Using martial arts was amazing. Not only did I know what to do next but I had a general idea of why I was doing it. The mantis style that I had absorbed from Rundell was likely one of the many different forms that he knew but a single style made me a lot more efficient than I was without it.

Fighting the humanoid bugbears felt more real than any of the other monsters I had fought so far. When I lashed out and separated its head from a pair of shoulders, I was left feeling sick to my stomach.

Kalli pulled me out of it with a comforting thought. Don’t worry Mel. Remember that the monsters want to kill us. It’s what they do. That’s part of why I love your world so much. The awakened actually care if the monsters eat the commoners.

That made me start to wonder what monsters ate in my world. Were there magical monster wranglers who had to go feed wild monsters on a daily basis? Did monsters eat wild animals? Was a zoo just a buffet for monsters?

Kalli’s voice saved me from getting impaled by a bugbear. Focus Melvin. I can hear your thoughts.

Oops sorry.

Once we finished off the bugbears, we were able to get moving again. Honora pushed Joe to drive faster. You don’t want to be on the road after dark if you can help it. The scary ones come out at night.

Kalli made me hand her my greatsword so that she could modify it. I watched her intently as she worked. My blade which had been pure white up to that point started to shimmer as Kalli worked it over with her flame. It didn’t turn blue as hers had. Instead, the blade took on an aura of flame around it, as though the mana itself were on fire.

She began to sweat as she focused. Why is it so hard to push my mana into this thing? How much did you condense the mana?

It’s as solid as I can make it right now. This is the extent of my ability.

Kalli whistled out loud. That’s a lot. I can barely do half of what you can.

That’s a lot considering you couldn’t do it at all until this morning.

She turned to look me in the eyes, saying, That’s another thing. What did you do? Why do I suddenly know how to do this? It feels like I’m melting into you.

I was a little nervous to explain more to her.

When you couldn’t taste the churro, I found a part of me that I wasn’t already sharing with you. This is just a byproduct of that.

Kalli considered what I was telling her. Mel, what happens if we both try to condense the mana in your sword at the same time?

She placed the sword across both of our laps and placed my hand over hers. I knew what she wanted me to do, so I let my mana flow into hers before imbuing the blade.

To my surprise, our combined efforts were able to permeate the blade, imbuing the blade with the rich blue flame of our combined mana. Together, we were able to exponentially increase the compression of the mana we poured into the greatsword.

By the time we finished, the blade glowed brightly, similar to the noodles in the bowl of ramen. Kalli gasped. Wow.

I too was speechless. Wanting to see exactly how Kalli had changed, I pulled up her menu.

Name

Kalliphae Hellquist

Class

Pyromancer

Level

20

Affection Level

Indifferent

Skills

Traits

Boost Magic

Bloodline: M

Amplify

Enhancement: Fire

Silent Cast

Fireproof

Mirage

Heatproof

Magical Plague Immunity (Edited)

MateChat[Melvin Murphy](Edited)

Inseperable[Melvin Murphy]

Intertwined[Melvin Murphy]

We both gasped at the same moment, Kalli commenting first. Is that me? Why is your name all over my box?

Don’t worry. You’re all over mine too. Since when are you level 20?

She stuck her tongue out at me. What? Did you think I sat still and did nothing when you sent me back? I worked hard and fought monsters every day. Until I caught the plague that is.

A very specific trait caught my eye.

Kalli, you inherited my bloodline. That explains why you can do all of those things.

She blinked at me, not comprehending what I was telling her. What things? What does a bloodline do?

A lot. I think it controls how I use mana and a bunch of other things.

Kalli ran her fingers over my mana blade as she asked more questions. Does your bloodline explain how I was able to fight the way I did? It felt like I knew a better way to fight.

I think that has something to do with a trait I stole from Rundell when I connected to his core. You don’t have the trait but you used it anyhow.

She gasped. You stole it? Shouldn’t you give it back?

The thought of going into Run to give him back his skill made me chuckle. She frowned at me so I decided to explain.

I don’t think I actually stole it. Think of it more like a copy than outright theft.

Kalli was still frowning at me. Show me your box. I want to see what yours looks like.

I laughed uneasily, trying to make a joke out of it.

Well, you did show me yours. I guess it’s only fair that I show you mine.

After getting the stinkeye, I decided to just show her.

Name

Melvin Murphy

Class

Manipulator (Unlocked)

Level

26

Hitpoints

2600

Mana

50,000

Stamina

2600

Strength

25

Dexterity

25

Agility

25

Constitution

50

Intelligence

85

Wisdom

30

Charisma

10

Luck

20

Skills

Traits

World Editor

Bloodline: M

Manipulation

Bloodline: Shaw

Controlling Voice

Bloodline: Ramsey

Buff (Edited)

Enhanced Regeneration

Summon (Edited)

Enhanced Mana Regeneration

Command Attention

Absorption

Formulate

Control

Cloud Judgement

God Eye (Edited)

Perfect Pitch

Mantis Style

Track Scent

Magical Plague Immunity(Edited)

Matechat[Kalliphae Hellquist] (Edited)

Inseperable[Kalliphae Hellquist]

Intertwined[Kalliphae Hellquist]

Till Death Do You Part [Kalliphae Hellquist]

I didn’t hear her initial reply because I was gaping at my mana pool. It hadn’t always been that big. I decided it must have had something to do with squeezing Quetzalcoatl into my core.

Kalli commanded my attention by rapid-firing questions at me. Why do you have three bloodlines? That is so many skills. What does Cloud Judgement do? It sounds dark. Why is my name in there so much? Why is the last one red?

I attempted to dissect what she was asking me and decided to answer the one that stuck out; The last question.

Red traits are curses. I used to have a different one from Lady Shaw. Of course, that one would have only activated if I decided to become a vampire.

She was glaring at me again. Why do you have a cursed trait with my name on it and why does it have death in the name?

That was the one question I didn’t want to answer. Trying to skirt about the subject, I replied.

That was how I found you. I made a commitment to myself and it strengthened our bond.

Kalli was seeing right through me. Her eyes stared daggers into my soul as she asked, What kind of a commitment did you make, and how does it involve death?

I was backpedaling.

It’s nothing dangerous I swear. I just swore that if I ever left you, if I break our bond, I will die.

Kalli stared into my eyes for a long moment, hers suddenly filling with tears right before she went off on me. You did what? You big jerk. You don’t get to make decisions like that without me.

Her reaction was getting to me as well. With my eyes watering, I tried desperately to think of what to say.

You were in trouble. I couldn’t just sit back and let you die. Kiki said that…

Kalli cut me off. She did this? I’ll kill her!

I had never seen Kalli react that way. She rose to her feet, scanning the Mecharriage for any sign of my sister. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. Kalli huffed and looked at me frantically. I don’t want you to die. Take it back.

I don’t think I can but don’t worry. I’ll never break this bond. Not ever.

While she was still glaring at me, I could feel the warmth emanating from my girlfriend. You had better not. I’ll never forgive you if you do.

Wanting to cheer her up, I fished around in my bag. Pulling out the lump of carbon that Chogu had given me, I held it out to her. She looked curiously at the dark rock.

Let’s imbue this with mana like we did the sword.

We quietly worked together, testing the limits of the rock as we pumped more and more mana into it. I noticed the material slowly starting to glow, a blue light bleeding through the otherwise opaque rock.

It grew hot in our hands and began to shine so brightly that it lit up the dusk sky. The Mecharrage skidded to a halt as all eyes turned to look. Just as quickly as the light had appeared, it vanished.

Item:

Mana Diamond

Components

Mana, Carbon

Item Rank:

S

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy and Hellquist

Kalli glared at the menu. I hate my last name.

Without thinking, I committed to making a change that I had always wanted to.

I can fix that.

Name

Kalliphae Murphy (Edited)

Class

Pyromancer

Level

20

Affection Level

Indifferent

She blanched at me, her mouth hanging open. I can’t believe you just did that.

I know it’s not the greatest last name in the world but it’s better than Hellquist, right? I hate that your affection level always shows up as Indifferent too.

Kalli glared at me. So that’s the menu that Lavender enchanted. I can see what it truly says. Your last name is fine. That’s not what I meant. Won’t other people who see it think that we…

She blushed at the thought. I knew what she meant but it was quite rare for people to be able to see our menus. I was about to tell her that when we noticed that we had an audience.

Wendy cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention and announced, We’re almost there. You should all get ready. People are going to have the plague. It’s going to be a long night.

Kalli looked down at her lap, her face bright red. I still don’t know what I think about what you did but you’re right, it is better than Hellquist.

The glowing blue diamond looked surreal resting in Kalli’s hand. She looked at it curiously. What did you want to make this for?

With courage I didn’t know I had, I replied.

The plan was to make it into a ring for you.

I forgot to add someday to the end. She held the diamond up to the pale green light of the planet in the sky. Why do I need a ring?

My courage failed me all at once.

Um, I just. Well. You know, I give the ring and then…

While my communication skills had a complete meltdown, the thoughts swirling through my head were as clear as day. Kalli blushed once again and pressed the diamond into my hand. Wait just a second. I’m too young to… Is that why you changed my name? We can’t do that yet. Not for a long time. I mean it. A long time!

My voice found itself and once again I was laughing nervously.

I didn’t mean right away. Just eventually. You know. I thought it would be fun to make the diamond myself rather than buying one. We made this one together, so I thought that was extra special.

Her expression softened again and I felt her gentle touch as she scooped the diamond up from my hand. She looked at it lovingly and deposited the gem in her bag. I’ll cherish it until that day comes. You know, it’s almost as if you summoned me to be your…

Realizing what she was about to say, she cut herself off. I quickly finished her sentence in an attempt to make it less awkward.

Girlfriend. I summoned you to be my girlfriend.

We both shared a laugh right when Joe called out. Heads up, guys. We’re here.