Woah! Do you think your last name is supposed to be Celestea?

Kalli went through a storm of emotions as she took in all of the changes happening around us. I don’t know. Is that a first name or a last name?

I laughed.

I don’t know either.

We watched from above as the city around us continued to rebuild itself out of the rubble. Stone houses of all shapes and sizes formed in organized streets as a massive wall rose in the distance surrounding everything.

Suddenly remembering Esha and Boombrix, I called out to them in guild chat.

Esha? Boom? Are the two of you okay?

Boombrix replied. Yes. Boombrix lives. The troll was injured by this one’s boomstick.

Esha’s voice sounded a little pained when she replied. I’m fine. It was only an arm. It will grow back.

Her reply took me by surprise. I didn’t know if I was more worried that she had lost an arm or impressed that she could grow it back.

Are you sure you’re okay?

Esha forced herself to sound more cheerful. I’m good. Never been better. So, what’s the deal with this city? Are you doing your creation thing again?

Kalli and I looked at each other and laughed. Whatever we did was not done by The World Editor.

We will get back to you on that.

We watched from our bird’s eye view, mesmerized by the magic taking place below us. When it finally stopped growing, Celestea was the biggest city I had seen on Gaia, even more so than Dabia.

NEW CITY DETECTED IN MELTOPIA BELONGING TO EMPRESS KALIPHAE MURPHY.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO CLAIM FOR THE EMPIRE? Y/N?

I grinned at Kalli.

Well, Empress? You own a city. Shall we include it in the empire?

Kalli groaned. This is going to hurt, isn’t it?

I shrugged.

I’m not sure. Probably.

Together, we selected YES. The World Editor wrung us of our mana like a wet sponge as we hung helplessly in its grasp. Trying to spare her the agony, I channeled a portion of my mana through the connection to keep Kalli from bottoming out.

I felt her stubbornness as she pushed her mana into my core, giving me a warm feeling inside to go along with the ache of mana loss. The World Editor showed me a spider’s web of roads that spread from every village to Celestea which served as a hub in the newly modified empire.

A wall, similar to the one surrounding the city, formed and spread across the length of the entire dark lands. It was as if my empire was not complete and the system just wanted to add the finishing touches.

When the effect ended, the two of us were unceremoniously dumped in the dark catacombs. I didn’t know how I could tell but I knew somewhere deep down that the creatures of the dark had been expelled from Celestea. The magic did its job and protected the queen.

Picking myself up, I offered Kalli my hand and pulled her to her feet. She smiled and we made our way through the underground maze. I wasn’t sure how but we suddenly knew exactly where to go.

We walked in silence for a while before Kalli asked, What happened to Orpheus?

The question had been on my mind as well. He had led us into a trap and vanished. A part of me worried about the cat, but he was at a significantly higher level than either of us.

I bet he escaped. He knows this place better than anyone else. Well, except maybe us now. Besides, he could have teleported if he was in any real danger.

Kalli frowned. But doesn’t that mean he abandoned us?

I hadn’t thought about it that way. Could he have broken the contract I placed on his core?

I guess we will have to ask him if we ever see him again. He did just give us a castle, after all.

Kalli looked thoughtful as we walked, nodding quietly as she considered the cat. Our path led us into the castle proper, the doors opening automatically as though to welcome us. I looked over at Kalli and motioned for her to enter first.

Does it feel like home?

She smiled and stepped through the doors. I don’t know yet. I have no memories of this place.

The inside of the castle was pristine like people lived there and took good care of the place. If I hadn’t just wandered through the ruins, I would have been looking for attendants.

Do you suppose any of the citizens of Meltopia are from here?

Kalli froze, causing me to walk into her. Oof. Melvin, we should ask them. This could have been their home. Some people might want to come back now that it’s restored.

She was right. We had discussed the possibility of the residents of the dark lands being Celestean with Orpheus. I decided to address everybody at once through guild chat.

Citizens of Meltopia. I have an announcement for you. We have restored Celestea Castle and the surrounding city. If you are from here and wish to return home, just let me know and I’ll bring you here right away.

We immediately realized that we had made a mistake when we were bombarded with dozens of replies all at once.

Wow, you restored it?

I’m from there.

Did you find any of my belongings in the ruins?

I don’t need anything else. Just a photo of my mother?

I always wanted to see that place!

I was forced to filter out guild chat while I gathered my thoughts. By then, hundreds of voices had all started speaking at once and were starting to sound jumbled. I decided to mute them all and make another announcement.

Okay, I get it. A lot of you want to come. We will visit every village and bring you back. For now, I am just taking residents who have a reason to come. The rest of you can form caravans and get here that way.

We wandered through the palace until Kalli led us to a child’s bedroom. The room itself was quite large and filled with every type of medieval toy conceivable I stood in the doorway as she walked slowly through the room, running her hand over a pink rocking horse.

Do you recognize anything?

She frowned and sat on the horse, rocking slowly. I don’t know. Somehow I knew it was here but I don’t remember any of it.

I pointed at the tiny canopy bed that looked too small to hold Kalli let alone the two of us.

Perhaps we should sleep on it?

She giggled. You just want to snuggle.

Her playful reply made me laugh.

And you don’t?

Kalli pouted but conceded. You know I do.

Unfortunately, sleep wasn’t in the cards for us. Once Kalli was satisfied, we decided to go see if I could help Esha with her arm.

Esha, where are you two?

Unmuting guild chat resulted in hundreds of replies and Kalli made a suggestion. We need to invite people to our group when they come with us. Talking to the whole guild at once every time we need to communicate doesn’t work very well.

Boombrix managed to tell us where they were once the guild died down. We are resting in one of the homes near the castle gate, Lord Emperor Sir. Boombrix is doing her best to stop the bleeding.

Running with Kalli to get to the stricken troll, I replied.

We will be there in just a second. Hang in there, Esha.

The troll grumbled. I’m fine. This goblin is making a fuss. That is all.

Once outside of the castle we were able to follow a trail of blood to the house they had taken residence in. I was shocked to see that Esha hadn’t just lost an arm but there was also a gaping hole in her side.

I glared at the goblin and asked, “Just how powerful are your bombs?”

She flinched and backed into a corner. “Boombrix is small so her boom booms need to be big. They did their job and made the scary shadows go away. Esha was just too close. That is all!”

I noticed Boombrix gave Esha a funny look when she said the last line. The troll’s eyes were unfocused so I rushed over and placed my hand over her side, infusing it with mana.

While the angry red wounds were still bleeding, I could feel an unnatural regeneration already forcing them to close. It wasn’t quite as powerful as my regeneration, making me wonder if I could regenerate a limb. I didn’t ever want to test that particular theory. As I worked, Kalli crouched behind me, watching intently.

My mana worked hand in hand with troll regeneration, sealing the wound while repairing the internal damage at the same time. Fortunately, the blast hadn’t done much internal damage. Once the wound in Esha’s abdomen was sealed, I focused my attention on the real problem: the bone sticking out of the troll’s shoulder.

I couldn’t just seal that wound. Turning to the troll, I asked, “How do you regrow lost limbs? I need to understand how your regeneration works.”

Esha tried to shrug and wound up wincing as the bone moved visibly under her sleeve. “I don’t know. While I’ve never lost an arm before, I have seen it happen to others. By this time tomorrow, a new arm should start to grow.”

Not knowing what else to do, I fed the troll my mana and prayed that it would apply it where necessary. It was like pressing fast forward on a movie. Esha grunted as her flesh weaved together, forming a new arm inch by inch.

From behind, I heard the goblin whisper, “Wow. Boombrix wants to touch…”

Esha growled at her and snapped. “If you come near me, I’ll bite your finger off.”

Boombrix whimpered and backed off. It was all for the best because I could tell that Esha was in a great deal of pain even though she tried to put on a brave face.

When our eyes met, I could see that hers were watering. I stopped the flow of mana and asked, “Do you need a moment to recover?”

She shook her head, wiping her eyes with her good arm. “No. Real women don’t cry!”

Chuckling, I decided to switch my focus between regrowth and mending the damage around her shoulder. She heaved a massive sigh when my mana massaged the muscle, splashing me in spittle in the process.

Kalli fought to hold back her laughter as she taunted me in mate chat. You are definitely taking a bath before bed!

I stuck my tongue out at her.

Only if you join me.

She had a strange gleam in her eye when she replied. We’ll see.

I refocused on Esha’s wound with newfound vigor and before I knew it, we had regrown the limb. Esha waved it around a few times with a smile on her face and said, “That was much faster than I thought it was going to be. Thank you, Lord Melvin.”

Smiling at the troll, I stood and stretched, realizing I was about to be on taxi duty. Kalli placed a hand on my shoulder and asked. Do you want me to come with you?

Even though she was offering, I could tell what was in her heart. Kalli wanted to explore her hometown and we both knew I was going to be busy until well past bedtime.

It’s okay. I don’t need you for this. I’ll try to finish as quickly as possible. Have some fun and explore for both of us. I’ll enjoy it through your eyes.

Kalli twisted my head and kissed me and I closed my eyes, losing myself in the moment. Esha and Boombrix were still there but neither of us cared. It wasn’t until Esha cleared her throat that we stopped. “Ahem. What would you like the two of us to do next?”

“Please stay with Kalli and keep her safe,” I replied. “I don’t think there are any more of those shadow monsters in town but I don’t want to leave her alone here.”

Boombrix, who had been silent since Esha threatened her, said, “Those scary shadows all died to the sunlight when you sucked them out of the crypt.”

“They died?” Kalli and I asked in unison.

Boombrix nodded enthusiastically. “They cried and screamed then they turned to black dust.”

Feeling relieved, I kissed Kalli goodbye and set off to visit the first village.