It was nearly morning by the time we approached the third village and none of us had slept. Ignoring the pain behind my eyes, I opened the world editor and named the new village.

[Run Dale]

I warned Kalli first, remembering how much mana it cost to connect the villages to our fledgling empire.

I’m about to make some roads. Get ready for the World Editor to drain you.

As soon as I clicked YES, the system took all of my mana. For several minutes after, it didn’t allow me to regen more than a trickle before robbing me of that too. By the time I came back down to the ground, the paved road had already made its way to the entrance.

I then made the rounds, editing the villagers and removing their plagues. Since we had determined that Kalli couldn’t help with curing, she went into World Editor mode and started helping Joe rearrange the houses. I was happy to discover that she could do that without me.

More of the villagers had died while waiting for us to arrive than in the previous villages, including one of the children. I worked tirelessly to awaken everyone and raise them to a new maximum level of 13.

By the time I finished, I was ready to pass out. Joe had started with a wall once again. As I sat slumped against the side of a building, Crypian made his way over to me and said, “I doubt it will help, but I can try to make a prophecy to give you a second wind.”

I laughed and said, “Knowing my luck, you’d probably just make me fart.”

He chuckled and said, “You’re a wierd one, aren’t you.”

“You don’t even know the half of it,” I explained. “This whole thing has been a strange experience for me. I awakened less than a year ago and now here I am in a different dimension trying to save my girlfriend from an arranged marriage.”

He sat down next to me. “That sounds like an adventure to me. It’s more than I can say for many awakened. Most are content to use their birthright to make their lives as easy as possible. I’ve encountered some who have never used a single one of their skills. Not even once, if even just to see how they worked.”

“Seems like a waste.” I laughed, wondering what it would be like to have magic but never use it. “That sounds boring to me.”

“Indeed.” He nodded.

Due to the events of our trip, it was decided that we would all sleep through the night. Alariel and Crypian would be joining us on our way to the fourth village the following day after we finished basic upgrades.

Kalli and I were asleep as soon as our heads hit the mattress. Kalli recognized where we were in the dream before I had a chance to look around. “You get to meet my master today. That’s the cabin I stayed in while I trained under him.”

We made our way over to the building but there was nobody inside. Kalli ran around the small structure for a minute before sighing. “That’s odd, why am I dreaming about an empty hut. Master should be here.”

Looking around, I found a blue robe resting on a chair. When I tried it on, Kalli giggled and said, “You kind of look like him, Master that is.”

“What was his name?” I asked, strutting around in the robe.

She paused for a moment before answering, “You know. I’m not sure. I always just called him master.”

As far as dreams went, it was strange that nothing was happening around us. We waited in the cabin to see if he came back for a while before exploring the surrounding area.

“Your hometown isn’t far from here, is it?” I asked, remembering that Kalli used to take food to the little kids while she was in training.

She got a faraway look in her eyes as she remembered. “That feels like such a long time ago even though I know it happened last year. We’ve done so much since I met you.”

Nothing seemed to be happening in the dream. We didn’t encounter a single person even when we hiked back to the monastery. Kalli shrugged her shoulders in frustration and said, “I don’t know what to do. Do you have any ideas?”

“We could make out.” I supplied helpfully.

She giggled and shoved me. “That’s what you always want to do.”

“It is my favorite thing to do,” I replied matter-of-factly.

She gave me a tour of the monastery and showed me the room that she shared with the other kids. I looked around at the beds that were little more than burlap sacks with blankets tossed over them. “Did the boys and girls share the same room?”

Kalli’s face scrunched up in disgust as she answered. “Yes. The boys were gross too. The room always stunk because most of them refused to wash in the river.”

“Kalli. Melvin. Wake up.” A voice tenderly called out.

I opened my eyes to see Wendy leaning over our bed. She looked nervous so I asked, “Did something happen?”

She shook her head and said, “No, there’s nothing wrong. It’s just that we will be leaving soon and there are a few more things you need to do before we go.”

I got up and stretched. When Kalli sat up next to me, Wendy whispered, “It’s okay Kalli, you can get some more sleep if you like. We should be ready to leave in about an hour. I’ll bring you some breakfast in a bit.”

Kalli shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I want to help out too. Besides, I can’t sleep without Melvin.”

Thinking about one of us sleeping without the other raised some interesting questions.

What do you think would happen if you slept without me? Would I get pulled into your dream?

She giggled, causing Wendy to give her a confused look. I don’t know. We should try it sometime. You should be the one who sleeps though.

It turned out that I was needed for food supplies and basic editing. I made seeds for the garden, rice, grain, and other essentials. For bedding and other household niceties, I edited a pile of them in the middle of the village that they could divvie up after we left.

Within the hour, we were on the road. Wendy brought us some fried meat that I didn’t recognize along with some blue fried eggs. When I asked her about it, she assured me that the villagers considered it a delicacy.

Once we were on our way, Joe sat down next to me and whispered in my ear. “Kiki is sucking up to the new girl. I think we should warn her about the kind of girl she is dealing with.”

It was frustrating being the only one who cared to defend Kiki. My sister knew what she had done was wrong and had committed to me that she was going to make up for it. When I gave her a second chance, I was determined to let her own it. That meant I had to trust her. I fully intended to keep my eye on her. Trust but verify. That’s what my mother always said.

“It’ll be fine,” I said, brushing Joe off.

Rather than going back to sleep, I headed to the front of the Mecharriage and sat down next to Crypian, the prophet. “Hey. You got any prophecies about the next village? Is there anything we should know?”

Crypian chuckled and shook his head. “Oh no. It doesn’t work like that. If you want a prophecy, you’ve got to pay the price.”

“Price?” I asked.

Kalli made her way over, having heard the exchange through my ears. She asked the prophet, “What do you want?”

“What does any man want?” Crypian chuckled, before swallowing hard when Kalli glared at him. “I didn’t mean that. Money. Any man wants money. Gold. Treasure. You name it. Make me an offer and I’ll tell you about the future.”

While I wasn’t about to give up Kalli’s gold, I figured I had to have something of value that he would want. Rummaging through my bag, my fingers brushed against some of the rocks and pebbles I had placed in there for items to be edited later.

I ran my finger over the smooth surface of one of the stones and came to a decision.

Item:

Book of Prophecies Written by Crypian (Edited)

Components

Mana, Parchment, Ink

Item Rank:

C

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

The book appeared with a flash of smoke in my hands. The cover was an elegant orange material with a title written in a style that looked very fancy.

Book of Prophecies - Crypian

Crypian’s eye grew wide as I opened the book. “What is this blasphemy. I’ve never written my prophecies down. That tome is a ruse.”

I flipped to the first prophecy.

The tale of the Broken Princess

The heir to a high house will abandon her family and disgrace her people to seek out a liar and an oathbreaker.

The would-be Prince

A new prince will rise from the darkness to ascend a most unlikely of thrones. He will find his doom at the hands of a sworn friend.

Born of the Ashes

The Kingdom of Darkness will rise from the ashes to become the capital of the world, led by the damned.

Flaming Angel

The savior will be heralded when an angel is born into the darkness. She will arrive borne on wings of fire, naked as the day she was born.

I wanted to keep reading but Kalli ripped the book from my hands and thrust it into Crypian’s face, shouting, “Really? Did you really have to add that last part? It would have been fine to end with wings of fire. You just wanted to see me naked? Didn’t you, pervert.”

Crypian held his arms up, seemingly worried that Kalli might hit him again. “I wasn’t even there for that.”

“You didn’t know you weren’t going to be there when you wrote that, did you?” Kalli growled, still towering over the man.

He sagged in his seat. “Alas, I did not. When a prophecy comes to me, I am bound to recite it the way I feel it or it won’t come to be. I fully apologize m’lady. I meant no disrespect when I prophecied.”

Kiki walked over to us, followed by Alariel. “What’s going on over here. Do you need help throttling the prophet, Kalli?”

Kalli looked nervously at Kiki and replied, “No. I’m fine. I just read the prophecy that said I would be naked when I got here.”

“Yep. He’s a jerk.” Kiki concluded, patting Kalli on the head. “Punching him again should make you feel better. Do you want me to hold him?”

Alariel pointed into the distance up ahead and said, “As fun as that would be to watch, I do believe there are monsters up ahead.”

“Everybody get ready,” Joe called out. “Let’s break into the teams we discussed earlier. Fighters get ready to intercept the monsters. Builders, you guys should try to get some rest. You’re going to be busy when we get to the next village. I’ll provide support from the Mecharriage.”

Unsure of what to do, and unable to sleep after having slept half the night, I made my way to the front of the Mecharriage to get a better look at the monsters. With my God Eye trait, I would see them clearly even though they were still a ways off. It appeared to be a stampede of some sort.

Name

Ruffalo

Class

Monster

Level

5

Affection Level

Panicked

The closest thing they were to monsters on earth would have been buffalo. I was unsure how they got named after the actor but it likely had something to do with the loose folds of skin around their midsection.

Palmer climbed off of the Mecharriage and shouted, “We want to take these alive if possible. They make excellent livestock.”

“Can we ride them?” Rundell asked while looking at the Ruffalo through binoculars provided by Joe.

“If you’re brave enough.” Honora laughed. “They will try to buck you off though.”

Kalli and I stayed close to the front of the Mecharriage to watch the battle. The massive monsters had jagged horns on their heads which they lowered when they charged. They appeared to be on a stampede, not running directly at us.

Palmer led his group of six guards on an intercept course and explained, “We want to try to pick off the stragglers. Attacking the entire herd would be suicide.”

At first, it looked like the plan was going to work. Joe shot one of the smaller Ruffalo in the hind leg with a dart. The monster howled as it crashed into the ground, driven by its own momentum.

Its cry drew the attention of the others who began turning to make their way back to their fallen member. Joe tried to distract them with loud bursts from the cannon but they ignored it. The Ruffalo were focused on the fallen animal and by association our group which they deemed to be a threat.

Should we retreat? Wendy asked over group chat.

It’s too late for that. Honora replied. We need to prepare to defend ourselves. They will attempt to crush us. Scatter and try to find a rock or something to hide behind.

Realizing that the group was in danger, I summoned my greatsword and told Kalli.

I’ll be right back.

Wait, I’ll come with… She began as I folded mana over myself and teleported right next to the charging Ruffalo. Spreading mana throughout my body to fortify myself, I swung my weapon into the side of the herd as they raced by. Legs flew off, entrails splattered in my face, and the monsters wailed as my attack carved into the stampede.

Kalli was mad. I could feel the heat of her anger without seeing that she had caught fire. You. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Run. Off. Without. Me.

Recognizing a new threat, the herd changed directions once again, splitting up. They parted around the rest of the group, half of them circling back toward me, and the other half headed to the Mecharriage where Joe had taken to gunning them down.

The problem was that Kalli and Wendy were coming out to help and found themselves right in the path of the stampede. I wanted to apologize to Kalli but saving her was higher on my list of priorities.

Focusing on my connection to my mate, I folded myself into my mana once again, confident as I walked through the void between worlds that my destination would put me where I belonged at Kalli’s side.

Kalli gasped when I appeared beside her. She was crouched behind a small rock with Wendy that provided hardly any protection. Having little time to think, I grabbed the two girls and teleported again, not having any time to choose a destination.