Yes, like that. Push it in. It’s difficult, isn’t it?

I coached Kalli, watching her face screwed up in concentration.

She grunted at me as she tried to talk and work at the same time. It doesn’t want to go in. How did you ever get so much to fit?

I laughed and tossed my greatsword casually in the air.

Believe it or not, I still have a ways to go before I compress enough mana into this thing to make a diamond.

A diamond? She croaked while sweat poured down her face.

Refining my own blade as we sat back to back, I explained,

Chogu told me that if I compress my mana enough I will be able to make a diamond out of carbon. I was hoping to make one for you someday.

Kalli paused to examine the fruits of her labor. The thin blade made of pure flame connected to an elaborate hilt that seemed to weave its way into her dainty grip. She held it up, looking down the length of the blade to make sure that it was level, and asked, Why do you want to give me a diamond?

The obvious answer flashed through my head. I pictured Kalli in a white wedding dress while I waited for her to walk down the aisle. Blushing, I cleared my mind and replied.

Don’t girls love shiny things?

Kalli thought about it for several minutes while she carefully shaved off bits of mana that she didn’t like. Sparks flew as she worked over her flaming blade with a finger that was also on fire. I don’t know anything about diamonds but if you give me a present, I promise I will cherish it.

We sat in silence for a while, each working on our own weapon. I had a sudden desire to shower Kalli with presents. Thinking back, the only thing I had given her was the wand and technically that was purchased with the gold Lavender had given us.

BONK

I saw stars as something large and black made contact with my head.

Kalli was on me in a minute, cradling me in her arms and shouting, “What was that for, Quetzy? Are you trying to kill Melvin?”

The serpent, who was hovering above us, shouted back, “He will not die. I have delivered his reward as promised. Meet the guardian of the north.”

Tenderly rubbing the knot that was forming on my head, I looked at the item that the dragon had just assaulted me with. The patterned black object looked like a turtle shell.

Item:

Genbu, Black Shield of the North

Components

Mana, Turtle Shell, Essense of Genbu

Item Rank:

S

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

Quetzalcoatl sounded self-satisfied when he announced, “As promised, a reward worthy of your task. I trust you recognize the priceless nature of this reward.”

I picked up the shield and turned it over in my hands. Having seen Byakko and Seiryu, I was stumped as to why Genbu turned out to be a shield.

The serpent landed next to me and asked, “Are you not pleased with your reward?”

I did the only logical thing I could think of and tried on the shield, strapping it to my right arm. “Is this really a guardian? It’s nothing at all like Byakko.”

The guardian of the west chose that moment to pop out, sniffing the shield as he said, “This is indeed Genbu, Guardian of the North. The Impenetrable. I can confirm.”

“Why isn’t it alive?”, I asked, rapping on the shield for effect.

Byakko chuffed and paced around me. “But he is alive. He simply lies dormant within his totem waiting to be called on. The same as Suzaku resides in your mate’s finery.”

Kalli looked down at the powder blue dress she was wearing and asked, “The phoenix has a name?”

“Indeed.” Byakko chuffed, looking pleased with himself. “The majestic bird that you summon and occasionally fly on is also known as The Vermillion Bird, Suzaku, Guardian of the South, Summer, and Fire.”

Kalliphae must have been curious because the phoenix uncoiled itself from the dress and was soon standing next to her. She turned and caressed its neck, causing the flames to ripple along its plumage, and asked, “Are you truly Suzaku?”

Suzaku lowered his head and squawked, “I am, indeed. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Princess of the Pyre.”

Kalli squealed and jumped back, stammering, “You? Really? All this time? Why didn’t you speak to me before?”

The flaming bird clawed at the ground and replied, “If you wished to initiate a conversation, perhaps you should have begun with a greeting.”

Kalli’s mouth fell open for a second before admitting, “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry. My name is Kalliphae. It’s nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, Princess.” Suzaku said with a bow. “Your flame is worthy. The lady of the lake chose wisely.”

“Who?” I asked.

The bird didn’t respond so I continued. “Does Genbu come to life as Suzaku does?”

Byakko chuffed, “Feed him mana and see for yourself.”

The black turtle ate hungrily, devouring the mana I offered to the shell. A head popped out and stared up at me, causing me to drop him. It still sucked hungrily at my mana, growing until a massive black turtle towered over us.

The tiger cub chuffed and pawed at Genbu, “Welcome back, you surly old churl. The centuries have not been kind. How goes the north?”

The deep gravelly voice of the turtle replied. “Byakko. You wily fox. I see you’re getting the gang back together again. Has Seiryu hatched again after what happened last time?”

Byakko chuffed, “Have you gone senile? I am a tiger, not a fox. As for The Guardian of the East, yes, he has hatched. He is here with the girl.”

The turtle froze, his voice wavering as he spoke. “Don’t tell me. Is ‘his’ arrival imminent?”

Worried that another big baddie was about to be revealed, I asked, “Who are you talking about?”

Byakku sat on his haunches and chuffed quietly. “Worry not. The arrival of the golden dragon would require your combined blessing. Now that the four guardians have converged, that is.”

Kalli raised an eyebrow at the tiger cub. “Who is this golden dragon?”

Genbu’s head retracted into his shell slightly before he answered. “We speak of Koryu, the central guardian who oversees all. The Golden Dragon. He can be quite dramatic.”

I muttered, “Great. More dragons.”

Quetzalcoatl, who had been observing the commotion in silence, made his presence known. “I take it you are satisfied with your reward. With that, I shall take my leave.”

Turning my attention to him, I asked, “Will I ever see you again?”

“Doubtful”, he hissed, already beginning to rise into the sky.

“There was one more thing that you should probably know.”, I called after him.

Quetzalcoatl stopped in midair and asked, “What is it? Be quick, mortal.”

Taking a deep breath, I finally told Quetzalcoatl what Mrs. Hodgins had told me. “You know that codex of yours? Your shame? There were copies. There is this thing called the internet. Anyone who cares to read about it just needs to google your name.”

“What?”, Quetzalcoatl roared when he heard the news. “Do you mean to tell me that I’ve guarded my shame all these years for nothing? The humans know what I…”

I chuckled when he trailed off. “Did you really do it with your sister?”

Byakko pounced on that bit of information before the serpent could respond. “You dallied with a family member? Oh, the shame. You are not fit to be a Guardian of the West.”

Quetzalcoatl crashed into the ground, kicking up the dust once again. “That is not true. I was drunk. It was not what it looked like. Foolish mortals always exaggerate.”

He didn’t wait for the others to respond. Quetzalcoatl once again took to the sky and was gone before anyone else could speak.

Mr. Ramsey was not happy that I missed the class I was supposed to teach. Kalli and I returned to campus at lunchtime to be met by a serious-looking teen with a student council badge.

He grabbed my wrist, saying, “The headmaster wants to see you. Come with me.”

We found the headmaster in a private lounge entertaining the VIPs that I was due to unlock. Missing his usual cheerful demeanor, he saw me and said, “Finally. Where were you? Your absence could cost me a lot of…well never mind. I know you have other classes coming up but I need you to take care of these clients. I will inform your teachers.”

The clients turned out to be a bunch of level 1 old people with unawakened cores. I put up with their questions and awakened each of them in turn. By the time I was finished, class had let out for the day.

After school, Kalli and I made our way over to Little Tokyo for our jobs. My skill at infusing ingots was improving. I could tell by touch exactly how much mana the ore could take, even if I hadn’t infused it before.

Chogu informed me that I still wasn’t quite good enough at compression to create a diamond. My sword was infused with twenty times the normal amount of mana.

Over the following weeks, I slowly fulfilled my commitment to the headmaster while doing my best to learn how to send Kalli home. Mr. McDuckenstein was thrilled to learn that I could teleport.

He smiled and informed me, “That’s amazing. Using the warp spell is very similar to the act of teleportation. It’s easier, really. Rather than folding yourself into the mana, you just do it to someone else while they think of home. It’s assisted teleportation in a way.”

At first, I started with various items like books and rocks. It was hard to tell how well it worked because the rocks could never come back and tell me if they made it home safely.

Mr. McDuckenstein assured me that I was doing it properly because the rocks did vanish the same way that I did when I teleported. Once I was confident that I could perform the spell every time, the last step was to practice on a living breathing person.

My instructor walked down the hall with me, explaining as we went. “When practicing this magic for the first time, it’s imperative to work with someone who can teleport on their own. That way should the magic fail, they have a way to come back out of the void.”

We found Mr. White sitting in his office grading some papers. “Mr. Duck. Can I help you?”

Mr. McDuckenstein groaned at the simplified version of his name and said, “Actually, yes. Yes, you can. My student here wishes to practice the warp spell. I happen to know you live somewhat close, so I’ve chosen you to help out.”

The dark magic teacher stared at us for a moment before groaning and saying, “Fine. Make it quick. I don’t live as close as you think and I have a test to prepare for.”

The duck man muttered, “You definitely live closer than I do. Okay, Melvin. Hit him.”

Mr. White stood up and moved away from his desk, waiting patiently for me to work my magic. I was a little nervous, not having performed the spell on a living creature before.

Extending my hand to the instructor, I focused on twisting him into my mana. The next thing I know, he was vanishing before my eyes.

He reappeared a few moments later and said, “Again.”

We repeated the processes ten times before he was satisfied. He gave me the hint of a smile and said, “Okay, like I told you before, I have work to do. So if there is nothing else, please excuse me.”

Later that afternoon, we all gathered together back in my dorm’s common room. Joe frowned at me. “Are you sure you’re ready to let her go?”

The girls all huddled together, hugging and crying. Wendy asked, “Do you have to go so soon? I mean, you don’t turn sixteen for a whole year after all.”

Kalli shook her head, “Actually, it’s about ten more months. I turned fifteen a couple months ago.”

We all stared at her in shock. I recovered first and asked, “How could you keep that from me? We could have thrown a big party. I would have got you a gift.”

She smiled and cupped my face in her hands. “That would have been nice but I don’t need things like that. I just need…”

Tears streamed down her face and she sobbed for a moment before managing to get more words out. “You had better summon me again. You promised me. If you don’t, I will never forgive you.”

Wendy looked at me and asked, “Isn’t there a way to look at her contract before she goes? Maybe we can get a better idea of what she’s walking into?”

We all sat down to brainstorm. I pulled out a sheet of paper and spoke in group chat. This would be a lot better if Kiki was here to help us.

Nobody answered. I took a deep breath and decided to try recreating the contract using my edit skill.

Item:

Kalliphae’s Contract

Components

Ink, Parchment

Item Rank:

S

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Hellquist

While we did get a contract, it was blank and unsigned. There were no details about the terms. I tried several different names and components but nothing pulled up the actual contract that she might have signed.

I wasn’t sure if it was possible but if it was, we needed more information.

Watching me slump over in frustration, Joe placed a hand on my shoulder. “What’s the plan? Are you going with her?”

Shaking my head, I explained. “I haven’t figured out a way to go with her. Kalli is going back by herself. We should have a way to communicate between worlds. At least, nobody has managed to prevent us from talking to each other yet.”

“Then what?”, Wendy asked nervously, holding Kalli’s hand tightly.

I took a deep breath before I continued, “The plan is to summon her back after three months. That should be plenty of time for her to pay off the Hellquists and for me to work out the best way to bring her back.

Joe’s eyes widened and he asked, “Are you telling us you don’t currently know how to bring her back? Isn’t that kind of risky.”

Trying to display confidence that I currently didn’t feel, I replied, “I summoned her before and I’ll do it again. No problem.”

I wanted to say that I had it all figured out but the closer we got to crunch time, the more I doubted myself. It took forever for the rest of the group to say goodbye.

My heart was ready to burst when Kalli turned to me. Her eyes were puffy from crying and starting to water again as she took my hands into hers. I offered her a weak grin and said, “So this is it. Are you ready to see your old world?”

She sobbed. “I wish I didn’t have to go. In just a few months this will all be just a bad memory. I know what I said earlier but I have faith in you, Melvin. You will summon me again. I can feel it in my heart.”

I was going to reply but she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. Every nerve in my body flared and I felt more alive at that moment than I had at any point in my young life.

When she released me, she took a step back and said, “Do it. Do it before I change my mind.”

Wiping tears on my sleeve, I told her, “Think of home and only home. I will get right to work on bringing you back.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and I reached out to her. At that moment right when the mana started to fold the girl into it, I was sorely tempted to pull her into my arms let fate bring what it would. However, the moment passed and she was gone.

KALLIPHAE HELLQUIST HAS LEFT THE GROUP