Kalli’s frantic thoughts filled my head. Almost. I can see you on my map. Just stay safe for a few more minutes.

Map?

She didn’t reply to my question. With a flash of red light and a resounding crash, I saw something smash into the ground behind the griffon. The monster completely ignored Kalliphae and continued its relentless assault of the fort, trying to fish me out like I was some prize in a claw machine that it wanted.

Kalli fed me her panic through group chat. Melvin, I can’t see it. I know it's there because it's destroying the um, thing your in, but it's invisible.

Oh right, the buff.

She was confused. What buff?

I didn’t waste time explaining or getting her permission. In my panic, I shared Monster Vision with the girl without telling her about it. Kalliphae let out an ear-piercing scream as she saw the griffon in front of her.

That got its attention. The monster abandoned me and rounded on the girl. Faster than I would have thought possible, the creature lunged. Fortunately, Kalli had arrived via Pheonix and her pet was defensive of its master. The two birdlike monsters collided and thrashed about in front of the fort in a frenzy of feathers and flame.

Kalliphae dove out of the way and I struggled to extricate myself from the fort. I watched helplessly unsure of how to join the battle. Kalli looked like a pro as she engulfed herself in flames and ran up to assist the phoenix. The monsters were moving with lightning-fast speed and weaving in and up, scorching the griffon when she could.

She screamed in my head. You might have to run away.

What about you?

She shot back. I don’t know. I’m thinking. Just go.

The griffon was gaining the upper hand on the phoenix. The fiery bird was built for flying, not fighting. At least not this model. The griffon was scoring hits on the phoenix that erupted in gouts of flamelike blood with every hit.

I readied my body for the pain and infused mana into my heart. While the fight did slow down enough for me to follow, I only had one spell and no weapon. Kalli had taken a ranged approach and was preparing a fireball. Only the spell seemed complicated. Beads of sweat ran down her face as the girl focused and gathered the flames around her forming the attack.

"Bvoomzt"

I watched in slow motion as the ball of fire took its time sailing over to the griffon. It attempted to dodge, but the flame seared its tail, causing it to roar. In a fit of rage, the griffon threw the wounded phoenix aside like a rag doll and lunged at Kalli. She just barely managed to get her flaming shield around herself as it pounced on her. I watched in horror as its massive beak plunged into the girl.

Kalliphae tried to fend off the attack with her arms, but it managed to push through, drilling into her stomach. I felt her health plummet as the girl let out a wet-sounding cough.

At that moment, something inside me snapped. I infused my vocal cords with mana and shouted in the sinister voice I had discovered earlier, “Get over here!”

The monster rounded on me and roared a challenge of its own. I continued to funnel mana through my body, this time causing my lungs to burn as I filled them with mana. When it got as close as I dared to let it, I willed everything I had into the only spell I knew, placing the wand in the path of my spell.

“Sviszt”

With a loud crack, all of the air in the vicinity was forced to obey my command and harass the griffon. It flapped its mighty wings against the torrent but was unable to find purchase in the wind that was once its ally. The monster spiraled out of control as it was flung through the forest, crashing through the trees.

It was still for a moment when it landed before getting up and shaking itself off. It gave me a scandalized look before rising into the air and flying off into the evening sky.

I stood up on shaky legs. I hadn’t realized that I had fallen in the final moments of the battle. Suddenly I realized that Kalli’s health was very low and it was still plummeting. She was lying motionless over by the ruined fort. I forced more mana into my legs and rushed to her side.

The phoenix dress was stained red with Kalliphae’s blood where the griffon had pierced her abdomen. She was whimpering curled up in a tiny ball. Tears flooded my face as I touched her shoulder, stupidly saying, “Kalli, are you going to be okay?”

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked struggled to meet my gaze, whimpering, “I want to go home, Mel. I’m tired. Please let me go home.”

I bawled as I desperately looked for a way to help her. In desperation, I placed my hand over her wound. She cried out in pain as I did so. I willed my mana into her body. Even when I hit zero mana I kept pushing. She moaned and pushed my hand away, “Please stop. I can’t take it.”

It was pointless anyway. Her health was redlining and it refused to stop going down. Lost in a panic, I looked at my skills to see if there was anything that would help.

Skills

Traits

World Editor

Bloodline M

Manipulation

True Sight BUFFED

Buff (Edited)

Enhanced Regeneration

Enhanced Mana Regeneration

Absorption

Monster Vision (Edited) BUFFED

I glared at my skills, trying to intimidate them into being useful here. I had caused all of this. If I didn’t give her that stupid buff her then the monster wouldn’t have been able to attack her in the first place. I immediately removed the Monster Vision buff from her. Looking at my list I tried to share Bloodline M, hoping for a miracle.

ERROR: THIS MAY NOT BE SHARED

I went down the list.I felt a surge of confidence when my eyes passed over Enhanced Regeneration as if the skill was telling me, “Put me in coach.”

When I shared it with her, the effect was immediate. Kalliphae’s whole body shuddered the instant I applied the buff. I watched in awe as the blood stopped flowing from her abdomen. Then the hole in her skin closed up and she stopped shaking.

As soon as I was confident that she wasn’t dying in my arms, I took out the M-Phone-22 and called the paramedics. I waited patiently for them to arrive even though Kalliphae was now snoring in my arms.

A sudden sound from behind me nearly made me drop the girl. I craned my neck and discovered that the phoenix was still alive. Looking the worse for wear, it limped over and stopped a few feet in front of us. I gave the bird a curious glance before realizing that the dress was in tatters.

Item:

Blood Stained Silk Dress

Components

Silk, Satin, Lace, Mana, Essense of Pheonix

Item Rank:

F

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Hellquist

I frowned at the dress, trying not to stare too much at Kalli’s belly under the ruined fabric. I looked up at the phoenix and smiled, “Don’t worry. That I can fix. I think.”

Fortunately, it worked out.

Item:

Satin Wrapped Silk Dress of the Phoenix (Edited)

Components

Silk, Satin, Lace, Mana, Essense of Pheonix

Item Rank:

B

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Hellquist

The phoenix gave me an appreciative nuzzle before resuming its role as her guardian entwined around the redhead’s clothing.

The thought of editing the dress made me wonder if I could have edited Kalli to save her life when she was dying. I was reminded of conversations I had with both Mrs. Hodgins as well as Lavender about misusing my rare class. I was walking a fine line when it came to misusing my skills. What would I do if she was dying again and the only thing I could do to save her was to edit something?

I chastised myself again for putting her in danger in the first place. It was one thing to be reckless with my own life. Quite another to put those I cared about in danger.

I heard the sirens in the distance as the ambulance approached the park. I had told them that we were in the forest and that a wild animal had attacked us. Kalli’s health was back to 100% now, but she was still fast asleep. I didn’t want to wake her. She was sleeping so peacefully in my arms.

Half of me wanted to call back and tell them it was a false alarm, but that never seemed to work with the police. They always wanted to come out and see for themselves.

Soon enough, the area was flooded with uniforms of every type. Paramedics worked Kalli and I over for injuries that might account for the blood all over the place. Vital statistics were taken from both of us. Once they were satisfied that we weren’t busy dying, they opened a tiny vial and placed it under Kalliphae’s nose.

The girl woke with a start and sat up suddenly. She screamed, “Where’s Melvin. He’s in danger.”

A female nurse knelt beside the girl and calmly said, “Relax. He’s right next to you. It looks like there was an accident and your treehouse collapsed. You’re going to be just fine.”

“Treehouse?”, Kalli muttered, looking at the wreckage of the fort that the paramedic was pointing to.

Her consciousness returned suddenly in group chat. Melvin. Are you really all right? Where did the griffon go?

I sighed contentedly hearing her voice in my head once again. The relief I felt that she was going to be okay was overwhelming and I broke down crying again. The officer who had been scolding me to that point just stood there awkwardly while I got it out of my system. I finally managed to gather my thoughts enough to reply to Kalliphae.

I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.

She tried her best to calm me down. What are you talking about? I chose to come save you. It’s fine. We’re both fine.

You don’t understand. I found out how to make monsters see us and I did it. I just wanted to see one. I didn’t know they would hunt me down.

Kalliphae froze. What did you do? That was really stupid. You could have gotten us both killed.

I know.

The paramedics were busy helping Kalli to her feet and placing her on a stretcher. She nervously thought to me. What are they doing to me?

They are taking you to the hospital. Just call Mrs. Hodgins to come get you.

The panic level in the girl continued to rise. I don’t know how to do that.

Did you tell her you were leaving?

The paramedics loaded a nervous-looking Kalliphae into an ambulance and shut the doors. Her thoughts still reached me. No. I told her you were in trouble and raced out the door. I didn’t even get to eat the food she cooked.

I sighed, vowing to find a way to contact the scholar.

Don’t worry. I’ll get ahold of her for you.

Kalli’s reply felt desperate in my mind. Please don’t leave the group.

Don’t worry. I won’t

While Kalli got to deal with the nice paramedics, I was forced to answer questions for an angry police officer and some very confused firefighters. Someone had reported a large explosion in the wooded area of the park. The place where I had been found was also ground zero for the explosion. The police brought in drug a sniffing dog to search the fort for contraband. Big surprise, they got a hit.

I was taken downtown under the suspicion of drug dealing and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. I tried to explain to them that I was a minor, but they seemed to have their minds made up about me. I was fairly certain that they had run my record when they found me alone with a girl in a dark corner of the forest.

Calls were placed in search of my mother, but as usual, they were unable to get ahold of her. So I sat and waited once again. When we arrived at the station, the police had attempted to remove my fanny pack by force, but whatever magic Lavender infused into it was working well. Not only could the cops not pry it off of me, but any attempt to do so seemed to make them forget what they were doing in the first place. More than a few officers had wandered off in confusion, barely remembering they were still at work.

I was finally deposited on a bench in the squad room and forgotten about with my hands bound behind my back. It was going to be a long night.