed me of what else we had shared. Boys make quite a mess when they level up, but wow, how did you gain 9 levels all at once? I leveled up twice. I’ve never done that before.

I turned bright red as I became painfully aware of the mess I had made. I could also feel Kalli’s sweat all over her body. She cleaned up quickly however with a quick “Pvruzth”.

I sighed and made my way to the restroom for a quick shower. I taunted Kalli with a quick message.

No peeking.

She scoffed in reply. I would never.

I wasn’t convinced as I stripped down and started the shower. I tried to target the sweat and grime on my body to see if there was an easy way to clean myself in a pinch. To my surprise, the mess was all targetable which meant a quick DELETE was all it took to make myself squeaky clean. I still took a shower because I enjoyed the feeling of the hot water. Apparently, Kalliphae did too.

I said no peeking.

She blushed. I wasn’t peeking.

I grabbed a couple of breakfast sandwiches from the DUFF before shrinking it and stuffing it into my fanny pack. I then made my way out to the field next to my apartments to meet Kalliphae.

“Hey, smelly bastard”, a familiar voice grated on my ears, “Where the hell have you been? You haven’t been hiding from me, have you?”

I glanced over my shoulder to spot my bully. Just a few days ago, I would have been terrified of his voice. Tim Sumpter suddenly wasn’t quite so high on the pecking order of people to be afraid of. When I thought about it, he wasn’t all that scary to begin with. He liked to berate me whenever he saw me and counted on the fact that I was too timid to fight back.

When I first became a manipulator I had dreamed of all the funny things I could do to this kid. I could change his class to something pathetic like wimp or terminally ill. I could transform his clothes into snakes and watch him squirm. I almost changed his affection level to madly in love with me and ask him to buy me gifts. I even thought of changing his level to 0 and seeing how he liked that.

Today, he was more annoying than anything else. However, there was one thing I had always wondered about. I spun around and marched right up to him. Tim looked shocked and raised an eyebrow at me, “What’s this? Did the little baby suddenly grow a spine? I don’t see your wannabe girlfriend anywhere around here to save your ass this time.”

I grinned at him, “Naw. I gave her a break after she saved my life last night. How are you today, Tim?”

He glared at me, “I’m…well. I mean, that’s none of your damned business. How about you give me your lunch money or I’ll use you as a punching bag before the bus gets here.”

I shrugged, “I might be tempted to give you some money. First, tell me something. I’ve always wanted to know why you do this to me every day. Surely you must have a reason.”

He took a step back and stammered, “Look, I don't need a reason. You smell. It's annoying. It annoys everyone.”

I added a little mana to my voice, “I want to know why you chose me of all people to pick on. You can tell me.”

I felt something more in my voice than just simple words of command. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but I had a feeling it had something to do with my vampiric encounter. Tim had a dreamy look in his eyes and he swayed back and forth momentarily before replying weakly, “It’s my dad. He hits me. He blames me for mom dying. He drinks every day. I have to sneak out of the house in the morning. When I come to ride the bus, you’re the first person I see.”

I stood there staring at Tim for a long time. All these years I walked around with a chip on my shoulder pissed off that my bully was just some spoiled rich kid who was toying with me. It turned out that this whole time he had been suffering too. I felt a strange sense of kinship with the boy.

I took a deep breath and pushed all of the mana into my voice that I could, repeating my mother's favorite phrase, “Go live your best life today. Don’t let your father take that away from you.”

His face turned red when I spoke. I could tell he had conflicting emotions and probably would have killed me if he wasn’t being worked over by my magic. Instead, he said, “I’ll do that. Thanks.”, and walked off.

I put my hands on my hips as I watched him go. I jumped when I felt someone behind me put her hand on my shoulder. Kalli said, “Well, that was cute. It looks like you found a way to stand up to your bully after all.”

I grinned at her, “Is it weird that I kind of wish I could do more for him?”

With bullies out of the way and a fresh day of life ahead of us, Kalli and I had to decide what to do with ourselves. We headed to the guild to see if we could get some information on what happened with the Shaws and the Thompsons.

It didn’t take long to get information. The entire guild was buzzing with excitement and we were swarmed by the other adventurers as soon as we entered the building. A burly man announced, “This is huge. The Shaws have left the country. Is it true that something happened to Lady Carmilla Shaw? Rumor has it that the only surviving heir to the bloodline is the 10-year-old Shara. Her family purchased a teleport back to the old world to guard her until she comes of age. The whole west coast power structure is about to change.”

I couldn’t get a word in edgewise as a short woman in a fluffy dress continued, “Sir Edward Thompson has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping commoners. There is an inquiry going on about them searching for a manipulator. As if one of those could exist in the modern era. Everyone knows they are just children’s fables.”

Kalli passed me a sidelong glance. The Shaws left the country?

It looks like it. I was worried that they would be out for revenge.

The girl laughed nervously. Tell me about it.

We waded through the throng of people over to the guild counter. We received 1 gold for completing the two delivery quests. It wasn’t much, but I handed it to Kalli anyway. The registrar also updated our guild cards.

Melvin Murphy

Summoner: Level 15

Status: Student

Guild Rank: D

Restrictions: None

Guild Fame: 1062

Kalliphae Hellquist

Pyromancer: Level 11

Status: Apprentice

Guild Rank: D

Restrictions: Magical Contract (2)

Guild Fame: 845

Kalli nudged me in the arm. You’re higher level than me now. Do you think you gained all of those levels for what happened with Lady Shaw?

I shrugged.

It probably had something to do with that. I also put up a fight when I rescued you. That might have been a part of it. Also, when that man in the red suit kidnapped me. I sort of blew him up.

She gasped. Did you kill him too?

No. Just his jacket. I burned off his jacket. By the way, you probably leveled twice because of how you saved my life.

I felt her swell with pride. I never knew my mana could do that. I’ve been practicing pushing it around my body ever since.

I gave her a lopsided grin.

I know. I could feel it.

She stuck her tongue out at me. That’s so creepy.

We were still lost in conversation when Mrs. Hodgins cleared her throat. When she was confident she had our attention she announced, “I am so happy that both of you are okay. It seems that every time I turn my head the two of you wind up in mortal peril. Therefore, I have come up with a plan. The two of you are enrolling in school.”

We followed the old scholar to a private room where she explained, “They keep these rooms for guild employees and upper ranking adventurers.”

Kalli made her way over to a couch in the corner and plopped down. She sighed, “Mrs. Hodgins. I can’t go to school. I’m not even from this world.”

Mrs. Hodgins shook her head, “You aren’t going back to your world for a while. You still have over 800 gold to earn to pay off your contract before you can go. You might as well get an education while you’re here. Besides, you loved going to non-magical school.”

I looked at Kalliphae, “Do you have to go back to your world? Why don’t you just stay here? It's not like it's easy to cross worlds. I’m sure the Hellquists won’t travel all this way just to come get you.”

Kalli crossed her arms, “It’s not that simple. Even if they don’t come here in person, they can enforce the contract. If they do that, I’ll be dead, or worse.”

I sighed, “Do you have a copy of the contract?”

She shook her head, “I believe the only copy of my contract is in the possession of the Hellquists. When I added my seal of approval to it, I was naive. I didn’t read all of the fine print.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Mrs. Hodgins announced, “You’ve still got over a year before the debt comes due. There will be plenty of time for the two of you to earn some gold, figure out a way to send Kalli home, and top it all off with a little education.”

I turned my attention to Kalli.

Wait a second. You’re only 14?

She blinked at me. Well, yes. Does that really matter?

I didn’t want to admit it, but I had thought she was older than me. From the look on her face, I was pretty sure she knew.

I turned my attention back to Mrs. Hodgins to cover my embarrassment, “That seems like quite a lot to accomplish. How are you so confident?”

She laughed, “You’ll do it because you have to do it. There isn’t an alternative where you let Kalli end up married to some 40-year-old loser.”

I nodded, “Of course we have to do it. Wouldn’t it make sense to skip school and just do quests to earn gold?”

Mrs. Hodgins was adamant though, holding her ground and telling us, “You will go to school. Right now you two are so inexperienced that you keep endangering your lives. You can still go questing, but I’d like for you to take fewer risks when you go out. I know you can’t be protected all the time, but I’d feel a lot safer if the two of you were living in the dorms for now.”

“Dorms?”, we both squealed at once.

Mrs. Hodgins nodded, “That's right. I’ve already selected a prestigious school for you. The headmaster is a friend of the local guild master and has agreed to test you both for expedited admission. A mysterious benefactor has agreed to sponsor you both should you pass the admission test.”

“A mysterious sponsor huh?”, I asked, suspecting Lavender’s involvement once again.

Mrs. Hodgins ignored the question and continued, “I have also started a collection for Kalli’s contract. I didn’t tell anybody that she is from another world, but arranged marriages like hers aren’t that uncommon in Earth’s magical community.”

I felt a wave of warmth through the connection from Kalli when Mrs. Hodgins offered to help. She managed to say, “Thank you.”

We had planned to do some questing that day. In a way we sort of did. We researched the school that Mrs. Hodgins chose for us. It was a ways away in Los Angeles. Staying in a dorm would mean that I needed my mother’s consent. Mrs. Hodgins agreed to come help me persuade her to accept the arrangement.

The school was fairly prestigious in Southern California. It was definitely top 5 and the best public school that an awakened could hope to attend. Magical academies worked a lot like colleges did for the unawakened. I could take as few as five classes or as many as nine.

If I wanted to obtain a degree, I would have to take some general education courses. These classes were not like normal classes. One of the classes was History of Magical Warfare. Instead of languages, we had a selection of Ancient Languages and Magical Languages. Kalli was interested in inter-dimensional astronomy. The map of the various planets through the many dimensions was cool. Unfortunately, Kalliphae couldn’t identify which world was hers.

Mom didn’t get home until after midnight. She paused when she came into our tiny apartment and discovered Kalli and Mrs. Hodgins sitting on the couch. She raised an eyebrow at me and said, “You knocked her up, didn’t you?”

I stood abruptly, stubbing my toe on the coffee table, “Mom! Kalli is not pregnant.”

Kalli turned bright red and practically yelled, “Melvin and I are not doing that!”

Mom heaved a sigh of relief and announced, “Well, okay then So, what’s up?”

Mrs. Hodgins laughed and explained, “It turns out that our children here have gone and gotten themselves accepted into a special program. There is a private academy in Los Angeles that offers exclusive classes to gifted children.”

For mom’s sake, she took it all in stride, “That’s great news. When does he start?”

I gaped at her, “Mom. Are you trying to get rid of me?”

She took a step forward and wrapped me up in a hug, “Melvin, I always knew you were gifted. It was only a matter of time before the world discovered you. It was hard for me to quietly wait for you to blossom on your own. You are destined for great things. I will miss you though. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”

Mrs. Hodgins quietly watched our exchange. When my mom finished, she suggested, “You know, with Kalli moving out, I am going to have the extra room in my house. If you wish, you can rent a room from me. It’s a big house, and I am sure it would be less expensive than this apartment. I could use the company too.”

I added, “You could also quit one of your jobs and possibly have a bit more free time.”

Mom sat next to Kalliphae as she digested what we were offering, “I’ll think about it. It's a little sudden to be moving. I would like to have lunch with you sometime though to discuss this school the kids will be attending.”

Mrs. Hodgins smiled and nodded, “That would be lovely.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this, mom?”, I asked once we were alone.

Kalli and Mrs. Hodgins had gone home for the night. Mom and I sat on the couch in the living room sipping hot chocolate. She sighed, “Ever since you were born, I knew this day would come. You’re leaving to take your rightful place in a world that is far bigger than anything you could have dreamed about.”

I gaped at her, “Wait. You knew? Do you know about the world? I mean, the awakened world. Magical world?”

She smiled, “You can call it magical. It makes the best sense that way.”

I stammered, “What? How? When? Have you known this my whole life?”

My mom was rather calm about all of this. My world had just flipped upside down. She replied, “Yes. I became aware of magic shortly before you were conceived. I can’t see or do it like you can. I wasn’t born gifted. Well, I suppose you can say I did have one gift. I picked your father after all.”

I was having difficulty stringing words together. I collected myself and asked, “You told me that you didn’t know anything about my father. That he was a one-night stand.”

Mom looked up in thought and laughed. Judging by her smile, I could tell she was reliving happy memories, “I suppose it was just a little more than one night. He showed me amazing things while we were together. He also left me with the most amazing gift.”

I waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, I asked, “What was that?”

“You”, she giggled while bopping me on the nose.

Kalliphae swooned in my head. That is so adorable.

Hey!

She recoiled a bit. Oopsie. Sorry. I couldn’t help but hear all of that. You were broadcasting.

You told me to never leave you alone. I plan to honor that promise.

Kalli flooded the connection with undeniable affection. Thank you.

I was confused. I thought the first thing that came to my mind, not thinking about the consequences.

Why is it that no matter what I do, you always show up as indifferent to me? Do you like me or not?

I could hear the rich sounds of Kalli’s giggling. You naughty boy. Lavender told me about that skill of yours. You know, the one to see what’s in my heart? She cast a shroud on me to prevent you from knowing how I feel. As it should be.

So you do like me?

She laughed again. Like I would tell you if I did.

I opened eyes I hadn’t realized I had shut to find my mother inches away from my face. She smirked and said, “Were you talking to your girlfriend just now? Judging by the look on your face, it’s either that or you’re constipated.”

Kalli reacted first. Tell her I’m not your girlfriend.

I laughed and informed my mother, “I am not constipated.”

When I reluctantly went to bed, I left the door open and the lights on. I didn't want to be alone. Not that night. Not ever again if I could help it. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those fangs again. It felt like if I ever stopped moving the sins of my past would catch up and devour me.

The thing that saved me was that I was never truly alone. Not anymore. Kalliphae was there to comfort me. I was there for her as well. We clung to each other in the sanctuary of our bond.

What do you think happened to Shara?

I felt Kalli start to cry. They said she teleported somewhere to be safe. It must be far away. She is probably sad. Her mother died.

I feel bad about what happened.

The girl tried to comfort me. It wasn't your fault. She was going to kill you. If she wasn't, she would have asked.

Do you think they will come after us again?

I felt Kalliphae try to work it out. Maybe not the Shaws. I have a feeling that others might come for you though. i think Mrs. Hodgins is right. We need to get stronger. A lot stronger.

I thought about Lady Shaw and shuddered. Kalli felt it and shuddered as well. The two of us lay in bed with the lights on for hours that night unable to sleep due to ghosts of our past adventures and promises of new ones to be had in school.

Meanwhile, in another world...

A young girl also stared at the ceiling of her bed-chamber. Shara had inherited the big bedroom that her mother used to share with her daddy. More appropriately, she shared it with him when she permitted him to join her. Otherwise, daddy had his own room. At least daddy's room would be close now that Shara got the big room.

It had been years since the child had been to the old world. The girl had to process what she was being told. Mother was going away. Shara was the new head of the house. It was too dangerous to live in California without mother.

She was just beginning to drift off the sleep when she heard a knock at the door. She mimicked what her mother would say when she spoke, "You may enter."

Her father marched into the room looking significantly older than he had just a few days prior. However, he was smiling again. That made Shara smile. She patted the bed for him to side beside her, "What's up daddy?"

Mr. Shaw sat beside Shara and took her hand in his, "I have the most wonderful news, Shara. I have worked it out so you can see your mother again. As a matter of fact, she will be ready to resume your training soon."

Shara was confused. She asked, "Where can I see her? Why can't she come here?"

The man's smile turned into a frown and he replied, "I'm afraid that won't be possible. Her body was damaged beyond repair. The good news is that there is a special place where she can go and you can visit her."

The kid looked for answers in her daddy's eyes, "Where is that, daddy?"

Mr. Shaw took a deep breath and replied, "Homestead. Your mother now lives in Homestead."