The girl was quickly becoming a woman. It felt surreal that I was a girl. I experienced things that boys had no business knowing about. Of course, the experiments I was conducting with blood were also things I wished I had no knowledge of. I had a strange feeling of giddiness about everything to do with blood. Kalliphae’s presence was also there like a passenger sitting in the back seat on the most twisted ride of all time.

While I was quickly becoming a master of blood, I was also painfully aware of its limitations. For starters, my supply was confined to what my body could produce. That blood wasn’t free though. It also had some very important uses, such as the ability to stay alive.

It was this quest for blood that first drew me out of the house. I started small. A rat here and a squirrel there. Blood was abundant in the forest that I lived in.

The problem was that animal blood was inferior and not suited at all for some of what I wished to accomplish. Fate was pushing me toward human blood. Toward the town where father spent all of his time.

We woke bathed in sweat once again. Kalli sat up suddenly in her bed. That vampire was pretty gross. I can’t believe she drank rat blood.

You didn’t have to taste it.

She dry heaved in demonstration. Oh, but I did.

I stretched and sat at the side of my bed. Kalliphae challenged me. Okay, Mel. It’s time to test the spell on yourself. Use your fire to clean the sweat off of your body. I’ll do the same. Let’s see who finishes first.

No fair. You are more experienced.

Kalli stuck her tongue out at nobody in particular. I felt it more than saw it. Fine. I’ll give you a 5-second head start.

I didn’t waste any time waiting for a countdown.

“Pvruzth”

Kalli was right behind me. I had barely cleansed the sweat from my brow before she had gotten halfway down her body. The girl wasn’t wasting any time. I threw caution to the wind and let the flame wash over me without any restrictions. The sweat instantly evaporated as the fire did its job.

I felt the fire surge around my body as it consumed every imperfection. Suddenly, I became aware that it was consuming far more than mere dirt and sweat. A fire raged around me as my bedding became fuel for the bonfire that was now raging in my room.

Kalli quickly snuffed out her flame and screamed in my head. Melvin, quick. Kill your flame. You can pull it all back into yourself.

I hadn’t studied that part yet. Not that it mattered. A deafening siren sounded before a magical foam flooded the room. I was temporarily submerged while the foam did its work. Then it was gone as though it had never been there in the first place.

I was left with a charred blanket and a scorched mattress, but otherwise, the room was intact.With a quick selection on the menu, a new bed was spawned to take its place, complete with fresh bedding.

I grabbed a couple of breakfast sandwiches from the BUFF for Kalli and me before setting out for our first class, Inter-Dimensional Astronomy.

We made it to class just in time.

Hey, it’s our first class together.

Kalli snickered at me as we walked together but answered telepathically. It’s our only class together.

That’s not true. We have Adventuring 101 together.

The girl shook her head. Is that really a class? That’s just what it’s called when we do quests for the guild on the weekend.

Only one way to find out.

“Welcome”, a voice greeted us, “Two new students in the same day. A welcome surprise.”

My mouth fell open as I took in my newest teacher.

Name

Howie McDuckenstein

Class

Portal Mage

Level

41

Affection Level

Jovial

My teacher…was a duck. A duck man to be more precise. However, that wasn’t the most important thing about him.

Kalli. I think we just found you a ride home.

The girl blinked at me. You want me to ride a duck?

Byakko replied for me. No. I believe he wants to ask that duck to open a portal to another world. What world are you from anyway?

Kalli and I both froze at the tiger’s intrusion into our private conversation. I recovered first.

You know. I never asked you that. What is the name of your world?

Kalliphae turned to look at me before she replied. I come from a world called Gaia.

Byakko chuffed. I’ve heard of it.

Have you ever been there?

The cub conceded. Alas, I am bound to this realm. The other worlds have their own guardians.

The duck quacked at us impatiently, “Are the two of you going to just stand there and gape at me, or are you going to introduce yourselves and join the class. I assure you I’ve already heard all of the duck jokes, so don’t bother.”

We both quickly said our names and found seats at the back of the class. Byakko informed us, It’s time for a nap. I’ll see you, mortals, after class.

Once we took our seats, the teacher took over, “Now, where were we? Ah yes, we were looking at the Ecurian cluster. It is the fifth step on the grid and contains the only known class S restricted planet.”

As he spoke, the duck man twisted a dial on a massive telescope that was aimed straight at a wall. A beam of light projected an image of a green planet onto a screen.

Mr. McDuckenstein continued to lecture, “Of the 9 planets in the cluster, the planet known only as Origin is somewhat of an enigma. All endeavors to explore the planet have resulted in the loss of many high-level adventurers. The named council has classified the planet as restricted and no further exploration is allowed.”

When he paused both Kalli and my hands shot up.We looked at each other and stifled a laugh.The teacher looked at us and sighed, “Normally, I don’t take questions during my lessons, but what the heck.Let’s see what the new kids have to say.Well, ladies first?What would you like to know, Miss Hellquist?”

Kalli hesitated once she was put on the spot. I smiled reassuringly at her and she cleared her throat, “Um, I just wanted to know if you could tell us about the planet Gaia.”

The teacher smiled and said, “Good. Good. Miss Kalli here has done some research before class. Unfortunately, we already studied Gaia in quite some detail. As the closest planet to Earth, it was the first one that we study in this class. While it is technically another world, it’s just an alternate version of this planet. Did you have a different question, Mr. Murphy?”

I was happy that our teacher was a portal mage. He might just come in handy. I asked, “How do we go about opening a portal between worlds? Do you have the ability as a portal mage to summon a portal to another world?”

The duck gave off a powerful quack that I took for a laugh, “That’s rich kid. Portal magic is an art form. No single mage can safely open a portal between worlds. The amount of mana necessary to bridge the interdimensional rift is astronomical by itself. Then you take into consideration that you want some sort of precision about where you come out. That all takes mana. You don’t want to open a portal to the bottom of the ocean, do you? Can we say instant death? No. Portals are managed by a committee with no fewer than 5 portal mages and 20 battery mages.”

I crinkled my nose and asked, “What is a battery mage? Is that some kind of electrical class?”

Mr. McDuckenstein honked at me, “No no no, dear boy. A battery mage is what we call it when a mage contributes mana to a spell. Some spells are too big to be cast by a single wizard. Other wizards can assist and provide mana. We call this multi-casting. It’s the only way that inter-dimensional travel is done. Also why it’s so expensive I might add.”

After that, our astronomy teacher went back to discussing the planet Origin and refused to answer any more questions. When we got out, Kalli pulled me aside. You see. Your summoning ritual was very dangerous. We could have both been killed. What if you summoned a dragon?

Who says I didn’t?

She punched me in the arm, but before she had a chance to say anything the boy that took her out to dinner cut in, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. If you need to clobber this boy, I can wait.”

I stopped to appraise the teen.

Name

Alexander Dorian

Class

Rogue

Level

12

Affection Level

Playful

Alexander was taller than Kalli and me and seemed a bit older. He had red hair to match hers and I might have confused them for siblings had I not known better. Also, the way he was smiling at her was making my stomach lurch. Byakko helpfully supplied. This is someone I can eat, yes?

I looked at him thoughtfully, imagining him in the 20-foot-tall Byakko’s maw, but Kalli vetoed the idea. There will be no eating of any humans whatsoever.

What about bad humans?

She shook her head vigorously. No exceptions. Why all this talk of eating people anyhow? Aren’t you supposed to be the ancient wisened master tiger?

The tattoo on my forehead started to glow, blinding me. First off, mortal, your mate here hasn’t fed me once since he summoned me. Second, it gets boring having nobody to talk to for centuries at a time. Sure, I can watch the world from my perch in the heavens, but when I do find a worthy host, I like to stretch my paws a little.

Kalli punched me again. You need to feed him. Top priority.

How do I do that though?

The girl turned to Alexander and flashed him a sweet smile, “Alex, we have a problem. You wouldn’t happen to know of a place where we can get some meat to feed a tiger, would you?”

He was the last person I wanted her to ask. The good news was that he seemed just as surprised as I felt. Alex looked back and forth between the two of us and asked, “Why would you need that? Do you have a tiger hidden somewhere?”

Byakko chuffed in my head. That’s my cue.

The tiger cub appeared at my feet in a flash of light. The red-haired boy in front of me jumped back suddenly shouting, “Woah. Where did that come from?”

Byakko stomped up to the teen and announced, “I am the guardian of the west, mortal.”

Alex gaped at the tiger and turned his head to Kalli, “Did that thing just talk?”

Kalliphae sighed and said, “Alex meet Byakko. Byakko is Melvin’s familiar.”

Byakko chuffed, “The term is bonded. The boy and I are bonded.”

When the teen still failed to find his voice, Kalli pressed him, “Well? Do you know where we can get meat to feed him?”

He finally said, “Butcher. I think we need to find a butcher. It probably won’t be cheap though.”

I didn’t want to be shown up by this guy. Especially not in front of Kalli. Suddenly, an idea hit me. Food wasn’t a problem for an editor, and Byakko would eat the evidence. I motioned to Byakko and sent an idea to Kalli.

I know how to feed him. Do you want to come with me?

Kalliphae hesitated. I might be late for class if I do that.

I frowned. Wasn’t she just planning to ditch class to feed Byakko with Alex just a moment earlier? Then it dawned on me.

Is he in your class?

She turned to look at me. Yeah. He’s in quite a few of my classes actually.

I groaned out loud and motioned to Byakko, “Come on. I’ll get you some meat.”

As I stomped off, I heard Alex ask Kalli, “What just happened?”

Byakko’s cub body struggled to keep up with me as I looked for a quiet place to feed him. He growled at me, “What got into you? You just left your mate with someone who is clearly interested in taking her from you.”

I growled back, “What am I supposed to do? She didn’t want to be late for class?”

We discovered a lawn behind The Academy that was relatively devoid of people. I guided the hungry cub over to a corner away from prying eyes and rummaged through my bag for something expendable. Finding some old treant bark from a quest, I proceeded to do some edits.

Gazelle Meat (Edited)

A small chunk of meat appeared in my hand. I dropped it on the floor and Byakko sniffed it gingerly, saying, “I hate to break it to you, but that isn’t nearly enough to…”

One-Ton Chunk of Gazelle Meat (Edited)

I laughed as the meat exploded under the tiger cub, sending him flying up in the air. He landed unceremoniously on all four paws and snarled at me, “A little warning would have been appreciated.”

I laughed and asked, “Is that too much?”

Byakko chuffed and replied, “Nonsense. There can never be enough meat. Now for a little payback.”

Immediately, I could feel the immense draw on my mana as Byakko swelled to his 20-foot celestial form. Everyone in the area turned to stare at us as he tore into the meat viciously. I dropped to my knees as my mana was suddenly bottoming out.

Kalli’s concern flooded my thoughts. Melvin! What’s wrong? Why is your vision getting blurry?

I gasped as the feeling reminded me of the ritual where I attempted to summon a wizard. My stomach clenched and I felt as though I was going to be sick.

All too soon, Byakko had finished his meal and returned to his tattoo on my forehead. The pyromancer arrived with Alex close behind just as I managed to take a few deep breaths. She knelt in front of me and looked me over. What happened to you?

Byakko replied for me. I drained him. In my true form, he cannot sustain me for long. He ran out of mana.